The Most Important Question

A little while ago, I had a conversation with Dr. Madhukar Pai about vaccine equity.In it, I tried to understand why and how developed countries were spending billions on COVID vaccine boosters, but so relatively little in low-income countries.Not to say that nothing has been done, but it’s a pretty clear-cut case where whatever we have done, however complex the system, it’s nowhere near enough.I can’t be more clear here. This will affect you.We’re handing out 21 million shots a day across the world, and yet, 36.8% of the world’s population – 2.9 billion people – still haven’t received a single shot.87% of people in low-income countries still haven’t received a single shot.The international organization that was supposed to shepherd this whole endeavor to vaccinate the world, COVAX, has, however you squeeze it, failed.I want to understand technically what the issues have been, but also as always, to understand why we do what we do when it’s so morally corrupt, when it costs so many lives, and even when all of the evidence tells us that it will come back to bite us.My guest today is Gayle Smith.Gayle served until recently as Coordinator for Global COVID Response and Health Security at the Department of State and has recently returned to her role as the President and CEO of the ONE Campaign.Prior to the ONE Campaign, Smith was the Administrator of USAID, where she led a staff of more than 10,000 people working to end extreme poverty, foster sustained and inclusive economic growth, and promote resilient, democratic societies all over the world. Smith has also served as Special Assistant to President Obama and Senior Director for Development and Democracy at the National Security Council, where she helped lead the U.S. and global response to the Ebola crisis in 2014 and 2015, and as Special Assistant to President Clinton and Senior Director for African affairs at the National Security Council.If anyone can help me understand where the US, in particular, has fallen short of helping to vaccinate the world and get us out of this thing, it’s Gayle.-----------Have feedback or questions? Tweet us, or send a message to questions@importantnotimportant.comNew here? Get started with our fan favorite episodes at podcast.importantnotimportant.com.-----------INI Book Club:Find all of our guest recommendations at the INI Book Club: https://bookshop.org/lists/important-not-important-book-clubLinks:Follow Gayle on TwitterONE CampaignONE Campaign TwitterFollow us:Subscribe to our newsletter at newsletter.importantnotimportant.comFollow us on Twitter: twitter.com/ImportantNotImpFollow Quinn: twitter.com/quinnemmettEdited by Anthony LucianiIntro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.comArtwork by Amrit Pal

This week: ESG's crumblingCOVID on the rise, funding vanishesCalifornia's breadbasket at riskGene therapy pricingYour biometric data for sale, part 73Get more:Get more news, analysis, and Action Steps at newsletter.importantnotimportant.comGot feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.comFollow us on Twitter at @importantnotimpGet fun merch at importantnotimportant.com/storeTake a nap you deserve it

There’s no word for “conservation” in many Indigenous languages.Some come close, but mean something more like “taking care of” or “looking after.”And that’s probably because the very idea of conservation, to “prevention the wasteful use of a resource”, would have been, and continue to be, foreign to many of North America’s Indigenous peoples, who lived in an entirely different, co-dependent relationship with nature.That is to say, to have had a relationship at all.A relationship with the very same nature of which we’re inextricably part of, of which we rely on for clean air, food, and water – or it’s game over.And now, if we’re not facing game over, we’re certainly up against the final boss.We live on stolen lands that were tended for thousands of years by Indigenous and Native peoples have been dried out by mostly white settlers in what seems like the blink of an eye.Land now covered in cities, in suburbs, in industrialized agriculture, desperately and even controversially conserved as national and state parks.Waters onshore and offshore, full of plastic and fertilizer, once bountiful, now overfished.The receipts are in and it’s not gone well for colonialists’ stewardship over the single habitable ecosystem as far as anyone can tell.New voices are needed, new policies and practices are needed, and perhaps the most compelling ones come from our land’s longest-tenured human inhabitants.And while, yes, I’m focused on actions we can take to build a vastly cleaner and better future for all people, you know I work hard to bring you the necessary context, to understand how we got here, why we got here, to understand the decisions and systems involved – all of which should only make us more effective at taking action.My guest today is Dr. Jessica Hernandez.Dr. Hernandez is an environmental scientist, founder of environmental non-profit Piña Soul, and the author of the new book, “Fresh Banana Leaves”, where she weaves together her family’s relationship with nature, as part of nature, her family’s history of being displaced over and over, through the lens of eco-colonialism, and how Indigenous-led restoration is the way forward.-----------Have feedback or questions? Tweet us, or send a message to questions@importantnotimportant.comNew here? Get started with our fan favorite episodes at podcast.importantnotimportant.com.-----------INI Book Club:Le Maya Q’atzij/Our Maya Word by Dr. Emil’ Keme Find all of our guest recommendations at the INI Book Club: https://bookshop.org/lists/important-not-important-book-clubLinks:Dr. Jessica Hernandez on TwitterJessica Hernandez websitePiña SoulFollow us:Subscribe to our newsletter at newsletter.importantnotimportant.comFollow us on Twitter: twitter.com/ImportantNotImpFollow Quinn: twitter.com/quinnemmettEdited by Anthony LucianiIntro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.comArtwork by Amrit Pal

This week: Putin's oil, rejectedThe lives we write offWhat "sustainable" really means, or, nothingLead pipes, stillMicrosoft's new cancer botGet more:Get more news, analysis, and Action Steps at newsletter.importantnotimportant.comGot feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.comFollow us on Twitter at @importantnotimpGet fun merch at importantnotimportant.com/storeTake a nap you deserve it

There’s these metaphors that sum up a lot of what we’re trying to do here, what needs to be done on planet Earth, from climate change to COVID to AI ethics, which is something you definitely need to know and care about before it's too late, there are like 7 Terminator movies and only 1/3 of them are any good.Anyways! Re: today’s conversation, we need to design and implement standardized AI ethics regulations across everything AI touches, so, everything, while also asking questions like: what is “ethical”?And who gets to decide? And why do they get to decide? And how are they incentivized to decide, in today’s society? And who provides those incentives? Who gets to regulate all of this? Who elects the regulators? And how do we make sure companies actually implement all of this?These are among the most important questions of our time, because AI touches everything you do. The phone in your hand, your insurance, your mortgage, your flood risk, your wildfire risk, your electronic health record, your face, your taxes, your police record, those Instagram ads for the concerningly comfortable sweatpants, your 401k – – some version of AI, whether it’s the AI we always thought was coming or not – is integrated into every part of your life.My guest in Episode #132 is Abhishek Gupta.Abhiskek is the founder and principal researcher at the Montreal AI Ethics Institute, an international non-profit research institute, with a mission to democratize AI ethics literacy.He works in machine learning and serves on the CSE Responsible AI Board at Microsoft, he works as the Chair of the Standards Working Group at the Green Software Foundation, and is the author of the widely read AI Ethics Brief, and the State of the AI Ethics Reports, the most recent of which just dropped.Abhishek helps me ask better questions every single week and his work is instrumental to helping society build not only more powerful and equitable AI, but one that somehow improves on the most important element of all: us.-----------Have feedback or questions? Tweet us, or send a message to questions@importantnotimportant.comNew here? Get started with our fan favorite episodes at podcast.importantnotimportant.com.-----------INI Book Club:Find all of our guest recommendations at the INI Book Club: https://bookshop.org/lists/important-not-important-book-clubLinks:Montreal AI Ethics InstituteFollow Abhishek on TwitterGet Volume 6 of the State of AI Ethics Report (PDF)Subscribe to The MarkupFollow us:Subscribe to our newsletter at newsletter.importantnotimportant.comFollow us on Twitter: twitter.com/ImportantNotImpFollow Quinn: twitter.com/quinnemmettEdited by Anthony LucianiIntro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.comArtwork by Amrit Pal

This week: The IPCC report, by the numbersBiden's new COVID planWheat (prices) on the riseMental health apps need to meditate on some randomized control trialsPegasus: Not a horse! This timeGet more:Get more news, analysis, and Action Steps at newsletter.importantnotimportant.comGot feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.comFollow us on Twitter at @importantnotimpGet fun merch at importantnotimportant.com/storeTake a nap you deserve it

Jafar Tabebordbar was in his early 30’s, living and working as an accountant in Shiraz, Iran, when he became a father.It was 1986, nearly a decade after the 1979 revolution, and Jafar’s muscles were already beginning to whither.As his sons grew, and watched, their father Jafar lost his balance, his ability to walk, to drive, and eventually, the reliable use of his hands. There were no answers, and no treatments to be found.Two questions haunted his sons as they grew: What was causing their father’s suffering? And would they get it next?Quinn's guest today, 30 years later, is Dr. Sharif Tabebordbar, Jafar’s oldest son, and the man closest to a cure.Sharif received his bachelors and masters degrees in biotechnology from University of Tehran and a Ph.D. in Developmental and Regenerative Biology from Harvard University.He is the recipient of Distinction in Teaching Award from Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning at Harvard, the Albert J. Ryan Foundation Award for Outstanding Graduate Students in Biomedical Sciences, the Excellence in Research Award and the Career Development Award from the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy, and the Royan International Research Award in Regenerative Medicine. In 2020, Sharif was listed as a finalist in the MIT “35 innovators under 35” competition.In 2021, Sharif and others posted an article in the journal Cell that may change the world.All of these years later, Jafar’s son Sharif has figured out how to help: He stands on the cusp of transforming gene therapy for nearly all muscle wasting diseases.-----------Have feedback or questions? Tweet us, or send a message to questions@importantnotimportant.comNew here? Get started with our fan favorite episodes at podcast.importantnotimportant.com.-----------INI Book Club:"Never Split the Difference" by Chris Voss"Becoming" by Michelle ObamaFind all of our guest recommendations at the INI Book Club: https://bookshop.org/lists/important-not-important-book-clubLinks:Sharif TabebordbarSharif on TwitterFollow us:Subscribe to our newsletter at newsletter.importantnotimportant.comFollow us on Twitter: twitter.com/ImportantNotImpFollow Quinn: twitter.com/quinnemmettEdited by Anthony LucianiIntro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.comArtwork by Amrit Pal

In 2019, Quinn interviewed his good friend Craig Mazin, writer, producer, and creator of the hit HBO miniseries, Chernobyl, to learn what happened there, and what it means for our energy future.This week, Vladimir Putin declared war on Ukraine, directing the Russian military to take Ukraine's bases, cities, people, and strategic assets.Today, they took Chernobyl.We're re-running this invaluable conversation because misinformation is rampant, and it's never been more important to understand the cost of lies.-----------Have feedback or questions? Tweet us, or send a message to questions@importantnotimportant.comNew here? Get started with our fan favorite episodes at podcast.importantnotimportant.com.-----------INI Book Club:Find all of our guest recommendations at the INI Book Club: https://bookshop.org/lists/important-not-important-book-clubLinks:Watch Chernobyl on HBOFollow Craig on TwitterScriptnotes podcastFollow us:Subscribe to our newsletter at newsletter.importantnotimportant.comFollow us on Twitter: twitter.com/ImportantNotImpFollow Quinn: twitter.com/quinnemmettEdited by Anthony LucianiIntro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.comArtwork by Amrit Pal

This week: Gas: the forever bridge fuelBoosters, boostedMegadrought self-awarenessMaternal deaths on the riseYour location data, for saleGet more:Get more news, analysis, and Action Steps at newsletter.importantnotimportant.comGot feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.comFollow us on Twitter at @importantnotimpGet fun merch at importantnotimportant.com/storeTake a nap you deserve it

This week: America will see an average of 12 inches of sea level rise by 20501 million COVID deaths$1 billion for cover cropsAntimicrobial resistance got nextClearview's next steps (to harvest your data)Get more:Get more news, analysis, and Action Steps at newsletter.importantnotimportant.comGot feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.comFollow us on Twitter at @importantnotimpGet fun merch at importantnotimportant.com/storeTake a nap you deserve it