CARL ZIMMER: The Untold Story of the Air We Breathe

Humans are wired to explore. So why are we less adventurous than ever — and what are we losing because of it? Guest: Alex Hutchinson, author of The Explorer’s Gene Further Listening: Looking for more episodes about adventure? Check out our conversations with Colin O’Brady and David Grann

Could AI take over in the next few years? Daniel Kokotajlo thinks so. Here’s why. 💿 Check out this Spotify playlist of our other episodes about AI 📩 Want to transform your day in just 10 minutes? Sign up for our Book of the Day newsletter, and you’ll get daily, bite‑sized insights from the best new nonfiction books — in audio or text — straight from the authors. Sign up today!

Remember magazines? Piled high on coffee tables or tucked into seatback pockets. Savored beneath beach umbrellas or skimmed anxiously in dental waiting rooms. Glorious, glossy magazines. Graydon Carter made some of the best. He started with Spy, a sly, sharp-edged monthly that managed to feel both smarter and more mischievous than anything else on the rack. But it was Vanity Fair that became his cathedral. Over his remarkable 25-year tenure as editor, he built the magazine into a financial juggernaut and a cultural touchstone renowned for its ambitious journalism and arresting photography. The hard-won wisdom he gathered along the way — about editing, storytelling, leadership, and how to leave before the music stops — is the subject of his new memoir, When the Going Was Good. (This conversation was recorded live at WBUR Cityspace.) 💿 Check out this playlist of our interviews featuring magazine greats like Michael Lewis, Sebastian Junger, Kara Swisher, and David Grann.

You know those families where the kids all grow up to be remarkably successful? New York Times journalist Susan Dominus has spent the last few years getting to know some of them, looking for parenting techniques and life lessons. She's written a book about her findings called The Family Dynamic. "I thought I wrote a book about high-achieving families," she tells us, "but when I look back, it's really a book about families who did believe that the sky's the limit." 📕 Pre-order The Family Dynamic on Amazon, Bookshop, or from your local bookstore, send a copy of your receipt to [email protected], and we'll give you three months of free access to our paid Substack!

Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson is probably the most talked-about book in the country right now. And the most hotly debated. It’s a book about how we got here — here being a country without enough housing, a country that has lost its ambitious optimism, a country that has forgotten how to build. The prescription Ezra and Derek offer to cure what ails us is conspicuously pro-growth: more housing, more clean energy, more scientific development and technological innovation. But to pull that off, they argue, will require Democrats to question their endemic zeal for regulation. This view has fired up some liberals while simultaneously drawing ire from others. Today, Rufus sits down with Derek Thompson to talk about the book, the reaction to it, and how to convince political leaders from both sides of the aisle to embrace a liberalism that builds.

We’re often told that success comes down to talent, hard work, and luck. But Adam Grant's research suggests that view is missing something crucial. In today’s installment of Next Big Idea Classics, Adam revisits his 2013 bestseller “Give and Take,” explaining how our interactions with others determine who thrives and who doesn’t. 💿 For Adam’s previous appearances on the show, click here 🎙️ And check out our classic interviews with Daniel Pink, Kim Scott, and James Clear

In 2008, a mysterious figure created Bitcoin — a digital currency without banks or borders that sparked a global financial movement. And then he disappeared without a trace. Who is Satoshi Nakamoto? Why did he vanish? And why hasn’t he touched his $100 billion fortune? Today on the show, we talk to journalist Ben Wallace about his search for answers. 📕 The Mysterious Mr. Nakamoto 📩 Want to transform your day in just 10 minutes? Sign up for our Book of the Day newsletter, and you’ll get daily, bite‑sized insights from the best new nonfiction books — in audio or text — straight from the authors. Sign up today!

Can you change who you are? When reporter Olga Khazan decided she was tired of being a “high-strung misanthrope” (her words), she turned to science for answers. What she discovered about personality — and how to change it — might surprise you. Host: Daniel Pink Guest: Olga Khazan Book: Me, But Better This episode was recorded live at Politics and Prose on March 12th.

Every day you inhale 2,000 gallons of air. What’s in there? 📕 Air-Borne: The Hidden History of the Life We Breathe by Carl Zimmer 📩 Want to transform your day in just 10 minutes? Sign up for our Book of the Day newsletter, and you’ll get daily, bite‑sized insights from the best new nonfiction books — in audio or text — straight from the authors. Sign up today!

Turns out it’s not all about the Benjamins. Real success, according to Sahil Bloom, author of “The 5 Types of Wealth,” also requires the freedom to decide how you spend your time, meaningful relationships, a sense of purpose that pulls you forward, and the kind of health that lets you actually enjoy all of the above. 📩 Want to transform your day in just 10 minutes? Sign up for our Book of the Day newsletter, and you’ll get daily, bite‑sized insights from the best new nonfiction books — in audio or text — straight from the authors. Sign up today!