logo
episode-header-image
Oct 16
28m 23s

Outer Space is Stranger Than You Think

Next Big Idea Club
About this episode
Space looks spectacular in photographs. But what would you actually see if you were standing on another world? Astronomer Philip Plait takes us beyond the telescope in Under Alien Skies: A Sightseer's Guide to the Universe, imagining the view from worlds with twin suns, Saturn’s rings, and places where space and time get very strange. Then theoretical physic ... Show More
Up next
Oct 15
Why We Want Things We Don’t Need
Why does the next new thing always seem like the thing that will finally make life better? In Saying No to New: Why New Things Are Stealing Your Time, Money, and Happiness—And How to Take Back Your Life, New York Times editor Eric Athas explores our appetite for novelty and the t ... Show More
21m 43s
Oct 14
Why Bad Feelings Stick
Why do bad feelings have such staying power? In The Opposite of Happiness: How Bad Feelings Make and Break Us, behavioral economist George Loewenstein explores how evolution shaped our emotional lives—and why sadness, anxiety, and regret so often crowd out pleasure. Psychotherapi ... Show More
30m 7s
Oct 13
Why Smart Groups Make Bad Decisions
Smart people can make terrible decisions—or brilliant ones. What makes the difference? In Goodthink: The New Science of Collective Intelligence, Damon Centola, a University of Pennsylvania professor who directs the Network Dynamics Group, shares two decades of research showing th ... Show More
35m 57s
Recommended Episodes
Sep 2024
William T. Taylor, "Hoof Beats: How Horses Shaped Human History" (U California Press, 2024)
From the Rockies to the Himalayas, the bond between horses and humans has spanned across time and civilizations. In this archaeological journey, William T. Taylor explores how momentous events in the story of humans and horses helped create the world we live in today. Tracing the ... Show More
1h 1m
Mar 2025
Horses
Horses—majestic, powerful, and deeply woven into the fabric of human history. From wild herds roaming ancient plains to their role in shaping civilizations, horses have carried us through battles, journeys, and everyday life. How did this bond between humans and horses begin, and ... Show More
50m 7s
Oct 2025
651. The Ultimate Dance Partner
tail spinning
1h 8m
Jun 2023
Origins of Horse Riding
<p>Human and Horse relationships have long be intertwined; from the ancient Eurasian plain, through to modern cowboys. But how did these huge, independent creatures become domesticated - and what was the original intention behind such an act? Originally tamed for their meat and m ... Show More
44m 9s
Apr 2023
How Horses Conquered America (Twice)
<p>Horses have been a bulwark of American culture and society for centuries. Think of cowboys in the Mid-West or Native Americans riding bareback on the Great Plains. But new, ground-breaking archeological evidence has emerged to suggest horses were present in the Americas more t ... Show More
25m 18s
Jun 2023
Hooves Up!
<p>The girlies investigate a beloved middle school archetype — the horse girl. They explain the history of The American Horse™️, the women who protected them from extinction, and why love stories between girls and horses are so much more empowering than the heteronormative script ... Show More
1h 20m
Oct 2021
Wendy Doniger, "Winged Stallions and Wicked Mares: Horses in Indian Myth and History" (U Virginia Press, 2021)
Raj Balkaran speaks with Wendy Doniger about her new book Winged Stallions and Wicked Mares: Horses in Indian Myth and History (University of Virginia Press, 2021), along with her translation of the final four books of the Mahābhārata's Critical Edition translation project, the p ... Show More
1h 3m