TopPodcast.com
Menu
  • Home
  • Top Charts
  • Top Networks
  • Top Apps
  • Top Independents
  • Top Podfluencers
  • Top Picks
    • Top Business Podcasts
    • Top True Crime Podcasts
    • Top Finance Podcasts
    • Top Comedy Podcasts
    • Top Music Podcasts
    • Top Womens Podcasts
    • Top Kids Podcasts
    • Top Sports Podcasts
    • Top News Podcasts
    • Top Tech Podcasts
    • Top Crypto Podcasts
    • Top Entrepreneurial Podcasts
    • Top Fantasy Sports Podcasts
    • Top Political Podcasts
    • Top Science Podcasts
    • Top Self Help Podcasts
    • Top Sports Betting Podcasts
    • Top Stocks Podcasts
  • Podcast News
  • About Us
  • Podcast Advertising
  • Contact
Not in our directory?
Add Show Here
Podcast Equipment
Center

toppodcastlogoOur TOPPODCAST Picks

  • Comedy
  • Crypto
  • Sports
  • News
  • Politics
  • True Crime
  • Business
  • Finance

Follow Us

toppodcastlogoStay Connected

    View Top 200 Chart
    Back to Rankings Page
    Science

    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.

    Advertise

    Copyright: © Important, Not Important LLC 2023

    • Apple Podcasts
    • Google Play
    • Spotify

    Latest Episodes:
    Essay: The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round Feb 14, 2024
    Show notes

    This week:

    How are we supposed to navigate this energy transition, AI, and pandemics, if we cannot agree on the most basic, fundamental shit?

    We argue about tradeoffs or gently suggest expanding the scope of our moral concern to include other people’s air, water, food, shelter, and health, instead of simply saying some things — like the lives of children — are simply, emphatically, non-negotiable.

    Here's What You Can Do:

    • Donate to Tobacco-Free Kids to protect kids from e-cigarettes.

    • Volunteer with Everytown to prevent gun violence in schools.

    • 🌎️ Get educated about the many co-benefits of electric school buses.

    • Be heard about keeping kids healthy by urging your representative to co-sponsor the Universal School Meal Program Act.

    • 🌍️ Invest in companies with ESG metrics that align with your morals using fennel.

    🌎️ = Global Action Step

    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


    Essay: If This, Then What Else? Feb 09, 2024
    Show notes

    This week:

    Today’s essay is a bit of a departure — I just wanted to make super clear where I stand vis a vis the next eleven months.

    A MAGA party don't stop unless we stop it.

    Here's What You Can Do:

    • Donate to Voters of Tomorrow to defend democracy for the next generation.

    • Volunteer with Run For Something to help young, diverse progressives get elected.

    • 🌍️ Get educated about how your country is keeping up with its commitments to the Paris Agreement using the Climate Action Tracker, and then hold your public officials accountable.

    • Be heard about returning political power to the people and contact your representative to support the Democracy For All Amendment.

    • 🌏️ Invest in sustainable companies with Util, using insights based on data, not greenwashing.

    🌎️ = Global Action Step

    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


    2024: The Gaps and How to Close Them Feb 07, 2024
    Show notes

    This week:

    Today’s essay is my version of a 2024 preview. Unlike other previews, though, it’s less, “This is what is going to happen” and more “These are the table stakes as far as I can tell.”

    I think that approach is much more helpful, but you can be the judge.

    Here's What You Can Do:

    • Donate to the 19th, an independent newsroom that focuses on gender, politics, and policy. Journalism is being hit hard, and small outlets that do incredible work like the 19th are more essential than ever.

    • Volunteer with the Environmental Voter Project. If there was ever a year to do this, it’s this one.

    • Get educated about multisolving with resources from The Multisolving Institute. As you’ll read in the essay below, the issues are myriad, but we can choose solutions that address many problems at once.

    • Be heard about green transportation by urging your representative to reject cuts to Amtrak.

    • Invest in companies that are meeting the metrics that underpin the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

    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


    2023 Review: What Just Happened? Jan 29, 2024
    Show notes

    This week:

    I’m back today to share my 2023 wrap-up. It’s a pretty stream-of-consciousness endeavor, but I think it sums up where I was right in my 2023 preview, where I was very wrong, how the world changed — or didn’t — and most importantly, how we responded.

    Here's What You Can Do:

    • Donate to CAMFED to help them educate 5 million girls in Africa by 2030 (educating girls is key to building climate resilience!)

    • Volunteer with Action for the Climate Emergency, a network of young people working in key states to register young voters and educate them on climate change and climate justice.

    • Get educated about your country’s GHG emissions to thoroughly understand how and where to prioritize decarbonization resources using the Country Emissions Inventory from Climate Trace. Filter by year, sector, and type of GHG.

    • Be heard about protecting pregnant people at a federal level and urge your representative to support codifying abortion access.

    • Invest in solar and electrification by opening a bank account with ATMOS.

    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


    Best of: The End of the Universe Jan 22, 2024
    Show notes

    How will the universe end?

    That's today's big question, and my guest is Sarafina El-Badry Nance.

    Sarafina is an NSF graduate research fellow, astrophysics Ph.D. candidate, and Forbes 30 Under 30 Science 2022 honoree, specializing in supernova and cosmology.

    She's also the author of the new, honest, and empowering memoir "Starstruck: A Memoir of Astrophysics and Finding Light in the Dark".

    Sarafina and I recorded this conversation back in 2021, and not only is it an all-time listener favorite, well, the universe at large hasn't ended yet, even though it's felt like it was coming sometimes. We've all been through a lot since then, and this conversation is still and will remain, evergreen.

    Sarafina's goal is to measure the rate of the expansion of the universe as propelled by dark energy. And, I'm sorry if that isn't exciting enough for you, I don't know what to tell you.

    -----------

    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:

    • "Untamed" by Glennon Doyle

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

    Links:

    • starafina.com

    • Instagram: @starstrickensf

    • Twitter: @starstrickenSF

    • LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sarafina-nance-7a5888a0

    • Watch: Constellations

    • girlswhocode.com

    • thebreasties.org

    Follow us:

    • 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

    • Subscribe to our YouTube channel

    • Follow Quinn: twitter.com/quinnemmett

    • Edited by Anthony Luciani

    • Produced by Willow Beck

    • Intro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.com

    Advertise with us: importantnotimportant.com/c/sponsors


    Best of: Episode X: A Far Out Geek Girl Rises Jan 15, 2024
    Show notes

    Why does it matter who reviews our video games?

    That's today's big question, and my guest is Swapna Krishna.

    Swapna and I recorded this conversation in 2022, and as gaming and the entire media ecosystem changes and evolves and is pulled apart and merged, it's more important than ever to find reputable sources we not only trust, but who we have a connection with, and that's why representation matters so much.

    Swapna is a writer and journalist covering space, science, tech, and pop culture, and writes some of the most empathetic tech, and pop culture commentary on the web.

    She writes everywhere from Fast Company to StarWars.com, from StarTrek.com to Business Insider and the LA Times, Bitch Magazine, Bustle, Mental Floss, and more.

    Swapna has appeared on a bazillion excellent podcasts, she's been at ComicCon, she's the co-host of the Desi Geek Girls Podcast, and the host of PBS's show, Far Out.

    -----------

    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:

    • Sword Stone Table by Swapna Krishna and Jenn Northington

    • Stay tuned for Roshani Chokshi's new book

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

    Links:

    • Follow Swapna on Twitter and Instagram

    • Follow Swapna on TikTok

    • Watch PBS Terra's Far Out on YouTube or their website

    • Listen to and follow Desi Geek Girls

    • Check out NASA Social

    Follow us:

    • 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

    • Subscribe to our YouTube channel

    • Follow Quinn: twitter.com/quinnemmett

    • Edited by Anthony Luciani

    • Produced by Willow Beck

    • Intro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.com

    Advertise with us: importantnotimportant.com/c/sponsors


    Best of: Why We Can't Focus Jan 08, 2024
    Show notes

    How do we get our attention back?

    That's today's big question. I think about it every day, and my guest is Johann Hari. Johann and I recorded this conversation in 2022, and with the Internet in general and social networks of the past fifteen years being straight-up pulled apart, I think it's more relevant than ever.

    Johann Hari is the author of three New York Times best-selling books, an executive producer of an Oscar-nominated movie, and an eight-part series starring Samuel L. Jackson. His books have been translated into thirty-eight languages, and his TED Talks have been viewed more than eighty million times.

    Johann is the author of the new book, from last year called Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention and How to Think Deeply Again.

    No matter what you do, we are each and all being pulled in so many different directions. If we can't pay attention to what's going on with our planet and our communities, we're going to have a hard time fixing any of it.

    Our attention is spread too thin. And where this all clicks for me, is that we need to dial in more than ever before, and we also need space to let go, to understand, and marinate on big problems consciously, and subconsciously. Right now, we don't have room for any of it, and it really matters.

    -----------

    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 Anatomy of a Moment by Javier Cercas

    • The Apology by Eve Ensler

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

    Links:

    • Read Johann's book, "Stolen Focus"

    • Follow Johann on Twitter

    • Discover more of Johann's work

    Follow us:

    • 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

    • Subscribe to our YouTube channel

    • Follow Quinn: twitter.com/quinnemmett

    • Edited by Anthony Luciani

    • Produced by Willow Beck

    • Intro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.com

    Advertise with us: importantnotimportant.com/c/sponsors


    Best of: Internal Activism Jan 01, 2024
    Show notes

    How's your mental health around climate change?

    That is today's big question, and my guest is Britt Wray. Britt and I recorded this conversation in 2022. It is an all-time favorite of mine and of our listeners.

    Britt is the author of the fantastic book, Generation Dread: Finding Purpose in an Age of Climate Crisis. She has a passionate generational perspective on how to stay sane amid climate disruption. Britt has a PhD in science communication from the University of Copenhagen. She's the author of The Rise of the Necrofauna: The Science, Ethics, and Risks of De-Extinction.

    Britt has a PhD in science communication from the University of Copenhagen. She has hosted several podcasts, radio, and TV programs with the BBC and CBC, and is a TED resident. Britt is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine where she is researching the mental health impacts of climate change on young people.

    Britt is also the author of Gen Dread, the first newsletter that shares wide-ranging ideas for supporting emotional health and psychological resilience in the climate and wider ecological crisis. I read it every week.

    -----------

    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:

    • Generation Dread: Finding Purpose in an Age of Climate Crisis by Britt Wray

    • Greek Myths by Gustav Schwab

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

    Links:

    • Follow Britt Wray on Twitter

    • Follow @gen_dread on Instagram

    • Gen Dread Newsletter

    • Climate Awakening

    • Climate Café

    • Good Grief Network

    • Work That Reconnects

    • Climate Psychology Alliance

    • Climate Psychiatry Alliance

    Follow us:

    • 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

    • Subscribe to our YouTube channel

    • Follow Quinn: twitter.com/quinnemmett

    • Edited by Anthony Luciani

    • Produced by Willow Beck

    • Intro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.com

    Advertise with us: importantnotimportant.com/c/sponsors


    How To Make Ethical Decisions Dec 04, 2023
    Show notes

    Has there ever been a more important time, a more consequential time, to lead with ethics?

    That's today's big question, and my guest is Dr. Susan Liautaud. Susan is the author of The Power of Ethics and of the Little Book of Big Ethical Questions.

    She teaches cutting-edge ethics courses at Stanford University. She is the Chair of the Council Trustees at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She's the Vice Chair of the Global Partnership for Education, and is Chair of the Stanford University Freeman's Spogli Institute for International Studies Advisory Council.

    She also serves with the Stanford Institute for Human Centered Artificial Intelligence, which is obviously really important, and the AI Ethics Advisory Panel. Other boards include Benevolent AI, the Yale Divinity School Advisory Council, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, among many others.

    Her work and her frameworks reverberate through so many decision-making apparatuses today. I have been trying to learn from and operate from Susan's work personally and in this work for a long time because it's easy to feel incapable, not skilled enough, or not practiced enough in this moment of big decisions.

    This moment, at the intersection of technology and society and personal impact where a better, healthier, cleaner future, however imperfect, is within our hands, will require each of us to adopt and then practice a framework to consider who we want to be and who we see ourselves as, and then what that means in practice in each situation, on a day to day level, and when we're faced with the big stuff.

    A framework that interrogates the information available to us, that honestly asks who could be affected by our decisions, including ourselves, and what would it be like to be affected by our decision, now and way down the line.

    -----------

    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 Hero's Journey by Joseph Campbell

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

    Links:

    • Read Susan's books The Power of Ethics and The Little Book of Big Ethical Questions

    • Connect with Susan on LinkedIn

    Follow us:

    • 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

    • Subscribe to our YouTube channel

    • Follow Quinn: twitter.com/quinnemmett

    • Edited by Anthony Luciani

    • Produced by Willow Beck

    • Intro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.com

    Advertise with us: importantnotimportant.com/c/sponsors


    The Creepy Reality of Consumer Tech (Privacy Not Included) Nov 27, 2023
    Show notes

    What are the best holiday gifts that aren't privacy nightmares?

    That's today's big question, and my guest is Jen Caltrider.

    Jen is the lead researcher for Mozilla's Privacy Not Included program where since 2017 Mozilla has published 15 editions of Privacy Not Included, their Consumer Tech Buyer's Guide.

    They've reviewed over 500 gadgets, apps, cars now, and more, assessing their security features what data they collect from you and your loved ones, and who they share that data with or sell it to. They have even built the first annual Consumer Creep-o-meter, distilling what's good, what's bad, and what's just plain creepy in the world of consumer tech.

    While I love new tech and I own quite a bit of it, I have become pretty obsessed with at least understanding what I'm getting myself into and getting my kids into.

    Part of that's for myself and my family, but obviously, so I can share it with you all as well.

    -----------

    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:

    • Blitz by Daniel O'Malley

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

    Links:

    • Privacy Not Included website

    • Report about your car spying on you

    • Who is collecting data from your car? by The Markup

    • Facebook data being used in court post-Dobbs

    • 10 Questions You Need To Ask Right Now, before using an AI tool

    Follow us:

    • 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

    • Subscribe to our YouTube channel

    • Follow Quinn: twitter.com/quinnemmett

    • Edited by Anthony Luciani

    • Produced by Willow Beck

    • Intro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.com

    Advertise with us: importantnotimportant.com/c/sponsors


    Previous 1 10 11 12 13 14 49 Next

    Related Podcasts

    Invisibilia

    1

    Invisibilia Personal Journals
    Hidden Brain – Hidden Brain, Shankar Vedantam

    2

    Hidden Brain – Hidden Brain, Shankar Vedantam Science
    How To Do Everything

    3

    How To Do Everything Science
    Hidden Brain

    4

    Hidden Brain Games & Hobbies
    Something You Should Know

    5

    Something You Should Know Education
    Sword and Scale – Sword and Scale

    6

    Sword and Scale – Sword and Scale Alternative Health
    footer-logo

    Contact Us

    Toll Free: 844-670-7747

    Links

    • Home
    • Top Charts
    • Networks
    • Apps
    • Independents Podcasts
    • Podcast Advertising
    • Podcast News
    • Contact Us
    • About Us
    • Analytics & Insights

    Stay Connected

      Privacy, Terms of Use & Our Code of Ethics Protecting Content Creators Copyrights