Magazine / The Next Big Idea Club’s July 2024 Must-Read Books

The Next Big Idea Club’s July 2024 Must-Read Books

Career Politics & Economics Science

I’m pleased to share what I consider the most promising, must-read nonfiction titles scheduled for release in July 2024. These titles make up our second group of nominees for Season 25 of the Next Big Idea Club (the first group was announced here).

Our Next Big Idea Club curators—Susan Cain, Malcolm Gladwell, Adam Grant, and Daniel Pink—will narrow the list down to a handful of finalists and, ultimately, two official season selections.

Authors will also be invited to create a “Book Bite”, a 15-minute audio self-recording that features five key insights from their book. Imagine chatting with a stranger on an airplane—only that person just happened to write a fascinating nonfiction book!

And now, the July 2024 titles are…

Sharing Space: An Astronaut’s Guide to Mission, Wonder, and Making Change

By Cady Coleman
Publication Date: July 2, 2024

One of America’s few female astronauts reveals the wisdom that helped her overcome the barriers of others’ expectations—and learn to work on a team both in close quarters and remotely. View on Amazon

The Education Wars: A Citizen’s Guide and Defense Manual

By Jennifer Berkshire & Jack Schneider
Publication Date: July 2, 2024

A perfectly timed book for the educational resistance—those of us who believe in public schools. View on Amazon

How to Be a Citizen: Learning to Be Civil Without the State

By C.L. Skach
Publication Date: July 2, 2024

An expert on the writing of constitutions argues that the path to a thriving society begins with forgetting about them. View on Amazon

The Presidents and the People: Five Leaders Who Threatened Democracy and the Citizens Who Fought to Defend It

By Corey Brettschneider
Publication Date: July 2, 2024

American presidents have often pushed the boundaries established for them by the Constitution; this is the inspirational history of the people who pushed back. View on Amazon

Smart, Not Loud: How to Get Noticed at Work for All the Right Reasons

By Jessica Chen
Publication Date: July 9, 2024

Ever wonder why the “loud” people at work get noticed, rewarded, and promoted? Do you worry that you need to be loud to succeed at work, too? View on Amazon

Rat City: Overcrowding and Urban Derangement in the Rodent Universes of John B. Calhoun

By Jon Adams & Edmund Ramsden
Publication Date: July 9, 2024

How one experiment in rat behavior effected the re-making of society in the post-WWII boom years. View on Amazon

Devil’s Contract: A History of the Faustian Bargain

By Ed Simon
Publication Date: July 9, 2024

A historical tour of the Faustian bargain, from biblical themes to the Charlie Daniels Band, which illustrates how the instinct for sacrificing our principles in exchange for power models all kinds of social ills, from colonialism to nuclear warfare, and even social media, climate change, and AI. View on Amazon

Unit X: How the Pentagon and Silicon Valley Are Transforming the Future of War

By Raj Shah & Christopher Kirchhoff
Publication Date: July 9, 2024

A riveting inside look at an elite unit within the Pentagon—the Defense Innovation Unit, also known as Unit X—whose mission is to bring Silicon Valley’s cutting-edge technology to America’s military: from the two men who launched the unit. View on Amazon

Democracy in Retrograde: How to Make Changes Big and Small in Our Country and in Our Lives

By Sami Sage & Emily Amick
Publication Date: July 9, 2024

A whip-smart combo of self-help and political manifesto that is perfect for anyone who wants to save our democracy but doesn’t know where to start. View on Amazon

Rebels with a Cause: Reimagining Boys, Ourselves, and Our Culture

By Niobe Way
Publication Date: July 9, 2024

An in-depth exploration about what boys and young men teach us about themselves, us, and the toxic culture we have created, one in which we value money over people, toys over human connection, and academic achievement over kindness. View on Amazon

Pattern Breakers: Why Some Start-Ups Change the Future

By Mark Maples Jr. & Peter Ziebelman
Publication Date: July 9, 2024

Based on extensive research and real-world examples, Pattern Breakers upends accepted wisdom about how to achieve breakthrough success, and provides a playbook for anyone launching a startup or creating a new product. View on Amazon

Die Hot with a Vengeance: Essays on Vanity

By Sable Yong
Publication Date: July 9, 2024

A sharp-toothed and hilarious essay collection about beauty and vanity, examining their stigmatization in the cultural zeitgeist, and how to shift the focus to use both for powerful tools for self-exploration, interpersonal connection, and cultural change. View on Amazon

More, Please: On Food, Fat, Bingeing, Longing, and the Lust for “Enough”

By Emma Specter
Publication Date: July 9, 2024

An unflinching and deeply reported look at the realities of binge-eating disorder from a rising culture commentator and writer for Vogue. View on Amazon

Mastering AI: A Survival Guide to Our Superpowered Future

By Jeremy Kahn
Publication Date: July 9, 2024

A Fortune magazine journalist draws on his expertise and extensive contacts among the companies and scientists at the forefront of artificial intelligence to offer dramatic predictions of AI’s impact over the next decade. View on Amazon

Impossible Monsters: Dinosaurs, Darwin, and the Battle Between Science and Religion

By Michael Taylor
Publication Date: July 16, 2024

Impossible Monsters reveals the central role of dinosaurs and their discovery in toppling traditional religious authority, and in changing perceptions about the Bible, history, and mankind’s place in the world. View on Amazon

Meet the Neighbors: Animal Minds and Life in a More-than-Human World

By Brandon Keim
Publication Date: July 16, 2024

What does the science of animal intelligence mean for how we understand and live with the wild creatures around us? View on Amazon

The Stoic Path to Wealth: Ancient Wisdom for Enduring Prosperity

By Darius Foroux
Publication Date: July 16, 2024

From investor and popular newsletter writer with 100k+ subscribers Darius Foroux comes an approach to building wealth that applies ancient wisdom to the chaos of modern-day markets. View on Amazon

The Incorruptibles: A True Story of Kingpins, Crime Busters, and the Birth of the American Underworld

By Dan Slater
Publication Date: July 16, 2024

The harrowing tale of an immigrant underworld, a secret vice squad, and the rise of organized crime. View on Amazon

Why Machines Learn: The Elegant Math Behind Modern AI

By Anil Ananthaswamy
Publication Date: July 16, 2024

A rich, narrative explanation of the mathematics that has brought us machine learning and the ongoing explosion of artificial intelligence. View on Amazon

Job Therapy: Finding Work That Works for You

By Tessa West
Publication Date: July 23, 2024

A psychologist’s guide to finding your most fulfilling job yet. View on Amazon

The Science of Human Possibilities

By V. Kumar Murty
Publication Date: July 23, 2024

Through Murty’s reflections as a Mathematics Professor intertwined with profound Vedanta teachings, readers are guided to realize the infinite potential inherent in the human experience, empowering individuals from all walks of life to evolve and flourish. View on Amazon

Autocracy, Inc.: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World

By Anne Applebaum
Publication Date: July 23, 2024

From the Pulitzer-prize winning, New York Times bestselling author, an alarming account of how autocracies work together to undermine the democratic world, and how we should organize to defeat them. View on Amazon

The Horse: A Galloping History of Humanity

By Timothy Winegard
Publication Date: July 30, 2024

From New York Times bestselling author of The Mosquito, the incredible story of how the horse shaped human history. View on Amazon

Into the Clear Blue Sky: The Path to Restoring Our Atmosphere

By Rob Jackson
Publication Date: July 30, 2024

From one of the world’s leading climate scientists, a heart- and mind-changing book that offers a hopeful and attainable vision for restoring the atmosphere and ending the climate crisis. View on Amazon

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