The Most Important Question

Imagine you’re in a sci-fi movie. The one where everything’s on the line. And while dinosaurs or aliens or a virus takes over down on the ground, you’re the scientist unexpectedly riding in the helicopter with the actual president, the scientist who’s run the calculations and asked the questions nobody else thought to ask, who’s uncovered the virus’s single weakness.But nobody’s listening to you. Because it’s complicated when everything is on the line. But you know that what you know could save millions of lives. What do you do next?That’s today’s big question, and my guest is Dr. Linsey Marr.A renowned scientist and multidisciplinary engineer who pioneered research into a better understanding of the flu’s airborne status, and how humidity plays a role in the flu’s seasonality. She is among a very small group of scientists who truly understand the aerosol transmission of bacteria and viruses.Three years later, we’re still wrestling with the implications of this virus and how we level the playing field by cleaning up our indoor air.And nobody understands the challenges we face – and the opportunities in front of our faces, literally under and inside of our noses – like she does.-----------Have feedback or questions? Tweet us, or send a message to questions@importantnotimportant.comNew here? Get started with our fan favorite episodes at importantnotimportant.com/podcast.-----------INI Book Club:Our Missing Hearts by Celeste NgFind all of our guest recommendations at the INI Book Club: https://bookshop.org/lists/important-not-important-book-clubLinks:Follow Dr. Marr on TwitterRead and implement the EPA Clean Air In Buildings ChallengeLearn more about air pollutionRead the CDC recommendations for ventilation in buildingsInstall a PurpleAir air quality monitor in your homeMonitor CO2 in your home with an Aranet4Purchase an Air Purifier for your homeFollow us:Subscribe to our newsletter at importantnotimportant.comFollow us on Twitter: twitter.com/ImportantNotImpSubscribe to our YouTube channelFollow Quinn: twitter.com/quinnemmettEdited by Anthony LucianiProduced by Willow BeckIntro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.comFind our more about our guests here: https://www.importantnotimportant.com/guest-statsAdvertise with us: https://www.importantnotimportant.com/sponsorsMentioned in this episode:Support Our Work

This week: There are a default group of problems that exist in our society because of the basic needs required to be a human.They are: Air Water Food Sleep These, our most primal needs, are more or less biologically inarguable, and the good news is, we understand them very well and have made enormous progress to ensure they are accessible to a greater percentage of humans than ever before. There have been trade-offs along the way, of course, including plundering most of the solar system’s single habitable planet’s resources. Without fulfilling our most basic requirements, we can’t truly move into the future, no matter how much one small but powerful group wants to skip ahead to electric planes or flying cars or extended life spans. I want to get to the future as fast as anyone, but without equal access and enjoyment of these make-or-break requirements, there are simply no bootstraps to pull yourself up by, no ground to stand upon, much less to collectively reach higher. Here's What You Can Do:⚡ Understand the health impacts of what’s actually in your food, cosmetics, and cleaning products with the free Yuka app ⚡ Reduce food waste and take care of your grocery shopping with the Misfits Market⚡ Interested in community solar? Plug your zip into Arcadia’s tool to find out how you can go clean and reduce your power bill⚡ Want to invest in clean tech but don’t know where to start? Check out ImpactAssets and their donor-advised fund and put your cash to work saving the world News RoundupHealth & MedicineIs this why lung cancer doesn’t respond to immunotherapy? The first federal gun crime report in 20 years dropped New blood donation rules will loosen restrictions on gay and bisexual men Prenatal exposure to air pollution is associated with neurodevelopmental outcomes at just 2 years of age ClimateThe US Treasury made more cars eligible for tax credits, and still, there’s nothing for e-bikes and other micro-mobility options The Colorado River crisis is not going swimmingly as seven states just can’t agree on cuts Europe’s fossil fuel use should plummet this year Food & WaterCRISPR could help feed the world but boy genome editing in crops is a tad bit controversial The FDA rolled out a plan to re-org the food side and not everyone is pleased How road salt is poisoning Michigan’s water Beep BoopA new group called Health3PT is trying to address ransomware attacks along hospital supply chains GPT is coming to…everythingThe ACLU is suing the US intelligence community to try and further expose abuses of a warrantless surveillance program COVIDVaccine makers kept $1.4 billion in prepayments for canceled COVID shots for the world’s poor and I am losing my mind VA Senator Tim Kaine, suffering from Long COVID, pushes for more research and treatments A good piece on we need an air-quality revolutionGet more:Get more news, analysis, and Action Steps at importantnotimportant.com/newsletterGot feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.comFollow us on Twitter at @importantnotimpSubscribe to our YouTube channelGet fun merch at importantnotimportant.com/storeTake a nap you deserve itAdvertise with us: https://www.importantnotimportant.com/sponsors

This week: For the next few weeks, I’m rewriting and sharing a selection of essays I wrote in 2020 and 2021, so about two hundred years ago. I think they’re more relevant than ever — I can’t wait to hear what you think.This week: What would you say you do here? (Originally published July 2020, updated February 2023)Why do we exist?After a hundred years of progress, humanity faces stress tests unlike any we’ve faced before, and all at once. The good news: Your company can help rewrite the future.Here's What You Can Do:⚡️ The death toll in Turkey and Syria continues to rise. Relief agencies are having a hell of a time, but you can donate to the Syrian American Medical Society, Doctors Without Borders, and World Central Kitchen.⚡️ There’s never been a better time for educators to bring climate crisis solutions into the classroom, and no better tool than the All We Can Save Project.⚡️ Renter? Landlord? Either way you can find out how to green your building with BlocPower.⚡️ Clean up the air in your town with Mom’s Clean Air Force.⚡️ Every boob is different, so help recruit more women to breast cancer studies with WISDOM. News RoundupHealth & MedicinePlease read this David Brooks piece on friendship and depressionSure, yes, electric cars can clean up the air, but please also way fewer cars A quarter million US students haven’t returned to school since the early pandemic. Where the hell are they?Workers fighting America’s overdose crisis need much more help Yelp is coming for “crisis pregnancy centers” and the GOP is not pleased (this is exactly what I mean in the essay above) ClimateShell’s board of directors were sued for mismanaging climate risk EU leaders are still unsure how to deal with the United States’ climate industrialization moves (which we’ve gotta get right)NPR’s stunning multimedia piece on Senegal’s climate fight is worth a read Paris is growing new mini-forestsFood & WaterHot damn — bacteria really does eat plastic.How to save food from the landfill with WhatsApp (?) Yeah there’s lead in most dark chocolate, so what should you eat?Beep BoopAI is a lot right now. The invaluable Ted Chiang puts it all in perspective, and Charlie Warzel on the gold rushFederal agencies only followed 40% of cybersecurity recommendations, the same percentage as my children’s chores Legacy IT systems at London hospitals are not ready for global heating or even like a gentle breeze What happens when you Google “grief” COVIDBiden will end the COVID emergency declaration soon. Issac Saul on what it means. The FDA’s recommendation for annual COVID shots — like the flu — got mixed reviews Get more:Get more news, analysis, and Action Steps at importantnotimportant.com/newsletterGot feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.comFollow us on Twitter at @importantnotimpSubscribe to our YouTube channelGet fun merch at importantnotimportant.com/storeTake a nap you deserve itAdvertise with us: https://www.importantnotimportant.com/sponsorsMentioned in this episode:Support Our Work

How does innovation actually work? That's today's big question, and my guest is Christopher Mims. Chris is a journalist for the Wall Street Journal, and I had him on the show in 2021 to understand how he asks big questions.Chris is constantly asking questions about the most pressing technological and societal issues we face from robot trains to the future of batteries, brain implants, and whatever happens to land in between. And his thesis is this: every little bit counts. And innovation is more predictable than you think - or is it?In this conversation, Chris and I explore the team dynamics of innovation, the "great man" question, the invisible force behind Moore's Law, and more.The bad news: Nobody gets to save the world. The good news: Everyone gets to save the world a little bit.-----------Have feedback or questions? Tweet us, or send a message to questions@importantnotimportant.comNew here? Get started with our fan favorite episodes at importantnotimportant.com/podcast.-----------INI Book Club:Life as We Made It by Beth ShapiroArriving Today by Christopher MimsFind all of our guest recommendations at the INI Book Club: https://bookshop.org/lists/important-not-important-book-clubLinks:mims.clubTwitter: @mimsFollow us:Subscribe to our newsletter at importantnotimportant.comFollow us on Twitter: twitter.com/ImportantNotImpSubscribe to our YouTube channelFollow Quinn: twitter.com/quinnemmettEdited by Anthony LucianiProduced by Willow BeckIntro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.comFind our more about our guests here: https://www.importantnotimportant.com/guest-statsAdvertise with us: https://www.importantnotimportant.com/sponsorsMentioned in this episode:Support Our Work

This week: Everyone needs insurance. But what kind? And what does it mean to have it, or not?Well, there’s actual insurance, which is a policy where you and an insurer contract with one another in case things go south with (usually) your home, your car, or your body. That’s the layman’s technical explanation, but more colloquially, and for our purposes today, “insurance” can mean just having a buffer or a back up plan, or a “thing you might do to make sure a big decision (like buying a home, having a child, or just generally being a person) doesn’t go to hell in a hand basket.” All of these decisions are usually the result of understanding that just by being alive you’re really putting yourself out there. While you believe in your choices, and the odds of actual calamity are (usually) reasonable, the costs of calamity can be devastating. My friends: We are in a time of calamity. It’s time to get some insurance.Here's What You Can Do:⚡️Understand your home's flood and fire risk with Risk Factor⚡️ Work for a local government? Get real-time flood forecasting with FloodMapp⚡️ Wildfire season is around the corner -- get an outdoor monitor and check the map with PurpleAir⚡️ Get ahead of COVID and more. Get your town's wastewater monitored with Biobot⚡️ Over 60? Use your life experiences to organize for climate action with Third Act⚡️ Find the best "green" bank near you with Bank.GreenNews RoundupHealth & MedicineParents #1 concern for their kids: mental healthTeen's leukemia gains into remission after experimental gene-editing therapyAn ALS patient set a record for communicating via brain implantMedicaid continuous enrollment is ending. That's bad.Climate$1.1 trillion was invested in climate tech of all kinds last year. That's the new floorThe UK will offer £600 million to industry to switch to green steel (Europe's going to need to throw way more money to catch up to the US)1/3 of the Amazon is degraded, and Lula's just started fighting backFood & WaterThe FDA unveiled limits for lead in baby food, the same week the top food safety official publicly resignedMinnesota is one step closer to requiring 100% clean electricity by 2040Beep BoopYou'll never guess who's the world's biggest face recognition dealerThe BlackCat ransomware attack showed how vulnerable health care records areApparently the Xbox is woke nowCOVIDTwo new studies suggested the bivalent COVID vaccines are more effective against severe illness than the previous ones, please get themGet more:Get more news, analysis, and Action Steps at importantnotimportant.com/newsletterGot feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.comFollow us on Twitter at @importantnotimpSubscribe to our YouTube channelGet fun merch at importantnotimportant.com/storeTake a nap you deserve itAdvertise with us: https://www.importantnotimportant.com/sponsorsMentioned in this episode:Support Our Work

How do we reimagine capitalism in a world on fire? That's today's big question, and my guest is Rebecca Henderson, Harvard professor behind the wildly popular class "Reimagining Capitalism". I had Rebecca on the show in 2020 to discuss her book of the same name and her research, which explores the degree to which the private sector can play a major role in building a more sustainable economy, focusing on the relationships between organizational purpose, innovation, productivity, and high-performance organizations.What Rebecca discovered over the last decade or so of research is that focusing exclusively on shareholder profits is a pretty terrible way to run a company in the long run. And it could burn this whole thing down in the short, in the long term. The silver lining is, as we try to present here all the time, of the four to five catastrophes happening in this country at any given moment, many also present unprecedented opportunities to build a better today and tomorrow for everyone.Here's my 2020 conversation with Rebecca Henderson.-----------Have feedback or questions? Tweet us, or send a message to questions@importantnotimportant.comNew here? Get started with our fan favorite episodes at importantnotimportant.com/podcast.-----------INI Book Club:"Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist" by Kate RaworthFind all of our guest recommendations at the INI Book Club: https://bookshop.org/lists/important-not-important-book-clubLinks:reimaginingcapitalism.org“Reimagining Capitalism in a World on Fire”Twitter: @RebeccaReCapLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/rebecca-henderson-recapRead Ed Yong’s “How the Pandemic Defeated America”Follow us:Subscribe to our newsletter at importantnotimportant.comFollow us on Twitter: twitter.com/ImportantNotImpSubscribe to our YouTube channelFollow Quinn: twitter.com/quinnemmettEdited by Anthony LucianiProduced by Willow BeckIntro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.comFind our more about our guests here: https://www.importantnotimportant.com/guest-statsAdvertise with us: https://www.importantnotimportant.com/sponsorsMentioned in this episode:Support Our Work

This week: What does it mean when people say “revolution”? For these purposes, which are pretty narrow and entirely of my own invention, I don’t mean some single moment in time, unless it was a bellwether for something bigger. And I don’t mean the revolutions that have necessarily most directly impacted me. When I think “revolution” I imagine a building up of…something…that affected most people directly or indirectly, so that’s the threshold I’ll use here. This list is in no way comprehensive, I’m a generalist bonehead who definitely missed some significant items. I am 40, though I feel like I’m 99, so anyways I’m going to use 1982 as my starting point. YMMV. INI is about looking forward, to understanding where we are and where we might be going, so we can build a better today and tomorrow for everyone. But to do so, it’s helpful to look back a little bit to understand how we got here, what’s underway, and what might be brewing, for better or worse. Because the more we have our eyes on these currents, the more we can strike at the root to influence them. Here's What You Can Do:⚡️ I love donating to DonorsChoose so much. Teachers need so much more support and should never have to front the cost of essential supplies. Buy some books or crayons or maps or even a 3D printer!⚡️ Understand where your power is coming from, live, like right now, with Electricity Maps.⚡️ From the southern border to Ukraine, East Africa, and Palestine, Doctors Without Borders provides medical humanitarian assistance to folks who need it the most. Setup a new monthly donate now.⚡️ Volunteer to text or call with the Environmental Voter Project, an incredibly effective movement to identify millions of non-voting environmentalists and turns them into consistent votersNews RoundupHealth & MedicineGenes from the mother shape a baby's microbiomeA bunch of states are suing companies over insulin pricesClean air in schools could become New Mexico lawClimateWhat the California drought map looks like after massive rainsA more sustainable way to grow crops under solar panelsBiden's Green Energy Bank starts to dole out billionsFood & WaterNew York will ban forever chemicals from clothing by end of the year98% of California's don't have flood insuranceWhat happens when the Great Salt Lake disappears?Beep BoopT-Mobile gave up 37 million customer accounts. Again.US law enforcement agencies have access to 150 million bank transactionsRussia's increasingly going after Ukraine's mobile phone networkCOVIDCan we stop Long COVID before it starts?Get more:Get more news, analysis, and Action Steps at importantnotimportant.com/newsletterGot feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.comFollow us on Twitter at @importantnotimpSubscribe to our Youtube channelGet fun merch at importantnotimportant.com/storeTake a nap you deserve itAdvertise with us: https://www.importantnotimportant.com/sponsorsMentioned in this episode:Support Our Work

How can I be a better ancestor? This question has haunted and inspired me since way back in 2019 when I first read the Optimist's Telescope. A beautiful, helpful, inspiring book by Bina Venkataraman. Then I had Bina on the show. I think it's fair to say it reframed and focused my work and now all of our work here. You simply cannot be a better ancestor by hoping shit gets better in posting black boxes on your Instagram stories. You have to do the work for today and tomorrow. If you want your descendants to consider you the cool, great-great uncle, you need to drive change today.Bina is a journalist. She's an author and a science policy expert. She's the editor at large at the Boston Globe and a fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard. She's been an advisor to President Obama on everything from climate innovation to Ebola to public school science education. I hope you enjoy this wonderful throwback conversation.It is mid-Trump presidency. It is before COVID, before Biden, with old co-host Brian Colbert Kennedy, sharing the mic with me, where we dig into the influence Bina's family had on her perspective and her ideas for how you can value the future, how you can use the tools we have available to us now to both prevent further calamities and a build better future. -----------Have feedback or questions? Tweet us, or send a message to questions@importantnotimportant.comNew here? Get started with our fan favorite episodes at importantnotimportant.com/podcast.-----------INI Book Club:“The Lorax” by Dr. SeussFind all of our guest recommendations at the INI Book Club: https://bookshop.org/lists/important-not-important-book-clubLinks:Watch Bina’s TEDTalk: "The power to think ahead in a reckless age"Read: "The Optimist's Telescope"Twitter: @binajvFollow us:Subscribe to our newsletter at importantnotimportant.comFollow us on Twitter: twitter.com/ImportantNotImpSubscribe to our Youtube channelFollow Quinn: twitter.com/quinnemmettEdited by Anthony LucianiProduced by Willow BeckIntro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.comFind our more about our guests here: https://www.importantnotimportant.com/guest-statsAdvertise with us: https://www.importantnotimportant.com/sponsorsMentioned in this episode:Support Our Work

Across the front of our website, in big bold letters, is our calling card: “Science for people who give a shit.”You may have seen it and immediately thought “That’s me!” or “You sir, are a child.” Either reaction is well and great. We’re not for everybody.You’re here, though, so let's assume you’re on board with the whole idea. However you identified with that tagline, you may have also asked yourself what it means, in practice. And that’s a good question because while the mantra isn’t changing, I’m more focused than ever on putting it into practice for me, and you. To Do Better Better requires trust in one another. That we care, that we'll step up when it counts, that we won't pull the ladder up after us. It requires a radical reorientation of our assumptions and expectations, to put into practice our values, to show up for one another -- together whenever we can, and when we're most alone -- to understand 1% better every day doesn't feel very different today -- if anything, it can feel like nowhere near enough -- but in three hundred and sixty-five days, much less by 2035 or 2050, at the rate of 1% a day, together, we can build something entirely new and fucking awesome. That's compound action. That's what we're about. That's science for people who give a shit.Here's What You Can Do:Mutual aid is probably the most effective way to help the folks around you. Find a network near you here. Want to take on one of the UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals? Google's offering cash prizes in their 2023 Solution Challenge. Build a team and get to work! To understand the climate crisis, you have to understand our food systems. Nobody does a better job at that than Civil Eats. Subscribe today. Get more:Get more news, analysis, and Action Steps at importantnotimportant.com/newsletterGot feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.comFollow us on Twitter at @importantnotimpSubscribe to our Youtube channelGet fun merch at importantnotimportant.com/storeTake a nap you deserve itAdvertise with us: https://www.importantnotimportant.com/sponsorsMentioned in this episode:Support Our Work

We’re taking giving a shit quite literally this week! Our guest is Newsha Ghaeli, the president and co-founder at Biobot Analytics. If you read our newsletter, you’ll have heard me go on and on about Biobot, whose mission is to transform wastewater infrastructure into public health observatories.As an architect turned urban studies researcher, Newsha met her co-founder, Dr. Mariana Matus, at MIT almost a decade ago. Their work on the MIT Underworlds Project led to a dissertation, scientific publications, and coverage by dozens of local and national media outlets, and places in the DeltaV, DesignX, and Y Combinator accelerators.Obviously, Biobot’s work couldn’t have come along at a better time.Public health data in the US is fractured and difficult to aggregate, much less on the fly.Three years into the pandemic, most COVID testing is done at home and unreported, and most states have stopped reporting the data they do get.Building a baseline understanding of what’s quite literally floating around in our towns and cities will help us be better prepared when new threats like COVID, or old threats like polio come to town.Like a weather report, wastewater data can make our day-to-day lives safer and less surprising when things go to shit.-----------Have feedback or questions? Tweet us, or send a message to questions@importantnotimportant.comNew here? Get started with our fan favorite episodes at importantnotimportant.com/podcast.-----------INI Book Club:Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah HarariDune by Frank HerbertFind all of our guest recommendations at the INI Book Club: https://bookshop.org/lists/important-not-important-book-clubLinks:Check out Biobot's dataGet started with Biobot in your communityKeep up with Biobot and Newsha on TwitterFollow us:Subscribe to our newsletter at importantnotimportant.comFollow us on Twitter: twitter.com/ImportantNotImpSubscribe to our Youtube channelFollow Quinn: twitter.com/quinnemmettEdited by Anthony LucianiProduced by Willow BeckIntro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.comFind our more about our guests here: https://www.importantnotimportant.com/guest-statsAdvertise with us: https://www.importantnotimportant.com/sponsors