Important, Not Important

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 dynamics of innovation, the “great man” question, the invisible force behind Moore’s Law, and more. The bad news: Nobody gets to save the world. The good news: Everyone gets to save the world, a little bit.Today’s episode is brought to you by Avocado Green Brands, where sustainability comes first. They craft their GOTS certified organic mattresses, pillows, and bedding with natural materials sourced from their organic farms in India, in their own clean-energy powered facility in Los Angeles, where their team shares a

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 comes with transitioning every single existing building and vehicle, not to mention all of our power and infrastructure to green tech. While it’s arguably the biggest challenge of our time, it is also quite possibly the biggest market opportunity ever. Kim and Sophie discuss the sustainability of volunteer advocacy for these important endeavors, and managing the currency of free time as this work becomes people’s second jobs--without the pay. They also outline the action steps you can take, whether an investor, journal

This Week: China takes on methane; Moderna's downturn; Inflated food costs; Measles on the rebound; Google's new drug companyFind links from this newsletter and more at newsletter.importantnotimportant.comGot feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.comFollow us on Twitter at @importantnotimpImportant, Not Important is produced by Crate Media

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 Energy Impact Partners, focused on creating a transition into clean energy through investments – while also building a more diverse, inclusive, and equitable future.Together, Vida and Anthony ask (and answer): How do we build new systems that help and support all people, as we face this incredible crisis (and opportunity)? How do we approach the obligation we have to help others? How do we address the very personal – and very local – effects of climate change? And how the hell do we find and invest in companies that

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/newsletterGot feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.comFollow us on Twitter at @importantnotimpImportant, Not Important is produced by Crate Media

This Week: Biden's agreement, revealed; Why vaccinating kids matters for everyone; Plant-based meat emissions questioned; Public health's original sin; Fixing FacebookFind links from this newsletter and more at importantnotimportant.com/newsletterGot feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.comFollow us on Twitter at @importantnotimpImportant, Not Important is produced by Crate Media

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 can make this process much, much, much easier. Enter adyn. Family planning is (wait for it) more or less ignored by medical research, but adyn’s goal is to address that disparity head on and usher in a new age where women don’t have to experiment with 43 different forms of birth control until they (maybe) find one that doesn’t cause side-effects ranging from depression to blood clots and worse. Listen in as Elizabeth describes a world where a simple and private genetic test shared with adyn can lead to a medicine that ge

This Week, Summarized: Moving on from Manchin; Kids shots; Forever chemicals regulated (finally); Google vs. IranGet Action Steps and more at newsletter.importantnotimportant.comGot feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.comFollow us on Twitter at @importantnotimpImportant, Not Important is produced by Crate Media

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 send a message to questions@importantnotimportant.comLinks:How to run for office -- through Snapchat!Amanda on TwitterRun for SomethingEpisode #60: “Why You Should Run for Something in 2020”Connect with us:Subscribe to our newsletter at ImportantNotImportant.com!Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/ImportantNotImpFollow Quinn: twitter.com/quinnemmettFollow Brian: twitter.com/beansaightLike and share us on Facebook: facebook.com/ImportantNotImportantIntro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.comImportant, Not Important is produced by Cr

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/newsletterGot feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.comFollow us on Twitter at @importantnotimpImportant, Not Important is produced by Crate Media

This week: How to reduce methane; America’s out of diapers; COVID questions; A new day against malaria; Food systems examined; How you’re trackedFind links from this newsletter and more at importantnotimportant.com/newsletterGot feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.comFollow us on Twitter at @importantnotimpImportant, Not Important is produced by Crate Media

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... and what comes next?Our guest is Dr. Sian Proctor, an explorer, scientist, full-time professor, STEM communicator, and almost an astronaut. Today she joins the show to tell us how we can all help get more women and more people of color into space, one way or another. If you didn’t know – and we weren’t sure – being a white, male military pilot isn’t the only way to get to space! You can be exposed to radiation and get superpowers, become an (evil?) genius who starts their own electric car and space flight companies or

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 continuesFind links from this newsletter and more at importantnotimportant.com/newsletterGot feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.comFollow us on Twitter at @importantnotimpImportant, Not Important is produced by Crate Media

This week: Manchin wields a dirty pen; Our new COVID rules; Fighting for expanded telehealth; 200 million climate migrants; Even more trollsFind links from this newsletter and more at importantnotimportant.com/newsletterGot feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.comFollow us on Twitter at @importantnotimpImportant, Not Important is produced by Crate Media

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 transitioning into desertification. We’ve talked about it, you’ve asked about it.But these increasingly dry conditions have widespread consequences, affecting everything from water quality to our national food supply.With the help of hydrologists on the ground and in the lab, Dr. Alok Patel digs deep — he learns about the traditional ecological knowledge of the Navajo Nation in the especially hard-hit Southwest.…and he talks with innovators applying advanced technology to agricultural practices, like drone surveillance and artif

This week: Solar’s wilding out; $65 billion for the next pandemic; Better, cheaper, more inclusive clinical trials; Protecting farmworkers; Biden’s AI boardFind links from this newsletter and more at importantnotimportant.com/newsletterGot feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.comFollow us on Twitter at @importantnotimpImportant, Not Important is produced by Crate Media

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/newsletterGot feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.comFollow us on Twitter at @importantnotimpImportant, Not Important is produced by Crate Media

If we're going to make this world a better place, things have to change. That's why we talk with the changemakers who have the power – and the courage – to get things done.We wrap up every conversation with one question meant to get to the root of that superpower: when was the first time you realized you had the power of change? To make a change, we have to believe change is possible. We're going to look back at some of the responses we've received to give you all some proof that it is!Have feedback or questions? Tweet us, or send a message to questions@importantnotimportant.comConnect with us:Subscribe to our newsletter at ImportantNotImportant.com!Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/ImportantNotImpFollow Quinn: twitter.com/quinnemmettFollow Brian: twitter.com/beansaightLike and share us on Facebook: facebook.com/ImportantNotImportantIntro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.comImportant, Not Important is produced by Crate Media

This week: Wind NIMBY’s; More nurses, stat; Diabetes on the rise; Evictions; Cybersecurity commitments.Find links from this newsletter and more at importantnotimportant.com/newsletterGot feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.comFollow us on Twitter at @importantnotimpImportant, Not Important is produced by Crate Media

Each week we kick off our conversations with the smartest people in the universe with one humble question: “Why are you vital to the survival of the species?”The responses typically range from laughter, modest denial, to audible discomfort. But when the air clears, we typically get some gems of insight that give us a glimpse at how we all have some role to play in our survival as a species. Today, we’re taking a look back to highlight some of those responses and hopefully give us some hope for a better world.Have feedback or questions? Tweet us, or send a message to questions@importantnotimportant.comConnect with us:Subscribe to our newsletter at ImportantNotImportant.com!Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/ImportantNotImpFollow Quinn: twitter.com/quinnemmettFollow Brian: twitter.com/beansaightLike and share us on Facebook: facebook.com/ImportantNotImportantIntro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.comImportant, Not Important is produced by Crate Media