Daniel Honan
Former Managing Editor, Big Think
From 2011-2014, Daniel Honan was the Managing Editor at Big Think. Prior to Big Think, Daniel was Vice President of Production for Plum TV, a niche cable network he helped launch in 2002. The production team he oversaw won over two dozen Emmy awards. Daniel has created numerous shows and documentaries for television, and his film credits include Stealing the Fire, a documentary on the black market for nuclear weapons technology.
Follow Daniel on Twitter @DanielHonan
What’s the Big Idea? Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich is taking some heat from fellow Republicans due to his proposal to start “a permanent colony on the moon” that would allow […]
What do you do when your Presidential campaign is floundering and your support has collapsed in the polls? I’m not sure. That’s why political strategists are paid the big bucks. […]
Albert Pujols is probably the best hitter in baseball. But is he worth $260 million? With a World Series title under his belt, but also coming off his worst professional […]
“Daddy, who was Alec Baldwin?” my future daughter may ask me one day. “He was a terrific actor,” I will reply. “In fact, let’s watch one of my favorite episodes […]
Never before has keeping the right people and finding them been as high on the agendas of great companies as it is today.
Welcome to What Not to Think About. On this blog, Big Think’s editors will pick the stories that are making headlines elsewhere but which we encourage you to ignore. Why? […]
What’s the Big Idea? Does Kepler-22b really exist? Is there life on this planet? Could we inhabit it? How would we get there? These are a few of the many […]
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s grip on power is more tenuous than ever following big losses in last Sunday’s parliamentary election. This is not surprising, since Putin does not actually have much […]
Be careful what you tweet. Just ask Ashton Kutcher, who tweeted that September 11 — the start of the football season — was “the greatest day of the year.” More recently, […]
How can individuals and groups of people adapt to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds? The answer can be found in a number of new histories of the Second World War, which offer invaluable lessons for the 21st century.
A new book argues “we and our children may be the most significant generations of humans that have yet lived,” which means we carry a far greater burden of responsibility than any previous generation.
Are today’s climate change deniers waging a war on science? A new book by James Lawrence Powell spills the dirt on the new war on science.
In his Floating University lecture, Dr. Jeffrey Brenzel shows how our intellectual history is the story of rediscovering old ideas, and how these ideas will help you address permanent aspects of the human condition.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The House of Seven Gables is invaluable to us today, says Lisa New, because it presents a particularly “clear-eyed and realistic tale of an economy in transition.”
Last year Americans spent more money during Black Friday Weekend than the GDP of North Korea. Larry Summers argues America needs to save, while other countries, like China, need to spend, in order to increase global prosperity.
It’s the video that everyone seems to be talking about, or at least a lot of people on Youtube. This video depicts a University of California, Davis police officer pepper-spraying […]
In his Floating University lecture Jeffrey Brenzel, Philosopher, Dean of Undergraduate Admissions at Yale University, argues the classics will not only enhance your education, but help you live better.
If you were marooned on a desert island and could only bring a handful of books with you–let’s say five–which ones would you pick? Big Think asks Stephen Greenblatt, the bestselling author of Will in the World, a biography of Shakespeare.
There are a number of issues at stake in the way Americans choose to think of their heritage and celebrate their creation story on Thanksgiving. After all, creation stories serve as a guide for how we function as a society today.
It was a year ago that Ricky Gervais hosted the Golden Globe Awards and joked The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) accepts bribes. That joke certainly ruffled some feathers since a […]
Tim Harford, Britain’s answer to Malcolm Gladwell, explains how one of the biggest turnarounds in Broadway history, Movin’ Out, teaches us a fundamental lesson about our ability to adapt.
What happens when the complexity and magnitude of the problems facing our civilization “simply exceed our biological capabilities”?
A new venture aims to foster stability in war-torn regions through an act of creative destruction: acquiring AK-47s and transforming them into rare jewelry, watches and accessories.
What’s the Big Idea? Can economics explain everything? Some people have attempted to make that claim, but not Paul Krugman, who labels such a view “academic imperialism.” Krugman, who won […]
The political courtship ritual some have called “speed-dating” has featured a revolving door of Republican alternatives to Mitt Romney: Michelle Bachmann, Rick Perry, Herman Cain. With a sexual harassment scandal […]
A new venture aims to foster stability in war-torn regions through an act of creative destruction: acquiring AK-47s and transforming them into rare jewelry, watches and accessories.
Miles Grimshaw didn’t get in to the most popular course at Yale this Fall. The course, Great Big Ideas, features the best experts, scholars and professionals the world has to […]
Religious groups, labor groups, women’s rights groups, environmental groups and various business interests all offer “scorecards” that rate politicians. So why not atheists? Penn Jillette fills the void.
Doug Melton, of Harvard’s Stem Cell Institute, speaks of a new era of medicine in his Floating University lecture. Medicine will no longer aim to simply fix you if you have a disease or injury, but replenish you in order to maintain your young and vibrant state.
After founding a highly successful and growing business, John Mackey confronted a brand new challenge — keeping his employees engaged. This is how he did it.