According to every Marvel movie, when the world is in danger, there are specific people who can help. There’s the super soldier with a shield, the big green monster, the spider-like teenager, and maybe a few others, and that’s about it.
But the truth is, you don’t need superpowers to save the world. And that’s good news, because our planet faces very real existential threats. So, to become a hero in the great history of mankind, start by opening the five stimulating readings below.
Longpath: Becoming the great ancestors our future needs – An antidote to short-termism
By Ari Wallach
A paradigm-shifting manifesto to transform our thinking from reactionary short-termism to long-termism, broadening our scope beyond today, tomorrow and even up to five hundred years to find meaning in our lives. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Ari Wallach, in the Next Big Idea app
Life on the Rocks: Building a Future for Coral Reefs
By Juli Berwald
A renowned oceanologist delivers an inspiring, lucid, and meditative ode to coral reefs and the intrepid scientists working to save them against near impossible odds. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Juli Berwald, in the Next Big Idea app
Speed and Scale: An Action Plan to Solve Our Climate Crisis Now
By John Doerr
Alternately pragmatic and inspiring, Speed and Scale interweaves the venture capitalist’s wide-ranging analysis with first-hand accounts from Jeff Bezos, Christiana Figueres, Al Gore, Mary Barra, Bill Gates and other fearless political leaders, entrepreneurs, scientists and activists. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author John Doerr, in the Next Big Idea app
Care-Centered Politics: From Home to Planet
By Robert Gottlieb
A professor emeritus at Occidental College explains why a care economy and care-centric politics can influence and reorient issues such as health, environment, climate, race, inequality, gender and immigration. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Robert Gottlieb, in the Next Big Idea app
What we owe in the future
By William MacAskill
A renowned philosopher argues for “long-termism,” the idea that positively influencing the distant future is a key moral priority of our times. We need to ensure that civilization would bounce back if it collapses and prepare for a planet where the most intelligent beings are digital and not human. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author William MacAskill, in the Next Big Idea app
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