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 QuestionEssay: A living act of resistance
This week: Can little-old-you really make a difference? Hell yes you can. Plus: cheaper insulin, cleaner camping gear, a new (lidless) coffee cup, good news on…
The Most Important QuestionBest of: Lessons From Plants
What can we learn from trees? That's today's big question, and my guest is Dr. Beronda Montgomery. Beronda's a transformative writer, researcher and scholar…
The Most Important QuestionBest Of: Did A.I. Just Make My Life’s Work Obsolete?
How many nights have you spent up recently worried that AI is just gonna take your job? That's today's big question, and my guest is Dr. Mohammed AlQuraishi…
The Most Important QuestionEssay: How to get sh*t done
This week: Pulled in a million directions? Wondering what the hell you do with your days? Find your north stars (and become devastatingly effective) with one…
The Most Important QuestionEssay: What Do You Need?
This week: The future of search and chatbots looks a lot like our ancient past. Why do we keep making the same tools over and over again? What We Can Do: ⚡️…
The Most Important QuestionClean Air Is An Inside Job
Imagine you’re in a sci-fi movie. The one where everything’s on the line. And while dinosaurs or aliens or a virus takes over down on the ground, you’re the…
The Most Important QuestionEssay: How to Survive
This week: There are a default group of problems that exist in our society because of the basic needs required to be a human. They are: Air Water Food Sleep…
The Most Important QuestionEssay: "Why Do We Exist?"
This week: For the next few weeks, I’m rewriting and sharing a selection of essays I wrote in 2020 and 2021, so about two hundred years ago. I think they’re…
The Most Important QuestionBest of: How To Innovate
How does innovation actually work? That's today's big question, and my guest is Christopher Mims. Chris is a journalist for the Wall Street Journal, and I had…
The Most Important QuestionEssay: Insurance, for you and me
This week: Everyone needs insurance. But what kind? And what does it mean to have it, or not? Well, there’s actual insurance, which is a policy where you and…
The Most Important QuestionBest of: How Do We Rebuild Capitalism in a World on Fire?
How do we reimagine capitalism in a world on fire? That's today's big question, and my guest is Rebecca Henderson, Harvard professor behind the wildly popular…
The Most Important QuestionEssay: You Say You Want A Revolution
This week: What does it mean when people say “revolution”? For these purposes, which are pretty narrow and entirely of my own invention, I don’t mean some…
The Most Important QuestionBest of: How To Be A Better Ancestor
How can I be a better ancestor? This question has haunted and inspired me since way back in 2019 when I first read the Optimist's Telescope. A beautiful…
The Most Important QuestionEssay: What it all means
Across the front of our website, in big bold letters, is our calling card: “Science for people who give a shit.” You may have seen it and immediately thought…
The Most Important QuestionCan Your Poop Predict The Next Pandemic?
We’re taking giving a shit quite literally this week! Our guest is Newsha Ghaeli, the president and co-founder at Biobot Analytics. If you read our newsletter…
The Most Important QuestionWhy You Should Care About Soil Health
What’s one big change we can make that can make our food healthier, make farming more lucrative, draw down carbon in the atmosphere, and reduce climate…
The Most Important QuestionThe Future of Aluminum Recycling
Aluminum. It’s everywhere! And we’re going to need a hell of a lot more of it in the future. Aluminum is a primary ingredient in solar, wind, hydro…
The Most Important QuestionNewsletter #299: How to save 1.3 million lives
This week: Global climate news roundup beyond COP27 The human cost of vaccine inequity Water runs dry Chatbots aren't your friends Caveats to exciting AI…
The Most Important QuestionBreaking Bread with the Korean Vegan
There’s nothing quite like breaking bread with family and friends, old or new. By mid-2020, we’d have all taken the opportunity to break bread with just about…
The Most Important QuestionWhy is Environmental Justice Journalism Important?
It’s always worth revisiting the inarguable fact that our country was designed to be inequitable. And while much progress has been made over time, the powers…
The Most Important Question#298: What they're *not* teaching kids today
This week: Climate change in the curriculum Increasingly divergent subvariants Cell-cultured meat RSV vaccines are coming Generative AI (...didn't write this…
The Most Important QuestionIntroducing Climavores: "Our first Climavores guest is a big one: Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack"
Climate change is a touchy topic in farm country. But one third of greenhouse gas emissions come from food and agriculture, so it’s crucial that the industry…
The Most Important QuestionNewsletter #297: Your neighborhood's about to get much cleaner
This week: $1 billion for electric school buses A potential "tripledemic" sandwich (not as delicious as it sounds!) One person's (treated) wastewater is…
The Most Important QuestionYou get an XPRIZE, and YOU get an XPRIZE!
Throughout history, kings, queens, governments, churches, and donors have funded contests and awarded prizes for solving the most difficult problems of the…
The Most Important QuestionNewsletter #296: Fake meat, fake profits?
This week: Plant-based meat stocks Another COVID winter is coming A long-term plan for the baby formula shortage The uncertain future of telehealth Willfully…
The Most Important QuestionAutomated Synthetic Biology (I'm sure it's fine)
Let's talk robots. But first: There’s a very particular bottleneck where groundbreaking science is more applicable than ever but inaccessible to many. The…
The Most Important QuestionFight Fire With...Vortex Cannons?
How lucky are we? How lucky are we that we live in a time of such great opportunity – when, yes, we’re teetering on the edge of a global climate calamity…
The Most Important QuestionNewsletter #295: Insurance, for when climate change comes at you fast
This week: What climate change means for insurance Pregnancy and the COVID vaccine Food insecurity in America What wildfire smoke means for air quality…
The Most Important QuestionNewsletter #294: Look for the helpers (that's us)
This week: It's hurricane season Viral levels in wastewater spiking What the world might look like in 2050 Results from the biggest-ever Alzheimer's study…
The Most Important QuestionHow to Electrify Your Home
For decades Americans have relied on wood, oil, and gas to power, heat, and cool our homes, and the water we use to drink, cool, and bathe in. But these things…
The Most Important QuestionNewsletter #293: Is COVID "over"?
This week: The companies building a new clean economy (and the pretenders) The "I" in COVID Defrauded pandemic funds for hungry kids Preventing overdoses with…
The Most Important QuestionWhen You REALLY Need a Clinical Trial
Let’s say you get sick. Diabetes. Cancer. Heart disease. Long COVID. PTSD. MS. Depression. Alzheimer’s Despite the best efforts of your physician, nothing’s…
The Most Important QuestionNewsletter #292: A love letter to my e-bike
This week: What's happening with cars and micro-mobility in America Brain fog A food system rundown The corporations backing a national abortion ban Border…
The Most Important QuestionIntroducing "A Matter of Degrees" Season 3
Curious about the climate? Then there’s a show I want to tell you about—A Matter of Degrees, where Dr. Leah Stokes and Dr. Katharine Wilkinson tell stories…
The Most Important QuestionNewsletter #291: When climate change happens to you
This week: Corporate clean energy purchases go down as temperatures go up The current status of COVID-19 vaccines Moving towards a healthier, climate-friendly…
The Most Important QuestionNewsletter #290: Life at 1.2°C
This week: The cost of electrification The end of free COVID tests The water crisis in Jackson Minimizing cancer treatment side effects The companies selling…
The Most Important QuestionNewsletter #289: The new arms race (where everybody wins?)
This week: Heat in China ramping up a clean economy arms race How to learn more about Long COVID Cleaning up after coal Magic mushrooms and depression Better…
The Most Important QuestionNewsletter #288: What $200,000 buys you
This week: What IRA means for cars Centralizing data for the next pandemic A parched Earth Big Pharma is Big Mad about IRA Fingers crossed that Big Tech will…
The Most Important QuestionFellowship of the Climate
“What can I do?” This is the question I get most often. It’s the question that early on pivoted our newsletter and then this podcast towards measurable action…
The Most Important QuestionNewsletter #287: France has *how many* EV mail trucks??
This week: Ira’s here and ready to fund the future It’s back to school and the air’s still not clean Our relationship with water is changing everywhere…
The Most Important QuestionEpisode X: A Far Out Geek Girl Rises
In a world where trust in institutions and in news is falling and the role of influencers is growing, finding the connective tissue between you and your…
The Most Important QuestionNewsletter #286: Holy sh*t what a week
This week: A surprise for climate development that isn't terrifying? Facebook might relax their COVID misinformation policies Less land, more rice Alzheimer's…
The Most Important QuestionNewsletter #285: How to beat the heat and avoid quacks
This week: How to beat the heat in your city COVID quackery Introducing "Explainers"! A blockbuster depression study A new federal privacy bill is comin' Get…
The Most Important QuestionNewsletter #284: How to beat plastic
This week: Manchin fuels more heat waves COVID reinforcements on the way India and California fight plastic How we fight monkeypox Wow Ring doorbells are not…
The Most Important QuestionVaginas and Friends
We have ignored vaginas for so long. Hear me out. On the one hand, history and popular culture, from god-kings to love songs to movies to fan fiction, are…
The Most Important QuestionNewsletter #283: What Google's hiding (for you)
This week: What's a chief heat officer? Fixing schools in the time of COVID Why plant-based meat is a massive 80/20 move for the climate (and your health) Uh…
The Most Important QuestionLife 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 QuestionNewsletter #281: What to eat and where to get it
This week: The SEC's coming for greenwashing in a real way BA4: Endgame and BA5: Infinity War are here and immune evasive Eat more local veggies Bye-bye vapes…
The Most Important QuestionNewsletter #280: What's next for Alzheimer's?
This week: Where do gas cars go when we buy electric? A bunch of COVID updates The Colorado River's next chapter What's next for Alzheimer's Holy shit…
The Most Important QuestionNewsletter #279: Moderna's got a new booster
This week: Biden's going it alone on electrification Moderna's got a new booster Why food is so expensive An unbelievable cancer result Apple's saying goodbye…
The Most Important QuestionCOVID: The Update
Soup to nuts, I’m more concerned about COVID today than I’ve been at any point in the past year. I don’t think it’ll be a horror show soon, not like it was…
The Most Important QuestionWhy We Can't Focus
We are all being pulled in so many different directions. The clock is ticking and we have a climate and virus and society and economy to fix and we’re…
The Most Important QuestionNewsletter #278: The deal with monkeypox
This week: SEC climate risk reporting gets closer to reality What's the Paxlovid rebound? How to make strawberries last weeks longer What the hell is…
The Most Important QuestionNewsletter #277: Why EV batteries are suddenly SO expensive?
This week: Lithium is expensive AF because it's in wildly short supply Paxlovid and Long COVID, a thing? Global breadbaskets are getting hotter and/or wetter…
The Most Important QuestionBlack Moms Matter, Redux
A woman’s right to choose is under renewed attack in America and the federal protection it has benefited from for so long, however tenuous, is closer than ever…
The Most Important QuestionNewsletter #276: Who gets Long COVID?
This week: Water in the West Who will get Long COVID? The baby formula shortage, explained Drug overdoses and gaslighting Data privacy improvements Get more…
The Most Important QuestionNewsletter #275: How Hot is it in India?
This week: India's heat continues When a surge is not a surge Antibiotics (still) in meat Abortion Email cybersecurity is...lacking Get more: Get more news…
The Most Important QuestionInternal Activism
If you give a shit, well, you’ve probably had at least a few moments where the enormity of what’s in front of us has challenged your mental health in some way…
The Most Important QuestionNewsletter #274: Is Wind Power Unprofitable?
This week: Wind isn't profitable Kids vaccines on the hold up The kitchen sink answer to food waste, it's metaphors galore today Menthol cigarettes are all…
The Most Important QuestionNewsletter #273: Where Batteries Come From
This week: Should we mine the ocean? Mask mandates are over, what else? Split up the FDA Alzheimer's trials are very white Ronan Farrow comes for Pegasus…