The Most Important Question

We’re digging into our vault and playing a hit this week because there’s big news for former guest Dr. James Rogers and his company Apeel Sciences: Fast Company named Apeel the 7th most innovative company on their list of the World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies in 2019 (and the 2nd most innovative company in the food sector).In this bonus replay episode, Quinn & Brian ask: Is food waste the stupidest thing we do, as a species, and how can we cut it in half? (or: avocado toast is about to go off, son)Our guest is 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.Apeel Sciences is an agricultural innovation company that creates plant-based technologies to extend the shelf life of fresh produce – like an organic rinse that keeps produce fresh twice as long! These innovations are vital for our survival because, as we said in the title, food waste is quite possibly the stupidest thing our species does. And all of you American Exceptionalism fans out there will be pumped to know that we are the very best, wasting about $165 BILLION of food every year. That means almost 40% of the food produced in the U.S. is never eaten. It’s staggering and a little heartbreaking, but Dr. Rogers is here to help.Trump’s Book Club:An Apeel avocado: https://www.amazon.com/registry/wishlist/3R5XF4WMZE0TV/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_ep_ws_2Gr8Ab6RS5WF3Links:apeelsciences.com50 Most Innovative Companies: https://www.fastcompany.com/most-innovative-companies/2019Connect with James on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/james-rogers-801a572a/Instagram: @apeelsciencesFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/apeelsciences/Twitter: @apeelsciencesThe Third Plate: Field Notes on the Future of Food by Dan Barber: https://www.thethirdplate.com/Learn about the egg biome: ginkgobioworks.com/Connect with us:Subscribe to our newsletter at ImportantNotImportant.com!Intro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.comFollow Quinn: twitter.com/quinnemmettFollow Brian: twitter.com/briancolbertkenLike and share us on Facebook: facebook.com/ImportantNotImportantCheck us on Instagram: instagram.com/ImportantNotImportantFollow us on Twitter: twitter.com/ImportantNotImpPin us on Pinterest: pinterest.com/ImportantNotImportantTumble us or whatever the hell you do on Tumblr: importantnotimportant.tumblr.comImportant, Not Important is produced by Podcast Masters

In Episode 57, Quinn & Brian discuss: Why more food ≠ more nutrition. Our excellent guests are Professors Kristie Ebi and Irakli Loladze. Dr. Ebi is the Rohm & Haas Endowed Professorship in Public Health Sciences at the University of Washington, where she has been conducting research and practice on the health risks of climate variability and change for over twenty years. She focuses on understanding sources of vulnerability, estimating current and future health risks of climate change, and designing adaptation policies and measures to reduce the risks of climate change in multi-stressor environments. Dr. Loladze is a professor of health sciences at the Bryan Medical Center at Bryan College, where he applies mathematical, computational, and statistical methods to life sciences – which is to say, he’s a math biologist. Dr. Ebi recently testified in front of Congress – specifically, the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology – in the first of a series of hearings on climate science and why it matters (a series of conversations we’re pretty surprised and excited are actually happening at all, if you need any more evidence that your vote matters). She was speaking about the health implications, which Dr. Loladze has also spent much of his life studying. In fact, he linked rising CO2 levels to the quality of human nutrition and obesity, revealing that some of the advancements that allow us to grow more food also reduce the nutritional quality of those foods. But you want to know what’s really screwed up about the whole situation? These two don’t have any funding for this potentially world-saving research. Trump’s Book Club: Einstein in Love: A Scientific Romance by Dennis Overbye: https://www.amazon.com/registry/wishlist/3R5XF4WMZE0TV/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_ep_ws_2Gr8Ab6RS5WF3 Links: Irakli Loladze on Twitter: https://twitter.com/loladze Kristie Ebi on Twitter: https://twitter.com/kristie_ebi “The great nutrient collapse”: https://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2017/09/13/food-nutrients-carbon-dioxide-000511 “Carbon dioxide (CO2) levels this century will alter the protein, micronutrients, and vitamin content of rice grains with potential health consequences for the poorest rice-dependent countries”: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5966189/ “Hidden shift of the ionome of plants exposed to elevated CO2 depletes minerals at the base of human nutrition”: https://lens.elifesciences.org/02245/ “Plague of plenty”: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg17623715-200-plague-of-plenty/ “Net Farm Income Projected to Drop to 12-Year Low”: https://www.fb.org/market-intel/net-farm-income-projected-to-drop-to-12-year-low “Why Is the Cold Weather So Extreme if the Earth Is Warming?”: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/climate/winter-cold-weather.html The Tantrum That Saved the World: Carbon Neutral Kids' Book: http://michaelmann.net/content/tantrum-saved-world-carbon-neutral-kids-book Connect with us: Subscribe to our newsletter at ImportantNotImportant.com! Intro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.com Follow Quinn: twitter.com/quinnemmett Follow Brian: twitter.com/briancolbertken Like and share us on Facebook: facebook.com/ImportantNotImportant Check us on Instagram: instagram.com/ImportantNotImportant Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/ImportantNotImp Pin us on Pinterest: pinterest.com/ImportantNotImportant Tumble us or whatever the hell you do on Tumblr: importantnotimportant.tumblr.com Important, Not Important is produced by Podcast Masters

In Episode 56, Quinn & Brian ask: What’s it feel like to be asked to save the world?Our guest is Rhiana Gunn-Wright, who is writing policy and leading the Green New Deal project at New Consensus, which is one of the main think tanks working on the Green New Deal.The Green New Deal is one of the most important pieces of policy being worked on right now, and it could have wide sweeping effects that impact not just our generation but the future for everyone. Conversations around environmental topics tend to get real political real fast, but Rhiana reminds us that this isn’t a political issue – this is not a political game and millions of people will die. Sorry, no joke there, just a stark reality that too many people are happily ignoring.Trump’s Book Club: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn: https://www.amazon.com/registry/wishlist/3R5XF4WMZE0TV/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_ep_ws_2Gr8Ab6RS5WF3Links: Rhiana Gunn-Wright on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rgunns Rhiana Gunn-Wright on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rgunner New Consensus: https://newconsensus.com/ Green New Deal explainer: bit.ly/2tgm66v  The official GND resolution: https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-resolution/109/text Data for Progress GND Report: https://www.dataforprogress.org/green-new-deal Sunrise Movement: https://www.sunrisemovement.orgConnect with us: Subscribe to our newsletter at ImportantNotImportant.com! Intro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.com Follow Quinn: twitter.com/quinnemmett Follow Brian: twitter.com/briancolbertken Like and share us on Facebook: facebook.com/ImportantNotImportant Check us on Instagram: instagram.com/ImportantNotImportant Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/ImportantNotImp Pin us on Pinterest: pinterest.com/ImportantNotImportant Tumble us or whatever the hell you do on Tumblr: importantnotimportant.tumblr.comImportant, Not Important is produced by Podcast Masters

In Episode 55, Quinn & Brian ask: What are the energy requirements of well-being?Our guest is Julia Steinberger, a Professor of Social Ecology & Ecological Economics at the University of Leeds School of Earth and Environment. Her research examines the connections between resource use (energy and materials, greenhouse gas emissions) and societal performance (economic activity and human wellbeing) – or, what happens when you drive your car every damn day. She is interested in quantifying the current and historical linkages between resource use and socioeconomic parameters, and identifying alternative development pathways to guide the necessary transition to a low carbon society.Basically, all her research can be boiled down to one important question: are we going to make it and maintain our standard of living, given the resources available to us and the technology we have now? And, well... it’s possible, but it’s not going to be easy and some things are going to have to change. Fast.Trump’s Book Club: Doughnut Economics by Kate Raworth: https://www.amazon.com/registry/wishlist/3R5XF4WMZE0TV/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_ep_ws_2Gr8Ab6RS5WF3Links: Learn more about Prof. Steinberger: https://environment.leeds.ac.uk/see/staff/1553/professor-julia-steinberger Twitter: https://twitter.com/jksteinberger Check out Living Well Within Limits: https://lili.leeds.ac.uk/ Watch “Ayana Elizabeth Johnson: How to use the ocean without using it up”: https://www.ted.com/talks/ayana_elizabeth_johnson_how_to_use_the_ocean_without_using_it_up Cars vs Bus vs Bikes: https://humantransit.org/2012/09/the-photo-that-explains-almost-everything.html Listen to Doughnut Economics, Rethinking Economics for the 21st Century: Kate Raworth and Azeem Azhar in Conversation: http://exponentialview.libsyn.com/doughnut-economics-rethinking-economics-for-the-21st-century-kate-raworth-and-azeem-azhar-in-conversationConnect with us: Subscribe to our newsletter at ImportantNotImportant.com! Intro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.com Follow Quinn: twitter.com/quinnemmett Follow Brian: twitter.com/briancolbertken Like and share us on Facebook: facebook.com/ImportantNotImportant Check us on Instagram: instagram.com/ImportantNotImportant Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/ImportantNotImp Pin

In Episode 54, Quinn & Brian discuss: why the state that’s not a state is a hell of a lot greener than your state.Our guest is Jamie DeMarco, a State-Level Carbon Pricing Coordinator with our friends the Citizens' Climate Lobby (who are working to save our collective asses every single day, NBD). Jamie is dedicated to passing state-level legislation that will serve as a model and inspiration for future national lawmakers – so he definitely has his work cut out for him.Dealing with society’s environmental self-harm, it turns out, is a lot like acknowledging a toxic relationship with your significant other: you acknowledge the problem (maybe publicly), stop participating in the toxic behavior, and then move to being proactive about the problem. What can we do on both a micro and macro scale to begin influencing environmental policy for the better, and encourage others to do the same? We already have all of the technology we need to power our society from 100% renewable sources – we just lack the political will to get there. Luckily, we have people like Jamie out there creating will where there’s already a way.Trump’s Book Club: Les Misérables by Victor Hugo: https://www.amazon.com/registry/wishlist/3R5XF4WMZE0TV/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_ep_ws_2Gr8Ab6RS5WF3Links: Learn more at https://citizensclimatelobby.org/ Find a chapter: https://citizensclimatelobby.org/about-ccl/chapters/ Donate: https://citizensclimatelobby.org/donate/ CCL on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CitizensClimateLobby/ CCL on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/citizensclimate/ CCL on Twitter: https://twitter.com/citizensclimate Jamie on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jamiedemarco1 Jamie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-demarco-402881118/ Find and contact your representatives: https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative Read “It's now cheaper to build a new wind farm than to keep a coal plant running”: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/its-now-cheaper-to-build-a-new-wind-farm-than-to-keep-a-coal-plant-running/Connect with us: Subscribe to our newsletter at ImportantNotImportant.com! Intro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.com Follow Quinn: twitter.com/quinnemmett Follow Brian: twitter.com/briancolbertken Like and share us on Facebook: facebook.com/ImportantNotImportant

In Episode 53, Quinn & Brian ask: How the hell do we pull clean drinking water out of thin air?Our guest is Dr. Shing-Chung “Josh” Wong, a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Akron In addition to pursuing bio-inspired materials research, he has worked on mechanical behavior and functional properties of polymers, electrospinning, processing-structure-property relationships, coatings, bio- and nano-materials, and composites. Dr. Wong has authored and co-authored over 70 archived articles in book, journal, and patent literatures, and in 2007, he was selected as a recipient for the prestigious National Science Foundation CAREER Award.There are a lot of words you may not understand in that bio – don’t worry, you’re not alone – but the reason Josh is awesome and we wanted him on the show comes down to one simple fact: he has invented some very cool shit that benefits anyone who enjoys being alive on Earth. He comes from a place of such moral integrity, constantly striving to use his capacity for innovation and discovery to help other people... a trait that is almost staggeringly uncommon these days, to our detriment.Trump’s Book Club: Biography of a Chairman Mao Badge: The Creation and Mass Consumption of a Personality Cult by Professor Melissa SchriftLinks: Contribute to the University of Akron Foundation (with a note that it’s a gift to support water harvesting research by Professor Josh Wong): https://www.uakron.edu/treasurer/uaf.dot Check out Josh’s water harvester: https://www.uakron.edu/engineering/me/me-news-detail.dot?newsId=c1f0c8d5-a992-468b-bb91-7ba9e3ea4597&pageTitle=Recent%20Headlines&crumbTitle=Engineering%20professor%20to%20present%20freshwater%20research%20at%20ACS%20national%20meeting Brad Meltzer’s incredible books for kids: http://bradmeltzer.com/TV-Kids-and-More/Kids-BooksConnect with us: Subscribe to our newsletter at ImportantNotImportant.com! Intro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.com Follow Quinn: twitter.com/quinnemmett Follow Brian: twitter.com/briancolbertken Like and share us on Facebook: facebook.com/ImportantNotImportant Check us on Instagram: instagram.com/ImportantNotImportant Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/ImportantNotImp Pin us on Pinterest: pinterest.com/ImportantNotImportant Tumble us or whatever the hell you do on Tumblr:

In Episode 52, Quinn & Brian ask (using their best Seinfeld impression): What’s the deal with the Green New Deal?Our guest is Varshini Prakash, a founder of the Sunrise Movement, a veritable army of young folks fighting to stop climate change and create millions of good jobs in the process. We think Varshini will be, no exaggeration, one of the most instrumental people in American politics (and for the future health of our planet) over the next couple years.The Sunrise Movement’s army is comprised of ordinary people who are scared about what the climate crisis means for the people and places they love. They aren’t looking to the Left or the Right to solve the problem – they’re looking forward to unite millions of people and reclaim our democracy from the corrupting influence of fossil fuel executive and those who empower them. The cornerstone of this movement is the Green New Deal, a plan that will transform our economy and society at the scale needed to stop the climate crisis. So this summer, thousands of people from Sunrise will descend on one of the first Democratic Presidential debates to #ChangeTheDebate and make sure the #GreenNewDeal is a top issue in the 2020 election.Like our friends Elsa Mengistu and Emelly Villa from episode 33, Varshini recognizes that #thisisZeroHour – and the Green New Deal is our chance to turn back the clock.Trump’s Book Club: Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? by Martin Luther King Jr.Links: Learn more at https://www.sunrisemovement.org Find or start a local Sunrise Hub: https://www.sunrisemovement.org/hubs Donate to Sunrise: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/dec-dc-action?refcode=website-top-button Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sunrisemvmt Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sunrisemvmt Twitter: https://twitter.com/sunrisemvmt Blueprint for the Green New Deal: http://ocasio2018.com/gnd Check out https://5calls.org/Connect with us: Subscribe to our newsletter at ImportantNotImportant.com! Intro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.com Follow Quinn: twitter.com/quinnemmett Follow Brian: twitter.com/briancolbertken Like and share us on Facebook: facebook.com/ImportantNotImportant Check us on Instagram: instagram.com/ImportantNotImportant Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/ImportantNotImp

In Episode 51, Quinn & Brian ask: Are we thinking about CRISPR all wrong (and what the hell is CRISPR)?Our guest is C. Brandon Ogbunu, an evolutionary systems biologist working as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Brown University. Although the title is different, his role is almost identical to Brian’s here at INI: He uses experimental evolution, mathematical modeling, and computational biology to better understand the underlying causes and consequences of disease, across scales: from the biophysics of proteins involved in drug resistance to the social determinants underlying disease. In doing so, he aims to develop theory that enriches our understanding of the evolutionary and ecological underpinnings of disease, while contributing to practical solutions for clinical medicine and public health.So, like Brian, it’s pretty apparent why C. Brandon is vital to the survival of our species. (The similarities are just uncanny, aren’t they?)We’ve talked about CRISPR before on the show, but if you’re not familiar, here’s a brief and overly simplistic overview of this potentially world-changing technology: it’s scissors for DNA. It’s still a very young technology – it was only patented in 2012 – but it has the potential to do everything from eliminating genetic diseases from our lineage, to making our food supply more efficient and productive, to creating a real-life Jurassic Park. But what can’t we do with it – and perhaps more importantly, what shouldn’t we be doing with it? That’s what we’re going to find out today.Trump’s Book Club: From the War on Poverty to the War on Crime: The Making of Mass Incarceration in America by Elizabeth HintonLinks: Learn more at https://vivo.brown.edu/display/cogbunug Twitter: https://twitter.com/big_data_kane Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/big_data_kane/ Read C. Brandon’s writing: https://medium.com/ogplexusConnect with us: Subscribe to our newsletter at ImportantNotImportant.com! Intro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.com Follow Quinn: twitter.com/quinnemmett Follow Brian: twitter.com/briancolbertken Like and share us on Facebook: facebook.com/ImportantNotImportant Check us on Instagram: instagram.com/ImportantNotImportant Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/ImportantNotImp Pin us on Pinterest: pinterest.com/ImportantNotImportant Tumble us or whatever the hell you do on Tumblr: importantnotimportant.tumblr.com

Back in Episode 19, Quinn & Brian asked: What’s the future of antibiotics?To find out, we sat down with bowtie enthusiast and professor of pathology and immunology and biomedical engineering Dr. Gautam Dantas. Dr. Dantas leads the Dantas Lab at the Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, where they work at the interface of microbial genomics, ecology, synthetic biology, and systems biology, to understand, harness, and engineer the biochemical processing potential of microbial communities.We had a lovely, not terrifying chat about designing new antibiotics in the post-antibiotic area. Topics covered include bacteria as the O.G., Thanos, precision medicine, cows, horror shows from the ancient past buried in ice cores, and your vote and where it should go. This was one of our favorite and most-downloaded episodes of all time, and we wanted to share it as we prepare for some exciting stuff to come in 2019.Want to send us feedback? Tweet us, email us, or leave us a voice message!Trump’s Book Club: Doomsday Book by Connie Willis: https://www.amazon.com/registry/wishlist/3R5XF4WMZE0TV/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_ep_ws_2Gr8Ab6RS5WF3Links: Dr. Gautam Dantas on Twitter: http://twitter.com/VolatileBug Dantas Lab: http://www.dantaslab.org/ “Why Some Bacteria Eat Antibiotics,” NBC News: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/why-some-bacteria-eat-antibiotics-what-we-can-do-about-n870181 “Antibiotic Resistance is Ancient,” Science Daily: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110831155334.htmConnect with us: Subscribe to our newsletter at ImportantNotImportant.com! Intro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.com Follow Quinn: twitter.com/quinnemmett Follow Brian: twitter.com/briancolbertken Like and share us on Facebook: facebook.com/ImportantNotImportant Check us on Instagram: instagram.com/ImportantNotImportant Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/ImportantNotImp Pin us on Pinterest: pinterest.com/ImportantNotImportant Tumble us or whatever the hell you do on Tumblr: importantnotimportant.tumblr.comImportant, Not Important is produced by Podcast Masters

Back in Episode 26, Quinn & Brian asked: what drives a man to give 200 climate speeches to Congress?Our guest was Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, the junior senator from Rhode Island and all-around stellar human. He’s been a member of Congress since 2007 and he was just sworn in for his 3rd term – plus, he’s recently been moonlighting as some sort of Captain Planet figure.We discuss his speeches, his future carbon bill, bi-partisanship, calling bullshit when we see it, Rhode Island’s fossil-fuel lawsuit, and so much more.Want to send us feedback? Tweet us, email us, or leave us a voice message!Trump’s Book Club: Silent Spring by Rachel Carson: https://www.amazon.com/registry/wishlist/3R5XF4WMZE0TV/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_ep_ws_2Gr8Ab6RS5WF3Links: Senator Sheldon Whitehouse on Twitter: http://twitter.com/SenWhitehouse Sandra Thornton Whitehouse: https://www.oceancollectiv.co/sandra/ Republicans for Carbon Tax: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/07/science/a-conservative-climate-solution-republican-group-calls-for-carbon-tax.html Resilient Rhody: https://www.ecori.org/climate-change/2018/7/6/b52i1qjgqsacdfh2l5z8rxjz8bd42mConnect with us: Subscribe to our newsletter at ImportantNotImportant.com! Intro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.com Follow Quinn: twitter.com/quinnemmett Follow Brian: twitter.com/briancolbertken Like and share us on Facebook: facebook.com/ImportantNotImportant Check us on Instagram: instagram.com/ImportantNotImportant Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/ImportantNotImp Pin us on Pinterest: pinterest.com/ImportantNotImportant Tumble us or whatever the hell you do on Tumblr: importantnotimportant.tumblr.comImportant, Not Important is produced by Podcast Masters