The Most Important Question

Latest Episodes:

118. F*cking Mosquitoes Jul 19, 2021

Show notes

In Episode 118, Quinn discusses: the big mosquito problem.

Our guest is Dr. Omar Akbari, one of the world’s pre-eminent biotechnology and mosquito researchers.

For how afraid people are of sharks, mountain lions, or even just other people (the worst), mosquitoes have actually killed more humans than pretty much anything on the planet. Ever. So, the fact that the problem is only getting worse… really fucking sucks.

Table stakes: The increase in mosquito populations is being exacerbated by – surprise – climate change. Safe places like Los Angeles are very much not that anymore.

Dr. Akbari shares how mosquitoes came to be such a big problem, how viruses pass via their population, and the potential doomsday scenario of something like COVID-19 becoming a thing mosquitoes jive with.

He also explains how our good friend, the CRISPR, may offer a solution, the ethical problem surrounding its use, and how you can help expedite the safe rollout of futuristic answers to a very (very) annoying problem.

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

Important, Not Important Book Club:

"The Code Breaker" by Walter Isaacson
"Editing Humanity" by Kevin Davies
https://bookshop.org/shop/importantnotimportant

Links:

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Intro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.com

Important, Not Important is produced by Crate Media

Issue #239: Go to Farmers’ Markets, Climate Reparations, Held Hostage by Hackers Jul 16, 2021

Show notes

This week: deep breath; COVID all around the world; there are two Americas and it’s obvious why; the global hungry jump to 768 million; call your doctor!; money for nothing; held hostage by hackers.

Find links from this newsletter and more at importantnotimportant.com/newsletter
Got feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.com
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Important, Not Important is produced by Crate Media

117. Keep ‘em Accountable Jul 12, 2021

Show notes

In Episode 117, Quinn discusses: how accountability works – and doesn’t – in the climate movement, how you can get involved, and how the best in the world are doing it.

Our guests are Mary Annaïse Heglar and Amy Westervelt. The duo makes up Hot Take, a podcast and newsletter that gives an honest look at the climate crisis while providing some of the most empathetic voices in the climate justice movement.

We’ve heard it again and again: the biggest barrier to climate action is political will, but how do you build that (besides putting polluters in jail)? Well, partly through discourse: by helping people understand why they should be fired up. Nobody’s penned more influential, moving climate essays than Mary.

On the other hand, there’s still so much f*cking money and power wrapped up in the fossil fuel industry – and, consequently, the policy surrounding it. And nobody’s done more to uncover their bullshit than Amy, through her investigative podcast series, Drilled.

With their powers combined, we lay the groundwork for change. How do we ensure that the monsters responsible get held accountable for their actions? Listen in!

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

Important, Not Important Book Club:

Black Tide by Antonia Juhasz
Goodbye to the Low Profile by Herb Schmertz and William Novak
https://bookshop.org/shop/importantnotimportant

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Connect with us:

Subscribe to our newsletter at ImportantNotImportant.com!
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Intro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.com

Important, Not Important is produced by Crate Media

Issue #238: Seattle in the Oven, Vaccine Money Grab, Building Biased Robots Jul 09, 2021

Show notes

This week: To understand Africa, look to India -- or not; Reverse course; Don’t believe everything you read -- especially Best Buy food labels; New headline, who dis?

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Important, Not Important is produced by Crate Media

Introducing HERO, from Foreign Policy Jul 06, 2021

Show notes

This week, Quinn is proud to share a new favorite podcast: “The Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women (HERO).”

Could empowering women in the workplace be the simplest way to boost the global economy? In a word: “yes,” but how do we get there?

“The Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women” is a new limited series podcast from Foreign Policy. Supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the show is about women around the world who are shaking up the status quo in surprising ways.

And we're going to air their first episode here, which is about an innovative approach to franchising affordable childcare centers and how it’s changing the lives of low-income mothers and daycare owners in Kenya.

The Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women debuts new episodes on Tuesdays. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

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

Links:

“The Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women (HERO)”

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Intro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.com

Important, Not Important is produced by Crate Media

Issue #237: Do the Dew Point, Thanos SNAP Benefits, Putting the AI in Ethical Jul 02, 2021

Show notes

This week: What’s a dew point, anyways?; The COVID Delta variant is here; And then there were six; An all female Justice League of social media.

#51: Are We Talking About CRISPR All Wrong? Also, What The Hell Is CRISPR?
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Important, Not Important is produced by Crate Media

116: What Really Happens When You Just Give People Money? Jun 28, 2021

Show notes

In Episode 116, Quinn wants to know: why is simply giving people money the most effective way to 1) help them make positive changes to their lives and 2) erase global poverty along the way?

To help him understand the answer, he brought on Caroline Teti and Michael Faye from GiveDirectly.

Caroline Teti (or just Teti, as she likes to be called, we swear) works on the ground in Kenya, Nairobi, handling recipient advocacy for GiveDirectly’s global operations. She’s our new favorite person, sorry Michael.

Michael Faye is the co-founder and president of GiveDirectly, and he’s great too. Seriously! You’re great. So great. But Teti, wow.

Anyways! There’s so many amazing programs out there helping folks in extreme poverty by providing food, water, clothing, medicine, and more.

But different people need different things on different days. Michael and Teti have done tremendous work to explore the data behind poverty and how to fix it: and it turns out the best way to get people what they need is to give them the resources -- namely cash -- to make those decisions themselves.

None of us will end poverty, individually. But anyone can lift just one person out of poverty, so listen in and let’s do this thing.

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

Important, Not Important Book Club:

“The Biggest Bluff” by Maria Konnikova
“The Art of Reading Minds” by Henrik Fexeus
https://bookshop.org/shop/importantnotimportant

Links:

Connect with us:

Subscribe to our newsletter at ImportantNotImportant.com!
Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/ImportantNotImp
Follow Quinn: twitter.com/quinnemmett
Follow Brian: twitter.com/beansaight
Like and share us on Facebook: facebook.com/ImportantNotImportant
Intro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.com

Important, Not Important is produced by Crate Media

Issue #236: Amazon Held to Ransom (Not That One), COVID Doesn’t Discriminate (But We Do), Vaccinate the 99% Jun 25, 2021

Show notes

This week: it’s Bolsonaro all the way down; the 99%; 44 thousand patients can’t be wrong; “fire beats water” should be relegated to D&D;

Find links from this newsletter and more at importantnotimportant.com/newsletter
Got feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.com
Follow us on Twitter at @importantnotimp

Important, Not Important is produced by Crate Media

Best of the Best: Do We Really Know What’s in that Moisturizer (& Where the Hell Did it Come From?) Jun 22, 2021

Show notes

In light of new research on toxic ingredients, it looks like America might finally start regulating cosmetic products, so it’s a great moment to re-run one of our most popular episodes with Beautycounter CEO Gregg Renfrew.

In episode 87, Quinn & Brian ask: what, exactly, are we putting on our bodies (and why aren’t more people asking questions about it)?

Our guest is: Gregg Renfrew. Gregg is a serial entrepreneur who, most recently, founded Beautycounter to increase transparency and safety in the personal care industry. She also actively lobbies for regulation in the cosmetics industry. She wants to limit the number of harmful chemicals included in products sold in America because, you know, less poison in and on our bodies is a good thing – and a good thing that many other companies in the beauty industry vehemently oppose.

There are complicated ingredients in our cosmetics, moisturizers… well, pretty much everything we’re sold to put on our bodies to make them look or feel better. And these ingredients are increasingly obscured by labeling trickery, like the deceptive word “fragrance” that can hide dozens of potentially dangerous chemicals – and, holy hell, after what we learned in this episode, we are so on board with the Beautycounter mission (Brian’s already stocked up).

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Senators Collins and Blumenthal move to ban toxic PFAS chemicals in cosmetics, which scientists say are 'widespread' and unlabeled
Instagram: www.instagram.com/greggrenfrew
Facebook: www.facebook.com/gregg.renfrew
www.beautycounter.com
The Never List: www.beautycounter.com/the-never-list
Want to take action now? Text “#betterbeauty” to 52886

Connect with us:

Subscribe to our newsletter at ImportantNotImportant.com!
Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/ImportantNotImp
Follow Quinn: twitter.com/quinnemmett
Follow Brian: twitter.com/beansaight
Like and share us on Facebook: facebook.com/ImportantNotImportant
Intro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.com

Important, Not Important is produced by Crate Media

Best of the Best: Legalizing the Other Weed Jun 14, 2021

Show notes

In celebration of New York state passing Bill S6532A, permitting underwater kelp cultivation, we’re re-playing one of our coolest (and most entertaining) episodes. Kelp could be THE crop of the 21st century. But why? Listen in to find out.

In Episode 81, Quinn & Brian discuss: legalizing the weed of the sea.

Our guests are Bren Smith and Tom Ford, two fine, clean-living gentlemen who are out on the water every day. They’re trying to change the way that we eat to our benefit and, more importantly, the ocean’s benefit (which seems obvious to us, but apparently is not).

Bren Smith started The Thimble Island Ocean Farm, dedicated to restorative ocean farming, and is Executive Director and Co-Founder of GreenWave, a nonprofit supporting a new generation of ocean farmers to feed the planet and build a blue-green economy in the era of climate change.

Tom Ford is Executive Director of The Bay Foundation, Director of the Santa Monica Bay National Estuary Program, and Co-Director of the Coastal Research Institute at Loyola Marymount University – all of which adds up to him being a super smart guy with a lot of ideas about how we can improve both the ocean and our lives. As we’ll learn today, some of them are surprisingly cheap and easy!

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

Important, Not Important Book Club:

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