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...

Author

Important, Not Important

Category

Science

Latest episode

Jun 22, 2026

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Episodes

#37: Why Does Congress Need a Female Air Force Officer / Engineer / Chemistry Teacher / Mom? 02.10.2018

Our guest is Chrissy Houlahan, a candidate for Pennsylvania District 6 on Nov. 6th. Want to send us feedback? Tweet us, email us, or leave us a voice message!

#36: Can Latinos Save the Planet? 25.09.2018

Our guest is Mark Magana, the Founding President & CEO of GreenLatinos, a national coalition of Latino environmental, natural resources, and conservation advocates. Want to send us feedback? Tweet us, email us, or leave us a voice message!

#35: Can These Scientists Really Save Congress? 18.09.2018

Our guest is Shaughnessy Naughton. She is the President & Founder of 314 Action, an organization founded by members of the STEM community; grassroots supporters and political activists who believe in the power of SCIENCE! Want to send us feedback? Twee...

#34: Electrocuting the S#!t Out of Cancer. 11.09.2018

In Episode 34, Quinn & Brian discuss: Electrocuting the S#!t Out of Cancer. Our guest is Theo Roth, an MB/PhD student candidate at UCSF who spends his days running experiments in the Marson Lab, and contributing to kick-ass research like the developmen...

#33: This is Zero Hour... So What The Hell Are You Doing? 04.09.2018

Our guests are Elsa Mengistu and Emelly Villa, two of the young people behind Zero Hour, a movement that is bringing the voices of diverse youth into the conversation on climate and environmental justice. They’re doing incredible things to make this th...

#32: Are You Ready for Some Radical Environmental Justice? 28.08.2018

Our guest is Shantha Ready Alonso, Executive Director of Creation Justice Ministries, whose mission is to “educate, equip, and mobilize Christian communities and individuals to protect, restore, and rightly share God's Creation,” focusing on providing ...

#31: Can Texas Go (Clean Energy) Independent? 21.08.2018

In Episode 31, Quinn & Brian ask: Can Texas Go (Clean Energy) Independent? Joining us this week is candidate for Texas district 21, Joseph Kopser. He’s a military vet and clean energy entrepreneur on the hunt for enemy of science Lamar Hunt’s seat. Thi...

#30: What’s the Business Incentive for Climate/Clean Energy Action? 14.08.2018

In Episode 30, Quinn & Brian ask: what’s the business incentive for climate/clean energy action? In light of the Paris Agreement and all the bullshit that’s gone down since, we drafted Will Hackman to be our guest and explain it all. Will’s been a camp...

#29: The Pope Has Decided to Defeat Climate Change with His Own Bare Hands. 07.08.2018

In Episode 29, Quinn & Brian ponder the fact that the Pope Has Decided to Defeat Climate Change With His Own Bare Hands. Our guest — Jose Aguto. Jose is the Associate Director of the Catholic Climate Covenant, where he works to lead Catholicism into cl...

#28: Why the Hell is Space Exploration Important When the Planet is Literally on Fire? 31.07.2018

In Episode 28, Quinn & Brian ask: why the hell is space exploration important when the planet is literally on fire? To answer that, they’ve brought on The Space Gal, Emily Calandrelli. And boy does she set the record straight. Emily is an MIT-engineer ...

#27: What Happens When the Atlantic Ocean Invades the Arctic Ocean? 24.07.2018

In Episode 27, Quinn & Brian ask: what happens when the Atlantic Ocean invades the Arctic Ocean? Our guest: Julia Roberson, vice president of relations for the Ocean Conservancy in Washington D.C. Julia takes complex issues, like one ocean invading ano...

#26: He's Given 200 Climate Speeches to Congress. What's Next? 17.07.2018

In Episode 26, Quinn & Brian ask: what drives a man to give 200 climate speeches to Congress? That's once a week since 2007. Our guest today: Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, the junior senator from Rhode Island. We discuss his speeches, his future carbon b...

#25: Middle School Physics: Lame, or the First Step to Being an Superhero? 10.07.2018

In Episode 25, Quinn & Brian ask: “Middle school physics: Lame, or the first step to being a SUPERHERO?” Our guest today is “The Physics Girl”, Dianna Cowern. She’s hunted for dark matter with MIT and Harvard, worked at GE, and is now one of the world’...

#24: When Will San Francisco Be Underwater? 03.07.2018

In Episode 24, Quinn & Brian ask: when will San Francisco be underwater? On the mic today is the ever-intrepid Molly Peterson, a renowned reporter focusing on the environment and climate change. Molly’s worked at Southern California Public Radio, ISeeC...

#23: Can We Predict the Next Big Earthquake? 26.06.2018

In Episode 23, Quinn & Brian ask: can we predict the next big earthquake? Pretty please? Joining us is Josh Bashioum, founder of Early Warning Labs, an earthquake early warning technology developer, whose mission is to improve, expand, and lower the co...

#22: How Does Your Phone Call Become Law? 19.06.2018

In Episode 22, Quinn & Brian ask: how does your phone call become law? To help answer that question, they’ve got Andres Jimenez on the line. Andres is the Senior Director of Government Affairs for the Citizens Climate Lobby, working with both the House...

#21: The #1 thing you can do to fight climate change 12.06.2018

In Episode 21, Quinn & Brian finally get to the heart of it: What’s the #1 thing YOU can do to affect climate change? On the mic and down the street, Peter Kalmus, an atmospheric scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. Peter...

#20: How the hell are we gonna feed 10 billion people? 05.06.2018

In Episode 20, Quinn and Brian wonder: How the hell are we gonna feed 10 billion people? Enter Fred Iutzi of the Land Institute, where they’re focused on the incredibly modest goal of working to displace the predominant industrial, disruptive system of...

#19: What’s the future of antibiotics? 29.05.2018

In Episode 19, Quinn & Brian asks: What’s the future of antibiotics? To answer: the irrepressible Dr. Gautam Dantas, the professor of pathology and immunology and biomedical engineering at the Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis. He lea...

#18: A new science foundation in America 22.05.2018

In Episode 18, Quinn & Brian try to build a more flexible, approachable, and fun new science foundation in America. But they don't know where to start. Enter the legendary Phil Plait, the “Bad Astronomer”. He's an astronomer (obviously), author, and sc...

#17: What’s the future of emergency medical systems in the age of climate change? 15.05.2018

In Episode 17, Quinn & Brian ask: What’s the future of emergency medical systems in the age of climate change? Joining us: Jason Friesen, the founder and executive director of Trek Medics, a 501 c3 registered NGO dedicated to creating or improving emer...

#16: Clouds ruin EVERYTHING 08.05.2018

In Episode 16, Quinn & Brian ask: what's the future of climate modeling? Also, what's a climate model? Enter Dr. Kate Marvel. She's a climate scientist and a writer. A theoretical physicist by training, she is now an associate research scientist at NAS...

#15: Can carbon capture be a building block in climate action, Part II? 01.05.2018

In Episode 15, Quinn and Brian dig deeper and ask: Can carbon capture be a building block in climate action, part II? On the mic: Akshat Rathi, a reporter for Quartz in London. He wrote a series last year called The Race to Zero Emissions about carbon ...

#14: How do we improve America’s agriculture system? 24.04.2018

In Episode 14, Quinn (Brian abandoned him) asks himself: How do we improve America’s agriculture system? On the mic, Emily Cassidy, the Sustainability Science Manager at the illustrious and beautiful California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, and...

#13: A blueprint for suing the pants off fossil fuel companies 17.04.2018

In Episode 13, Quinn and Brian plot a blueprint for suing the pants off fossil fuel companies. Of course we don't know where to start, so we asked for help. Meet the mastermind: Mayor Serge Dedina of tiny Imperial Beach, California, one of the first ci...

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