Think Bigger, Think Better: Business, Science, Philosophy, and Our Human Future
The Think Bigger, Think Better podcast asks the question How can contemporary philosophy and science help us make better choices, lead better lives, and create a sustainable, prosperous world?
Humans, since the time of the Pyramids, have done amazing things when they lift their gaze from the egocentric, the petty, and the mundane. We, in the business world, don’t do that nearly enough, focusing instead on launching the 500th kind of toothpaste, or on financial “innovations” that add risk to the global financial system.
Humans also struggle to make good decisions, particularly today when we are swamped with information of highly variable, sometimes dodgy quality. We need to understand our biases, to think critically, to use reason, to see through subterfuge and deception.
In THINK BIGGER THINK BETTER, we talk world leaders in their fields, who have great ideas on how we can be more reasoned and rational, and how we can inspire each other to greatness. Guests will be famous academics, politicians, NYT bestselling authors, business CEOs, and activists.
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Think Bigger Think Better is a 100% user-funded podcast that brings together the most inspirational and important thinkers of our time, such as Steven Pinker, having the conversations that matter most, on topics such as fake news, populism, climate change, and blockchain. Your generous support through Patreon helps fund the production of these podcasts and entitles you to monthly Live Ask-Me-Anything dialogs with NewYork Times best-selling authors.
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About Paul
The two most urgent questions for this century are first, how can we balance the good business does, lifting billions from poverty, allowing collaboration and innovation on a global scale, and commercializing science for the common good, with its potential for great harm consumer fraud, financial bubbles, environmental damage, shattered communities, and corruption of our democracy. Second, how can we use science and reason, and not pseudoscience, myths, gurus, quacks, and dogma, to make better decisions in our lives and for our society.
The Science of Organizational Change (Pearson, 2015), debunked management double-speak with 21st century research from the human sciences: philosophy, economics, political science, public health, psychology, neuroscience, sociology, and history. That book won Paul recognition as a “Top-30 global guru” in organizational culture, and as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA). He lives in Colorado with two young sons, is a part-time professor of Business Ethics, and competes in “mindsports”, chess, bridge, MOBA, and poker.
The Connector’s Advantage and the New Era of Networking with Michelle Tillis Lederman
Listen to our podcast on networking and building business relationships! It’s been a little while since our last podcast episode, but I’m pleased to be back with you this week to share an excellent interview with networking expert Michelle Tillis Lederman. I’ve been writing basically nonstop since 2019 began, and I’m excited to say that […]
How Behavioral Science Affects Consumers and Shapes the Future of Business with Michael Barbera
Listen to our podcast on behavioral science and the future of business! On the podcast this week, we’re continuing to explore how behavioral science is reshaping business strategy and consumer behavior alike. On the last episode, I talked to Kelly Monahan about why this approach has blown up in the business world. To provide another […]
Why Is Behavioral Science the Hottest Thing in Business? With Kelly Monahan
Listen to our podcast on behavioral science and organizational change! Behavioral science is super hot right now in the business world. If you follow me closely, you know that this topic is a passion of mine and makes up a chapter in my upcoming book, IMPACT (which will be available for pre-order on Amazon on April […]
The Future is Asian with Parag Khanna
Listen to our podcast on the Asian century and the future of the global economy. In the 19th century, Europe was the dominant force in global trade and politics. By the 20th century, the United States had taken up that mantle. But as we head deeper into the 21st century, a new – or perhaps […]
Is Plastic Pollution a Threat to Our Oceans or Us? with Julie Andersen of Plastic Oceans International
Listen to our podcast on plastic and ocean pollution. I ran some math the other day that was pretty dismal. At my local Kroger grocery store, nearly 100% of customers leave with plastic bags, maybe 5-10 per customer on average. They’re open for 20 hours, and let’s say they get 200 customers an hour. That […]
Human Evolution: How CRISPR babies, online dating, and technology are changing our future with Scott Solomon
Listen to our podcast on human evolution, technology, and CRISPR. Some famous scholars, no less than Stephen Jay Gould, have pronounced human evolution over. Perhaps this seems intuitive; we’ve conquered many diseases, have better nutrition and hygiene across the board, and have generally removed many of the SURVIVAL pressures that typically drive natural selection. But […]
Globalization: Trade, Trump, Brexit, and the Great Convergence with Richard Baldwin
We cover a lot of ground in this episode, beginning with a discussion about the history of globalization and how it's ebbed and flowed over time. We also talk mercantilism, Trump's trade policy, the rapid growth of China, and Richard's globalization theory, the Great Convergence. Richard and I also talk about the state of Brexit and what's likely to happen economically in Britain's near future.
Climate Change, the Paris Accord, and Sustainable Business with Hon James Shaw, Minster for Climate Change, New Zealand
Listen to our podcast on the Paris Accord, climate change politics, and sustainable business. Today is the first anniversary of the show, and we have a fittingly amazing guest – the Hon James Shaw, who is the Minster for Climate Change and an Associate Minister of Finance for NZ. He’s also the co-leader of the […]
Marijuana – Medical, Legal, and Industry Overview with Alex Romero
Listen to our podcast on medical marijuana, legalization of marijuana, and the marijuana industry. I realized recently, at a dinner party where somebody asked if I took sativa gummies, that the times have really changed – especially with regard to casual marijuana use and the rapidly growing medical marijuana industry. Marijuana is approved for medical […]
Will Ed Tech bring Universities into the 21st Century? with Andrew Hermalyn of 2U
Listen to our podcast on ed tech, online degrees, and the future of higher education. The university system faces some big challenges – can ed tech help? To a great extent, education looks today almost exactly as it did at Oxford 500 years ago – young people sitting in a room listening to an old […]
Artificial Intelligence (AI), IBM, and the Future of Work with Jesus Mantas
Listen to our podcast on artificial intelligence, consumer AI, and the future of work. Today’s amazing guest, Jesus Mantas of IBM, joins us to talk about Artificial Intelligence, its main consumer and business applications, and how IBM is addressing the risks of AI. IBM is an incredible company. Not only is it more than 100 […]
Free-Range Parenting: An Interview with America’s Worst Mom – Lenore Skenazy
Listen to our podcast on parenting, orthodoxy, fear, and culture (and when you are done, perhaps check out an earlier episode on parenting gifted children here) A few years ago, I took my 7-year-old niece and 6-year-old son to Barnes and Noble. Rather than torture them with the philosophy section, I left them in the […]
Spiritual Atheist and 21st Century Leadership with Nick Jankel
Listen to our podcast on atheism, spirituality, leadership, and consciousness Are spirituality and atheism incompatible? Today’s guest – philosopher, speaker, and author Nick Jankel – would argue no. Nick broke with organized religion at a young age, but the rest of his life has been spent filling this gap with all of the things that typically come […]
Trump Leadership Scorecard: Would he be a good CEO?
Join me on my podcast this week, where I discuss Trump’s leadership scorecard and why the left should not ignore the good things, and the right not ignore the bad. “I’m going to hire the best people in the world.” – Donald J. Trump “We are respected again, I can tell you that. We are respected […]
Human Flourishing: The True Purpose of Business?
Listen to our podcast on human flourishing, and the noblest purpose of 21st-century business. What is the meaning of life? Is it being happy, as many contemporary authors and self-help gurus will tell you? With all due respect to those who’ve made a career out of that message, there is more to it – and […]
What’s New in Space Exploration with Emily Lakdawalla of The Planetary Society
Listen to our podcast on space exploration, life on Mars, space mining, and asteroid armageddon The final frontier: Will we settle other planets, moons, or farther still? Are we on track, or mired in political and budgetary constraints? Is Elon Musk’s vision of colonizing Mars (starting with short trips in 2020) realizable, or Silicon Valley […]
Depression: How Can You Spot It? What Can You Do? Professor Steve Hollon
Tune in to our podcast covering depression, diagnosis, how to get help, and whether drugs or therapy work best. Our episode today covers depression, which affects one in six Americans. 20% of women and 10% of men will have an episode during their lifetimes. An important question is whether this may grossly understate the case; […]
Cultural Tourism the Millennial Way: South America by School Bus
Hear Daniel Blum and I discuss global culture, alternative nomadic lifestyles, cultural tourism, millennial values, and more! Almost a decade ago, I traveled to San Diego to play in a World Series of Poker event. This kid sat next to me: headphones, beard, hat backward. I don’t usually talk to the players much, let alone […]
Fake News, Post-Truth, Filter Bubbles, and Trump
Post-truth was the Oxford English Dictionary word of the year for 2016, and fake news in 2017. What do they mean? Are Trump's characterizations of CNN and the New York Time's accurate? Who produces fake news? How can you tell the difference? This podcast probes a culture of fake news, post-truth, Trump, and other phenomena from the last few years that corrupt our “information space.” As information age citizens, we depend on good information (facts) to make decisions as voters and consumers. Is that information available? What harms it? What harm might corrupted information do to us?
Making decisions in VUCA times – lessons from top poker pro Annie Duke
Listen to our podcast on decision-making, self-analysis, risk, and how to extract lessons from our victories and defeats! How is poker relevant to decision-making in business and life, and to thinking better? Why is a former poker professional in great demand as a consultant to investment banks, hedge funds, and venture capital funds? In one […]
Educating and Parenting Gifted Children: with Off the Charts author Ann Hulbert
Listen to our podcast on the most gifted prodigies in US history, and how they developed as adults! My guest this week is Ann Hulbert, literary editor of The Atlantic, and author of, Off the Charts: The Hidden Lives and Lessons of American Child Prodigies. In this magnificent book, Ann investigates the stories of gifted children […]
How to Spot Quackery! Chiropractic, Vitamins, Chelation, Homeopathy, and Other Health Frauds
Listen to our podcast on chelation, chiropractic, prescription drug pricing, tobacco, ephedra, vitamins, homeopathy, kinesiology, and more! Quackery, the promotion of fraudulent or ignorant medical practices, is all around us – often preying on the gullible. Some quackery is harmless, but some causes direct harm, and some causes indirect harm (such as when used as […]
What Is Evidence-Based Management? Prof Rob Briner
We are in the middle of a revolution, what I call the evidence revolution. The professions, including medicine, teaching, and management, are in the midst of a cultural shift – toward learning how to evaluate and use evidence when prescribing policy. Yet there is resistance – particularly to evidence-based management. Behaviors and cultural norms change […]
Learning Styles, Neurobabble, and Other Psychological Myths with Scott Lilienfeld
Listen to our podcast on psychological myths, neuroscience, and mental illness I first became aware of today’s guest as I was writing a book on business change, which led me to make a list of change myths. While I was at it, I also looked at psychological myths. After all, change involves changing people, which is […]
Stoicism, Atheism, Pseudoscience, Scientism with Massimo Pigliucci
Listen to our podcast on scientism, atheism, pseudoscience, and stoicism Pseudoscience How do you make the claim that astronomy is a science, yet astrology a pseudoscience? Why is homeopathy pseudoscience? This is called the “demarcation problem” first concisely stated by Karl Popper in the 1950’s. More importantly, why should we care? Why can’t philosophers and scientists […]
Embodiment: The Body and Its Role In Personal Change
Listen to the Full Episode: In contemporary psychology, who we are, and how we grow, learn, and change are mental phenomena. On today’s episode of THINK BIGGER, THINK BETTER, we look at a radical new view – the body and its role in change. You won’t find this topic discussed in textbooks; the ideas my guest Mark […]
Populism, Trump and Brexit: History and Causes
Listen to the Full Episode: This week on THINK BIGGER, THINK BETTER we are continuing with a theme – populism – which describes aspects of today’s zeitgeist. My guest today, Dr. Arun Swamy, helps break down what populism actually is and how it has manifested throughout history and today. What most populist movements share is an […]
Fake News – What It Is and What It Is Not with Paul Levinson
Listen to the Full Episode: Thank you for joining me yet again for another thought-provoking episode of THINK BIGGER, THINK BETTER – today’s topic is ‘fake news’. Today’s guest is Paul Levinson, PhD, – an expert on contemporary media, an expert on fake news, and serial author of science fiction books. To give you a […]
Are Neuroscience and Evolutionary Biology Useful Guides for 21st Century Humans? With Bob Samuels
Listen to the Full Episode: Welcome, everyone, to this edition of THINK BIGGER, THINK BETTER. In this episode, we talk to Bob Samuels – a true polymath, psychologist, philosopher, and social scientist from the University of California, Santa Barbara where he teaches Public Discourse, Psychology, and Rhetoric. We discuss the importance of reason and how […]
Can We (Or Should We) Teach Children Philosophy? With Jana Mohr Lone
Listen to the Full Episode: Welcome to the latest episode of THINK BIGGER, THINK BETTER. On today’s show, I welcome Jana Mohr Lone of the Center for Philosophy for Children. I’m excited to have Jana on the show today, not just because she has done something I’ve always wanted to do – write a […]
Is It Time to Rethink Democracy in America? With Parag Khanna
Listen to the Full Episode: One could approach today’s episode pondering the question, “Why isn’t democracy perfect?” The answer to that question lies in 3 fundamental issues. These problems we face with democracy are not new; they existed in the truly radical governing experiments of the 17th and 18th centuries, and they continue to plague […]
Critical Thinking – a Threat to Society or the Path to Better Living? With Linda Elder
Listen to the Full Episode: If you travel in educational circles these days, it’s hard not to hear about critical thinking. It seems like a logical answer to the Information Age problems we face today. The problem with our perception of critical thinking is two-fold: most people think that they do it – applying […]
The Impossible Presidency with Jeremi Suri
Listen to the Full Episode: Welcome to the inaugural episode of the THINK BIGGER, THINK BETTER podcast, where we explore science, philosophy, business, and our human future. I am your host, Paul Gibbons. Every other week, I will be bringing you conversations with a wide range of scientists, philosophers, public intellectuals, and business and political leaders […]
What is the Think Bigger, Think Better podcast about?
Listen to the Full Episode: Welcome to the THINK BIGGER, THINK BETTER podcast, where we explore science, philosophy, business, and our human future. I am your host, Paul Gibbons. Every other week, I will be bringing you conversations with a wide range of scientists, philosophers, public intellectuals, and business and political leaders on the most important issues […]
