FAMILY DYNAMICS: Unraveling the Mystery of Sibling Success

The Next Big Idea

Next Big Idea Club

Self-improvement, Arts, Books, Society & Culture, Education

4.5 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 17 April 2025

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

You know those families where the kids all grow up to be remarkably successful? New York Times journalist Susan Dominus has spent the last few years getting to know some of them, looking for parenting techniques and life lessons. She's written a book about her findings called The Family Dynamic. "I thought I wrote a book about high-achieving families," she tells us, "but when I look back, it's really a book about families who did believe that the sky's the limit." 📕 Pre-order The Family Dynamic on Amazon, Bookshop, or from your local bookstore, send a copy of your receipt to [email protected], and we'll give you three months of free access to our paid Substack!

Transcript

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0:00.0	LinkedIn Presents.
0:05.7	I'm Rufus Griscombe, and this is the next big idea.
0:10.0	Today, a journey into the mystery of sibling success. The annals of history abound with ambitious, accomplished siblings.
0:40.3	Think of the Bronte sisters, Charlotte, Emily, and Anne.
0:45.3	From a modest parsonage in the Yorkshire Moors,
0:48.3	the three of them produce some of the most beloved 19th century novels,
0:52.3	including Weathering Heights and Jane Eyre.
0:55.6	Orr, there's Wilbur and Orville Wright, brothers from Dayton who, with scant funds and no formal
1:01.8	training, solved the puzzle of controlled flight. Or how about the Kennedys, Jack, Bobby, and Teddy,
1:09.5	the most captivating trio American politics has ever seen.
1:14.0	And it's not just the history books.
1:15.8	Successful siblings are strewn across the contemporary landscape, too.
1:20.0	We have the brothers Emmanuel, Ram, who was Obama's chief of staff and later mayor of Chicago,
1:26.1	Ari, the Hollywood Super super agent who's among the
1:28.8	most powerful people in show business, and Zeke, one of the most respected medical ethicists
1:34.2	in the world. We see successful siblings also in sports, Serena and Venus Williams, Peyton
1:40.7	and Eli Manning, Jason and Travis Kelsey. In business, Susan Wojiski, former CEO of YouTube and her sister, Anne, who co-founded 23 and me.
1:51.5	And in literature, Jonathan, Franklin, and Joshua 4.
1:55.8	For years, journalist Susan Domino's has been fascinated by these genetically linked go-getters.
2:01.5	She wanted to unravel the mystery of their interwoven success. What was going on at the dinner
2:07.9	table in the houses where they grew up? Were their parents regimented taskmasters?
2:13.8	Or indulgent laissez-faire types? Are there lessons here about nature versus nurture?
	...

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