Did King Tut’s Dinner Smell Like Garlic Bread?
Plus: Why your job is ruining your health, the beautiful chaos of adolescence, and the leadership lessons of MLK.
This week, we’re exploring the past—and the future—in ways you might not expect. Science writer Sam Kean invites us to Dinner with King Tut, reanimating the ancient world through taste, scent, and touch.
asks why modern work feels like slow-motion burnout (spoiler: it’s not you, it’s the system). New York Times writer Matt Richtel makes the case that teenage rebellion is actually a brilliant evolutionary feature. And our sponsor this week, Lead Boldly shows how Dr. King’s ideals can reshape your leadership style. All that, plus exciting new reads and a peek inside Author Insider.This Week on the Next Big Idea Podcast
Can rogue archeologists bring the past back to life?
We have a pretty good idea what ancient civilizations looked like. But what did they taste, smell, and feel like? Today on the show, science writer Sam Kean shares surprising ideas from his new book Dinner with King Tut. Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Book Bite of the Week
Why does work have to be so…hard? Many Americans report on-the-job stress as if were a normal side effect of employment. But maybe the problem isn’t with us, but with work itself. In the new book This Isn’t Working, author and workplace expert Meghan French Dunbar makes the case that our current systems of work are actively harming our health. Drawing on research and interviews, she offers a radical but compassionate rethinking of how we define success, lead teams, and take care of ourselves on the job. Pick up a copy on Amazon or listen to Meghan’s audio summary in the Next Big Idea app.
This week, Book of the Day is brought to you by Lead Boldly, a transformative read that marries the timeless wisdom of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with practical leadership strategies. This remarkable guide offers a deep dive into the principles that defined Dr. King’s impactful leadership and provides actionable insights to incorporate his visionary ideals into your own leadership journey. Get your copy today.
This Week on the Next Big Idea Daily Podcast
If you’ve raised an adolescent—or been one—you already know it’s a life stage that can feel like an emotional rollercoaster—full of drama, defiance, and slammed doors. But what if all that chaos wasn’t a bug… but a feature? Pulitzer Prize–winning New York Times journalist Matt Richtel says adolescence is a brilliant, necessary phase of human development. In his new book How We Grow Up, Matt explains how teenage brains are wired to question, rebel, and innovate—and how that friction might just be the thing that helps our species survive. Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
This Week on Author Insider
Writing can be a lonely pursuit. That’s why anyone aspiring to communicate for a living should check out our growing community at Author Insider. Coming up, we’ll have workshops with authors and publishing luminaries like Charles Duhigg, Madeline Mcintosh, and Katy Milkman to help you take your career to the next level. Check out Author Insider today.
Happy Pub Week!
Some great new reads landed in bookstores this week, like Impasse by Roy Scranton, Are You Mad At Me by
, Disney Adults by AJ Wolfe, Robin Hood Math by Noah Giansiracusa, The Outward Path by Sebastian Purcell, The Learning Household by Ken Bain, Me, My Customer, & AI by Henrik Werdelin and Nicholas Thorne, The Origin of Language by Madeleine Beekman, The Cybernetic Society by Amir Husain, Joyspan by , Consent Laid Bare by Chanel Contos, and of course the aforementioned This Isn’t Working by Meghan French Dunbar.