Essays Episodes

This week: Today’s essay is my version of a 2024 preview. Unlike other previews, though, it’s less, “This is what is going to happen” and more “These are the table stakes as far as I can tell.” I think that approach is much more helpful, but you can be the judge. Here's What You Can Do: Donate to the 19th , an independent newsroom that focuses on gender, politics, and policy. Journalism is being hit hard, and small outlets that do incredible work like the 19th are more essential than ever. Volun...

This week: I’m back today to share my 2023 wrap-up. It’s a pretty stream-of-consciousness endeavor, but I think it sums up where I was right in my 2023 preview, where I was very wrong, how the world changed — or didn’t — and most importantly, how we responded. Here's What You Can Do: Donate to CAMFED to help them educate 5 million girls in Africa by 2030 (educating girls is key to building climate resilience!) Volunteer with Action for the Climate Emergency , a network of young people working in...

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 Markup’s invaluable work examining the ways technology is being used to change society. Volunteer with your local Surfrider chapter to keep our waterways, oceans, and beaches clean. Get educated about the easiest ways your company can improve sustainability by reading this article from Protocol . Be heard about clean water as a human rig...

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 through the Alliance for a Green Africa . Volunteer to join the Coffee & Climate Network , an organization that connects stakeholders in coffee farming to create a climate-smart future. Get educated about what is in your supplements using Examine’s independent, evidence-based database. Be heard about your eco-anxiety by connecting with others ...

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 organizations to create clean jobs, develop clean infrastructure, and pursue fair trade. Volunteer with 3.14 Action and help get people who care about facts and evidence elected. Get educated about the direction of our food systems by reading the Paradigms of Agriculture . Be heard about restoring the expanded Child Tax Credit and urge you...

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. Volunteer with Everytown so youth can grow up in communities free from gun violence. Get educated about being a better ally to trans and non-binary young people with this guide from the Trevor Project . Help youth be heard about their future by supporting Voters of Tomorrow . Invest in a better world for young people with Carbon Collective ....

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 is the key to the good stuff getting built way, way faster. Here's What You Can Do: Donate to The Greenling Institute to help communities of color build wealth and live in healthier, climate-resilient communities. Volunteer with People for Bikes to make biking better for everyone by improving infrastructure, advancing policy, and removing ...

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 inputs and externalities. Here's What You Can Do: Donate to Climate CREW to help build resilience hubs and prepare your community for extreme heat. Volunteer to build a resilience hub in your community so your community can better respond to extreme heat. Get educated about community planning for extreme heat by reading this piece from Vox . ...

This week: Tolkien described life (and often, his stories) as a "long defeat", where evil frequently, inevitably wins. But he allowed for "eucatastrophe" - sudden joyous turns, just like breakthroughs in voting rights. We must keep fighting, to hold off the darkness. Here's What You Can Do: Donate to protecting voting rights and advocating for democracy with Fair Fight . Volunteer to bring together conservatives, progressives, and everyone in between to fix America’s political system with Repres...

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 programming in seven areas that are key to basic human rights. Volunteer with Global.health to help create a global resource of public health information and assist in preventing the next pandemic. Get educated about steps to solving the climate crisis by receiving a weekly challenge in your inbox from Minimum Viable Planet . Be heard ab...

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 different from ours, and it’s important to me that they’re all as ready for that as they can be. So this week: Did you hear about the starfish? Here's What You Can Do: Donate to Tobacco Free Kids to help fight against flavored e-cigarettes. Volunteer with Mothers Out Front and come together to fight against climate injustice and for our chi...

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 climate stories. Donate to Experiment , a platform where scientists can crowdfund their research, and you can pick and choose what research you want to support. Volunteer with our friends at the Environmental Voter Project , a non-partisan non-profit with a proven track record of getting non-voting environmentalists to the polls. Get educated ...

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 “N” in SNAP 🤖 Profiting from AI tools And more! Here's What You Can Do: Donate to the Institute for Policy Studies to help turn transformative policy ideas into action. Join a Ride Spot Challenge by committing to replace car trips with bike rides . Biking is an easy way to lower your emissions and be part of the climate solution, even if yo...

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 Black Sea grain deal 🤖 A.I. journalists And more! Here's What You Can Do: Donate to Grid Alternatives , an organization building community-powered clean energy solutions that advance economic and environmental justice. Volunteer your school or workplace to participate in the EPA’s Clean Air in Buildings Challenge. Get educated about le...

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 prices of packaged food Saving lives with better weather forecasting Here's What You Can Do: Donate to the Food Chain Workers Alliance , a coalition dedicated to improving working condition s for workers in every stage of food production, and to the Native CDFI Network to improve access to capital and credit for Indigenous farm workers. Vo...

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 enough power Hacking EV charging stations And more! Here's What You Can Do: Donate to the Food Animals Concerns Trust to advocate for raising food producing animals in a healthy and humane manner . Volunteer with the Environmental Voter Project to turn out more environmental voters for elections at every level. Get educated about climate-frie...

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. detection tools, future pandemic prepping, BEES?!, and more Here's What You Can Do: ⚡️ It’s getting hot out there. Direct your city officials to the Heat Action Platform Policy Tool to explore existing heat adaptation solutions for your community. ⚡️Thinking of becoming a nurse? Bless you, and thank you. Here are some resources including FAQs...

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 Trevor Project build a safer, more-inclusive world through crisis services, peer support, education, and advocacy. Happy Pride! 🏳️‍🌈 Get more: Get more news, analysis, and Action Steps at https://www.importantnotimportant.com/ Got feedback? Email us at [email protected] Follow us on Twitter at @importantnotimp Subscribe to ...

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 between COVID and Alzheimer’s, misinformation, and more Here's What You Can Do: ⚡️ Our algorithms and technology are only as good as the people who make them. Empower future innovators to consider the social impact of their work with Tech Shift. ⚡️ Donate to the Urban Ocean Lab , a think tank working on solutions and policies to make coasta...

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 to work, and more Here's What You Can Do: ⚡️ If apocalyptic skies and hazardous air quality reports are making your climate anxiety a little more intense this week (I feel you), look into the Climate Psychiatry Alliance’s database to find a climate-aware psychiatrist near you . ⚡️ Help spread fire adaptation practices and give communities t...

This week: Ask these questions before you click on ANYTHING. Plus: Gut inflammation news, California insurance gets harder to find, 750k adults just lost Medicaid, what (non-vaccinated) COVID actually does to your lungs, and more Here's What You Can Do: ⚡️ PFAS (“forever chemicals”) have been linked to serious health problems. Urge Congress bans PFAS from all food contact materials by using this script from Toxic-Free Future. ⚡️ Work in marketing? Join Clean Creatives , a movement of advertisers...

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 Can Save project is hiring, and more Here's What You Can Do: ⚡️Wildfire smoke exposure is directly linked to myriad health impacts due to poor air quality. Know your daily risk by using this Purple Air outdoor air monitor. ⚡️We need to heal ourselves to heal the planet. Find resources and community to help with your climate anxiety through t...

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 guidelines, millions for Black farmers, water report cards, and more Here's What You Can Do: ⚡️ Discover which websites are harvesting your data using The Markup’s Blackligh t tool ⚡️ Prepare your home for a wildfire using these resources from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection ⚡️ Ensure everyone, everywhere, receives a...

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 years, and my kids STILL don't want to do it. Plus: Seasonal allergy news, a new Barbie, non-profit grocery stores, climate hackers, the SEC, the WHO, Google’s huge new feature, and Khan Academy revolutionizes education — again Here's What You Can Do: ⚡️ Floods or not, fire season’s (probably) right around the corner. Get up to the minute air ...