The Great Remembering: Powerful Ancient Practices—and the New Science Bringing Them Back
Oct 2026 · Sold by Simon and Schuster
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368
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About this ebook
What if the most powerful solutions for the crises of modern life are actually found . . . in our past?
We see it in headlines, in trendlines, in our own lives: We’ve never been more anxious, more divided, or more lost.
The problem isn’t that we lack solutions. It’s that we abandoned the ones that actually worked.
For thousands of years, across every culture on earth, humans built sophisticated “wisdom systems” to meet our deepest needs—rooted in physical challenge, sensory immersion, communal ritual, and belonging. But in our pursuit of progress, we dismantled them.
In The Great Remembering, June Cohen—co-creator of TED Talks and Masters of Scale—time travels across cultures, continents, and centuries to investigate what we left behind: Wisdom systems for communal awe and communal grief. Practices like the sauna, the festival, the epic physical challenge.
What cutting-edge neuroscience, cell biology, and psychology are now confirming is as surprising as it is obvious: These practices weren’t primitive. They were sophisticated solutions to the oldest human problems. And the science is finally proving why they worked.
The mental health crisis. The climate crisis. The crisis of social division. The rise of AI challenging our way of life. At every rupture like this, humans have looked to the past to find their way forward.
The answers are already there. We just need to remember.
We see it in headlines, in trendlines, in our own lives: We’ve never been more anxious, more divided, or more lost.
The problem isn’t that we lack solutions. It’s that we abandoned the ones that actually worked.
For thousands of years, across every culture on earth, humans built sophisticated “wisdom systems” to meet our deepest needs—rooted in physical challenge, sensory immersion, communal ritual, and belonging. But in our pursuit of progress, we dismantled them.
In The Great Remembering, June Cohen—co-creator of TED Talks and Masters of Scale—time travels across cultures, continents, and centuries to investigate what we left behind: Wisdom systems for communal awe and communal grief. Practices like the sauna, the festival, the epic physical challenge.
What cutting-edge neuroscience, cell biology, and psychology are now confirming is as surprising as it is obvious: These practices weren’t primitive. They were sophisticated solutions to the oldest human problems. And the science is finally proving why they worked.
The mental health crisis. The climate crisis. The crisis of social division. The rise of AI challenging our way of life. At every rupture like this, humans have looked to the past to find their way forward.
The answers are already there. We just need to remember.
What if the most powerful solutions for the crises of modern life are actually found . . . in our past?
We see it in headlines, in trendlines, in our own lives: We’ve never been more anxious, more divided, or more lost.
The problem isn’t that we lack solutions. It’s that we abandoned the ones t...
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About the author
June Cohen is a pioneer in media and technology, best known as the co-creator of TED Talks, Masters of Scale and Meditative Story. During her 11 years at TED (2005–2016), she co-hosted the flagship event—working with hundreds of speakers on their talks—and launched TED Talks online. She’s earned 100+ industry awards for her work, including 67 Webby honors, 8 Apple “Podcast of the Year” Awards, and a Peabody.
June Cohen is a pioneer in media and technology, best known as the co-creator of TED Talks, Masters of Scale and Meditative Story. During her 11 years at TED (2005–2016), she co-hosted the flagship event—working with hundreds of speakers on their talks—and launched TED Talks online. She’s earned ...
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