The Next Big Idea

When journalist Sebastian Mallaby approached Demis Hassabis, Google's AI chief and a man with a lifelong mission to build superintelligence, about writing his biography, he made the following pitch: "If you're going to disrupt people from head to toe, you owe them an explanation of why you're doing it. What motivates you? Why do something this dangerous?" Today, Sebastian tells us what answers he found.

Sebastian's new book, The Infinity Machine, is out now. Pick up a copy from Amazon, Audible, or Bookshop.org.

The Next Big Idea is now on YouTube! You can find our episodes ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠.

Follow Rufus on ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠, subscribe to our ⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠, or send us an email at ⁠[email protected]⁠.

The best way to support the show is by becoming a Next Big Idea Club member. Learn more at ⁠⁠nextbigideaclub.com⁠⁠, and use code PODCAST for a super secret discount (spoiler: it’s 20% off).

Sponsored By:

Fabric — Join the thousands of parents who trust Fabric to help protect their family at ⁠⁠meetfabric.com/nbi⁠⁠

Factor — Head to ⁠⁠⁠factormeals.com/idea50off⁠⁠⁠ and use code idea50off to get 50% off your first box

Granola — Get three months free at ⁠⁠granola.ai/idea⁠⁠

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In 2023, Patrick Radden Keefe met a man who told him, "I might have a story for you." When you're Patrick — New Yorker staff writer, author of "some of the most memorable nonfiction books of the last decade" (that's the New York Times talking) — this is a hazard of the trade. But he heard the guy out.

The guy said he knew a family whose 19-year-old son had died in mysterious circumstances. "He went off the balcony of a luxury apartment building overlooking the Thames." When the boy's parents started looking into it, they made an astonishing discovery: Their son — a nice, upper-middle-class Londoner — had been running around the city posing as the son of a Russian oligarch.

"This guy said only about that much," Patrick tells us in today's episode, "and I knew if the family would talk to me, this was my next thing." His new book is London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family's Search for Truth.

The Next Big Idea is now on YouTube! You can find our episodes ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠.

Follow Rufus on ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠, subscribe to our ⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠, or send us an email at ⁠[email protected]⁠.

The best way to support the show is by becoming a Next Big Idea Club member. Learn more at ⁠⁠nextbigideaclub.com⁠⁠, and use code PODCAST for a super secret discount (spoiler: it’s 20% off).

Sponsored By:

Fabric — Join the thousands of parents who trust Fabric to help protect their family at ⁠⁠meetfabric.com/nbi⁠⁠

Factor — Head to ⁠⁠⁠factormeals.com/idea50off⁠⁠⁠ and use code idea50off to get 50% off your first box

Granola — Get three months free at ⁠⁠granola.ai/idea⁠⁠

Shopify — Start your $1/month trial at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠shopify.com/nbi⁠⁠⁠

It’s a big, bad, scary, lonely world out there. Lucky for us, Jenny Lawson — aka the Bloggess — has collected more than a hundred tricks and tools that have helped her keep going, and she shares them in her heartwarming and hilarious new book, How to Be Okay When Nothing Is Okay.

The Next Big Idea is now on YouTube! You can find our episodes ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠.

If you enjoyed this conversation, check out Arthur’s previous appearances on the show ⁠here⁠ and ⁠here⁠.

Follow Rufus on ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠, subscribe to our ⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠, or send us an email at ⁠[email protected]⁠.

The best way to support the show is by becoming a Next Big Idea Club member. Learn more at ⁠⁠nextbigideaclub.com⁠⁠, and use code PODCAST for a super secret discount (spoiler: it’s 20% off).

Sponsored By:

Fabric — Join the thousands of parents who trust Fabric to help protect their family at ⁠⁠meetfabric.com/nbi⁠⁠

Factor — Head to ⁠⁠⁠factormeals.com/idea50off⁠⁠⁠ and use code idea50off to get 50% off your first box

Granola — Get three months free at ⁠⁠granola.ai/idea⁠⁠

Shopify — Start your $1/month trial at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠shopify.com/nbi⁠⁠⁠

The French filmmaker Jean Renoir said, "The only things that are important in life are the things you remember." But what do you remember and why? That's the subject of Why We Remember: Unlocking Memory's Power to Hold on to What Matters by pioneering neuroscientist Charan Ranganath. He explains why you still know the lyrics to the song you loved in eighth grade but can't remember the name of your kid's eighth-grade teacher, how memory shapes your identity, and what you can do right now to improve your recall. (This episode first aired in April 2024.)

The Next Big Idea is now on YouTube! You can find our episodes ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠.

Follow Rufus on ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠, subscribe to our ⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠, or send us an email at ⁠[email protected]⁠.

The best way to support the show is by becoming a Next Big Idea Club member. Learn more at ⁠⁠nextbigideaclub.com⁠⁠, and use code PODCAST for a super secret discount (spoiler: it’s 20% off).

Sponsored By:

Fabric — Join the thousands of parents who trust Fabric to help protect their family at ⁠⁠meetfabric.com/nbi⁠⁠

Factor — Head to ⁠⁠⁠factormeals.com/idea50off⁠⁠⁠ and use code idea50off to get 50% off your first box

Granola — Get three months free at ⁠⁠granola.ai/idea⁠⁠

Shopify — Start your $1/month trial at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠shopify.com/nbi⁠⁠⁠

Let's face it, modern life is kind of a bummer. We're glued to our phones, starved for meaning, haunted by a gnawing sense of emptiness. Enter Arthur C. Brooks. He's a Harvard professor, happiness expert, and a man with a plan to help you find your why and build a life that actually fills you up.

Arthur’s new book is The Meaning of Your Life. Learn more at https://www.arthurbrooks.com/the-meaning-of-your-life

The Next Big Idea is now on YouTube! You can find our episodes ⁠⁠here⁠⁠.

If you enjoyed this conversation, check out Arthur’s previous appearances on the show here and here.

Follow Rufus on ⁠LinkedIn⁠, subscribe to our ⁠Substack⁠, or send us an email at [email protected].

The best way to support the show is by becoming a Next Big Idea Club member. Learn more at ⁠nextbigideaclub.com⁠, and use code PODCAST for a super secret discount (spoiler: it’s 20% off).

Sponsored By:

Fabric — Join the thousands of parents who trust Fabric to help protect their family at ⁠meetfabric.com/nbi⁠

Factor — Head to ⁠⁠factormeals.com/idea50off⁠⁠ and use code idea50off to get 50% off your first box

Granola — Get three months free at ⁠granola.ai/idea⁠

Shopify — Start your $1/month trial at ⁠⁠⁠⁠shopify.com/nbi⁠⁠⁠