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The late Bronze Age was the last time our world was this connected
Historian Eric Cline argues the Bronze Age collapse wasn’t the work of one invading force or one bad harvest, but something far harder to stop: An overly interdependent system that had no way to absorb multiple shocks at once.
with
Eric Cline
In those centuries, it was very globalized, across the Mediterranean and into the ancient Near East. This is the period when I say the ancient G8 was in place.
The 3 types of reading (and the 2 you’ll pick)
Skim or scan this. No need to deep-read.
Aztec philosophy: How lucky you are to not be in prison right now
Nick was always an angry boy, but he was unlucky as well.
The real reason some people are instantly likable
Small signals of warmth can dramatically change how people respond to you.
The 3 types of reading (and the 2 you’ll pick)
Skim or scan this. No need to deep-read.
It was never about AI (we are not our tools)
Every generation has faced a version of this moment — the question has never been what our tools can do, but what we choose to do with them.
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The centuries-old “love story” that was really a tale of psychological abuse
Classic literature reveals how resilience can be both a source of strength in troubled times — and a dangerous ideal.
AI could trigger the biggest productivity boom ever
Higher productivity drives increases in wealth, wages, and living standards. AI could be just what we need to solve many of today’s problems — if we manage the gains wisely.
How the U.S. Constitution protects liberty from the powerful’s dark impulses
In this excerpt from Separation of Powers, Cass Sunstein explains how the U.S. Constitution prevents such a concentration of authority from turning democracy into despotism.
What would you like to learn more about? We have thousands of videos from the world’s biggest thinkers to help you dive deeper into any subject.
Pause the busyness of life to reflect on ourselves, our relationships, and the Universe.
with
Jonny Thomson
3 ways to think and talk like a philosopher
"Broadly speaking, it's at least plausible, this might be right."
How to spot a stupid person with Carlo Cipolla’s “golden law of stupidity”
How many stupid acts does it take to make a person stupid?
Intimate interviews with the world’s biggest thinkers.
7mins
The present is a story your brain assembles after the fact
Jim Al-Khalili explains how the past and future are more fluid than we may think.
13mins
The idea so strange Einstein thought it broke quantum physics
Jim Al-Khalili introduces the technologies emerging from the second quantum revolution.
1hr 19mins
The block universe: a theory where every moment already exists
Theoretical physicist Jim Al-Khalili explores why our sense of time may be incredibly misleading, including the idea that past, present, and future might all exist at once.
23mins
Why alien civilizations may bloom and die unseen
Brian Cox examines why, despite billions of stars and trillions of planets, we have found no evidence of other intelligent life.
Ask Ethan: Does nature need to obey laws at all?
No matter what physical system we consider, nature always obeys the same fundamental laws. Must it be this way, and if so, why?
The case for and against a 5th fundamental force of nature
When what we predict and what we measure don't add up, that's a sign there's something new to learn. Could it be a new fundamental force?
Why “CPT” is the Universe’s most unbreakable symmetry
The combination of charge conjugation, parity, and time-reversal symmetry is known as CPT. And it must never be broken. Ever.
Einstein showed space can curve, but data reveals a flat Universe
In theory, the fabric of space could have been curved in any way imaginable. So why is the Universe flat when we measure it?
Big ideas. Thoughtful conversations. One book at a time.
Emergence: A memoir by David Sussillo
In this preview, the Stanford professor muses on how emergence, arriving at complex patterns from simple parts, explains AI, brains, and life itself.
The Moys of New York and Shanghai: A new generational history
A preview of the latest book by Chinese history expert Charlotte Brooks
No Friend of This House: A novel by Natalie Haynes
A preview of the latest novel by the New York Times bestselling author.
“If it sounds literary, it isn’t”: The deceptively simple rules behind good writing
Anne Lamott and Neal Allen join us to discuss why embracing constraints can be the best way to find freedom in the craft.
Learn business from the world’s biggest thinkers.
How smart management built a forgettable world
Cities and organizations alike risk becoming highly efficient — but indistinguishable — unless leaders actively preserve space for imagination and deviation.
Gretchen Rubin’s simple secrets for a happier, less cluttered life
Rubin joins Big Think for a chat about her one-minute rule, why self-knowledge is key to a good life, and more.
Thumbs-down to “Gladiator Strategy”? Try the Nadella philosophy instead
To bring the best out of your teams, don’t flex like Maximus — lean into a “helpful fight” instead.
How to conquer pressure — the Jim Belushi way
The actor, comedian, and marijuana cultivator on collaboration, success, and overcoming nerves — in business and life.
Welcome to McKinley: How the U.S. almost colonized a chunk of Cuba
A century ago, an American colony named after Trump's favorite president was thriving on the Isle of Pines. Then came hurricanes and geopolitical reality.
Memorizing London’s 25,000 streets changes cabbies’ brains — and may prevent Alzheimer’s
One of the toughest vocational exams in the world requires candidates to memorize 25,000 streets in an area five times the size of Manhattan.
7,000-year-old underwater wall raises questions about ancient engineering — and lost-city legends
Scientists found a massive underwater wall off the coast of France that might help explain the origin of the legend of Ys.
America’s post-apocalyptic maps reveal eerily familiar fault lines
In post-apocalyptic fiction, imagined futures turn today’s political and cultural tensions into geography.
Where science meets the human story.
Why organisms are more than machines
Sixty years ago, a little-known philosopher challenged how science understands life. His perspective is finding new relevance in the age of artificial intelligence.
Aerial aliens: Why cloudy worlds might make detecting life easier
Astronomer Lisa Kaltenegger spoke with Big Think about how "the colors of life" could leave detectable traces on distant planets.
The next great leap in evolution may lie beyond Earth
NASA’s Caleb Scharf talks with Big Think about life’s long experiment in expansion.
David Kipping on how the search for alien life is gaining credibility
Big Think spoke with astronomer David Kipping about technosignatures, "extragalactic SETI," and being a popular science communicator in the YouTube age.
