Shows / The Most Important Question
The Most Important Question
The most important question in today's world of climate chaos, AI psychosis, and crumbling democracy is: what can I do? Your host, Quinn Emmett is completely unqualified to answer it, so he's calling the people that already are. If you've got the news, the analysis, the outrage, but still no plan — join us as we figure it out together with long-form conversations with amazing people working on the frontlines, and quick updates responding to today's most important headlines, and what you can do…
Episodes
The Most Important QuestionBest of: The End of the Universe
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…
The Most Important QuestionBest of: Episode X: A Far Out Geek Girl Rises
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…
The Most Important QuestionBest of: Why We Can't Focus
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…
The Most Important QuestionBest of: Internal Activism
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…
The Most Important QuestionHow To Make Ethical Decisions
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…
The Most Important QuestionThe Creepy Reality of Consumer Tech (Privacy Not Included)
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…
The Most Important QuestionEssay: How Does The Brain Work?
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 Most Important QuestionBest of: Life Finds A Way
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…
The Most Important QuestionThe Female Origin of Species
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…
The Most Important QuestionEssay: Coffee: Back To The Future
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…
The Most Important QuestionCan Your Gut Predict Alzheimer's?
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…
The Most Important QuestionEssay: How I think about how to think about what’s next
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…
The Most Important QuestionWhat Causes Depression?
Content Warning What is depression? And how do the interactions between our genes, our chemistry, and the environment around us affect our odds of developing…
The Most Important QuestionEssay: The Disconnect
This week: Exactly why the youths are so pissed off. Here's What You Can Do: Donate to the Steve Fund to support the mental health of young people of color…
The Most Important QuestionEssay: The Illusion of Choice
This week: It can be difficult as hell to understand when we don’t actually have a choice — and when we’ve got more options than we think. Deciphering the two…
The Most Important QuestionDo You Know Where Your Water Comes From?
Every single one of us needs air, water, food, shelter, and energy. So why are the infrastructure that provides them, the systems we are most reliant on hidden…
The Most Important QuestionEssay: The coolest year of the rest of your life
This week: Why was this year so hot? Will it keep getting hotter, and for how long? It’s not an easy read, but it’s important you know and keep in mind the…
The Most Important QuestionEssay: The Long Defeat
This week: Tolkien described life (and often, his stories) as a "long defeat", where evil frequently, inevitably wins. But he allowed for "eucatastrophe" -…
The Most Important QuestionTurning The Tide On Microplastics
What are microplastics doing to us? And how do we stop putting them into our water, and our bloodstreams, and our food? That's today's big question, and my…
The Most Important QuestionEssay: The Next Big Test
This week: Are you ready for the next big test? Here's What You Can Do: Donate to Cooperation Humboldt, a worker-led, non-hierarchical non-profit that delivers…
The Most Important QuestionEssay: Did You Hear The One About The Starfish?
This week: Because I am a sap, I have been thinking about my kids a lot lately. And kids in general. They’re going to grow up and live in a world that’s very…
The Most Important QuestionBest of: Peer Pressure Works
Over the past few years, more and more voters have cited “action on climate” as a reason for voting the way they do. But here’s the thing: lots of voters who…
The Most Important QuestionIntroducing: Catalyst with Shayle Kann - The Carbon Market's Quality Problem
Voluntary carbon credits are a lot like used cars: You really have no idea what their quality might be. Or maybe they’re more like expensive bottles of wine…
The Most Important QuestionEssay: The Best Kinds of Stories
This Week: Telling better stories is a type of Compound Action. Here's What You Can Do: Check out the Good Energy Project's playbook on how to tell better…
The Most Important QuestionHow To Access Better Maternal Mental Health Care
How can we provide better mental health support for pregnancy, postpartum, and loss around pregnancy? That's today's big question, and obviously in America in…
The Most Important QuestionWhat Can You Do With Just 493 Genes?
How did we get here? That's today's big question, and today my guests are Roy Moger-Reischer, and our first three-time guest, Brandon Ogbunu. Roy…
The Most Important QuestionIntroducing: Degrees: How To Green Any Job
This week, we’re running an episode of Degrees: Real talk about planet-saving careers, from our friends at the Environmental Defense Fund. This episode is part…
The Most Important QuestionEssay: Shiny Things
This week: How to be excited about the future, explained. Plus, the news: 🌊 The tipping point for the Atlantic Ocean 👶 An RSV shot for babies 🥕 Examining the…
The Most Important QuestionIntroducing: Living Change: A Quest for Climate Leadership
This week, we want to tell you about Andrea Learned’s podcast: Living Change: A Quest for Climate Leadership. In season one, Andrea interviews local leaders…
The Most Important QuestionEssay: Haggling Over The Future
This week: This week: Are car dealers the devil? And why? Plus, the news: 🇨🇳 Can we build a green economy without China? 🦆 Bird flu, explained 🇷🇺 Russia quits…
The Most Important Question⚡️Electrify Everything: What Does The Pace of Progress Look Like?
Sure, we've got to electrify everything, including 1 billion machines by 2050. But where are we now and how do we get there? That's today's big question, and…
The Most Important QuestionEssay: Farm to Table
This week: How can we better protect farmworkers? Plus, the news: A free online summit for eco-anxiety from RITA A new era for Alzheimer’s treatments Inflated…
The Most Important QuestionTransit For A Habitable Planet
Why the hell is America's public transportation so terrible? That's today's big question, and my guest is Nicholas Dagen Bloom. He's the author of the subtly…
The Most Important QuestionEssay: Why I Don't Eat Animals
This week: Why don’t I eat animals? Plus, the news: Carbon capture is (mostly) BS Narcan vending machines save lives The vertical farming boom doesn’t have…
The Most Important QuestionHow To Live A Happy Life
How can we live happier lives? That's today's big question, and my guest is Dr. Marc Schulz, the co-author with Dr. Robert Waldinger of “The Good Life: Lessons…
The Most Important QuestionEssay: Life, Liberty, and Solar Panels
This week: Texans have a huge opportunity to get even MORE liberty — from the sun. Plus: Diabetes is expected to double, the state of carbon removal, A.I…
The Most Important QuestionEssay: An Apple A Day Keeps The Doctor Away
This week: Can Apple help improve mental health? Here's What You Can Do: ⚡️LGBTQ+ youth are 4x more likely to attempt suicide than their peers. Help the The…
The Most Important QuestionEssay: The Inevitable Future
This week: Is the future inevitable? Plus: A lack of OB-GYN’s in a post-Roe world, some new bills for agrivoltaics, the best in climate journalism, the link…
The Most Important QuestionEssay: Start Over (Again)
This week: Got fired? Start over. Plus: More young people are getting cancer, the rise of solar power, new YouTube misinformation rules, getting paid to bike…
The Most Important QuestionEssay: 10 Questions You Need to Ask Right Now
This week: Ask these questions before you click on ANYTHING. Plus: Gut inflammation news, California insurance gets harder to find, 750k adults just lost…
The Most Important QuestionBest of: How to Protect Yourself from Wildfire Smoke
What's in wildfire smoke and how can you protect yourself from it? Those are today's big questions, and my guest is Dr. Mary Prunicki. Dr. Prunicki is the…
The Most Important QuestionEssay: Gradually, and then all at once
This week: Things feel pretty out of control. Get used to it. Plus: The Canadian West is burning, Oregon bans PFAS, ChatGPT plugins for everyone, the All We…
The Most Important QuestionHealth Care Is A Human Right
Is healthcare a human right? That's today's big question, and it clearly shouldn't be a question, but here we are. My guest to help explain the obvious today…
The Most Important QuestionEssay: COVID has ended (or has it?)
This week: COVID is over (as far as we know it). What did we learn, and what’s next? PLUS: Gay blood donations are a go, wind power in the UK, social media…
The Most Important QuestionFighting Food Waste With The iPhone of Trash Cans
How much food do you throw away every week? And do you have to? That's today's big question, and my guest is Matt Rogers. Matt is a former Apple iPod and…
The Most Important QuestionEssay: Never Tell Me The Odds
This week: Solutions to our biggest problems shouldn’t be so perplexing. On the other hand, washing our hands wasn’t obvious for a couple hundred thousand…
The Most Important QuestionCheck Your Insurance Policy
You've got insurance, right? Are you sure? That's today's big question, and my guest is Washington Post reporter Brianna Sacks. Brianna's an extreme weather…
The Most Important QuestionEssay: What Would You Say You Do Here
This week: Is what you’re working on important? Plus: The cleanest produce, a mosquito factory, lots of rooftop solar, autonomous GPT, maybe, and the latest…
The Most Important QuestionEvery Climate Action Matters
What can I do? The simple question is the underlying premise of everything we do here. It's often the easiest one to help people answer for themselves, but…
The Most Important QuestionEssay: This Isn't Rocket Science (Unless It Is)
This week: A very basic way to use a mental model, you’re welcome. PLUS: Mosquitoes, overseas abortion pills, healthy ice cream, German nuclear power, electric…
The Most Important QuestionBest of: Black Moms Matter
Why is it so dangerous to have Black babies in America? April 11-17th is Black Maternal Health Week, and so we are replaying one of our favourite episodes from…
The Most Important QuestionFinding the Humanity in Artificial Intelligence
If you had all of the data in the world at your hands, what question would you ask first? That's today's big question, and my guest is Dr. Emma Pierson. Emma…
The Most Important QuestionBest of: What Really Happens When You Just Give People Money?
What if we just gave people money? That's today's big question and my guests are Caroline Teti and Michael Faye from GiveDirectly. This conversation from 2021…
The Most Important QuestionBest of: How to Stop School Shootings in the USA
We're going to keeping re-running this 2020 episode until America stops sacrificing children. --- Here we are, yet again. We first ran this episode with Fred…
The Most Important QuestionWhere In The World Are All Of The Electricians?
Where the hell did all of the electricians go? That's today's big question, and my guest is leading journalist Emily Pontecorvo. Until recently, Emily was an…
The Most Important QuestionEssay: ESG is good business (but don't call it ESG)
This week: Fighting over ESG is stupid, risky, and bad business. Let’s move on. Plus: RSV vaccines, the E-BIKE Act, Skittles (?), deepfakes, allergies, and a…
The Most Important QuestionThe Dive Into Challenger Deep
What if you got the chance to dive to the bottom of the ocean? Would you go? And what would you find there? That's today's big question and my returning guest…
The Most Important QuestionEssay: Welcome to the Unknown Unknowns
This week: What we know — and more importantly, what we don’t — about what AI is capable of, and how much change we’re capable of absorbing. Plus: the Willow…
The Most Important QuestionBest Of: Is The Ocean Running Out of Oxygen? Is That Bad?
What if I told you there was less oxygen in the ocean than there used to be? That's today's big question, and my guest is Dr. Dawn Wright, or as many in the…
The Most Important Question⚡️Your Home Electrification Questions, Answered
This week: In response to our ongoing and delightful home electrification series with our friends at Rewiring America, we have received a hell of a lot of…