The Most Important Question

In Episode 44, Quinn & Brian discussed: Why food waste is the stupidest thing we do and how can we cut it in half.Our guest was Dr. James Rogers, founder and CEO of Apeel Sciences and one of our most mind-blowing guests yet. You may think you know about avocados, but you have no idea. This episode is even more applicable now, when so many Americans have lost their jobs and the question of how to put food on the table is being asked by far too many families.For the first time in a long time, we’re actually talking about one of the things that America is best at — wasting food. We’re wasting about $165 BILLION of food every year. Or,  put another way, about 40% of the food produced in the U.S. is never eaten. It’s staggering and a little heartbreaking. But, of course, we chose this episode because there’s good news: avocados. Apeel avocados, to be precise.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:"An Apeel Avocado"INI Book Club: https://bookshop.org/lists/important-not-important-book-clubLinks:apeelsciences.comLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/james-rogers-801a572a/Instagram: @apeelsciencesFacebook: facebook.com/apeelsciences/Twitter: @apeelsciencesRead: The Third Plate: Field Notes on the Future of Food by Dan BarberLearn about the egg biome: ginkgobioworks.comConnect with us:Subscribe to our newsletter at newsletter.importantnotimportant.comFollow 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.comArtwork by Amrit PalImportant, Not Important is produced by Crate Media

To continue our Good News series, we’re looking back to Episode 78, when Quinn & Brian discussed: Planning for chaos. (Cheery, right?)For real, though. This episode offers an actionable, helpful, revealing, and — dare we say it? — PLEASURABLE way of looking at the world. And that perspective comes from the delightful Bina Venkataraman, author of The Optimist's Telescope and the Editor of The Boston Globe’s editorial page.Fair warning, so you don’t get upset like Brian did: this is not a real telescope. But you should still be excited, like Brian is now, because Bina is awesome and her book is fantastic — and it’s more applicable now than ever.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: “The Lorax” by Dr. SeussINI Book Club: https://bookshop.org/lists/important-not-important-book-clubLinks:Read: "The Optimist's Telescope"Twitter: @binajvWatch Bina’s TEDTalk: "The power to think ahead in a reckless age"Connect with us:Subscribe to our newsletter at newsletter.importantnotimportant.comFollow 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.comArtwork by Amrit PalImportant, Not Important is produced by Crate Media

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 utilizes zebrafish genetic models to understand how pediatric muscle cancers develop and better identify any therapies we can use to treat it. Dr. Taroni is a Principal Data Scientist at the Childhood Cancer Data Lab, an initiative of Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation, and her job is to help childhood cancer researchers like Dr. Kendall use data to answer some of the most important questions in the field.We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: fuck kid cancer. This conversation gets really nerdy and is surprisingly fun, and it offers some much-needed perspective — because there ARE people out there smarter than us using science to solve problems that may seem impossible from our positions at home right now.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: Alex and the Amazing Lemonade Stand by Liz Scott, Jay Scott, and Pam HowardNonviolent Communication by Marshall RosenbergINI Book Club: https://bookshop.org/lists/important-not-important-book-clubLinks:Jaclyn-taroni.comDr. Taroni on Twitter: twitter.com/jaclyn_taroniChildhood Cancer Data Lab: ccdatalab.orgDr. Kendall on Twitter: twitter.com/genkendallRead: “Zebrafish expose tumor pathway in childhood muscle cancer”Connect with us:Subscribe to our newsletter at newsletter.importantnotimportant.comFollow 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.comArtwork by Amrit PalImportant, Not Important is produced by Crate Media

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 nomination and asking you to help us with your vote.Back in Episode 70, Quinn & Brian discussed: When things are broken, when the people who are working on those things are also broken, and why we need to help them.Our guest was Nikki Silvestri, the founder and CEO of Soil and Shadow, the Co-Founder of Live Real, and the former Executive Director of People's Grocery and Green for All. She is a nationally recognized thought leader and general good doer, including being named as one of The Root's 100 Most Influential African Americans and receiving both ELLE Magazine's "Gold" Award and OxFam America's "Act Local, Think Global" Award.We don’t hesitate or feel like we’re overselling things when we say that what Nikki has to say is something that most people need to hear, and this could be a truly transformative message if it falls on the right ears. Brian said it, Quinn took credit for it, and now we hope you take it to heart.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: I Hate You - Don't Leave Me by Hal Straus and Jerold Jay KreismanLinks:www.soilandshadow.comwww.nikkisilvestri.comInstagram: www.instagram.com/nikki_silvestriConnect with us:Subscribe to our newsletter at newsletter.importantnotimportant.comFollow 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.comArtwork by Amrit PalImportant, Not Important is produced by Crate Media

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 & Education): https://vote.webbyawards.com/PublicVoting#/2020/podcasts/individual-episodes-mini-series-specials/science-educationVote for Important, Not Important for Best newsletter: https://vote.webbyawards.com/PublicVoting/#/2020/websites/general-websites/email-newsletters 

 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 by people like Dr. Mohammed AlQuraishi, who is a Department Fellow at the Laboratory of Systems Pharmacology and the Department of Systems Biology at Harvard Medical School.Still, Dr. AlQuraishi is hopeful about the future and his role in it — an attitude that was refreshing the first time we aired this episode and is downright necessary right now.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: The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined by Steven PinkerINI Book Club: https://bookshop.org/lists/important-not-important-book-clubLinks:Learn more at https://moalquraishi.wordpress.comTwitter: https://twitter.com/moalquraishi“The Future of Protein Science will not be Supervised”Chan Zuckerberg Initiative: chanzuckerberg.comConnect with us:Subscribe to our newsletter at newsletter.importantnotimportant.comFollow 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.comArtwork by Amrit PalImportant, Not Important is produced by Crate Media

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 have the coolest job in the world. He is the founding director of the Hopkins Extreme Materials Institute (HEMI), which is pretty much a real-life Avengers, except every member is like Bruce Banner without all the Hulk-iness or Tony Stark if he was never kidnapped by terrorists. Every day, they’re working to protect people, structures, and the planet, exploring a number of topics that are both critically important and impenetrably complicated.If, like us, you’ve always considered the seminal feature film Armageddon a blueprint for what to do in case of planetary disaster, Professor Ramesh is here to set the record straight about how we will have to deal with any incoming extraterrestrial projectiles. This conversation is just so much fun, and we hope it provides a welcome distraction to everything else going on in the world right now.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: These Truths by Jill Leporehttps://www.amazon.com/registry/wishlist/3R5XF4WMZE0TV/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_ep_ws_2Gr8Ab6RS5WF3INI Book Club: https://bookshop.org/lists/important-not-important-book-clubLinks:Learn more about Professor Ramesh & HEMI: https://hemi.jhu.edu/the-hemi-team/leadership/k-t-ramesh/“If We Blow Up an Asteroid, It Might Put Itself Back Together”: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/08/science/asteroids-nuclear-weapons.htmlTwitter: https://twitter.com/jhu_hemiFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/HopkinsExtreme/Listen to Radiolab’s Dinopocalypse ep: https://www.wnycstudios.org/story/dinopocalypseDouble Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) Mission: https://www.nasa.gov/planetarydefense/dartConnect with us:Subscribe to our newsletter at newsletter.importantnotimportant.comFollow 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.comArtwork by Amrit PalImportant, Not Important is produced by Crate Media

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 are trying to change the world are quite busy at the moment — but then we had this unique opportunity to talk to someone who is not just a COVID-19 survivor but also, now, a COVID-19 test subject! So, we had to take it and learn more about how she contracted the virus, what her experience was like, and how she’s able to help doctors and scientists research it now.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: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austenhttps://www.amazon.com/registry/wishlist/3R5XF4WMZE0TV/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_ep_ws_2Gr8Ab6RS5WF3Links:"How You Can Help (And Mostly Still Stay At Home)"Twitter: twitter.com/alliebbroasTikTok: @alafamaConnect with us:Subscribe to our newsletter at newsletter.importantnotimportant.comFollow 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.comArtwork by Amrit PalImportant, Not Important is produced by Crate Media

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 couldn't ask for a better guide for ... concerned citizens,” which pretty much sums up our audience.We’re replaying this fan favorite during this crisis for two timely reasons: 1) breathing in pollution creates underlying conditions that dramatically elevate the risk of complication from diseases like COVID-19 and, CONVENIENTLY, 2) Trump just rolled back Obama’s vehicle tailpipe rules. This change should amount to “as much as 923 million more metric tons of carbon dioxide being emitted,” according to The Washington Post, which they report “is equivalent to the emissions from running 237 coal power plants for a year.” SO ANYWAYS. This is one place where we can actually make a difference in reversing the climate crisis, so Gardiner’s tips for citizens who want to affect change are critically important right now.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: “Field Notes from a Catastrophe” by Elizabeth Kolberthttps://www.amazon.com/registry/wishlist/3R5XF4WMZE0TV/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_ep_ws_2Gr8Ab6RS5WF3INI Book Club: https://bookshop.org/lists/important-not-important-book-clubLinks:Twitter: twitter.com/Gardiner_Bethwww.bethgardiner.comRead: Choked: Life and Breath in the Age of Air PollutionRead: “Trump administration rolls back rules on mileage standards, dealing a blow to Obama-era climate policy”Connect with us:Subscribe to our newsletter at newsletter.importantnotimportant.comFollow 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.comArtwork by Amrit PalImportant, Not Important is produced by Crate Media

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 most listened to episodes ever, because, well, COVID-19. Or, more specifically, because of the American government’s response to COVID-19. Which was to lie.Our guest is: Craig Mazin, a screenwriter, podcaster, and the creator of the Emmy-award winning HBO mini-series Chernobyl.This is the story of what happened in Chernobyl in 1986. And this is what’s happening in the USA right now. This moment, and how we choose to hold these people accountable, means everything.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: Final Exit by Derek Humphryhttps://www.amazon.com/registry/wishlist/3R5XF4WMZE0TV/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_ep_ws_2Gr8Ab6RS5WF3INI Book Club: https://bookshop.org/lists/important-not-important-book-clubLinks:Watch Chernobyl (2019): https://www.hbo.com/chernobylChernobyl companion podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-chernobyl-podcast/id1459712981Scriptnotes podcast: http://scriptnotes.net/Ted Cruz’s Ex-Roommate (i.e. Craig) Shares ‘Misery’ Of Living With Him, After Porn Clip ‘Like’: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ted-cruz-roommate-porn-craig-mazin_n_59b7cff4e4b031cc65cc995dConnect with us:Subscribe to our newsletter at newsletter.importantnotimportant.comFollow 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.comArtwork by Amrit PalImportant, Not Important is produced by Crate Media