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Monthly Issue
May 2026
The Power of Play
In this monthly issue, we take a closer look at how games, imagination, and creative experimentation shape identity and culture.
1 episode 15 articles
How playgrounds reinvented childhood
The modern playground was more than a place to play — it was a blueprint for a new kind of upbringing.
by
Frank Jacobs
Play this card game to solve your team’s biggest problem
The $25 card game that unlocks high-achieving teams.
Play it again: The causal link between fun and resilience
Fun in business is no laughing matter — it can create a golden strategic advantage and bring serious success in the long term.
How playgrounds reinvented childhood
The modern playground was more than a place to play — it was a blueprint for a new kind of upbringing.
by
Frank Jacobs
To access your creativity, start playing
Humans are naturally creative, but adulthood often teaches us to value productivity over play.
FIND US ON SUBSTACK
What happens when AI plays war?
Wargames are helping answer one of the biggest questions of the AI era: how machines might reshape human decision-making in war.
From Pong to 18 quintillion planets: The evolution of video game play spaces
From early arcades to AI-generated worlds, video games have continually expanded the “magic circle” of play.
Why your brain loves games — and how to use that to your advantage
Your brain responds to game-like mechanics with focus, persistence, and engagement — the exact qualities you need to stay motivated.
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
Kairos: The ancient Greek art of knowing when to act
A white rabbit appears up ahead. What do you do?
Most of your opinions aren’t yours — and a philosopher has a name for it
Why we shouldn't necessarily outsource our thinking to dead people.
Intimate interviews with the world’s biggest thinkers.
19mins
The unpopular truth about the myth of the lone genius
David Epstein argues that the myth of the lone genius is a story we tell, but the actual history of innovation is far more interesting.
21mins
The 6 triggers of aversion and how to defeat each one
In goal setting, Chris Bailey argues the problem isn't discipline; it's the system itself.
25mins
A history of music and human creativity on earth
Musicologist Michael Spitzer walks us through the natural origins of human music and creativity.
16mins
Sean Carroll: The past, present, and future exist simultaneously
Beneath our assumptions lies the most complex, unsolved question in physics: Why does time have any direction at all?
JWST proves that black holes really do come before galaxies
It's the Universe's ultimate chicken-and-egg question: what came first, the galaxy or the black hole? One Little Red Dot proves the answer.
Gravitational wave astronomy is now a fully mature science
In 2016, humanity announced our first successful gravitational wave detection. 10 years and 389 events later, here's how far we've come.
Is the USA on track to fulfill Astro2020’s decadal plan?
The Astro2020 decadal report set the USA's agenda for space and ground-based astronomy. Here in 2026, we're clearly on the wrong course.
Ask Ethan: Why does our Universe require CP-violation?
Two discrete symmetries, charge conjugation and parity, must be violated together for our Universe to exist. We haven't found enough of it.
Big ideas. Thoughtful conversations. One book at a time.
5 literary classics that grapple with the void of nihilism
From mysterious villages to absurdism at the gallows, these books explore the origins, consequences, and possible responses to nihilism.
Long before FIFA, these brutal folk games gave birth to soccer
Soccer emerged from chaotic folk games, elite school rivalries, and evolving rules that transformed a rough pastime into the beautiful game.
When “survival of the fittest” justified monopolies and the slow death of democracy
America’s first Gilded Age reveals how concentrated economic power erodes democracy and offers a warning as similar forces reemerge today.
Astrology’s seductive nonsense — and why we still believe it
Vague predictions and post hoc revisions help astrology feel meaningful, even while it fails empirical testing.
Learn business from the world’s biggest thinkers.
The 250-year-old company that survived by refusing to lay people off
What would your company do if it lost all its customers at once?
The 3 stories every leader needs to inspire successful transformations
Directives rarely inspire change. The most effective leaders use stories to make transformation memorable, resonant, and actionable.
The radical act of slowing down
A meditation on how our obsession with speed and productivity undermines our health, relationships, and chances for lasting success.
Follow the money: Mapping millionaire migration across America
Since 2018, around 103,000 millionaires moved out of California — and 133,000 millionaires moved in to Florida
The Irish language is having a moment — and running out of time
Gaeilge is trending culturally. So why is it, according to census data, also dying?
The Strait of Hormuz is today’s energy chokepoint. China is tomorrow’s.
As the global economy moves beyond oil, the strategic importance of the world’s most critical hydrocarbon chokepoint is likely to decline rapidly.
How the modern world turned gray (and why color may be coming back)
The ideology, economics, and psychology behind the modern world's draining of color from homes, cars, and everyday objects.
Where science meets the human story.
A physicist explains what the Kardashev scale gets wrong
The famous framework ranks civilizations by energy use — but ignores a critical factor that can halt their progress.
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.