We didn't always call our work science for people who give a shit. But ever since we did, we've welcomed at least two types of people to our flock. The first is people who are deeply invested in science, but are unsure how to tie it into measurable action on the human level. And the second is people already fighting for a healthier, more equitable society, but who are curious about the evolving science behind our complex systems. They all want to know a version of the most important question, wh...
Mar 17, 2025•1 hr 7 min•Ep 189•Transcript available on Metacast What can we do about land power? It's the most important question and my guest today is Mike Albertus . Mike is a professor of political science at the University of Chicago . He's the author of the new book, Land Power . Who has it? Who doesn't? And how that determines the fate of societies. In the book, Mike examines how land became power, how it shapes power today still, and how who holds that power determines the fundamental social problems that societies grapple with. Mike studies how...
Mar 03, 2025•52 min•Ep 188•Transcript available on Metacast This week: Not. Right. Now. I hope you enjoy our new show. It’s super, super informal, and fun, and full of profanity, and personal, and — I hope — something you or a parent in your life can identify with, and maybe get some relief from. It’s intentionally and decidedly NOT an advice show. It is a once-a-week parasocial commiseration session about trying to raise kids and continue to be a human and maybe even a partner amid…all of this. Listen to Not Right Now here https://www.notri...
Feb 25, 2025•13 min•Transcript available on Metacast Please enjoy the debut episode from our new show, Not Right Now. Every week, Claire (Evil Witches) and Quinn (Important, Not Important) dive into the chaotic reality of raising tiny humans in these wild times. From behavioral reflection forms and schoolyard diplomacy to the eternal question of "how many water bottles does one child need?", we explore the messy, hilarious, and occasionally terrifying truth about modern parenting. Plus: why every parent should have friends who don't make you add "...
Feb 20, 2025•1 hr•Transcript available on Metacast Not Right Now is a podcast for parents navigating the impossible task of raising kids while *gestures wildly at everything*. Join Quinn Emmett ( Important, Not Important ) and Claire Zulkey ( Evil Witches ) for honest conversations about parenting in an era of climate change, artificial intelligence, social media anxiety, all while trying to get your kid to just please put on their shoes. From discussing how to talk to kids about the news without traumatizing them (or yourself), to debating the ...
Feb 14, 2025•3 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week: I’m not religious. But I did (barely) successfully major in religious studies. For better and often for worse, the history of faith and organized religion has been the backbone of human history, political science, culture, wars, sexual ethics, and more. Subtle or not, religion and faith are most often the answer to why people do what they do, and to how we got here, even now as the west barrels towards majority secularism. Here's What You Can Do: Donate to the Climate Justice Alliance...
Feb 10, 2025•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week: You're wasting your talent on bullshit while the world burns. You — yes, you — can actually use your very unique set of skills for good. Even and especially at scale, even — yes — right now. Here's What You Can Do: Donate to the Electronic Frontier Foundation to help get Zuckerberg’s grubby little paws off of your data. Volunteer with Tech Shift and start creating technology that actually contributes to the betterment of humanity. 🌎️ Get educated about social media, deepfakes, misinf...
Feb 03, 2025•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast We (Quinn) has been avoiding this question for quite a while. I even wrote a few thousand words about it a couple months ago and didn't publish it because it was a bit of a downer. But that's kind of malpractice in a way because we promised we don't shy away from the hard stuff even if the goal is to help you understand what you can do about it. Just like there's never really an optimal time in your life to get married, or have a baby, or get arrested, there's never a good time to talk about bir...
Jan 27, 2025•42 min•Ep 187•Transcript available on Metacast This week: Be prepared — because these fires that are still burning are only the beginning. Start somewhere, start right in front of you, do what you can. Here's What You Can Do: LA isn’t the only place suffering this week, but it was home for a long time, so here’s vetted ways you can contribute right now, from near or afar. Get more: Get more news, analysis, and Action Steps at importantnotimportant.com Support our work and become a Member at importantnotimportant.com/upgrade Get o...
Jan 13, 2025•12 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week: It’s been a minute. Thanks for your patience. Please check out my 2025 preview, and if you’d be so kind, share it widely. Here's What You Can Do: Donate to Everytown to support their efforts to end gun violence, community by community. Volunteer with Communities Responding to Extreme Weather (CREW) to build the supports your community needs to respond to climate impacts. Get educated about how you can run for a local office and make a huge, di...
Jan 06, 2025•22 min•Transcript available on Metacast What's the missing link in local journalism? That's today's big question, and my guest is Lyndsey Gilpin . Lyndsey is the Senior Manager of Community Engagement at Grist. Lyndsey was the founder and executive editor at Southerly , a nonprofit media organization that equipped people who face environmental injustices and are at most at risk of climate change effects with journalism and resources on natural disasters, pollution, food, energy, and more. It was very groundbreaking, and now she's brou...
Nov 11, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Ep 186•Transcript available on Metacast This week: This entire (short!) episode is a call to action. It's time to do this thing...do the thing, but also take care of yourselves and your loved ones these next couple weeks. It's a lot right now. Here's What You Can Do: Donate to the groups that are on the ground every day organizing and fighting for a better, stronger democracy ( go ) Volunteer for democracy by picking up the phone and knocking on doors with the people who have mobilizing voters down to a science. Time’s tic...
Nov 01, 2024•10 min•Transcript available on Metacast Is multisolving the future? Is it today? Should we do more? That's all today's big question and my guest is Dr. Elizabeth Sawin . Dr. Sawin is the Founder and Director of the Multisolving Institute , which is convenient for our conversation. She's an expert on solutions that address climate change while also improving health, well being, and economic vitality. She developed multisolving to describe such win win win solutions. Beth writes and speaks about multisolving, climate change, and leaders...
Oct 28, 2024•1 hr 11 min•Ep 185•Transcript available on Metacast How do we make it easier for more Americans to reliably put food (in particular, hot food) on the table? That's today’s big question, and my guest is Salaam Bhatti . Salaam is the SNAP Director at the Food Research and Action Center , a 501c3 that uses advocacy and strategic partnerships to improve the health and well being of people struggling against poverty related hunger in the United States. Before joining the Food Research and Action Center, Salam was the Public Benefits Attorney and Deput...
Oct 21, 2024•49 min•Ep 184•Transcript available on Metacast We first ran this episode in May 2023, but following back-to-back hurricanes in Florida this month, it remains as relevant as ever. You've got insurance, right? Are you sure? That's today's big question, and my guest is Washington Post reporter Brianna Sacks. Brianna's an extreme weather and disaster reporter for the Post, where she explores how climate change is transforming the United States through violent storms, intense heat, widespread wildfires, and other forms of...
Oct 14, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 ver...
Oct 07, 2024•53 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week: You’d think that -- considering we just spent two years building our new What Can I Do? app -- that I’d have a really good answer for why we were doing it in the first place. But I didn’t. Not until about a week ago. I knew, of course, the practical reasons why it needed to exist, and I had a good idea of what I wanted it to look and feel like. I knew it was the natural evolution and a significant missing piece of our work. But I had never really interrogated myself to und...
Sep 27, 2024•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast It’s another big day in a very big month for us. Our extremely tiny team has been busting our asses for almost two years to bring you something fucking extraordinary, something I’m just so proud of, and now it's here: Our new app: "What Can I Do?" A one stop shop for taking action on the issues you give a shit about. Why? Because the world won't unf**k itself. Get it here: https://www.whatcanido.earth/ Get more: Get more news, analysis, and Action Steps at importantnotimportant.com Support...
Sep 23, 2024•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast What if we get it right? That's today's big question, and my returning guest is Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson . Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson is a marine biologist. She is a policy expert, a writer, and a teacher working to help create the best possible climate future. She co-founded and leads the Urban Ocean Lab , a think tank for the future of coastal cities, and is the Roux Distinguished Scholar at Bowdoin College. Ayana authored the forthcoming book, What If We Get It Right? Visions of Climate F...
Sep 16, 2024•40 min•Ep 183•Transcript available on Metacast In this throwback episode from October 2020, Quinn & Brian discuss: Why state elections matter not just for your state but for the future of our planet. Our guests are: Aimy Steele & Amanda Litman. Aimy is a candidate for the North Carolina House of Representatives in District 82, a mother of five, a former Spanish teacher, and a former K-12 principal. Amanda is the co-founder and Executive Director of Run For Something, a PAC that is recruiting and supporting young progr...
Sep 09, 2024•1 hr 22 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week: Next up in our series of “How to Eat More Plants”. Today’s topic? Beef! Here's What You Can Do: Read the essay and get the links online here Donate to the Humane Farming Association to support their work against factory farming. Volunteer with Planted Society to help cities, restaurants, and individuals make sustainable changes in their food culture. 🌎️ Get educated about ways to transition to plant-based options by checking out the Meatless Monday campaign. Be heard about animal cru...
Aug 26, 2024•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week: Please enjoy this hopeful ditty on how we have finally harnessed the sun ☀️ — and how we’re just getting started. Here's What You Can Do: Donate to Grid Alternatives to advocate for community-powered solar policy that gets everyone on a clean energy grid (🌎 go global: Donate to GiveDirectly so people have the agency to buy their own solar) Volunteer to become a member of the Green Workers Alliance to help ensure the creation and mainten...
Aug 12, 2024•12 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week: Today’s post is more of a macro introduction to the why and how of the “eat more plants (and consequently) fewer animals” lifestyle. Deep-dives on how to eat fewer animals, by type, including meat/beef/pork, chicken/turkey, dairy, and fish (and humans! Can’t forget humans) will follow in subsequent posts. My overall goal is to help you — someone who already gives a shit for one reason or another — understand why eating more plants and fewer animals is intersectional as hel...
Aug 05, 2024•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week: We're running an updated version of a popular essay from last year. Tolkien described life (and often, his stories) as a "long defeat", where evil frequently, inevitably wins. But he allowed for "eucatastrophe" — sudden joyous turns (just like breakthroughs in elections and voting rights). We must keep fighting, to hold off the darkness. Here's What You Can Do: Donate to protecting voting rights and advocating for democracy with Fair Fight . Volunteer to bring togeth...
Jul 29, 2024•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast How did our planet come to life? Is it alive? And where are we as part of that? Those are today's big questions and my guest is Ferris Jabr. His new book, Becoming Earth: How Our Planet Came to Life , is one of the most compelling, beautiful, timely, and important reads I've ever got to underline throughout. Ferris is a contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine and Scientific American . He has also written for The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Harper's, National Geographic, Wired, Outside,...
Jul 22, 2024•58 min•Ep 182•Transcript available on Metacast When is a cancer scare, a rejected mortgage loan, a false arrest, or predictive grading, more than a glitch in A.I.? That's today's big question, and my guest is Meredith Broussard . Meredith is a data journalist and associate professor at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute of New York University , Research Director at the NYU Alliance for Public Interest Technology and the author of several books I loved, including More Than a Glitch: Confronting Race, Gender and Ability Bias in Tech , a...
Jul 08, 2024•1 hr•Ep 181•Transcript available on Metacast How do we stop overfishing if we don't know who's doing the fishing? That's today's big question, and my guest is Jennifer Raynor . Jennifer is an Assistant Professor of natural resource economics at the University of Wisconsin Madison. Before entering academia, she conducted policy-relevant economic research for the U.S. federal government for nearly a decade, most recently at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration fisheries. Jennifer's research focuses on improving the efficiency ...
Jun 24, 2024•1 hr 19 min•Ep 180•Transcript available on Metacast This week: We are occasionally asked why we link to scientific journals, news outlets, and sometimes even opinion pieces that are behind paywalls. In a world where HBO HBO Max Max and Spotify and everyone else raise prices once a month, it’s a great question: Our newsletter is free — why the hell do we make you click through to something that costs money? Here's What You Can Do: Donate to the 19th , a diverse, indie, non-profit newsroom reporting on gender, politics, a...
Jun 20, 2024•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast How do we tackle huge systemic intersectional environmental justice issues at the local level? That's today's big question, and my guest is Jacqui Patterson . Jacqui is the Founder and Executive Director of the Chisholm Legacy Project , which helps connect Black communities that are being disproportionately impacted by the climate crisis with the resources they need to create systemic change across connected challenges. Jacqui was recently named to Time Magazine's 2024 list of Women of the Year ...
Jun 10, 2024•48 min•Ep 179•Transcript available on Metacast Why is it so important that we share the science of fiction, and what do we do with it once we have it? That's today's big question, and my guest is Maddie Stone . Maddie is a prolific science journalist. She is a doctor of earth and environmental sciences. She's the former science editor of the technology website Gizmodo , which I love, and the founding editor of Earther , Gizmodo's climate focused vertical, which I love. Maddie has edited articles for The Verge, Polygon , and Grist , and her o...
Jun 03, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Ep 178•Transcript available on Metacast 
