Important, Not Important

The Most Important Question

Science EN ↓ 462 episodes

You already know things are broken. You read the news, you listen to the analysis, you've got the outrage. What you don't have is a plan. The Most Important Question — 6x Webby-nominated, 2x Signal Award-nominated — is a weekly conversation with one person who stopped asking "what can I do?" and went and found out. Not pundits. Not commentators. The scientists, doctors, nurses, journalists, farmers, activists, and policymakers who are doing the actual work on the frontlines of climate, public health, democracy, AI, food, water, medicine, and justice. Host Quinn Emmett goes deep with each of th...

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Important, Not Important

Episodes

GOOD NEWS: Can Zebrafish Beat Childhood Cancer? 11.05.2020 1:08:47

In Episode 75, Quinn & Brian discussed: Beating the crap out of childhood cancer with science and... zebrafish? Our guests are Dr. Jaclyn Taroni and Dr. Genevieve Kendall. Dr. Kendall is a Postdoctoral scholar at UT Southwestern Medical Center who util...

WEBBY NOMINEE: "Who's Fixing The People Fixing The Planet?" 04.05.2020 1:30:40

If you haven’t already heard, we received a Webby nomination for Best Podcast Episode in the Science & Education category. We’re really proud to be nominated again… but, we also really want to win. So, today, we’re re-airing the episode that received a...

Holy Cow We're Nominated For Two Webbys 29.04.2020 7:32

That's right, we are now a four-time Webby-nominated podcast! But what we really want is to be a Webby-winning podcast. So, please, go vote! It's free and you can stick it to the AARP. Vote for Important, Not Important for Best episode (Science & Educa...

GOOD NEWS: Did A.I. Just Make My Life’s Work Obsolete? 27.04.2020 1:08:25

In Episode 73, Quinn & Brian asked: Did A.I. take our jobs? Of course, we aren’t talking about our jobs. If A.I. took our jobs, the show would have won that goddamn Webby. No, no — we’re talking about really, really important jobs – the jobs being done...

GOOD NEWS: So We Can’t Just Blow Up Asteroids, Then? 20.04.2020 1:06:09

Our “Good News” series of replays begins today with Episode 66, when Quinn & Brian hosted a delightfully important discussion: Why, apparently, we shouldn’t just blow up asteroids. Our guest is: Professor K.T. Ramesh, who is an absolute delight and may...

#90: What It’s Like to be a COVID-19 Lab Rat 13.04.2020 1:25:36

In Episode 90, Quinn & Brian discuss: What it’s like to be a COVID-19 Lab Rat. Our guest is: Allie Broas, an almost-MBA and one of Quinn’s many, many cousins. We weren’t exactly planning to do more of these episodes right now — most of the people who a...

BEST OF THE BEST: Air Pollution: The Low Hanging Fruit of Our Hellish Future 07.04.2020 1:15:39

Cast your mind back to Episode 79, when Quinn & Brian discussed: Optimism in the air (can it be?). Our guest is: Beth Gardiner, an environmental journalist and the author of Choked: Life and Breath in the Age of Air Pollution. The Guardian writes, “You...

BEST OF THE BEST: Is COVID-19 America’s Chernobyl? 31.03.2020 1:29:26

Way back in Episode 65, Quinn asked: Was Chernobyl a preventable and rare accident from the past, or a vivid picture of what happens when the government abandons its citizens during a crisis? FUN STORY: turns out, it’s B! We’re replaying one of our mos...

Special Edition: How You Can Help — And (Mostly) Still Stay Home 27.03.2020 7:10

If you've been wondering how else you can help fight coronavirus besides staying at home in sweatpants, this episode is for you. Please share widely. You can find links and additional details at importantnotimportant.com/blog/fight. Find links from thi...

#89: Why Does It Require a PhD in Neuroscience Just to Support a Green New Deal? 23.03.2020 1:12:32

In Episode 89, Quinn & Brian discuss: Taking down the white guy who politically stabbed you (and the planet) in the back. Our guest is: Dr. Arati Kreibich. She gave us a call a couple weeks back to explain that she’s a freshman Councilmember in Glen Ro...

#88: You Voted for Clean Energy… So Where The Hell Is it? 16.03.2020 1:18:20

In Episode 88, Quinn & Brian ask: You voted for clean energy… so why hasn’t it become a thing yet? Our guest is: Dr. Leah Stokes, author of the new book Short Circuiting Policy: Interest Groups and the Battle Over Clean Energy and Climate Policy in the...

#87: What's In Your Moisturizer, Anyways? 09.03.2020 1:04:40

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 transp...

Special Edition: How to Survive the Coronavirus (With Your Sanity Intact) 03.03.2020 26:26

In this special episode, Quinn (with some help from our friends at the CDC and elsewhere) talks you through everything you need to know about the coronavirus, what you can do to prepare, and — maybe most importantly — what you can’t. Want to read or pr...

#86: Farming While Black: The Past and The Future 02.03.2020 58:20

In Episode 86, Quinn & Brian ask: What can we do to support the black farmers who have the ancient answers to rebuilding our soil, farms, and food system? Our guest is: Leah Penniman, Co-Director and Farm Manager of Soul Fire Farm, a farm dedicated to ...

#85: A Blueprint for Fighting Food Waste in Your Community 24.02.2020 1:18:26

In Episode 85, Quinn asks: Is there a blueprint for fighting food waste in your city? Our guest is: Rick Nahmias. As Founder and Executive Director of Food Forward, Rick has spent more than a decade harvesting the bounty of LA’s fresh fruit and vegetab...

#84: How is Climate Change (Already) Affecting Immigration to the USA? 17.02.2020 30:13

We’re back! In Episode 84, Quinn & Brian ask: Is the USA responsible for climate refugees (and then turning them away)? Our guest is: Jessica Cisneros, a 26-year-old immigration and human rights attorney and proud Mexican-American woman running for Con...

SPECIAL PREVIEW: Issue #169: CRISPR’ing Cancer, BP Oil, & Democrats Campaigning on Soil 14.02.2020 7:38

This is a special preview of our new weekly audio newsletter. It's all the most vital science news you missed, with action steps you can take to fight back, delivered in five minutes and read by Brian. After this week, it's a premium-only product, so i...

Introducing the Important, Not Important: Sh*t-Giver Edition! 13.02.2020 3:13

We’re very excited to announce the launch of our new premium podcast feed — The Shit-Giver Edition! Our main feed (this one) will always be free, and will always host the latest in our award-nominated "save the world" conversations, with ads read by us...

#83: Knock Knock. Who’s There? Climate Change. Climate Change Who? Climate Change Pooped On Your Head. (A Conversation About Mangroves) 05.11.2019 1:36:06

In Episode 83, Quinn & Brian discuss: Blue carbon, the patriarchy, and how one of those two things has ruined the other (we’ll give you three guesses). Our guests are Dr. Sarah Myhre and Priya Shukla. Dr. Myhre is a leading voice in the fields of clima...

BONUS: Help Dr. Ghazala Hashmi Flip Virginia 29.10.2019 49:24

We’re interrupting your normally scheduled programming with a Special Election Report! So, today, Quinn & Brian ask: Will You Help Us Flip Virginia? Our guest is Dr. Ghazala Hashmi, an immigrant, educator, and mother who is running in the general elect...

#82: Sustainable Trees + Death Metal = Climate Progress 22.10.2019 1:05:33

In Episode 82, Quinn & Brian discuss: How to fix our somewhat pressing land reconfiguration issues -- from 30,000 feet down to the soil under your feet. Our guest is Dr. Iara Lacher, a land use ecologist at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institut...

#81: Legalizing the Other Weed 08.10.2019 1:17:19

In Episode 81, Quinn & Brian discuss: Legalizing the weed of the sea. Our guests are Bren Smith and Tom Ford, two fine, clean-living gentleman who are out on the water, every day, trying to change the way that we eat and use the ocean to our benefit — ...

#80: Mosquitoes. The Serial Killers of Nature. Should We Make Them Go Away? 01.10.2019 1:09:14

In Episode 80, Quinn & Brian discuss Quinn’s wife’s least favorite thing: Mosquitoes! Our guest is Dr. Natalie Kofler, a trained scientist and the founding director of Editing Nature at Yale University, a global initiative to steer responsible developm...

#79: Air Pollution: The Low Hanging Fruit of Our Hellish Future 24.09.2019 1:14:34

In Episode 79, Quinn & Brian are back to discuss: Optimism in the air (wait... that doesn’t sound like us). Our guest is Beth Gardiner, an environmental journalist and the author of Choked: Life and Breath in the Age of Air Pollution. We talk about why...

#78: How to Be A Better Ancestor 27.08.2019 1:10:25

In Episode 78, Quinn & Brian discuss: Planning for chaos. Our guest is Bina Venkataraman, author of the upcoming book The Optimist's Telescope: Thinking Ahead in a Reckless Age and a teacher in the program on Science, Technology, and Society at MIT. Fa...