The Most Important Question

23:46

Essay: What's in a name?

The Most Important Question ·

2025/05/12

This week: There are a million legitimate reasons why standing up to bullies may require a pseudonym (and a cowl), or even anonymity. As has been clear for centuries, and even more so in this moment of inescapable mass surveillance, some of us — by nat...

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23:51

Essay: What's in a name?

The Most Important Question ·

2025/05/12

This week: There are a million legitimate reasons why standing up to bullies may require a pseudonym (and a cowl), or even anonymity.As has been clear for centuries, and even more so in this moment of inescapable mass surveillance, some of us — by nature of our birth nation, skin color, ethnicity, sex, gender, religious beliefs, and/or who we love — are in far more clear and present danger than someone like me.And yet — millions of people over decades and centuries have stood in broad daylight and

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54:04

Changing the Abortion Conversation

The Most Important Question ·

2025/05/05

63% of Americans say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, and yet here we are. So what can we do to make the language around abortion more positive? My guest today is Sophie Nir. Sophie is the CEO of the Abortion Positivity Project. The Abort...

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54:05

Changing the Abortion Conversation

The Most Important Question ·

2025/05/05

63% of Americans say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, and yet here we are. So what can we do to make the language around abortion more positive? My guest today is Sophie Nir. Sophie is the CEO of the Abortion Positivity Project. The Abortion Positivity Project seeks to destigmatize abortion by more or less overhauling the framework by which we currently understand and discuss it.They've developed a training curriculum on embracing abortion positive messaging in partnership with other

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56:16

Table To Farm

The Most Important Question ·

2025/04/14

Sometimes you buy organic, sometimes you hit a restaurant that's plant-based, or at least you choose the veggie option. Maybe the fish option at the market or the restaurant is marketed as being sustainable. Maybe you compost. It's all useful. But we'v...

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56:21

Table To Farm

The Most Important Question ·

2025/04/14

Sometimes you buy organic, sometimes you hit a restaurant that's plant-based, or at least you choose the veggie option. Maybe the fish option at the market or the restaurant is marketed as being sustainable. Maybe you compost. It's all useful. But we've been doing it for a while and it's not moving the needle for climate, for restaurants, for farmers, for our health.So anyone who gives a shit wants to know, what can I actually do to scale regenerative agriculture to benefit everyone?My guest today

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44:10

History's "Viral" Lessons We Keep Ignoring

The Most Important Question ·

2025/04/07

We've spent the last few years learning up close how a crisis like a global pandemic reveals and deepens all of our faults, inequalities, biases, and outright failures of empathy. But here's the kicker: it's not the first time. Plagues and epidemics have always shown us who we really are. And they've left footprints, good and bad, on our institutions and the stories we tell ourselves.So why do we keep missing the lessons?My guest today is Edna Bonhomme, a historian, author, and public health expert

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43:27

History's "Viral" Lessons We Keep Ignoring

The Most Important Question ·

2025/04/07

We've spent the last few years learning up close how a crisis like a global pandemic reveals and deepens all of our faults, inequalities, biases, and outright failures of empathy. But here's the kicker: it's not the first time. Plagues and epidemics ha...

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23:37

You Might Also Like: The Hidden Economics of...

The Most Important Question ·

2025/03/31

The United States has long been the largest aid donor in the world, accounting for about 40 percent of humanitarian assistance globally last year, according to the United Nations. But that is quickly changing. Most U.S. foreign aid is currently on hold...

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22:53

You Might Also Like: The Hidden Economics of...

The Most Important Question ·

2025/03/31

The United States has long been the largest aid donor in the world, accounting for about 40 percent of humanitarian assistance globally last year, according to the United Nations. But that is quickly changing.Most U.S. foreign aid is currently on hold. Thousands of projects are at risk of elimination. And nearly all staff from the U.S. Agency for International Development are on administrative leave.How did we get to this moment? And what has been the impact of the foreign aid freeze so far,

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22:31

Essay: Give A Little

The Most Important Question ·

2025/03/28

This week: You’ve never had a better opportunity to improve one person’s life than you do right now. I would argue, in fact, that there’s never been a better time to improve one person’s life than there is today. Sounds crazy, right, considering all th...

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22:17

Essay: Give A Little

The Most Important Question ·

2025/03/28

This week: You’ve never had a better opportunity to improve one person’s life than you do right now.I would argue, in fact, that there’s never been a better time to improve one person’s life than there is today.Sounds crazy, right, considering all the destructive nonsense?Here's What You Can Do:DonatetoMatriarchto help progressive working women run for office and win.Volunteerwith your local Surfrider chapterto protect your waterways and reduce plastic pollution.Get educated abouthow you can start

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46:38

Don't Move The Goalposts

The Most Important Question ·

2025/03/24

One of the ways this Trump administration is different from the last is, relatively at least, how much more unconstitutional, how much more organized and comprehensive the attacks on our institutions, particularly the scaffolding we built for ourselves the most precious parts of of our societies: immigration, agriculture, the VA, NIH, the CDC, the NSF and humanitarian work around the globe.Do some of these need reform? Of course, they do. Is this the way to do it? No, it is not. These institutions,

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47:45

Don't Move The Goalposts

The Most Important Question ·

2025/03/24

One of the ways this Trump administration is different from the last is, relatively at least, how much more unconstitutional, how much more organized and comprehensive the attacks on our institutions, particularly the scaffolding we built for ourselves...

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67:36

Going Quietly Is Not An Option

The Most Important Question ·

2025/03/17

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 act...

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01:06:30

Going Quietly Is Not An Option

The Most Important Question ·

2025/03/17

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, what

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50:15

No Country for Poor Men (or Women)

The Most Important Question ·

2025/03/03

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 countries

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51:22

No Country for Poor Men (or Women)

The Most Important Question ·

2025/03/03

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 ...

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12:04

Essay: The Story of Not Right Now

The Most Important Question ·

2025/02/25

This week: Not. Right. Now.I hope you enjoy our new show. It’s super, superinformal, 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.notrightnow.show/Read

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13:30

Essay: The Story of Not Right Now

The Most Important Question ·

2025/02/25

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 intention...

en

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