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Monthly Issue
January 2026
The Pursuit of Mastery
In this monthly issue, we explore what mastery is, how it’s cultivated, and why some people are willing to trade it all for a chance to be the best.
11 articles
From self-erasure to self-mastery: Ethan Suplee’s second act
The actor learned control, endurance, and focus on-set. Those lessons became the foundation of his real-world fight with addiction and self-hatred.
by
Mike Wehner
What nihilism acknowledges that other philosophies don’t
“The thing that the nihilist recognizes is that the values he or she holds are not grounded in anything other than their own preferences.”
with
Alex O’Connor
The systems that build star performers
Many top performers start behind — and overtake the early leaders later.
by
Rachel Barr
From self-erasure to self-mastery: Ethan Suplee’s second act
The actor learned control, endurance, and focus on-set. Those lessons became the foundation of his real-world fight with addiction and self-hatred.
by
Mike Wehner
7 must-read books for mastering essential life skills
Timeless guidance on communication, time management, creativity, and more from some of today’s most influential thinkers.
FIND US ON SUBSTACK
The last masters: The international effort to preserve an ancient craft
The revival of Pasto Varnish shows how living heritage can survive if knowledge is passed on in time.
Mastering the edge: How success raises the stakes for elite adventurers
For elite climbers, divers, and explorers, mastery can fuel an escalation loop in which identity and danger rise together.
The 5 myths that make us quit before we get good
These cultural lies make normal struggle feel like failure. A habit of experimentation makes it feel like progress.
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
Buried alive, leeched, and attacked with a poker: The dark history of nostalgia “cures”
Today, nostalgia is somewhat kitsch. Back then, it was something to be feared.
The Oprah Rule: What everyone wants you to say in a conversation
People don't want you to buy their stories — they want you to listen to them.
Intimate interviews with the world’s biggest thinkers.
25mins
The computing revolution that secretly began in 1776
"In the process of mapping the heavens, it doesn't take long to realize the data problem they generated."
18mins
Why modern fitness culture misunderstands human bodies
"It's this modern idea of doing voluntary discretionary, physical activity for the sake of health and fitness."
21mins
Why even the healthiest people hit a wall at age 70
"By keeping people biologically younger, we can enjoy a longer health span, a longer period of healthy life where we're active, where we're happy, where we can engage in our hobbies, and play with our grandkids and great grandkids."
Members
7mins
Our intuitions about consciousness may be deeply wrong
We tend to trust our intuitions about consciousness because they feel immediate and personal, but feeling convinced is not the same as being right. Annaka Harris explores what happens when […]
The most important quantum advance of the 21st century
A century ago, quantum physics overthrew our view of a deterministic Universe. A profound 21st century theorem closes the door even further.
JWST shakes up the hunt for earliest galaxy cluster
The Universe formed stars, galaxies, and even galaxy clusters extremely early on in our cosmos. This new marvel is one more JWST surprise.
Ask Ethan: How much damage could a cosmic ray do to a human?
At the upper limits of what's energetically possible, cosmic rays still persist. What happens if a human gets hit by the most energetic one?
Dark matter’s “nightmare scenario” looks more likely than ever
Our great hope is that today's indirect, astrophysical evidence will someday lead to successful direct detection. What if that's impossible?
Big ideas. Thoughtful conversations. One book at a time.
Why fulfilled people make time for nothing at all
In this excerpt from Flourish, Daniel Coyle shares how stillness, presence, and attention help people build meaningful connections.
The dinosaur that vanished twice: How WWII nearly erased Spinosaurus from history
Ernst Stromer discovered Spinosaurus in Egypt. His fossils were destroyed in WWII, yet still shape how we imagine this mysterious dinosaur today.
Why “read more” may be the most underrated thinking advice we have
Reading isn’t just writing prep; together, reading and writing help writers think and generate original ideas through extended cognition.
Your brain loves labels — even when they limit your potential
Labels help your brain make sense of a complex world, but when self-attached, those same labels can convince you that you're unable to grow.
Learn business from the world’s biggest thinkers.
The Agility Quotient: Why we need to move on from IQ and EQ
Liz Tran makes the case for a new kind of intelligence that addresses our ability to handle today’s ever-fluctuating challenges: AQ.
Move fast and mend things
Why we should balance innovation with stewardship — while reframing the “techno-optimists versus doomers” polarization.
How a small shop in Kyoto connects mastery with meditation
What 150-year-old Japanese workshop Kaikado can teach us about finding calm through focus in an age of distraction.
How to find success the “autotelic” way
Too many rich and prominent people turn out to be egotistical jerks: Brad Stulberg argues for a more grounded path towards excellence.
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.
“The Chinese Job”: Spain’s wild 1580s plan to conquer the world — via Beijing
The plan — conquer China and push west to attack the Ottomans — was peak imperial hubris, as the Spanish themselves eventually realized.
Where science meets the human story.
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.
6 questions about consciousness with Annaka Harris
A conversation with Annaka Harris on shared perception, experimental science, and why our intuition about consciousness is wrong.
