The Most Important Question

I’m very excited to share an awesome show with you today, from the fine folks at PBS! God, I love PBS. The show is called “NOVA Now” and I’m a longtime huge fan.This episode is near and dear to the moment we’re in. As the Western U.S. faces increasingly dry conditions, the show takes a look at the technologies and practices being developed to cope with drought — especially in vulnerable communities.Folks: 93% of land in seven Western states is affected by drought. We’re transitioning into desertification. We’ve talked about it, you’ve asked about it.But these increasingly dry conditions have widespread consequences, affecting everything from water quality to our national food supply.With the help of hydrologists on the ground and in the lab, Dr. Alok Patel digs deep — he learns about the traditional ecological knowledge of the Navajo Nation in the especially hard-hit Southwest.…and he talks with innovators applying advanced technology to agricultural practices, like drone surveillance and artificial intelligence, to cope with drought.There’s some very cool stuff in here, and these practices are going to be an instrumental part of the West’s coming decades.So. Please listen and enjoy today’s episode from NOVA Now, and check out the show wherever you listen to your podcasts, and hit that subscribe button to get all new episodes from Important, Not Important soon!Have feedback or questions? Tweet us, or send a message to questions@importantnotimportant.comLinks:Listen to more NOVA Now: pbs.org/wgbh/nova/podcastConnect with us:Subscribe to our newsletter at ImportantNotImportant.com!Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/ImportantNotImpFollow Quinn: twitter.com/quinnemmettFollow Brian: twitter.com/beansaightLike and share us on Facebook: facebook.com/ImportantNotImportantIntro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.comImportant, Not Important is produced by Crate Media

This week: Solar’s wilding out; $65 billion for the next pandemic; Better, cheaper, more inclusive clinical trials; Protecting farmworkers; Biden’s AI boardFind links from this newsletter and more at importantnotimportant.com/newsletterGot feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.comFollow us on Twitter at @importantnotimpImportant, Not Important is produced by Crate Media

This week: Climate tech billions; COVID goals; A new hope for neurodegenerative diseases; An IPCC for food; Facial recognition knows no bounds.Find links from this newsletter and more at importantnotimportant.com/newsletterGot feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.comFollow us on Twitter at @importantnotimpImportant, Not Important is produced by Crate Media

If we're going to make this world a better place, things have to change. That's why we talk with the changemakers who have the power – and the courage – to get things done.We wrap up every conversation with one question meant to get to the root of that superpower: when was the first time you realized you had the power of change? To make a change, we have to believe change is possible. We're going to look back at some of the responses we've received to give you all some proof that it is!Have feedback or questions? Tweet us, or send a message to questions@importantnotimportant.comConnect with us:Subscribe to our newsletter at ImportantNotImportant.com!Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/ImportantNotImpFollow Quinn: twitter.com/quinnemmettFollow Brian: twitter.com/beansaightLike and share us on Facebook: facebook.com/ImportantNotImportantIntro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.comImportant, Not Important is produced by Crate Media

This week: Wind NIMBY’s; More nurses, stat; Diabetes on the rise; Evictions; Cybersecurity commitments.Find links from this newsletter and more at importantnotimportant.com/newsletterGot feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.comFollow us on Twitter at @importantnotimpImportant, Not Important is produced by Crate Media

Each week we kick off our conversations with the smartest people in the universe with one humble question: “Why are you vital to the survival of the species?”The responses typically range from laughter, modest denial, to audible discomfort. But when the air clears, we typically get some gems of insight that give us a glimpse at how we all have some role to play in our survival as a species. Today, we’re taking a look back to highlight some of those responses and hopefully give us some hope for a better world.Have feedback or questions? Tweet us, or send a message to questions@importantnotimportant.comConnect with us:Subscribe to our newsletter at ImportantNotImportant.com!Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/ImportantNotImpFollow Quinn: twitter.com/quinnemmettFollow Brian: twitter.com/beansaightLike and share us on Facebook: facebook.com/ImportantNotImportantIntro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.comImportant, Not Important is produced by Crate Media

This week: Operate from a place of self-awareness; God, we are so bad at math; A half-century later; Drive pediatric cancer research; What’s the future of meat work? TikTok misinformation enters the chat.Find links from this newsletter and more at importantnotimportant.com/newsletterGot feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.comFollow us on Twitter at @importantnotimpImportant, Not Important is produced by Crate Media

In Episode 122, Quinn has big questions about AI ethics and, like many other situations, is left wondering: was Dr. Ian Malcolm right all along?Our guest is Dr. Rumman Chowdury. She is the director of the Machine Ethics Transparency & Accountability (META) team at Twitter, where she’s helping to build a new ethical backbone into Twitter from the inside out.On every social media platform you interact with on a regular basis, there is some type of machine learning or algorithm determining what you see and how you interact with it. Obviously, that is quite a responsibility to bear. We’ve seen algorithms in the past be straight-up racist, suck people into alt-right conspiracy funnels, and cater to the worst of our human tendencies.These are all running on systems designed by humans – mostly white men – and that shows in the ways that they work. It’s Dr. Rumman’s job to clamp down on the worst of these to make algorithms that perform ethically – and she’s certainly got her work cut out for her.Have feedback or questions? Tweet us, or send a message to questions@importantnotimportant.comImportant, Not Important Book Club:Against Purity by Alexis Shotwellhttps://bookshop.org/shop/importantnotimportantLinks:rummanchowdhury.comTwitter: @ruchowdhparity-fund.comstartupsandsociety.medium.comConnect with us:Subscribe to our newsletter at ImportantNotImportant.com!Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/ImportantNotImpFollow Quinn: twitter.com/quinnemmettFollow Brian: twitter.com/beansaightLike and share us on Facebook: facebook.com/ImportantNotImportantIntro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.comImportant, Not Important is produced by Crate Media

In Episode #121, Quinn’s got a fantastic new guest to help answer his favorite question: “What can I do?”Isaias Hernandez – or, as he’s known pretty much everywhere on the internet, Queer Brown Vegan -- shares the mic today. He’s built a massive following using an intersectional approach to reach people through empathy and education.In this series, we look at how young people are using their passions and lived experiences to participate in this transformational moment in history. Isaias exemplifies this by taking his passion for the environment, his frustration with the inaccessibility of academia, and his skill for graphic design, to create the kinds of educational content he wished he had access to when he was younger.Isaias has taken every aspect of who he is and incorporated it into that educational platform. From understanding his own role in the food system, the way that humans are exploited in agricultural systems, and the inevitability of climate change, he looks to his own interests and what makes him unique, then shares it with the world.Have feedback or questions? Tweet us, or send a message to questions@importantnotimportant.comImportant, Not Important Book Club:The Red Deal by The Red Nationhttps://bookshop.org/shop/importantnotimportantLinks:queerbrownvegan.comInstagram: @queerbrownveganfoodispower.orgearthjustice.orgintersectionalenvironmentalist.comslowfactory.foundationConnect with us:Subscribe to our newsletter at ImportantNotImportant.com!Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/ImportantNotImpFollow Quinn: twitter.com/quinnemmettFollow Brian: twitter.com/beansaightLike and share us on Facebook: facebook.com/ImportantNotImportantIntro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.comImportant, Not Important is produced by Crate Media

This week: 50% isn’t good enough; Facebook fossil fuel ads; How to get shots to Africa; Oysters!?; Why has AI failed to help during COVID?Find links from this newsletter and more at importantnotimportant.com/newsletterGot feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.comFollow us on Twitter at @importantnotimpImportant, Not Important is produced by Crate Media