The Most Important Question

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**The Most Important Question**

The most important question in today’s world of climate chaos, AI psychosis, and crumbling democracy is: what can I do? Your host, Quinn Emmett is completely unqualified to answer it, so he’s calling the people that already are.

If you’ve got the news, the analysis, the outrage, but still no plan — join us as we figure it out together with long-form conversations with amazing people working on the frontlines, and quick updates responding to today’s most important headlines, and what you can do about it, tonight.

220+ episodes. 110+ countries. A bunch of Webby and Signal Award nominations. Zero hot takes.

Latest Episodes:

Essay: Bridget Jones, Climate Hero May 03, 2024

Show notes

This week:

In this essay, I will argue that Bridget Jones is the perfect climate-era hero, because she is all of us.

Here's What You Can Do:

🌍️ Donate to Project HOPE to support frontline teams working to strengthen healthcare systems and respond to crises globally.
🌎️ Volunteer to share your climate solutions work with the Global Solutions Diary from Project Drawdown and use your story to inspire hope in the climate community.
Get educated about how you can join a network of people working on climate, and get started on working on solutions, in your city with Climate Tech Cities.
Be heard about feeding hungry kids and urge your representatives to support the Universal School Meal Program Act.
Invest in a climate-friendly 401(k) using Sphere.

Get more:

Get more news, analysis, and Action Steps at importantnotimportant.com
Support our work and become a Member at importantnotimportant.com/upgrade
Got feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.com
Follow us on Twitter at @importantnotimp
Follow us on Threads: www.threads.net/@importantnotimportant
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Follow Quinn: on Twitter - twitter.com/quinnemmett; Bluesky - bsky.app/profile/quinnemmett.bsky.social; Threads - www.threads.net/@quinnemmett
Edited by Anthony Luciani
Produced by Willow Beck
Intro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.com
Take a nap you deserve it

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Keeping Long COVID In The News Apr 29, 2024

Show notes

Who is still covering Long COVID, and how much is the audience actually growing?

That's today's big question, and my guests are Betsy Ladygetz and Miles Griffis, editors and co-founders of The Sick Times, a journalist-founded website chronicling the Long COVID crisis.

The Sick Times investigates injustices, challenges powerful institutions, wades through the latest research, assesses COVID-19 data, and offers an essential platform for those most affected by the crisis.

Betsy is an independent science, health, and data journalist and writer focused on COVID-19 and the future of public health in general. Prior to The Sick Times, she ran the COVID-19 Data Dispatch. She was recently a journalism fellow at MuckRock, where she contributed to award-winning and impactful COVID-19 investigations, such as the Uncounted Project, investigations into the National Institute of Health's Recover Program, and stories covering public health responses in several states.

Miles is an independent journalist and writer who covers Long COVID, science, and LGBTQ plus issues. He developed Long COVID at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and has used his lived experience to report on the disease.

So many people are struggling directly or indirectly with Long COVID.

Sometimes they don't even know themselves, but with journalism just crumbling around us, new publications like The Sick Times operated by people with very particular essential skills and lived experiences can help make sure that these massive all all-encompassing issues of our lifetimes stay in the news, giving everyone else a way to stay in touch, and of course, to act.

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New here? Get started with our fan favorite episodes at podcast.importantnotimportant.com.

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INI Book Club:

The Hammer: Power, Inequality, and the Struggle for the Soul of Labor by Hamilton Nolan
Let the Record Show: A Political History of ACT Up New York, 1987-1993 by Sarah Schulman
Find all of our guest recommendations at the INI Book Club: https://bookshop.org/lists/important-not-important-book-club

Links:

Subscribe and donate to The Sick Times
Find a Mask Bloc near you
Support the COVID-19 Longhauler Advocacy Project
Support the Patient-Led Research Collaborative
Support the Long Covid Action Project
Learn about diseases related to Long Covid and support #MeAction, Solve ME/CFS, and Dysautonomia International
Support the Clean Air Club and A.I.R. NYC
Buy high-quality masks from Project N95
Get more COVID-19 info from People's CDC

Subscribe to our newsletter at importantnotimportant.com
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Edited by Anthony Luciani
Produced by Willow Beck
Intro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.com

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Essay: Program The World Apr 11, 2024

Show notes

This week:

Let’s talk about the Information Era.

Here's What You Can Do:

Donate (and subscribe!) to the 19th, an independent, non-profit, kick-ass newsroom reporting on gender and politics.
Volunteer with Tech Shift to build a fairer, more just technological future.
🌏️ Get educated about the powerful institutions using technology to change society through the invaluable reporting by The Markup.
Be heard about keeping companies accountable to assessing AI for bias and effectiveness and ask your representatives to support the Algorithmic Accountability Act.
Invest in climate tech solutions that will accelerate the transition to a clean economy with Full Cycle.

Get more:

Get more news, analysis, and Action Steps at importantnotimportant.com
Support our work and become a Member at importantnotimportant.com/upgrade
Got feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.com
Follow us on Twitter at @importantnotimp
Follow us on Threads: www.threads.net/@importantnotimportant
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Follow Quinn: on Twitter - twitter.com/quinnemmett; Bluesky - bsky.app/profile/quinnemmett.bsky.social; Threads - www.threads.net/@quinnemmett
Edited by Anthony Luciani
Produced by Willow Beck
Intro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.com
Take a nap you deserve it

Advertise with us: importantnotimportant.com/c/sponsors

The Social Infrastructure of Water Apr 08, 2024

Show notes

What have we learned from millennia of water insecurity, of climate changes and disasters, of building along freshwater ways and the ocean, that we can apply today?

That's today's big question, and my guest is Dr. Amber Wutich.

Dr. Wutich is an ASU President's Professor, Director of the Center for Global Health, and 2023 MacArthur Fellow.

She's an expert on water insecurity, and directs the Global Ethnohydrology Study, a cross cultural study of water knowledge and management in over 20 countries.

Dr. Wutich’s two decades of community based field work explore how people respond individually and collectively to extremely water scarce conditions. She leads the NSF Action for Water Equity, a participatory convergence study that develops collaborative water solutions with water insecure U.S. communities. Her teaching has been recognized with many awards, including the Carnegie Case Arizona Professor of the Year.

As maybe the most important thing that neither you or I can live without, water is both becoming more scarce in Central America, Northern India, Syria and other places, and more prevalent through sea level rise, flooding and storms where we're not ready for it.

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Have feedback or questions? Tweet us, or send a message to questions@importantnotimportant.com

New here? Get started with our fan favorite episodes at podcast.importantnotimportant.com.

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INI Book Club:

Find all of our guest recommendations at the INI Book Club: https://bookshop.org/lists/important-not-important-book-club

Links:

Connect with Amber on LinkedIn, Twitter, and BlueSky
Donate or volunteer with Water For People
Donate to Dig Deep
Learn more about Amber's work with NSF-funded Household Water Insecurity Experiences Research Coordination Network
Learn more about the National Science Foundation

Subscribe to our newsletter at importantnotimportant.com
Support our work and become a Member at importantnotimportant.com/upgrade
Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/ImportantNotImp
Follow us on Threads: www.threads.net/@importantnotimportant
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Follow Quinn: on Twitter - twitter.com/quinnemmett; Bluesky - bsky.app/profile/quinnemmett.bsky.social; Threads - www.threads.net/@quinnemmett
Edited by Anthony Luciani
Produced by Willow Beck
Intro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.com

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Essay: The Aftermath Mar 25, 2024

Show notes

This week:

Bernie decided March 15th is Long COVID Awareness Day, so I thought it was an appropriate moment to try to pull together the threads of why Long COVID pisses me off so much, examples of other self-defeating issues we never learned from, and a blueprint for how to do better, better.

Here's What You Can Do:

🌎️ Donate to Partners in Health to ensure that everyone, everywhere has access to quality healthcare.
Volunteer for a clinical trial to help us better understand the impacts of COVID and Long COVID.
Get educated about how you can start a career in public health.
Be heard about early detection in your community and get your local officials to start a wastewater intelligence program with Biobot.
🌎️ Invest in a matching fund with Gavi to get people vaccinated worldwide.

Get more:

Get more news, analysis, and Action Steps at importantnotimportant.com
Support our work and become a Member at importantnotimportant.com/upgrade
Got feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.com
Follow us on Twitter at @importantnotimp
Follow us on Threads: www.threads.net/@importantnotimportant
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Follow Quinn: on Twitter - twitter.com/quinnemmett; Bluesky - bsky.app/profile/quinnemmett.bsky.social; Threads - www.threads.net/@quinnemmett
Edited by Anthony Luciani
Produced by Willow Beck
Intro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.com
Take a nap you deserve it

Advertise with us: importantnotimportant.com/c/sponsors

The Best Depression Treatment For You Mar 18, 2024

Show notes

You know you're stressed. You know you're anxious. Do you have depression? And do you need to know the latest in the biology of how the brain works and depression works or doesn't work and whether the gut is involved in getting meaningful help?

That's today's big question. I promise it's kind of one question, even if there are a ton of different answers, and they're going to be different for everybody.

This conversation is a follow-up to our last couple of conversations about the brain, the gut, and depression. My returning guest is Srijan Sen.

Srijan is still the Francis and Kenneth Eisenberg Professor of Depression and Neurosciences at the University of Michigan and the Director of the Francis and Kenneth Eisenberg and Family Depression Center.

His leading research focuses on the interactions between genes and the environment and their effect on stress, anxiety, and depression.

Content Warning

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Have feedback or questions? Tweet us, or send a message to questions@importantnotimportant.com

New here? Get started with our fan favorite episodes at podcast.importantnotimportant.com.

-----------

INI Book Club:

Find all of our guest recommendations at the INI Book Club: https://bookshop.org/lists/important-not-important-book-club

Links:

Follow along with the work of The Sen Lab
Follow Srijan on Twitter
Suicide Crisis Lifeline (Call 988)
The Trevor Project Hotline for LBGTQ+ youth
Listen to Srijan's first episode

Subscribe to our newsletter at importantnotimportant.com
Support our work and become a Member at importantnotimportant.com/upgrade
Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/ImportantNotImp
Follow us on Threads: www.threads.net/@importantnotimportant
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Follow Quinn: on Twitter - twitter.com/quinnemmett; Bluesky - bsky.app/profile/quinnemmett.bsky.social; Threads - www.threads.net/@quinnemmett
Edited by Anthony Luciani
Produced by Willow Beck
Intro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.com

Advertise with us: importantnotimportant.com/c/sponsors

Essay: How To Give Mar 13, 2024

Show notes

This week:

There are few problems so simple that a single donation can fix them.

Usually, to turn a problem into a realistic opportunity takes many donations. Over time, spread over a large number of donors.

But all the work before that is kind of exhausting: you’ve gotta make sure your donation goes to the right place, the right organization, the right people — usually the ones closest to the problem — with the most pragmatic intentions.

Here's What You Can Do:

Donate to Give Directly and put cash straight into the pockets of the people who need it the most.
Volunteer with Overdose Lifeline to support their harm reduction and awareness efforts.
Get educated about starting a resilience hub in your community with resources from the USDN.
Be heard about making healthy school meals free for students everywhere.
Invest in a sustainable future and find a clean bank to move your money into using bank.green.

Get more:

Get more news, analysis, and Action Steps at importantnotimportant.com
Support our work and become a Member at importantnotimportant.com/upgrade
Got feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.com
Follow us on Twitter at @importantnotimp
Follow us on Threads: www.threads.net/@importantnotimportant
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Follow Quinn: on Twitter - twitter.com/quinnemmett; Bluesky - bsky.app/profile/quinnemmett.bsky.social; Threads - www.threads.net/@quinnemmett
Edited by Anthony Luciani
Produced by Willow Beck
Intro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.com
Take a nap you deserve it

Advertise with us: importantnotimportant.com/c/sponsors

Mentioned in this episode:

Become An Important Member

Can Capitalism (Justly) Solve the Climate Crisis? Mar 04, 2024

Show notes

The climate clock is ticking faster and faster.

How can we use capitalism to undo the bad stuff that capitalism did and maybe even make things better?

That's today's big (loaded) question, and my returning guest is Akshat Rathi.

Akshat is a London-based senior reporter, newsletter writer, and podcaster for Bloomberg News.

Akshat has a PhD in organic chemistry from the University of Oxford, and a BTech in Chemical Engineering from the Institute of Chemical Technology in Mumbai. Akshat was previously a senior reporter at Quartz and a science editor at The Conversation.

He is here today to talk about his first book, Climate Capitalism.

This wonderful book tells the stories of people building solutions at scale to tackle one of humanity's greatest challenges. Some solutions we've already built, like solar and batteries, and some we're still working on because they take a lot of work, and money, and politics.

In a world where journalism is going bye-bye, and the climate clock is ticking, but we've made so much progress, and we can make so much more, Akshat's reporting in this book couldn't be more timely, as we seek to answer the question, where are we on this timeline?

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Have feedback or questions? Tweet us, or send a message to questions@importantnotimportant.com

New here? Get started with our fan favorite episodes at podcast.importantnotimportant.com.

-----------

INI Book Club:

The Long View by Richard Fisher
Find all of our guest recommendations at the INI Book Club: https://bookshop.org/lists/important-not-important-book-club

Links:

Order Climate Capitalism in the US/Canada (out March 12)
Order Climate Capitalism in the UK (out now)
Order Climate Capitalism in India (out now)
Order Climate Capitalism in the rest of the world
Listen to Akshat on his podcast Zero, and subscribe to his newsletter
Read about the Biden Administration's regulations on the social costs of climate change here and here

Subscribe to our newsletter at importantnotimportant.com
Support our work and become a Member at importantnotimportant.com/upgrade
Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/ImportantNotImp
Follow us on Threads: www.threads.net/@importantnotimportant
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Follow Quinn: on Twitter - twitter.com/quinnemmett; Bluesky - bsky.app/profile/quinnemmett.bsky.social; Threads - www.threads.net/@quinnemmett
Edited by Anthony Luciani
Produced by Willow Beck
Intro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.com

Advertise with us: importantnotimportant.com/c/sponsors

Essay: How to See The Forest Feb 26, 2024

Show notes

This week:

Are we in the hardest part of the climate transition?

Here's What You Can Do:

🌎️ Donate to 350.org, a global movement working towards a fossil fuel-free world.
Volunteer with your local Mothers Out Front chapter to fight for a world that protects kids.
Get educated about building a clean energy company using the videos, exercises, and curriculum in Third Derivative’s Startup Resource Database.
🌎️ Be heard about climate justice and find an initiative that needs your support or signature in your country using GAIA’s action alert tool.
Invest in the future by setting up a climate-friendly 401(k) with Sphere.

Get more:

Get more news, analysis, and Action Steps at importantnotimportant.com
Support our work and become a Member at importantnotimportant.com/upgrade
Got feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.com
Follow us on Twitter at @importantnotimp
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Take a nap you deserve it

Advertise with us: importantnotimportant.com/c/sponsors

Saving Democracy From The Bottom Up Feb 19, 2024

Show notes

What are reverse coattails, and how might they slow climate change, prevent the next pandemic, and keep Nazis off of school boards?

That's today's big question, and my returning guest is Amanda Litman.

Amanda is one of my favorite people. She is the co-founder and co-executive director of Run for Something, which recruits and supports young, diverse progressives running for down-ballot office, state, and local, and all those fun levels.

Since launching in 2017, a thousand years ago, Run for Something has elected more than 1000 leaders across nearly all 50 states, mostly women and people of color.

Politico named Run for Something and Amanda, one of the 50 ideas driving politics in 2018. Bloomberg called her one of the People to Watch in 2019. Fortune named her to their annual 40 under 40 list in 2020. And in 2022, Amanda was one of the Time Next 100, a list of 100 rising stars from around the world.

And look, it's yet another election year in America because it's another year in America, so there is never a better time to invite Amanda back onto the show.

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Have feedback or questions? Tweet us, or send a message to questions@importantnotimportant.com

New here? Get started with our fan favorite episodes at podcast.importantnotimportant.com.

-----------

INI Book Club:

North Woods by Daniel Mason
Find all of our guest recommendations at the INI Book Club: https://bookshop.org/lists/important-not-important-book-club

Links:

Run for Office!
Volunteer for a progressive, young candidate
Donate to help get progressive, young candidates elected
Learn more about running for office, support the educational efforts of Run for Something and make a c3 donation at Run For Something Civics