Essays Episodes

This week: There are a million legitimate reasons why standing up to bullies may require a pseudonym (and a cowl), or even anonymity. As has been clear for centuries, and even more so in this moment of inescapable mass surveillance, some of us — by nature of our birth nation, skin color, ethnicity, sex, gender, religious beliefs, and/or who we love — are in far more clear and present danger than someone like me. And yet — millions of people over decades and centuries have stood in broad daylight...

This week: You’ve never had a better opportunity to improve one person’s life than you do right now. I would argue, in fact, that there’s never been a better time to improve one person’s life than there is today. Sounds crazy, right, considering all the destructive nonsense? Here's What You Can Do: Donate to Matriarch to help progressive working women run for office and win. Volunteer with your l ocal Surfrider chapter to protect your waterways and reduce plastic pollution. Get educated about ho...

This week: Not. Right. Now. I hope you enjoy our new show. It’s super, super informal, and fun, and full of profanity, and personal, and — I hope — something you or a parent in your life can identify with, and maybe get some relief from. It’s intentionally and decidedly NOT an advice show. It is a once-a-week parasocial commiseration session about trying to raise kids and continue to be a human and maybe even a partner amid…all of this. Listen to Not Right Now here https://www.notrightnow.show/ ...

This week: I’m not religious. But I did (barely) successfully major in religious studies. For better and often for worse, the history of faith and organized religion has been the backbone of human history, political science, culture, wars, sexual ethics, and more. Subtle or not, religion and faith are most often the answer to why people do what they do, and to how we got here, even now as the west barrels towards majority secularism. Here's What You Can Do: Donate to the Climate Justice Alliance...

This week: You're wasting your talent on bullshit while the world burns. You — yes, you — can actually use your very unique set of skills for good. Even and especially at scale, even — yes — right now. Here's What You Can Do: Donate to the Electronic Frontier Foundation to help get Zuckerberg’s grubby little paws off of your data. Volunteer with Tech Shift and start creating technology that actually contributes to the betterment of humanity. 🌎️ Get educated about social media, deepfakes, misinfo...

This week: Be prepared — because these fires that are still burning are only the beginning. Start somewhere, start right in front of you, do what you can. Here's What You Can Do: LA isn’t the only place suffering this week, but it was home for a long time, so here’s vetted ways you can contribute right now, from near or afar. Get more: Get more news, analysis, and Action Steps at importantnotimportant.com Support our work and become a Member at importantnotimportant.com/upgrade Get our merch Got...

This week: It’s been a minute. Thanks for your patience. Please check out my 2025 preview, and if you’d be so kind, share it widely. Here's What You Can Do: Donate to Everytown to support their efforts to end gun violence, community by community. Volunteer with Communities Responding to Extreme Weather (CREW) to build the supports your community needs to respond to climate impacts. Get educated about how you can run for a local office and make a huge, direct impact on peoples lives using Run For...

This week: This entire (short!) episode is a call to action. It's time to do this thing...do the thing, but also take care of yourselves and your loved ones these next couple weeks. It's a lot right now. Here's What You Can Do: Donate to the groups that are on the ground every day organizing and fighting for a better, stronger democracy ( go ) Volunteer for democracy by picking up the phone and knocking on doors with the people who have mobilizing voters down to a science. Time’s ticking but it’...

This week: You’d think that -- considering we just spent two years building our new What Can I Do? app -- that I’d have a really good answer for why we were doing it in the first place. But I didn’t. Not until about a week ago. I knew, of course, the practical reasons why it needed to exist, and I had a good idea of what I wanted it to look and feel like. I knew it was the natural evolution and a significant missing piece of our work. But I had never really interrogated myself to understand why ...

It’s another big day in a very big month for us. Our extremely tiny team has been busting our asses for almost two years to bring you something fucking extraordinary, something I’m just so proud of, and now it's here: Our new app: "What Can I Do?" A one stop shop for taking action on the issues you give a shit about. Why? Because the world won't unf**k itself. Get it here: https://www.whatcanido.earth/ Get more: Get more news, analysis, and Action Steps at importantnotimportant.com Support our w...

This week: Next up in our series of “How to Eat More Plants”. Today’s topic? Beef! Here's What You Can Do: Read the essay and get the links online here Donate to the Humane Farming Association to support their work against factory farming. Volunteer with Planted Society to help cities, restaurants, and individuals make sustainable changes in their food culture. 🌎️ Get educated about ways to transition to plant-based options by checking out the Meatless Monday campaign. Be heard about animal crue...

This week: Please enjoy this hopeful ditty on how we have finally harnessed the sun ☀️ — and how we’re just getting started. Here's What You Can Do: Donate to Grid Alternatives to advocate for community-powered solar policy that gets everyone on a clean energy grid (🌎 go global: Donate to GiveDirectly so people have the agency to buy their own solar) Volunteer to become a member of the Green Workers Alliance to help ensure the creation and maintenance of well-paying, sustainable green jobs in th...

This week: Today’s post is more of a macro introduction to the why and how of the “eat more plants (and consequently) fewer animals” lifestyle. Deep-dives on how to eat fewer animals, by type, including meat/beef/pork, chicken/turkey, dairy, and fish (and humans! Can’t forget humans) will follow in subsequent posts. My overall goal is to help you — someone who already gives a shit for one reason or another — understand why eating more plants and fewer animals is intersectional as hell. Here's Wh...

This week: We're running an updated version of a popular essay from last year. 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 elections and 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, ...

This week: We are occasionally asked why we link to scientific journals, news outlets, and sometimes even opinion pieces that are behind paywalls. In a world where HBO HBO Max Max and Spotify and everyone else raise prices once a month, it’s a great question: Our newsletter is free — why the hell do we make you click through to something that costs money? Here's What You Can Do: Donate to the 19th , a diverse, indie, non-profit newsroom reporting on gender, politics, and policy. They do amazing ...

This week: Do you like cookies? What about olive oil cake? What about chocolate chip coffee cake? Listen on. 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 regenerative agriculture that increases resilience using resources fr...

This week: This week I wrote about a groundbreaking and essential new study that — thank christ — is not actually about which seemingly reasonable dietary supplement will definitely extend/tragically cut short your life. It’s about 🍿 film , and after you’re done reading, I’d love it if you replied to this email with some favorite movies that moved the needle for you in some way. We’ll share the list with everyone soon. Here's What You Can Do: Donate to Eco-Anxious Stories to help create stories ...

This week: In this essay, I will argue that Bridget Jones is the perfect climate-era hero, because she is all of us. Here's What You Can Do: 🌍️ Donate to Project HOPE to support frontline teams working to strengthen healthcare systems and respond to crises globally. 🌎️ Volunteer to share your climate solutions work with the Global Solutions Diary from Project Drawdown and use your story to inspire hope in the climate community. Get educated about how you can join a network of people working on c...

This week: Let’s talk about the Information Era. Here's What You Can Do: Donate (and subscribe!) to the 19th , an independent, non-profit, kick-ass newsroom reporting on gender and politics. Volunteer with Tech Shift to build a fairer, more just technological future. 🌏️ Get educated about the powerful institutions using technology to change society through the invaluable reporting by The Markup. Be heard about keeping companies accountable to assessing AI for bias and effectiveness and ask your ...

This week: Bernie decided March 15th is Long COVID Awareness Day , so I thought it was an appropriate moment to try to pull together the threads of why Long COVID pisses me off so much, examples of other self-defeating issues we never learned from, and a blueprint for how to do better, better. Here's What You Can Do: 🌎️ Donate to Partners in Health to ensure that everyone, everywhere has access to quality healthcare. Volunteer for a clinical trial to help us better understand the impacts of COVI...

This week: There are few problems so simple that a single donation can fix them. Usually, to turn a problem into a realistic opportunity takes many donations. Over time, spread over a large number of donors. But all the work before that is kind of exhausting: you’ve gotta make sure your donation goes to the right place, the right organization, the right people — usually the ones closest to the problem — with the most pragmatic intentions. Here's What You Can Do: Donate to Give Directly and put c...

This week: Are we in the hardest part of the climate transition? Here's What You Can Do: 🌎️ Donate to 350.org , a global movement working towards a fossil fuel-free world. Volunteer with your local Mothers Out Front chapter to fight for a world that protects kids. Get educated about building a clean energy company using the videos, exercises, and curriculum in Third Derivative’s Startup Resource Database . 🌎️ Be heard about climate justice and find an initiative that needs your support or signat...

This week: How are we supposed to navigate this energy transition, AI, and pandemics, if we cannot agree on the most basic, fundamental shit? We argue about tradeoffs or gently suggest expanding the scope of our moral concern to include other people’s air, water, food, shelter, and health, instead of simply saying some things — like the lives of children — are simply, emphatically, non-negotiable. Here's What You Can Do: Donate to Tobacco-Free Kids to protect kids from e-cigarettes. Volunteer wi...

This week: Today’s essay is a bit of a departure — I just wanted to make super clear where I stand vis a vis the next eleven months. A MAGA party don't stop unless we stop it. Here's What You Can Do: Donate to Voters of Tomorrow to defend democracy for the next generation. Volunteer with Run For Something to help young, diverse progressives get elected. 🌍️ Get educated about how your country is keeping up with its commitments to the Paris Agreement using the Climate Action Tracker , and then hol...