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PODCAST

The Most Important Question

Important, Not Important

Science for people who give a sh*t. Want to feel better AND unf*ck the world? The 6-time Webby nominee delivers deep conversations with the world"s smartest people (scientists, doctors, CEO"s, farmers, and more!), and digestible news updates every single week, to help you answer the world"s most important question: What can I do? We"re talkin" clean energy and coral reefs, COVID vaccines and pediatric cancer research, clean water and carbon capture tech, asteroid deflection and artificial

science documentary

All Episodes

01:01:41

#55: What are the Energy Requirements of Well-being?

The Most Important Question ·

2019/02/19

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

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52:57

#54: The State That’s Not a State is a Hell of a Lot...

The Most Important Question ·

2019/02/12

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

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54:15

#53: How the Hell Do We Pull Clean Drinking Water Out...

The Most Important Question ·

2019/02/05

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

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53:13

#52: What’s the Deal With the Green New Deal?

The Most Important Question ·

2019/01/29

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

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01:11:05

#51: Are We Thinking About CRISPR All Wrong (& What...

The Most Important Question ·

2019/01/22

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

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01:07:23

BEST OF 2018: New Antibiotics in a Post-Antibiotic Era

The Most Important Question ·

2019/01/15

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

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53:03

BEST OF 2018: He’s Given 200+ Climate Speeches to...

The Most Important Question ·

2019/01/08

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

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44:28

BEST OF 2018: Is It Harder to Build Clean Power...

The Most Important Question ·

2019/01/04

Back in Episode 38, Quinn & Brian asked: Is it harder to build clean power plants or play in a reputable cover band?Our guest Sean Casten then went on to win the election for congressman of Brian’s home district, Illinois’ 6th! There’s a little more hope in the world, so we want to re-introduce you to these kickass STEM politicians.Sean is a scientist, clean energy entrepreneur, and cover band member who ran against Peter Roskam, who called climate change “junk science,” which is really all we

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49:15

BEST OF 2018: Congress Got a Female Air Force Officer...

The Most Important Question ·

2019/01/03

Back in Episode 37, Quinn & Brian asked: Why does Congress need a female Air Force Officer / Engineer / Chemistry Teacher / Mom among its ranks? We found out – and now our guest Chrissy Houlahan is the new congresswoman from Pennsylvania District 6! So we’re playing that episode again to celebrate. We dig into the very personal reasons she ran, what’s so special about Pennsylvania, and the first thing she’s going to do when she gets elected. Plus, how did she collect such an impressive list of bona

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01:01:18

#50: It’s Getting Hot in Here & America’s Poor are...

The Most Important Question ·

2019/01/01

In Episode 50, Quinn & Brian discuss: How D.C. and LA are dealing with urban heat issues. Our guests are Yesim Sayin Taylor and Molly Peterson. Yesim is the founding Executive Director of the D.C. Policy Center and Molly is a renowned reporter focusing on the environment and climate change (and our first returning guest!).We all remember when Nelly said, “It’s getting hot in herre,” but not a lot of people remember the whole verse: “It’s getting hot in herre, so take off all your clothes / all

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01:00:56

#49: How Can HUGE Food & Beverage Companies...

The Most Important Question ·

2018/12/25

In Episode 49, Quinn & Brian ask: What can the HUGE food and beverage companies do, right now, to improve U.S. food systems and drive trends towards a more sustainable future?It’s a big and complicated question, but our guest Jennifer Mleczko is going to share the one simple thing you can do to address all of it at once. Jennifer is a consultant at the World Bank focused on sustainable development, specifically agriculture and, even more specifically, livestock. There are environmental, social,

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01:09:43

#48: Why Does Childhood Cancer Exist & What Can We Do...

The Most Important Question ·

2018/12/18

In Episode 48, Quinn & Brian ask: Why the hell does childhood cancer exist, isn't the world effed up enough as it is, and what can we do to make it go away forever?Our guest is one of our favorite humans, Jay Scott, Co-Executive Director of the Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation. Jay runs the organization with his wife, Liz, in honor of their daughter Alex, who was diagnosed with cancer just two days before her first birthday. She set up a lemonade stand in their yard to help support her doctors

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01:01:28

#47: The Future of Digital Health, Part 2: America’s...

The Most Important Question ·

2018/12/11

In Episode 47, Quinn goes solo for a minute to discuss: America’s data and the future of digital health. Quinn sits down for a one-on-one chat with Dave Gershgorn, the lead artificial intelligence reporter at Quartz (AKA qz.com), to figure out why our data is different, how the future we were promised is both here and pretty damn far away, and whether/why data is too white. The worlds of healthcare and artificial intelligence are looking – big surprise – really biased right now, but with some

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01:04:56

#46: Is There Nuclear Waste in the Ocean (& Can We...

The Most Important Question ·

2018/12/04

Dr. Claudia Benitez-Nelson is an Associate Dean and Distinguished Professor in the College of Arts & Sciences at the University of South Carolina, and today she schools us on radioactivity in the ocean. Want to send us feedback? Tweet us, email us, or leave us a voice message!

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48:04

#45: Poop Vs. Cancer

The Most Important Question ·

2018/11/27

Our guest is Dr. Diwakar Davar, a Professor of Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh and a a medical oncologist/hematologist.Want to send us feedback? Tweet us, email us, or leave us a voice message!

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59:16

#44: Is Food Waste the Stupidest Thing We Do (& How...

The Most Important Question ·

2018/11/20

Our guest is Dr. James Rogers, founder and CEO of Apeel Sciences and one of our most mind-blowing guests yet.Want to send us feedback? Tweet us, email us, or leave us a voice message!

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54:37

#43: The Future of Digital Health, Part 1

The Most Important Question ·

2018/11/13

Our guests are Dr. Indra Joshi & Maxine Mackintosh, the co-founders of One HealthTech.Want to send us feedback? Tweet us, email us, or leave us a voice message!

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01:08:13

#42: What Happens When You’re Almost an Astronaut......

The Most Important Question ·

2018/11/06

Dr. Sian Proctor tells us how we can all help get more women and more people of color into space, one way or another.Want to send us feedback? Tweet us, email us, or leave us a voice message!

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01:02:18

#41: Outsmarting Cholera

The Most Important Question ·

2018/10/30

Our guest is Dr. Minmin Yen, the CEO and co-founder of medical startup PhagePro, where she and her team are developing viruses specifically designed to kill bacteria and prevent bacterial infections.Want to send us feedback? Tweet us, email us, or leave us a voice message!

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02:08

Trailer -- Important, Not Important

The Most Important Question ·

2018/10/30

"The Conversations Most Vital to Our Survival As a Species”. Quinn Emmett & Brian Colbert Kennedy, publishers of the popular “Important, Not Important” weekly newsletter and otherwise regular, progressive, terrified folks like you, host weekly-ish conversations with awesome scientists, engineers, doctors, politicians, and journalists, as they discuss the questions and topics most likely to either save the planet, or end it! Topics include climate change, artificial intelligence, clean energy, space

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141 results

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