Episodes
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 South…
Nov. 1, 2024
Essay: Only 86,000 To Go. You in?
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 …
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 …
Oct. 21, 2024
Poverty Is A Policy Choice
How do we make it easier for more Americans to reliably put food (in particular, hot food) on the table? That's today’s big question, and my guest is Salaam Bhatti . Salaam is the SNAP Director at the Food Research and Actio…
Oct. 14, 2024
Best of: Check Your Insurance Policy
We first ran this episode in May 2023, but following back-to-back hurricanes in Florida this month, it remains as relevant as ever. You've got insurance, right? Are you sure? That's today's big question, and my guest is Wash…
Oct. 7, 2024
Best of: 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 th…
Sept. 27, 2024
Essay: Why We Made An App
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 a…
Sept. 23, 2024
Introducing: What Can I Do?
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 ne…
Sept. 16, 2024
Finding Joy In Climate Solutions
What if we get it right? That's today's big question, and my returning guest is Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson . Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson is a marine biologist. She is a policy expert, a writer, and a teacher working to help…
Sept. 9, 2024
Best of: A Conversation With A Future President of the United States
In this throwback episode from October 2020, Quinn & Brian discuss: Why state elections matter not just for your state but for the future of our planet. Our guests are: Aimy Steele & Amanda Litman. Aimy is a candidate for th…
Aug. 26, 2024
Essay: How to Eat More Plants (And Less Beef)
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 f…
Aug. 12, 2024
Essay: The Sun Machines Cometh
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 …
Aug. 5, 2024
Essay: How To Eat More Plants
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, chick…
July 29, 2024
Essay: The Turn of the Tide
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" — …
July 22, 2024
Everything Is Connected (No, Seriously)
How did our planet come to life? Is it alive? And where are we as part of that? Those are today's big questions and my guest is Ferris Jabr. His new book, Becoming Earth: How Our Planet Came to Life , is one of the most comp…
July 8, 2024
Error 404: AI Ethics Not Found
When is a cancer scare, a rejected mortgage loan, a false arrest, or predictive grading, more than a glitch in A.I.? That's today's big question, and my guest is Meredith Broussard . Meredith is a data journalist and associa…
June 24, 2024
Houston, We Have An Overfishing Problem
How do we stop overfishing if we don't know who's doing the fishing? That's today's big question, and my guest is Jennifer Raynor . Jennifer is an Assistant Professor of natural resource economics at the University of Wiscon…
June 20, 2024
🌎 A Leading Question
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 o…
June 10, 2024
Bring A Folding Chair
How do we tackle huge systemic intersectional environmental justice issues at the local level? That's today's big question, and my guest is Jacqui Patterson . Jacqui is the Founder and Executive Director of the Chisholm Lega…
June 3, 2024
(Climate Solutions) Are Only Impossible Until They Are Not
Why is it so important that we share the science of fiction, and what do we do with it once we have it? That's today's big question, and my guest is Maddie Stone . Maddie is a prolific science journalist. She is a doctor of …
May 27, 2024
Essay: In Bruges
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 thro…
May 20, 2024
Chronic Illness: Not Actually Female Hysteria!
How do we take a huge chronic disease burden like Lyme disease or long COVID or even long flu and make it so personal that we simply can't ignore it anymore? That's today's big question and my guest is Dr. Mikki Tal , an imm…
May 10, 2024
Essay: How to get more Good Energy
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’…
May 3, 2024
Bridget Jones, Climate Hero
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 healthca…