Climate & Clean Energy Episodes
Everything climate. And we mean everything.
Oct. 8, 2019
#81: Legalizing the Other Weed
In Episode 81, Quinn & Brian discuss: Legalizing the weed of the sea. Our guests are Bren Smith and Tom Ford , two fine, clean-living gentleman who are out on the water, every day, trying to change the way that we eat and use...
Sept. 24, 2019
#79: Air Pollution: The Low Hanging Fruit of Our Hellish Future
In Episode 79, Quinn & Brian are back to discuss: Optimism in the air (wait... that doesn’t sound like us). Our guest is Beth Gardiner, an environmental journalist and the author of Choked: Life and Breath in the Age of Air P...
Aug. 27, 2019
#78: How to Be A Better Ancestor
In Episode 78 , Quinn & Brian discuss: Planning for chaos. Our guest is Bina Venkataraman , author of the upcoming book The Optimist's Telescope: Thinking Ahead in a Reckless Age and a teacher in the program on Science, Techn...
Aug. 6, 2019
#76: Save the Corals, Save the World
In Episode 76, Quinn & Brian discuss: What you don’t see (any more) when you snorkel. Our guest is Dr. Kim Cobb, a professor in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology who specializ...
July 31, 2019
BEST OF THE BEST: It’s Getting Hot in Here, and America’s Poor Are Dying Faster Than Everyone Else
In Episode 50, Quinn & Brian discussed: How D.C. and LA are dealing with urban heat issues. Our guests are Yesim Sayin Taylor and Molly Peterson. Yesim is the founding Executive Director of the D.C. Policy Center and Molly is...
July 16, 2019
#74: Incentivizing Those Dirty Capitalists to Solve Climate Change for Us
In Episode 74, Quinn & Brian discuss: Making carbon capture suck more (but this time, with carrots). Our guest is Henry Elkus, the frustratingly young and impossibly optimistic founder of Helena, an organization that assemble...
July 10, 2019
BEST OF THE BEST: What’s It Feel Like To Be Asked To Save the World?
Today’s episode is a rerun of Episode 56, where Quinn & Brian asked: What’s it feel like to be asked to save the world? Our guest is Rhiana Gunn-Wright, who is writing policy and leading the Green New Deal project at New Cons...
June 25, 2019
#72: The Monsoon Is 11 Days Late
In Episode 72, Quinn & Brian discuss: Monsoons, food, and people. Our guest is Dr. Deepti Singh, an Assistant Professor in the School of the Environment at Washington State University - Vancouver who is motivated by the poten...
June 18, 2019
#71: Why Raising the Status of Girls Can Change Everything
In Episode 71, Quinn & Brian discuss: Why raising the status of girls can help change everything. Our guest is Dr. Katharine Wilkinson , a Vice President at Drawdown, an author, a public speaker, and an expert in just about e...
June 4, 2019
#69: Rebuilding Los Angeles & L.A.’s Green New Deal
In Episode 69, Quinn & Brian discuss: Rebuilding Los Angeles and L.A.’s Green New Deal. Our guest is Jeanalee Obergfell, who works just down the street from Important, Not Important HQ as a City Planning Associate for Los Ang...
May 21, 2019
#67: Is Climate Change "Flippable"?
In Episode 67, Quinn & Brian ask: Is Climate Change "Flippable"? Our guest is Catherine Vaughan , CEO and Co-Founder of Flippable, an organization dedicated to flipping state governments from red to blue. You may not be surpr...
May 6, 2019
#65: Chernobyl: A Preventable and Rare Accident from the Past or a Vivid Picture of Our Hellish Nuclear Future?
In Episode 65 , Quinn asks: Is Chernobyl a preventable and rare accident from the past or a vivid picture of our hellish nuclear future? Our guest is Craig Mazin, a screenwriter, podcaster, and the creator of a new HBO mini-s...
April 30, 2019
#64: Sunrise Movement Tour - Live (ish) in LA!
In a very special Episode 64, Quinn & Brian discuss (live! Kind of): everything that’s good at the Sunrise Movement Tour (and everything that’s not-so-good in the local communities)! Our guests are politician and native Hawai...
April 9, 2019
#61: How Do We Atone for Poisoning Generations of American Minorities?
In Episode 61, Quinn & Brian ask: How do we atone for poisoning generations of American minorities? Our guest is Dr. Michael Dorsey, a recognized expert on global energy, finance and sustainability matters. Dr. Dorsey holds R...
March 19, 2019
#58: Is Faith Sustainable?
In Episode 58, Quinn & Brian ask: Is faith sustainable? Our guest is Dekila Chungyalpa, a trained scientist and Buddhist operating at the intersection of science, faith, and the environment. She is the director of The Loka In...
Feb. 26, 2019
#56: What’s It Feel Like To Be Asked To Save the World?
In Episode 56, Quinn & Brian ask: What’s it feel like to be asked to save the world? Our guest is Rhiana Gunn-Wright, who is writing policy and leading the Green New Deal project at New Consensus, which is one of the main thi...
Feb. 19, 2019
#55: What are the Energy Requirements of Well-being?
In Episode 55, Quinn & Brian ask: What are the energy requirements of well-being? Our guest is Julia Steinberger, a Professor of Social Ecology & Ecological Economics at the University of Leeds School of Earth and Environment...
Feb. 12, 2019
#54: The State That’s Not a State is a Hell of a Lot Greener Than Your State
In Episode 54, Quinn & Brian discuss: why the state that’s not a state is a hell of a lot greener than your state. Our guest is Jamie DeMarco, a State-Level Carbon Pricing Coordinator with our friends the Citizens' Climate Lo...
Jan. 29, 2019
#52: What’s the Deal With the Green New Deal?
In Episode 52, Quinn & Brian ask (using their best Seinfeld impression): What’s the deal with the Green New Deal? Our guest is Varshini Prakash, a founder of the Sunrise Movement, a veritable army of young folks fighting to s...
Jan. 8, 2019
BEST OF 2018: He’s Given 200+ Climate Speeches to Congress. What’s Next?
Back in Episode 26, Quinn & Brian asked: what drives a man to give 200 climate speeches to Congress? Our guest was Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, the junior senator from Rhode Island and all-around stellar human. He’s been a mem...
Jan. 4, 2019
BEST OF 2018: Is It Harder to Build Clean Power Plants or Play in a Reputable Cover Band?
Back in Episode 38, Quinn & Brian asked: Is it harder to build clean power plants or play in a reputable cover band? Our guest Sean Casten then went on to win the election for congressman of Brian’s home district, Illinois’ 6...
Jan. 1, 2019
#50: It’s Getting Hot in Here & America’s Poor are (Not Surprisingly) Dying Fastest
In Episode 50, Quinn & Brian discuss: How D.C. and LA are dealing with urban heat issues. Our guests are Yesim Sayin Taylor and Molly Peterson. Yesim is the founding Executive Director of the D.C. Policy Center and Molly is a...
Dec. 4, 2018
#46: Is There Nuclear Waste in the Ocean (& Can We Become Super Heroes if There Is)?
Dr. Claudia Benitez-Nelson is an Associate Dean and Distinguished Professor in the College of Arts & Sciences at the University of South Carolina, and today she schools us on radioactivity in the ocean. Want to send us feedba...
Oct. 26, 2018
Bonus: The #1 thing you can do to fight climate change
Hi. So you read the IPCC climate change report. Not great, Bob. We get it. Now you want to do something about it. We get that, too. So here’s a re-run of one of our favorite episodes, “What’s the #1 Thing You Can Do To Affect...