Education Episodes
Bringing up the next gen of Shit Givers
March 24, 2025
Don't Move The Goalposts
One of the ways this Trump administration is different from the last is, relatively at least, how much more unconstitutional, how much more organized and comprehensive the attacks on our institutions, particularly the scaffol...
Nov. 11, 2024
Bridging Misinformation Gaps with Local Journalism
What's the missing link in local journalism? That's today's big question, and my guest is Lyndsey Gilpin . Lyndsey is the Senior Manager of Community Engagement at Grist. Lyndsey was the founder and executive editor at Southe...
Oct. 28, 2024
Thinking In Systems To Save An Indivisible World
Is multisolving the future? Is it today? Should we do more? That's all today's big question and my guest is Dr. Elizabeth Sawin . Dr. Sawin is the Founder and Director of the Multisolving Institute , which is convenient for o...
Nov. 20, 2023
Best 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 already. They love so many things. Swimming. Cooking. Plain pasta. The ...
March 6, 2023
Best 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 who pursues a common theme of understanding how individuals perceiv...
Jan. 30, 2023
Best 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 him on the show in 2021 to understand how he asks big questions....
Jan. 24, 2023
Best 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 class "Reimagining Capitalism". I had Rebecca on the show in 2020...
Jan. 17, 2023
Best 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, helpful, inspiring book by Bina Venkataraman. Then I had Bina on the s...
Oct. 17, 2022
Automated 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 tools are unaffordable to the schools and groups who could use them to...
July 4, 2022
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 already. They love so many things. Swimming. Cooking. Plain pasta. The ...
March 14, 2022
Fresh Banana Leaves
There’s no word for “conservation” in many Indigenous languages. Some come close, but mean something more like “taking care of” or “looking after.” And that’s probably because the very idea of conservation, to “prevention the...
Nov. 22, 2021
127. How To Innovate
In Episode 127 , Quinn wants to know just how the hell “innovation” actually works. His guest is Christopher Mims, a journalist for the Wall Street Journal, who’s spent a career asking big questions about the most pressing te...
Oct. 25, 2021
123. Snapchat Runs for Office
In Episode #123 , Quinn gets a masterclass on Snapchat AND running for office with RFS co-founder, returning guest, and our favorite human alive, Amanda Litman ! Amanda’s helped thousands of progressive young people run and g...
June 28, 2021
116: What Really Happens When You Just Give People Money?
In Episode 116 , Quinn wants to know: why is simply giving people money the most effective way to 1) help them make positive changes to their lives and 2) erase global poverty along the way? To help him understand the answer,...
May 24, 2021
113: Lessons from Plants
In Episode 113 , Quinn asks: What can we learn from plants? The answer, it turns out, is: A whole heck of a lot. Our guest is the wonderful and way overqualified Dr. Beronda Montgomery -- PhD, writer, researcher, scholar, and...