Essays Episodes
The weekly tent-pole essay, plus Action Steps. 10/10, you're welcome.
Feb. 7, 2024
2024: The Gaps and How to Close Them
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 m...
Jan. 29, 2024
2023 Review: What Just Happened?
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 ...
Nov. 22, 2023
🌎 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 Markup’s invaluable work examining the ways technology is being ...
Nov. 10, 2023
🌎 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 through the Alliance for a Green Africa . Volunteer to join the Coffee...
Nov. 2, 2023
🌎 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 organizations to create clean jobs, develop clean infrastructure, ...
Oct. 24, 2023
🌎 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. Volunteer with Everytown so youth can grow up in communities free fr...
Oct. 18, 2023
🌎 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 is the key to the good stuff getting built way, way faster. Here's...
Oct. 11, 2023
🌎 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 inputs and externalities. Here's What You Can Do: Donate to Climate C...
Sept. 26, 2023
🌎 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" - sudden joyous turns, just like breakthroughs in voting rights. We mus...
Sept. 23, 2023
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 programming in seven areas that are key to basic human rights. V...
Sept. 21, 2023
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 different from ours, and it’s important to me that they’re all as r...
Aug. 25, 2023
🌎 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 climate stories. Donate to Experiment , a platform where scientists ca...
Aug. 2, 2023
🌎 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 “N” in SNAP 🤖 Profiting from AI tools And more! Here's What You Can...
July 25, 2023
🌎 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 Black Sea grain deal 🤖 A.I. journalists And more! Here's What ...
July 19, 2023
🌎 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 prices of packaged food Saving lives with better weather forecasti...
July 11, 2023
🌎 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 enough power Hacking EV charging stations And more! Here's What You C...
June 30, 2023
🌎 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. detection tools, future pandemic prepping, BEES?!, and more Here's Wh...
June 28, 2023
🌎 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 Trevor Project build a safer, more-inclusive world through crisis se...
June 26, 2023
🌎 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 between COVID and Alzheimer’s, misinformation, and more Here's What...
June 9, 2023
🌎 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 to work, and more Here's What You Can Do: ⚡️ If apocalyptic skies a...
June 8, 2023
🌎 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 Medicaid, what (non-vaccinated) COVID actually does to your lungs, and ...
May 19, 2023
🌎 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 Can Save project is hiring, and more Here's What You Can Do: ⚡️Wildf...
May 16, 2023
🌎 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 guidelines, millions for Black farmers, water report cards, and more ...
May 5, 2023
🌎 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 years, and my kids STILL don't want to do it. Plus: Seasonal allergy n...