46 episodes

The smartest people on the planet distill a single idea or piece of advice that they think you need to know right now. Each episode focuses on a central theme and Andrew guides the conversations so that information is tightly packaged and intriguing. You will walk away from each episode with a clear understanding of the topic and direct path to integrate the knowledge into your life.

What's the Big Idea with Andrew Horn Andrew Horn

    • Society & Culture
    • 5.0 • 60 Ratings

The smartest people on the planet distill a single idea or piece of advice that they think you need to know right now. Each episode focuses on a central theme and Andrew guides the conversations so that information is tightly packaged and intriguing. You will walk away from each episode with a clear understanding of the topic and direct path to integrate the knowledge into your life.

    Annie Lalla - How to create a healthy, inspiring and love-filled romantic relationship

    Annie Lalla - How to create a healthy, inspiring and love-filled romantic relationship

    Today's guest is Annie Lala. Annie is one of the top relationship experts and coaches on the planet. I am very fortunate to have called her my relationship coach through my 11 year marriage, my recent divorce, and now with my new partner Melissa. I would not be in the happy co-parenting relationship I currently an with Miki (my ex) without her love and support.
    She is truly world class at helping people to work through really difficult challenges and conflict in their relationships. She's a master at the technical and the practical.... the rituals, communication techniques that help people to stay in love and cultivate inspiring partnerships. She's also just plain brilliant. She's able to talk about the esoteric and the mental models of love and relationship, with a fluidity and mastery that is interesting and deeply inspiring. She is one of my favorite people on the planet. She's a genius when it comes to creating and sustaining a love filled relationship. So ,whether you are already in the relationship of your dreams, or you want to build one in the future, Annie can help.

    • 1 hr 15 min
    Jayson Gaddis - ”Getting to Zero” - How to master conflict resolution in your important relationships

    Jayson Gaddis - ”Getting to Zero” - How to master conflict resolution in your important relationships

    These days, I only fire up the podcast for people who I believe to be truly world-class at what they do.
     
    @jaysongaddis is one of those people.
     
    His book “Getting to Zero” provides a practical framework to master conflict resolution in our important relationships.
     
    Jayson offered up a ton of practical wisdom about how we can approach conflict consciously, tips for effective communication, and how to navigate the inner turmoil that challenges our personal fulfillment and growth.
     
    Here are 📌4 key takeaways from our chat…
     
    1. 🎯 Taking ownership: Jayson explained how approaching conflict with ‘ownership’ of actions is key to constructive outcomes. This involves stepping out of the victim mentality and acknowledging one's contribution to the situation, even when we think the other person is at fault.
     
    2. 💡 Cognitive Empathy versus Feeling Felt: He shed light on the distinction between understanding someone’s feelings (cognitive empathy) and truly making them feel understood, emphasizing the latter's powerful impact in conflict resolution.
     
    3. 📚 Inner Conflict Resolution: Jayson discussed the concept of inner conflict deriving from compromising our true selves for acceptance. He also provides practical outlets and practices to bring harmony to the inner and outer worlds.
     
    LUFU - LUFU means that you make a commitment to Listen to the other person Until they Feel Understood. It is a simple way to sharpen your listening skills in high impact conversations.
     
    If these snippets piqued your interest, tune into the episode for deeper insights and tips.
     
    You’ll walk away from this chat with a new lens on difficult conversations. You will learn how to face conflict as an opportunity to grow personally and create deeper understanding in your important relationships.
     
    Enjoy.
     
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snbuEYtvINQ

    • 59 min
    Valter Longo - An introduction to Intermittent Fasting

    Valter Longo - An introduction to Intermittent Fasting

    Valter Longo is an Italian-American biologist and gerontologist who is a professor of gerontology and biological science at the University of Southern California. He is the director of the USC Longevity Institute and the Program on Longevity and Cancer at IFOM (FIRC Institute of Molecular Oncology) in Milan, Italy.
    Longo is known for his research on the biological mechanisms of aging, and for his work on fasting-mimicking diets, which he claims can promote health and longevity. He has written several books on the subject, including "The Longevity Diet" and "The Fasting Diet".
    Longo advocates for periodic fasting as a way to promote overall health and prevent disease. He believes that intermittent fasting, which involves limiting food intake to certain times of day or certain days of the week, can help reduce inflammation, improve metabolic health, and promote cellular repair and regeneration.
     
    In today's episode, we focus on intermittent fasting. 

    • 53 min
    The Founder of 1800 Flowers on cultivating Human Connection in the Digital Age

    The Founder of 1800 Flowers on cultivating Human Connection in the Digital Age

    Jim McCann is the business leader, author, and philanthropist who founded 1-800-Flowers.com and grew the business from its roots as a single flower shop in Manhattan into the world's largest florist. With a passion for helping people deliver smiles, Jim transformed the flower and gift marketplace to help customers express themselves and connect with the important people in their lives. 
     
    Devoted to helping others, Jim founded the nonprofit organization Smile Farms to provide meaningful jobs to young adults and people with developmental disabilities. Jim also started the Connectivity Council, which brings together therapists, researchers, and thought leaders to share ideas and trends around human connection and community.

    • 1 hr 15 min
    44. Adam "Smiley" Poswolsky - The Power of Friendship in the Age of Loneliness

    44. Adam "Smiley" Poswolsky - The Power of Friendship in the Age of Loneliness

    How have your friendships changed since COVID began? 
     
    How did your community shrink or expand? 
     
    Do you have more depth with less people? 
     
    If you want some help exploring these types of questions and the power of friendship in the age of loneliness, this is a great one. 
     
    - We explore the stats that break down the loneliness epidemic we are currently facing in America.
    - Tangible strategies for building friendships and community
    - Intro to facilitation and meaningful gathering
    - Two friends talking about the power of human connection
     

    • 1 hr 20 min
    Michael Hebb: Talk About Death So You Can Live A Better Life

    Michael Hebb: Talk About Death So You Can Live A Better Life

    Michael Hebb is an innovative and influential cultural figure, entrepreneur and activist, described by the New York Times as an “underground restaurateur, impresario and provocateur.” He believes that the dinner table is one of the most effective (and overlooked) vehicles for changing the world.
    After teaching a University of Washington graduate course titled Let’s Have Dinner and Talk About Death, Michael started Death Over Dinner. This project was created as a gift, an invitation and a simple set of tools to help families and friends address the basic human fact that we are all, at some point, going to die. We suffer more when we don’t communicate our wishes, we suffer less when we know how to honor the wishes of our loved ones. 
    --
    Michael is a partner at RoundGlass and the Founder of Deathoverdinner.org, Drugsoverdinner.org, EarthtoDinner.org, WomenTeachMen.org and The Living Wake. He currently serves as a Board Advisor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts; and in the recent past as Senior Advisor to Summit Series, Theo Chocolate, Learnist, Caffe Vita, CreativeLive, Architecture For Humanity, and Mosaic Voices Foundation . 
    In 1997 Hebb co-founded City Repair and Communitecture with architect Mark Lakeman, winning the AIA People's Choice Award for the Intersection Repair Project. In 1999 Michael and Naomi Pomeroy co-founded Family Supper in Portland, a supper club that is credited with starting the pop-up restaurant movement. In the years following they opened the restaurants clarklewis and Gotham Bldg Tavern, garnering international acclaim. 
    After leaving Portland, Hebb built Convivium/One Pot, a creative agency that specialized in the ability to shift culture through the use of thoughtful food and discourse based gatherings. Convivium's client list includes: The Obama Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, TEDMED, The World Economic Forum, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Clinton Global Initiative, X Prize Foundation, The Nature Conservancy.
    Michael is the founding Creative Director of The City Arts Festival, the founder of Night School @ The Sorrento Hotel, the founder of www.seder.today and the founding Creative Director at the Cloud Room. He served as a Teaching Fellow at the Graduate School of Communication at University of Washington. His writings have appeared in USA TODAY, GQ, Food and Wine and numerous other publications. Michael can often be found speaking at universities and conferences, here is his TEDMED talk. 

    • 1 hr 22 min

Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5
60 Ratings

60 Ratings

Shieva ,

So engaging

One of my favorite podcasts. Every episode is Engaging but completely varied and BEYOND informative. I’ve recommended it to many and love hearing Andrew
Horn’s enthusiasm as he leads the talks...kudos!

Andrew shev ,

Insightful, interesting, compelling

I listen to a fair amount of podcasts and was growing tired of seeing the same old format all the time - “let’s interview high performers and figure out they eat for breakfast!” What’s the Big Idea breaks that mold. It is a refreshingly authentic approach that opens the door to unique and interesting conversations that you won’t find elsewhere. Get in here and listen!

Dominick Q ,

The Barry Zito episode is A+

If you haven’t listened before...start with the Barry Zito interview episode.

Zito signed the largest pitching contract in Major League Baseball history and immediately fell into a 3 year slump, hated by fans and eventually left off the roster while his team went on to win the World Series without him.

Zito opens up in such an incredibly authentic and honest way...and tells the inspiring story of how we fell back in love with baseball again after hitting rock bottom, and how he redeemed himself in his personal and professional life in the biggest of ways.

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