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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

01:23:50

Pods Fight Poverty: What Really Happens When You Just...

The Most Important Question ·

2025/12/15

Hey friends, I want to talk about something big. Change the actual world big, because the world won't unfuck itself, as we all know. We are joining podcasts across the planet for Pods Fight Poverty, a campaign directly supporting our good friends at Give Directly. Now, if you've been with us since episode 116, which feels like a thousand years ago, you'll remember when we asked one of the most deceptively simple, world altering questions ever.Why is just giving people money the most effective way

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01:03:49

Let's Talk About Menopause

The Most Important Question ·

2025/12/01

What if talking about menopause out loud was as normal as talking about sports scores or school pickup? Imagine it in movie plots, in your group chat, at the clinic, and on the campaign trail because when we name what's happening in our bodies, three things can follow: better care, better research, and better policy. Normalizing the conversation around something that's gonna happen to half the population isn't oversharing. It's infrastructure. This is how we're gonna get appointments that move the

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59:36

The American Revolution's Unfinished Promise

The Most Important Question ·

2025/11/24

If the American Revolution was, as Ken Burns put it, the biggest event since the birth of Christ, then there's probably never been a better time to explore and drastically expand on why it happened, who was involved, and what it set us up for than right now. My guest today again is David Schmidt.David is the producer and co-director, along with Ken Burns and Sarah Botstein, of American Revolution, a six-part, 12-hour series premiering on PBS this November. David is a childhood friend, but two

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01:03:56

History vs Nostalgia

The Most Important Question ·

2025/11/17

I've recorded hundreds of conversations with incredible people working on the front lines of the future. People who've asked the most important question: what can I do? Who found their answer and followed it. But for today's conversation, we're going back to the front lines of the past because the past can tell us a whole hell of a lot about today and how tomorrow might go.But only if we tell the full story of how we got here, about who got us here, about how my great-great-grandparents got here

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01:01:38

Running for Water (Because Shutoffs Are Immoral)

The Most Important Question ·

2025/11/03

Chronically parched is not something anyone in this country or anywhere should ever have to feel, but here we are. So how are towns and states making clean water more affordable, reliable, and less controversial? 'cause remember, it's fucking water. Look, you might feel like you're giving it all you got but when you look around things are a little dark out there. So you, our listeners and readers and viewers and users, whatever, across the world, want and demand more examples of fight and progress

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01:09:02

Running for School Meals (Because Learning Requires...

The Most Important Question ·

2025/10/31

I think we can all agree that kids shouldn't go hungry ever really, but especially at school. You might feel right now like you are giving it everything you got, but when you look around, things feel kind of dark out there. So you, our listeners and readers and viewers across the country and across the world want, demand, need more examples of fight and real progress you can actually see and touch and feel and taste. And in these conversations, in partnership with our best friends at Run For

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01:05:22

Running for Gun Control (In The Only Nation Where...

The Most Important Question ·

2025/10/30

Maybe you feel like you're already giving it all you've got. You look around, and things are tough out there. You, our listeners and readers and viewers and users across the country and across the world, you're demanding more examples of fight and progress you can actually see and touch and feel, and in these conversations, in this series, in partnership with our very best friends at Run For Something, we're gonna give you exactly what you asked for.Each of these episodes features two guests, both

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01:09:07

Running for Transit (Because Your Commute Doesn't...

The Most Important Question ·

2025/10/24

Things are a little tough out there. So you, want, no need, more examples of fight and progress you can actually see and touch and feel. And in these series of conversations, in partnership with our best friends at Run for Something, we are giving you exactly what you asked for.Each episode features two guests, both sourced from the Run for Something pipeline and graduating classes, the next generation of American leaders. First, I'll introduce one young elected official at the state or local level

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01:06:52

Running for Housing (Because Someone Has To)

The Most Important Question ·

2025/10/20

In a moment when the news out of Washington can seem untenably rough, when the gerontocracy that got us here won't give up their hold on power, when billionaires own every single media channel, when everything from housing to childcare to elderly care and healthcare have been made unaffordable, if accessible at all, and the question, what can I do? Can feel more fruitless than ever, I come bearing good news.Look to the young people. Look to our school boards, our cities, and in many cases to our

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01:19:40

(Re)Introducing The Science of Fiction

The Most Important Question ·

2025/10/06

This week we're rerunning our 2024 episode with Maddie Stone, writer of The Science of Fiction blog, to celebrate the fact that Maddie has joined our team and The Science of Fiction now lives at Important, Not Important. The Science of Fiction explores the real-world science behind fictional monsters and alien planets, and stuff like that.Quinn and Maddie get into the reasons why The Science of Fiction was a perfect fit for Important, Not Important, and then we get into their conversation from last

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48:16

The Answer is Always Run for Something

The Most Important Question ·

2025/08/18

Turns out it's our 200th episode. It has been a journey.The show is now called The Most Important Question, and I can't think of a better answer than just fucking run for something. What can I do about anything? Run for something. And so obviously the best guest to answer that question, is returning guest, Amanda Litman. If you are new here, she is the co-founder and president of Run For Something, which recruits and supports young, diverse progressives running for down-ballot office, state and

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49:32

Making Your Climate Dollars Count When Government Won't

The Most Important Question ·

2025/07/21

Congress just jammed the brakes on America's clean energy boom, however short-lived it may have been. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act was signed into law after a lot of debate in the House and the Senate and in public. It will wipe out most of the wind, solar, and EV tax credits. It's directing agencies to unwind renewable energy support, much less the mass electrification we need to do. These are changes the industry warns could kill new projects and spike electricity costs for homeowners and

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01:03:30

When Foreign Aid Gets Zeroed Out Overnight

The Most Important Question ·

2025/06/23

Imagine waking up to discover that the United States has just pulled $35 billion out of foreign aid overnight, and that hundreds of HIV clinics, and child malnutrition programs, and poverty graduation trials will shut their doors within days and weeks. Now imagine there's a rapid response team quietly sifting through every single grant, ranking them by lives saved per dollar and building lifeboat bridge grants before the lights go out.That team exists. It's called Project Resource Optimization

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58:53

Taking Care of Business (Sustainably)

The Most Important Question ·

2025/06/16

Toilet paper. You use it. I use it. Sometimes, even my children use it. The point is, toilet paper is everywhere. Almost everyone needs it, and so much of it still comes from actual forests, and yet 2 billion people don't have access to even basic sanitation, much less readily available and recycled toilet paper. That's about 40% of the global population. 289,000 children under five die every year from diarrheal diseases caused by poor water and sanitation. That's almost 800 children per day, or one

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53:28

We Live In A World of Trees

The Most Important Question ·

2025/06/09

You've heard people say it. It shouldn't have been called Earth. It should have been called Ocean, but it is simultaneously a planet of trees. As Richard Powers put it in The Overstory: We live in a world of trees. Once something like 6 trillion trees, and humanity are the late arrivals. So how do we reconnect with trees to stop using them for toilet paper?How do we learn more about why they're suffering and in some unexpected places surviving to know them, to care for them, and maybe even know

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58:13

Climate Solutions That Make Everything Better

The Most Important Question ·

2025/05/26

Picture a city that beats brutal heat waves with cool tree-lined streets, slashes household energy bills, and cuts carbon pollution by as much as 80%, without waiting for these miracle technologies. That future-positive vision is already taking shape in fast-growing places like Ahmedabad, India, where community-designed cooling plans and demand-side innovations are proving that climate action can double as a public health and equity upgrade.It's co-benefits. You've heard it a thousand times. We're

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56:00

How Saving Salamanders Could Save Us All

The Most Important Question ·

2025/05/19

In every flood scarred bend of an Appalachian river sits a chance to rebuild something stronger, cleaner water for people, and room for a 160 million-year salamander to thrive again. Hurricane-shaped chaos is unveiling a surprising truth when we restore stream banks, fund green storm water projects, and protect keystone species like the Eastern Hellbender, we don't just rescue wildlife, we buffer towns and farms and drinking water intakes against the next big storm. The same fixes that help a snot

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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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54:05

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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56:21

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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145 results

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