This week: America will see an average of 12 inches of sea level rise by 2050 1 million COVID deaths $1 billion for cover crops Antimicrobial resistance got next Clearview's next steps (to harvest your data) Get more: Get more news, analysis, and Action Steps at newsletter.importantnotimportant.com Got feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.com Follow us on Twitter at @importantnotimp Get fun merch at importantnotimportant.com/store Take a nap you deserve it...
Feb 19, 2022•12 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week: Carbon markets are magic and demand to be taken seriously, Michael Mask mandates are ending Food prices up the rise Biden's cancer moonshot IRS FaceTime cancelled Get more: Get more news, analysis, and Action Steps at newsletter.importantnotimportant.com Got feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.com Follow us on Twitter at @importantnotimp Take a nap you deserve it...
Feb 11, 2022•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week: Will the EPA's powers be gutted? Don't forget your vaccines for everything else PFAS can't get regulated soon enough Everywhere needs more nurses The database with virtually everyone's most private health info just sold (again) Get more: Get more news, analysis, and Action Steps at newsletter.importantnotimportant.com Got feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.com Follow us on Twitter at @importantnotimp Take a nap you deserve it...
Feb 08, 2022•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast It's been 26 months since so many of us took our kids out of schools, downloaded an app called Zoom, and started videoconferencing our work from our kitchens and sweatpants. For many others, especially the marginalized and those working in the service industry, working from home was never an option. It's been 12 months since groundbreaking vaccines began to roll out across the world. You've probably got at least two, maybe three. And yet today, 39% of humans across the globe haven't received a s...
Jan 31, 2022•1 hr 9 min•Ep 130•Transcript available on Metacast This week: Gas stoves can GTFO Omicron means we still need masks at schools The future of "organic" food Throwing cash at bigger baby brains Pregnancy apps are a data nightmare which is so so great Get more: Get more news, analysis, and Action Steps at newsletter.importantnotimportant.com Got feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.com Follow us on Twitter at @importantnotimp Take a nap you deserve it...
Jan 28, 2022•12 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week: How to market climate change to the people Here come the masks - are they enough? What's "enough"? Kids EBT food on the wane Expanding the blood donor pool The IRS wants your selfie (or do they?) Get more: Get more news, analysis, and Action Steps at newsletter.importantnotimportant.com Got feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.com Follow us on Twitter at @importantnotimp...
Jan 21, 2022•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week: Moving on from Machin; What "mild" COVID really means; How China's going plant-based; How exercise defeats anxiety; This is what happens when old senators misunderstand new tech Get more news, analysis, and Action Steps at newsletter.importantnotimportant.com Got feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.com Follow us on Twitter at @importantnotimp...
Jan 14, 2022•10 min•Transcript available on Metacast In Episode 129 , Quinn tries to better understand data privacy, data stewardship, and what it means for Indigenous cultures in the future of biotech, how we design equity into genetic research, and who gets to make those decisions. His guest is Krystal Tsosie , a geneticist, bioethicist, and—first and foremost to her—a person Indigenous to the southwestern United States, specifically the Navajo nation. She is the co-founder and Ethics and Policy Director at the Native BioData Consortium , the fi...
Dec 21, 2021•1 hr 20 min•Ep 129•Transcript available on Metacast This week: Biden's executive orders; What Omicron means for you; The future of coffee farmer migration; Telehealth lobbying on the rise; China's queer internet is being erased Find links and Action Steps from this newsletter and more at newsletter.importantnotimportant.com Got feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.com Follow us on Twitter at @importantnotimp Important, Not Important is produced by Crate Media...
Dec 13, 2021•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast Yes, we all know that the 1998 Michael Bay flick Armageddon is a masterpiece of cinema, but two years ago we asked ourselves this question: How much does it actually hold up as a blueprint for preventing planetary destruction? Let’s say it doesn’t: What can we do to keep from going the way of the dinosaurs? Nobody was better suited to answer our many questions than Professor K.T. Ramesh . He told us about a future test mission called DART. Armed with a spacecraft the size of a golf c...
Dec 07, 2021•1 hr 5 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week: McDonald’s isn’t trying; Biden’s test plan had to be better; Plant-based meat math is obvious; We need more biotech data scientists; We need less crime prediction software Find links from this newsletter and more at importantnotimportant.com/newsletter Got feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.com Follow us on Twitter at @importantnotimp Important, Not Important is produced by Crate Media...
Dec 06, 2021•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast In Episode 128 , Quinn unpacks the most delicious olive oil in the world , how it came to be, and what it means to start a food business in the age of climate change. Our guest is Aishwarya Iyer , dreamer, doer, and eternal optimist. Ash is the founder and CEO of Brightland , the new gold standard in pantry essentials. They are proponents and advocates for authenticity and transparency in the food industry, starting with olive oil. There are something like six bajillion bottles of olive oil at y...
Nov 29, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Ep 128•Transcript available on Metacast This Week: Is there a green bubble?; Can you get a booster?; Where to find clean water; Why health workers are quitting; Amazon’s privacy nightmare Find links from this newsletter and more at newsletter.importantnotimportant.com Got feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.com Follow us on Twitter at @importantnotimp Important, Not Important is produced by Crate Media...
Nov 22, 2021•12 min•Transcript available on Metacast In Episode 127 , Quinn wants to know just how the hell “innovation” actually works. His guest is Christopher Mims, a journalist for the Wall Street Journal, who’s spent a career asking big questions about the most pressing technological and societal issues we face, from robot trains to the future of batteries, brain implants, and whatever happens to land in-between. The thesis: every little bit counts, and it’s more predictable than you think. Or is it? Together, Quinn and Chris explore the team...
Nov 22, 2021•1 hr 8 min•Ep 127•Transcript available on Metacast In Episode 126 , Quinn meets his newsletter heroes: Kim Zou & Sophie Purdom , co-founders of the independent media outlet Climate Tech VC. Kim works with Energy Impact Partners, a venture capital firm investing in climate technology. Sophie works as an investor in early stage climate technology businesses. Together they write Climate Tech VC , the data-obsessed, essential take on the opportunities, deals, and news in the flourishing climate tech scene. There is a massive cost that come...
Nov 16, 2021•1 hr 18 min•Ep 126•Transcript available on Metacast This Week: China takes on methane; Moderna's downturn; Inflated food costs; Measles on the rebound; Google's new drug company Find links from this newsletter and more at newsletter.importantnotimportant.com Got feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.com Follow us on Twitter at @importantnotimp Important, Not Important is produced by Crate Media...
Nov 15, 2021•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast In Episode 125 , Quinn asks: How can venture capital offer solutions to two of the biggest problems of our time? His guests are Vida Asiegbu and Anthony Oni, two incredible climate venture capitalists with Elevate Future Fund . Vida Asiegbu is a Principal within the Elevate Future Fund, working to make sure that the companies and organizations that they represent within their portfolio meet all of their goals and values. Anthony Oni is the Managing Partner of the Elevate Future Fund, part of Ene...
Nov 08, 2021•1 hr 19 min•Ep 125•Transcript available on Metacast This week: Checking in on COP; How is this still happening?; An Impossible evaluation; Digitizing Medicade; Facebook is deleting your face; Did Big Oil lie in front of Congress? Find links from this newsletter and more at importantnotimportant.com/newsletter Got feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.com Follow us on Twitter at @importantnotimp Important, Not Important is produced by Crate Media...
Nov 05, 2021•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast In Episode 124 , Quinn interviews Dr. Elizabeth Ruzzo , a brilliant human geneticist who left the world of academia to launch adyn , her effort to help women find the best birth control for their unique bodies. Family planning affects everybody – whether they use it themselves or not. With 200 forms of birth control to choose from, you’d think women would be able to easily find an option that didn’t make them feel like hot trash garbage -- but you’d be wrong. In 2021, genetic testing means we ca...
Nov 01, 2021•1 hr 6 min•Ep 124•Transcript available on Metacast This Week: Biden's agreement, revealed; Why vaccinating kids matters for everyone; Plant-based meat emissions questioned; Public health's original sin; Fixing Facebook Find links from this newsletter and more at importantnotimportant.com/newsletter Got feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.com Follow us on Twitter at @importantnotimp Important, Not Important is produced by Crate Media...
Nov 01, 2021•12 min•Transcript available on Metacast This Week, Summarized: Moving on from Manchin; Kids shots; Forever chemicals regulated (finally); Google vs. Iran Get Action Steps and more at newsletter.importantnotimportant.com Got feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.com Follow us on Twitter at @importantnotimp Important, Not Important is produced by Crate Media...
Oct 25, 2021•13 min•Transcript available on Metacast In Episode #123 , Quinn gets a masterclass on Snapchat AND running for office with RFS co-founder, returning guest, and our favorite human alive, Amanda Litman ! Amanda’s helped thousands of progressive young people run and get elected to office across the country. Now, she’s here to tell us how Snapchat can further save democracy, thanks to its fancy new partnership with her org. Snap it! (I don’t know if that’s what the kids say -- I’m so sorry) Have feedback or questions? Tweet us , or ...
Oct 25, 2021•24 min•Ep 123•Transcript available on Metacast This week: climate finance exposed; Moderna’s COVID profits are… a lot; beef’s emissions problem examined; startups for aging, and who gets to write the AI Bill of Rights? Find links from this newsletter and more at importantnotimportant.com/newsletter Got feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.com Follow us on Twitter at @importantnotimp Important, Not Important is produced by Crate Media...
Oct 15, 2021•16 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week: How to reduce methane; America’s out of diapers; COVID questions; A new day against malaria; Food systems examined; How you’re tracked Find links from this newsletter and more at importantnotimportant.com/newsletter Got feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.com Follow us on Twitter at @importantnotimp Important, Not Important is produced by Crate Media...
Oct 08, 2021•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast We’re bringing back one of our all-time most popular conversations, and not just because it kicks ass. When this interview was recorded back in 2018, Dr. Sian Proctor was almost an astronaut. Now, in 2021, Dr. Proctor has just returned to Earth after becoming the first black, female pilot of a spacecraft. Let’s reflect back on her incredible story and it will become clear how this amazing achievement came to be. In Episode 42 , Quinn & Brian ask: What happens when you’re almost an astronaut....
Oct 04, 2021•1 hr 10 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week: It’s Climate Day; How to defeat the next pandemic; Telehealth in red states; Is lab-grown meat a myth; Facebook’s very bad month continues Find links from this newsletter and more at importantnotimportant.com/newsletter Got feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.com Follow us on Twitter at @importantnotimp Important, Not Important is produced by Crate Media...
Oct 01, 2021•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week: Manchin wields a dirty pen; Our new COVID rules; Fighting for expanded telehealth; 200 million climate migrants; Even more trolls Find links from this newsletter and more at importantnotimportant.com/newsletter Got feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.com Follow us on Twitter at @importantnotimp Important, Not Important is produced by Crate Media...
Sep 24, 2021•17 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 transitioni...
Sep 13, 2021•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week: Solar’s wilding out; $65 billion for the next pandemic; Better, cheaper, more inclusive clinical trials; Protecting farmworkers; Biden’s AI board Find links from this newsletter and more at importantnotimportant.com/newsletter Got feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.com Follow us on Twitter at @importantnotimp Important, Not Important is produced by Crate Media...
Sep 10, 2021•16 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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/newsletter Got feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.com Follow us on Twitter at @importantnotimp Important, Not Important is produced by Crate Media...
Sep 03, 2021•17 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
