PUZZLES: What Crosswords, Riddles, and Wordle Can Teach You About the Meaning of Life

For this week’s episode, my longtime friend and Next Big Idea Club co-founder Michael Kovnat fills in as special guest host for our conversation with author A.J. Jacobs. The conversation you’re about to hear is all but guaranteed to change the way you think about problem-solving—not just at work, but in your personal life as well! 

I’ve been a puzzle-solver since early childhood, when my mother tutored me in the mysteries of the New York Times crossword. Over the years, that puzzle was a constant, even as the cryptograms, sudokus, and KenKens came and went.

I’ve kept this side of my personality semi-hidden from my cooler friends, thinking it was not a habit befitting the outgoing, creative person I fancied myself to be. But lately, as more and more of my friends shared their own Wordle scores, I’ve been coming out of the closet, as it were—a closet stuffed with old editions of Boggle, Scrabble, and Mastermind.

Reading AJ Jacobs’ new book The Puzzler provided me the joy of recognition, and validation. And interviewing him, I discovered that scribbling in the back of newspapers is not only something I can be proud of, but that the puzzle mindset can offer clues to many of life’s thornier problems.

Listen to the episode above, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your go-to podcast app—then join the discussion in the comments below.

Episode Notes

🎧 A.J. Jacobs' 5 key insights from The Puzzler

📖 Get your copy of The Puzzler

📲 Download the Next Big Idea app