The Most Important Question

In Episode 24, Quinn & Brian ask: when will San Francisco be underwater?On the mic today is the ever-intrepid Molly Peterson, a renowned reporter focusing on the environment and climate change.  Molly’s worked at Southern California Public Radio, ISeeChange, funded by NASA, she's traveled to and reported from Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo as a fellow for the International Women’s Media Foundation, and is now at Pactio, a super-cool new organization supporting independent journalists.Want to send us feedback? Tweet us, email us, or leave us a voice message!Links: Molly Peterson on Twitter Like It or Not: The Water is Coming. Will the Bay Area defend against rising seas or embrace them? Pactio I See Change SF Bay Conservation and Development Commission Pacific Institute Resilient By Design Quinn Emmett on Twitter Brian Colbert Kennedy on Twitter Intro/outro by Tim Blane Subscribe to our newsletter at ImportantNotImportant.com! Like and share us on Facebook! Check us on Instagram! Follow us on Twitter! Pin us on Pinterest! Tumble us or whatever the hell you do on Tumblr! Ok that’s enough good lord

In Episode 23, Quinn & Brian ask: can we predict the next big earthquake? Pretty please?Joining us is Josh Bashioum, founder of Early Warning Labs, an earthquake early warning technology developer, whose mission is to improve, expand, and lower the costs of existing earthquake early warning systems.Listen in as we discuss San Francisco, the northwest, San Andreas, The Rock, other dreamy action stars, and how LA is (shockingly) more prepared than you think. Want to send us feedback? Tweet us, email us, or leave us a voice message!Links: Early Warning Labs on Twitter Early Warning Labs Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation The MMI Scale The USGS UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction Dr. Lucy “The Earthquake Lady” Jones ABC story on Early Warning Labs CBS story on Early Warning Labs Trump’s Book Club: The Big Ones: How Natural Disasters Have Shaped Us (and What We Can Do About Them), by Lucy Jones Quinn Emmett on Twitter Brian Colbert Kennedy on Twitter Intro/outro by Tim Blane Subscribe to our newsletter at ImportantNotImportant.com! Like and share us on Facebook! Check us on Instagram! Follow us on Twitter! Pin us on Pinterest! Tumble us or whatever the hell you do on Tumblr! Ok that’s enough good lord

In Episode 22, Quinn & Brian ask: how does your phone call become law?  To help answer that question, they’ve got Andres Jimenez on the line. Andres is the Senior Director of Government Affairs for the Citizens Climate Lobby, working with both the House and Senate to expand the voice of citizens, as well as push relevant legislation through.  He’s also a leading member of GreenLatinos. Andres has worked with the Ocean Conservancy and in Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s office in New York. Want to send us feedback? Tweet us, email us, or leave us a voice message! Links: Andres Jimenez on Twitter Citizens Climate Lobby Green Latinos League of Conservation Voters Schoolhouse Rock: I’m Just A Bill A More Beautiful Question by Warren Berger Trump’s Book Club: The Giving Tree Quinn Emmett on Twitter Brian Colbert Kennedy on Twitter Intro/outro by Tim Blane Subscribe to our newsletter at ImportantNotImportant.com! Like and share us on Facebook! Check us on Instagram! Follow us on Twitter! Pin us on Pinterest! Tumble us or whatever the hell you do on Tumblr! Ok that’s enough good lord

In Episode 21, Quinn & Brian finally get to the heart of it: What’s the #1 thing YOU can do to affect climate change?On the mic and down the street, Peter Kalmus, an atmospheric scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.Peter wrote a book called “Being the Change: Live Well and Spark a Climate Revolution” and also he’s got chickens and no longer a motorcycle (BRIAN).Want to send us feedback? Tweet us, email us, or leave us a voice message!Links: Peter Kalmus on Twitter Becycling.life Trump’s Book Club: Being the Change: Live Well and Spark a Climate Revolution by Peter Kalmus Carbon footprint calculator Citizens Climate Lobby Vipassana Meditation Headspace How to compost Wirecutter’s Best Composter for Kitchen Scraps Quinn Emmett on Twitter Brian Colbert Kennedy on Twitter Intro/outro by Tim Blane Subscribe to our newsletter at ImportantNotImportant.com! Like and share us on Facebook! Check us on Instagram! Follow us on Twitter! Pin us on Pinterest! Tumble us or whatever the hell you do on Tumblr! Ok that’s enough good lord

In Episode 20, Quinn and Brian wonder: How the hell are we gonna feed 10 billion people?Enter Fred Iutzi of the Land Institute, where they’re focused on the incredibly modest goal of working to displace the predominant industrial, disruptive system of agriculture by providing staple foods without destroying or compromising the cultural and ecological systems upon which we so very much depend.Want to send us feedback? Tweet us, email us, or leave us a voice message!Links: Fred Iutzi on Twitter The Land Institute Long Root Ale by Patagonia “The Importance of Soil”, NY Times “Why the paleo diet is half-baked”, Scientific American Motorcycle death data Trump’s Book Club: Becoming Native to This Place by Wes Jackson Quinn Emmett on Twitter Brian Colbert Kennedy on Twitter Intro/outro by Tim Blane Subscribe to our newsletter at ImportantNotImportant.com! Like and share us on Facebook! Check us on Instagram! Follow us on Twitter! Pin us on Pinterest! Tumble us or whatever the hell you do on Tumblr! Ok that’s enough good lord

In Episode 19, Quinn & Brian asks: What’s the future of antibiotics?To answer: the irrepressible Dr. Gautam Dantas, the professor of pathology and immunology and biomedical engineering at the Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis. He leads the Dantas Lab, 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 have 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. Want to send us feedback? Tweet us, email us, or leave us a voice message!Links:  Dr. Gautam Dantas on Twitter Dantas Lab “Why Some Bacteria Eat Antibiotics”, NBC News “Antibiotic Resistance is Ancient”, Science Daily Trump’s Book Club: Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis Quinn Emmett on Twitter Brian Colbert Kennedy on Twitter Intro/outro by Tim Blane Subscribe to our newsletter at ImportantNotImportant.com! Like and share us on Facebook! Check us on Instagram! Follow us on Twitter! Pin us on Pinterest! Tumble us or whatever the hell you do on Tumblr! Ok that’s enough good lord

In Episode 18, Quinn & Brian try to build a more flexible, approachable, and fun new science foundation in America. But they don't know where to start.Enter the legendary Phil Plait, the “Bad Astronomer”. He's an astronomer (obviously), author, and science communicator extraordinaire and we chat about rebuilding the foundations of American science.And that, friends, starts with enthusiasm. Science — fuck yeah!Want to send us feedback? Tweet us, email us, or leave us a voice message!Links:  Phil Plait on Twitter Phil’s blog Phil’s newsletter The Science and Entertainment Exchange Global Weirding Crash Course 314 Action Trump’s Book Club: The Madhouse Effect by Michael E. Mann and Tom Toles Quinn Emmett on Twitter Brian Colbert Kennedy on Twitter Intro/outro by Tim Blane Subscribe to our newsletter at ImportantNotImportant.com! Like and share us on Facebook! Check us on Instagram! Follow us on Twitter! Pin us on Pinterest! Tumble us or whatever the hell you do on Tumblr! Ok that’s enough good lord

In Episode 17, Quinn & Brian ask: What’s the future of emergency medical systems in the age of climate change?Joining us: Jason Friesen, the founder and executive director of Trek Medics, a 501 c3 registered NGO dedicated to creating or improving emergency medical systems in communities without reliable access to emergency care through innovative mobile phone technologies.We talk about the current and future state of emergency medical systems in the age of climate change. Because the big one's coming.Jason would like you to know that they make their services available to all communities, regardless of race, religion, or creed. He's saved six lives since Brian woke up.Want to send us feedback? Tweet us, email us, or leave us a voice message!Links:  TrekMedics.org Trek Medics on Instagram Disaster Preparedness Team Rubicon Charity Navigator Zello 5 steps to emergency response: Can you help? Did you find the patient? Do you need additional resources? Are you able to transport the patient? Did you get to your destination? Jason’s pick for Trump’s Book Club: The Little Prince, by Antoine Saint Exupery Quinn Emmett on Twitter Brian Colbert Kennedy on Twitter Intro/outro by Tim Blane Subscribe to our newsletter and buy cool gear at ImportantNotImportant.com! Like and share us on Facebook! Check us on Instagram! Follow us on Twitter! Pin us on Pinterest! Tumble us or whatever the hell you do on Tumblr! Ok that’s enough good lord

In Episode 16, Quinn & Brian ask: what's the future of climate modeling? Also, what's a climate model?Enter Dr. Kate Marvel. She's a climate scientist and a writer. A theoretical physicist by training, she is now an associate research scientist at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies and Columbia University’s Department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics. Because, sure.Dr. Marvel's research focuses on how human activities affect the climate and what we can expect in the future, using satellite observations, computer models, and basic physics to study the human impact on variables from rainfall patterns to cloud cover.Want to send us feedback? Tweet us, email us, or leave us a voice message!Links: Dr. Kate Marvel on Twitter Equilibrium Climate Sensitivity The Earth System Grid Marvel Climate We Need Courage, Not Hope - OnBeing Her pick for Trump’s Book Club: The Constitution of the United States of America Quinn Emmett on Twitter Brian Colbert Kennedy on Twitter Intro/outro by Tim Blane Subscribe to our newsletter at ImportantNotImportant.com! Like and share us on Facebook! Check us on Instagram! Follow us on Twitter! Pin us on Pinterest! Tumble us or whatever the hell you do on Tumblr! Ok that’s enough good lord

In Episode 15, Quinn and Brian dig deeper and ask: Can carbon capture be a building block in climate action, part II?On the mic: Akshat Rathi, a reporter for Quartz in London. He wrote a series last year called The Race to Zero Emissions about carbon capture, and we dig into that, and the next 10 years of CCS, today.Akshat’s resume: he’s previously worked at The Economist and The Conversation. His writing has appeared in Nature, The Guardian and The Hindu. He has a PhD in chemistry from Oxford University and a BTech in chemical engineering from the Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai, and if that isn’t enough to convince you, well I’m sorry.Want to send us feedback? Tweet us, email us, or leave us a voice message!Links: Akshat Rathi on Twitter “The Race to Zero Emissions” series Carbon Engineering Canada’s first carbon capture power plant Illinois carbon capture plant The Clean Air Task Force Carbon Capture Coalition The Social Cost of Carbon Trump’s Book Club: Siddhartha, by Hermann Hesse Quinn Emmett on Twitter Brian Colbert Kennedy on Twitter Intro/outro by Tim Blane Subscribe to our newsletter at ImportantNotImportant.com! Like and share us on Facebook! Check us on Instagram! Follow us on Twitter! Pin us on Pinterest! Tumble us or whatever the hell you do on Tumblr! Ok that’s enough good lord