This week: Do you like cookies? What about olive oil cake? What about chocolate chip coffee cake? Listen on. Here's What You Can Do: 🌍️ Donate to support African farmers by increasing incomes and improving food security through the Alliance for a Green Africa . 🌎️ Volunteer to join the Coffee & Climate Network , an organization that connects stakeholders in coffee farming to create a climate-smart future. 🌎️ Get educated about regenerative a...
May 27, 2024•19 min•Transcript available on Metacast How do we take a huge chronic disease burden like Lyme disease or long COVID or even long flu and make it so personal that we simply can't ignore it anymore? That's today's big question and my guest is Dr. Mikki Tal , an immunoengineer and a principal scientist at MIT. Dr. Tal leads the Tal Research Group within the Department of Biological Engineering , and also serves as the Associate Scientific Director of the Center for Gynepathology Research . Mikki is working to identify the connections be...
May 20, 2024•1 hr 11 min•Ep 177•Transcript available on Metacast This week: This week I wrote about a groundbreaking and essential new study that — thank christ — is not actually about which seemingly reasonable dietary supplement will definitely extend/tragically cut short your life. It’s about 🍿 film , and after you’re done reading, I’d love it if you replied to this email with some favorite movies that moved the needle for you in some way. We’ll share the list with everyone soon. Here's What You Can Do: Donate to Eco-An...
May 10, 2024•12 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week: In this essay, I will argue that Bridget Jones is the perfect climate-era hero, because she is all of us. Here's What You Can Do: 🌍️ Donate to Project HOPE to support frontline teams working to strengthen healthcare systems and respond to crises globally. 🌎️ Volunteer to share your climate solutions work with the Global Solutions Diary from Project Drawdown and use your story to inspire hope in the climate community. Get educated about...
May 03, 2024•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast Who is still covering Long COVID, and how much is the audience actually growing? That's today's big question, and my guests are Betsy Ladygetz and Miles Griffis , editors and co-founders of The Sick Times , a journalist-founded website chronicling the Long COVID crisis. The Sick Times investigates injustices, challenges powerful institutions, wades through the latest research, assesses COVID-19 data, and offers an essential platform for those most affected by the crisis. Betsy is an independent ...
Apr 29, 2024•1 hr 16 min•Ep 176•Transcript available on Metacast This week: Let’s talk about the Information Era. Here's What You Can Do: Donate (and subscribe!) to the 19th , an independent, non-profit, kick-ass newsroom reporting on gender and politics. Volunteer with Tech Shift to build a fairer, more just technological future. 🌏️ Get educated about the powerful institutions using technology to change society through the invaluable reporting by The Markup. Be heard about keeping companies accountable t...
Apr 11, 2024•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast What have we learned from millennia of water insecurity, of climate changes and disasters, of building along freshwater ways and the ocean, that we can apply today? That's today's big question, and my guest is Dr. Amber Wutich . Dr. Wutich is an ASU President's Professor , Director of the Center for Global Health , and 2023 MacArthur Fellow. She's an expert on water insecurity, and directs the Global Ethnohydrology Study , a cross cultural study of water knowledge and management in over 20 count...
Apr 08, 2024•1 hr 20 min•Ep 175•Transcript available on Metacast This week: Bernie decided March 15th is Long COVID Awareness Day , so I thought it was an appropriate moment to try to pull together the threads of why Long COVID pisses me off so much, examples of other self-defeating issues we never learned from, and a blueprint for how to do better, better. Here's What You Can Do: 🌎️ Donate to Partners in Health to ensure that everyone, everywhere has access to quality healthcare. Volunteer for a clinical trial to he...
Mar 25, 2024•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast You know you're stressed. You know you're anxious. Do you have depression? And do you need to know the latest in the biology of how the brain works and depression works or doesn't work and whether the gut is involved in getting meaningful help? That's today's big question. I promise it's kind of one question, even if there are a ton of different answers, and they're going to be different for everybody. This conversation is a follow-up to our last couple of conversations about the brain, the gut,...
Mar 18, 2024•1 hr 10 min•Ep 174•Transcript available on Metacast This week: There are few problems so simple that a single donation can fix them. Usually, to turn a problem into a realistic opportunity takes many donations. Over time, spread over a large number of donors. But all the work before that is kind of exhausting: you’ve gotta make sure your donation goes to the right place, the right organization, the right people — usually the ones closest to the problem — with the most pragmatic intentions. Here's What You Can Do: Donate to Give Direct...
Mar 13, 2024•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast The climate clock is ticking faster and faster. How can we use capitalism to undo the bad stuff that capitalism did and maybe even make things better? That's today's big (loaded) question, and my returning guest is Akshat Rathi . Akshat is a London-based senior reporter, newsletter writer, and podcaster for Bloomberg News. Akshat has a PhD in organic chemistry from the University of Oxford , and a BTech in Chemical Engineering from the Institute of Chemical Technology in Mumbai . Akshat was prev...
Mar 04, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Ep 173•Transcript available on Metacast This week: Are we in the hardest part of the climate transition? Here's What You Can Do: 🌎️ Donate to 350.org , a global movement working towards a fossil fuel-free world. Volunteer with your local Mothers Out Front chapter to fight for a world that protects kids. Get educated about building a clean energy company using the videos, exercises, and curriculum in Third Derivative’s Startup Resource Database . 🌎️ Be heard about climate ju...
Feb 26, 2024•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast What are reverse coattails, and how might they slow climate change, prevent the next pandemic, and keep Nazis off of school boards? That's today's big question, and my returning guest is Amanda Litman . Amanda is one of my favorite people. She is the co-founder and co-executive director of Run for Something , which recruits and supports young, diverse progressives running for down-ballot office, state, and local, and all those fun levels. Since launching in 2017 , a thousand years ago, Run for S...
Feb 19, 2024•40 min•Ep 172•Transcript available on Metacast This week: How are we supposed to navigate this energy transition, AI, and pandemics, if we cannot agree on the most basic, fundamental shit? We argue about tradeoffs or gently suggest expanding the scope of our moral concern to include other people’s air, water, food, shelter, and health, instead of simply saying some things — like the lives of children — are simply, emphatically, non-negotiable. Here's What You Can Do: Donate to Tobacco-Free Kids to protect kids from e-cigare...
Feb 14, 2024•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week: Today’s essay is a bit of a departure — I just wanted to make super clear where I stand vis a vis the next eleven months. A MAGA party don't stop unless we stop it. Here's What You Can Do: Donate to Voters of Tomorrow to defend democracy for the next generation. Volunteer with Run For Something to help young, diverse progressives get elected. 🌍️ Get educated about how your country is keeping up with its commitments to the Paris Agreemen...
Feb 09, 2024•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week: Today’s essay is my version of a 2024 preview. Unlike other previews, though, it’s less, “This is what is going to happen” and more “These are the table stakes as far as I can tell.” I think that approach is much more helpful, but you can be the judge. Here's What You Can Do: Donate to the 19th , an independent newsroom that focuses on gender, politics, and policy. Journalism is being hit hard, and small outlets that do incredible work like the 19th are more essential than...
Feb 07, 2024•37 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week: I’m back today to share my 2023 wrap-up. It’s a pretty stream-of-consciousness endeavor, but I think it sums up where I was right in my 2023 preview, where I was very wrong, how the world changed — or didn’t — and most importantly, how we responded. Here's What You Can Do: Donate to CAMFED to help them educate 5 million girls in Africa by 2030 (educating girls is key to building climate resilience!) Volunteer with Action for the Climate Emergency , a netw...
Jan 29, 2024•36 min•Transcript available on Metacast How will the universe end? That's today's big question, and my guest is Sarafina El-Badry Nance. Sarafina is an NSF graduate research fellow, astrophysics Ph.D. candidate, and Forbes 30 Under 30 Science 2022 honoree, specializing in supernova and cosmology. She's also the author of the new, honest, and empowering memoir "Starstruck: A Memoir of Astrophysics and Finding Light in the Dark". Sarafina and I recorded this conversation back in 2021 , and not only is it an all-time listener favorite, w...
Jan 22, 2024•1 hr 15 min•Transcript available on Metacast Why does it matter who reviews our video games? That's today's big question, and my guest is Swapna Krishna . Swapna and I recorded this conversation in 2022 , and as gaming and the entire media ecosystem changes and evolves and is pulled apart and merged, it's more important than ever to find reputable sources we not only trust, but who we have a connection with, and that's why representation matters so much. Swapna is a writer and journalist covering space, science, tech, and pop culture, and ...
Jan 15, 2024•1 hr•Transcript available on Metacast How do we get our attention back? That's today's big question. I think about it every day, and my guest is Johann Hari . Johann and I recorded this conversation in 2022 , and with the Internet in general and social networks of the past fifteen years being straight-up pulled apart, I think it's more relevant than ever. Johann Hari is the author of three New York Times best-selling books, an executive producer of an Oscar-nominated movie, and an eight-part series starring Samuel L. Jackson . His b...
Jan 08, 2024•1 hr 13 min•Transcript available on Metacast How's your mental health around climate change? That is today's big question, and my guest is Britt Wray. Britt and I recorded this conversation in 2022. It is an all-time favorite of mine and of our listeners. Britt is the author of the fantastic book, Generation Dread: Finding Purpose in an Age of Climate Crisis . She has a passionate generational perspective on how to stay sane amid climate disruption. Britt has a PhD in science communication from the University of Copenhagen . She's the auth...
Jan 01, 2024•1 hr 15 min•Transcript available on Metacast Has there ever been a more important time, a more consequential time, to lead with ethics? That's today's big question, and my guest is Dr. Susan Liautaud . Susan is the author of The Power of Ethics and of the Little Book of Big Ethical Questions . She teaches cutting-edge ethics courses at Stanford University . She is the C hair of the Council Trustees at the London School of Economics and Political Science . She's the Vice Chair of the Global Partnership for Education , and is Chair of the St...
Dec 04, 2023•55 min•Ep 171•Transcript available on Metacast What are the best holiday gifts that aren't privacy nightmares? That's today's big question, and my guest is Jen Caltrider. Jen is the lead researcher for Mozilla's Privacy Not Included program where since 2017 Mozilla has published 15 editions of Privacy Not Included , their Consumer Tech Buyer's Guide. They've reviewed over 500 gadgets, apps, cars now, and more, assessing their security features what data they collect from you and your loved ones, and who they share that data with or sell it t...
Nov 27, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Ep 170•Transcript available on Metacast This week: How the hell does the brain work? And what does it have to do with lemonade stands and school supplies? Here's What You Can Do: Donate to support The Markup’s invaluable work examining the ways technology is being used to change society. Volunteer with your local Surfrider chapter to keep our waterways, oceans, and beaches clean. Get educated about the easiest ways your company can improve sustainability by reading this article from Protocol . Be heard about clean water as a human rig...
Nov 22, 2023•19 min•Transcript available on Metacast I think about time a lot. Some days I feel ancient, some days I can’t believe how old I am. I’ve got kids, too. I can’t believe how fast they’ve grown up already. They love so many things. Swimming. Cooking. Plain pasta. The beach. Vegetables, somehow. Their friends. Their family. Dinosaurs. Man, oh man, do they love dinosaurs. I love to challenge them, to help them think about how long ago it all was, and how long it lasted. How different the world was. How the land under their feet was an...
Nov 20, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Transcript available on Metacast How did the female body drive 200 million years of human evolution? And why the hell are we just finding out about it now? That's today's big question, and my guest is Cat Bohannon . Cat is the author of the incredible new book, “Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution” . Cat is also a researcher and author with a Ph.D. from Columbia University in the evolution of narrative in cognition. Cat's essays and poems have appeared in Scientific American, Mind, Science Magazi...
Nov 13, 2023•1 hr 11 min•Ep 169•Transcript available on Metacast This week: Will coffee survive climate change? Here's What You Can Do: Donate to support African farmers by increasing incomes and improving food security through the Alliance for a Green Africa . Volunteer to join the Coffee & Climate Network , an organization that connects stakeholders in coffee farming to create a climate-smart future. Get educated about what is in your supplements using Examine’s independent, evidence-based database. Be hea...
Nov 10, 2023•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast Can your gut composition predict Alzheimer's? That's today's big question and my returning guest is Gautam Dantas. Gautam heads up the Dantas Lab at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis . His lab works at the interface of microbiogenomics, ecology, synthetic biology, and systems biology to understand, harness, and engineer the biochemical processing potential of microbial communities. Since our last conversation, Gautam was named a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiol...
Nov 06, 2023•1 hr 11 min•Ep 168•Transcript available on Metacast This week: How I think about how to think about what’s next Here's What You Can Do: Donate to help the BlueGreen Alliance unite labor unions and environmental organizations to create clean jobs, develop clean infrastructure, and pursue fair trade. Volunteer with 3.14 Action and help get people who care about facts and evidence elected. Get educated about the direction of our food systems by reading the Paradigms of Agriculture . Be heard about &nbs...
Nov 02, 2023•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast Content Warning We're going to be talking about stress and anxiety, depression, suicide, and more today. If any of this could be triggering to you in any way, please feel free to just skip over this one. Nothing in this conversation should be taken as medical advice. If a treatment or combination of treatments prescribed or recommended by your healthcare provider is working for you, that's great. Your personal experience with that treatment is much more relevant than anything in this conversatio...
Oct 30, 2023•1 hr 12 min•Ep 167•Transcript available on Metacast 
