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Great Question

32 episodes

Big Thinkers join us to ruminate on a great question that they may — or may not — have pondered before.

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All Episodes (32)

A man in a suit looks upward with a surprised expression. There is a fiery effect in the foreground. Buildings and people are visible in the background.

How your brain works in an emergency, in 9 minutes

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9 min

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A bulletin board with newspaper clippings, maps, and strings. The text "THE HIDDEN TRUTH?" is prominently displayed in the center.

Our information pipelines have shifted. They’re fueling conspiracy theories

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8 min

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People say altruism is selfish. They’re not wrong

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6 min

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How to evaluate social norms as an independent thinker

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5 min

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Series of six images displaying the diffraction patterns of light as it passes through various shaped apertures.

A 7-minute guide to the relationship between quantum mechanics and black holes

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7 min

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with

A man sitting on a bench in the dark.

How loneliness is killing us, according to a Harvard professor

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6 min

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with

Robert Waldinger

A man in a suit with white hair and a red tie.

The four types of planetary civilizations, explained by Michio Kaku

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6 min

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with

A group of sheep in a barn with a green arrow in front of them.

The unexpected impact of AI on animals

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5 min

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with

A man in a suit is pointing his finger at a yellow background, referencing string theory.

Einstein failed to solve the Universe. Here’s what it would take to succeed. | Michio Kaku

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6 min

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with

The cover of a dying profession.

More accountants are leaving the field than joining. What’s going on?

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4 min

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with

Kelly Richmond Pope

A man doing push ups in a gym.

How to grow your brain by moving your body

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4 min

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with

An image of two people kissing on a blue background.

Neurodivergence is absent in sex education. That’s a problem.

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6 min

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with

a close up of a person wearing a suit and tie.

Hitler, Churchill, and the real trolley problem

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6 min

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a birthday cake with the number 100 on it.

How to eat if you want to age slowly

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5 min

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Game theory can explain humanity’s biggest problem

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4 min

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Is marriage dying?

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6 min

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with

The mind-blowing virality of music

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5 min

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with

Michael Spitzer

Ask a physicist: Do humans have souls?

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5 min

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with

Sabine Hossenfelder

The physics of entropy and the origin of life

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6 min

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Should you bring a kid into this world?

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4 min

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What psychedelics can’t explain

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4 min

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with

Matthew W. Johnson

Debate world champion explains how to argue

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5 min

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1 in 3 people cheat. Here’s what to do if you’re the 1.

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5 min

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with

Michael Slepian

Columbia professor: “Drug use is your birthright”

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4 min

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with

Can we build a Metaverse that’s GOOD?

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4 min

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Celebrity CEOs are amazing. Until they backfire.

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dao leadership

DAOs: The end of bosses?

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2 min

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truth bias

Strengthen your internal lie detector

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3 min

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Experiencing flow state

How ‘flow state’ can heal trauma

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Is there an afterlife

Is there an afterlife? Here’s what he saw while he was ‘dead’

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with

Dr. Bruce Greyson

Related

Close-up view of a marble sculpture's lower face, showing a smile with detailed lips and chin against a dark background.

The philosophy of happiness, explained in 10 minutes

“If we’re to be happy at all, it has to be found outside of this notion of pleasure. We have to step beyond hedonia. But the problem is that we risk going too far.”

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11 min

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A pink brain shaped like a heart with rays emanating from it against a black background.

Emotional intelligence: The 4 domains of high performance

“Self-awareness, it’s the least visible part of emotional intelligence, but we find in our research that people low in self-awareness are unable to develop strengths very well in other parts of emotional intelligence.”

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8 min

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A hand clasps an older, wrinkled hand against a black background, symbolizing care and support.

Our population is aging, here’s how to care for it correctly

Americans are getting older, and so are traditional healthcare methods. CEO of Northwell Health Michael Dowling shares his take on how we can develop the best care for our elderly loved ones.

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4 min

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with

Michael Dowling

A man in a suit looks upward with a surprised expression. There is a fiery effect in the foreground. Buildings and people are visible in the background.

How your brain works in an emergency, in 9 minutes

“Humans, like most mammals, tend to shut down in really frightening situations for which they have no training or prior experience. Researchers call it negative panic. People do nothing. They shut down.”

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9 min

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Aerial view of a large cargo ship with multicolored containers navigating through deep blue ocean waters.

The basics of post-COVID monetary policy, explained by an economist

“Understanding more about monetary policy and the economic regime that you’re living under can help ease some of the fundamental uncertainties [that have been] prevalent since COVID, and help you make better decisions in your day-to-day life.”

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11 min

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with

Joseph Politano