Episodes
Best of: How to Protect Yourself from Wildfire Smoke
May 29, 2023
What's in wildfire smoke and how can you protect yourself from it? Those are today's big questions, and my guest is Dr. Mary Prunicki. Dr. Prunicki is the Director of Air Pollution and Health Research at Stanford University …
🌎 Gradually, and then all at once
May 19, 2023
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: ⚡️Wild…
Health Care Is A Human Right
May 17, 2023
Is healthcare a human right? That's today's big question, and it clearly shouldn't be a question, but here we are. My guest to help explain the obvious today is Dr. Sheila Davis, the CEO of Partners in Health . Sheila entere…
🌎 COVID has ended (or has it?)
May 16, 2023
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…
Fighting Food Waste With The iPhone of Trash Cans
May 8, 2023
How much food do you throw away every week? And do you have to? That's today's big question, and my guest is Matt Rogers . Matt is a former Apple iPod and iPhone engineer . The Co-Founder of Nest thermostats , Founder of inc…
🌎 Never Tell Me The Odds
May 5, 2023
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 …
Check Your Insurance Policy
May 1, 2023
You've got insurance, right? Are you sure? That's today's big question, and my guest is Washington Post reporter Brianna Sacks . Brianna's an extreme weather and disaster reporter for the Post where she explores how climate …
🌎 What Would You Say You Do Here
April 26, 2023
This week: Is what you’re working on important? Plus: The cleanest produce, a mosquito factory, lots of rooftop solar, autonomous GPT, maybe, and the latest with the Colorado River Here's What You Can Do: ⚡️ Climate change a…
Every Climate Action Matters
April 24, 2023
What can I do? The simple question is the underlying premise of everything we do here. It's often the easiest one to help people answer for themselves, but from the outside, it's often the most imposing. All of which is why …
🌎 This Isn't Rocket Science (Unless It Is)
April 18, 2023
This week: A very basic way to use a mental model, you’re welcome. PLUS: Mosquitoes, overseas abortion pills, healthy ice cream, German nuclear power, electric school buses, and more. Here's What You Can Do: ⚡️ Interested in…
Best of: Black Moms Matter
April 17, 2023
Why is it so dangerous to have Black babies in America? April 11-17th is Black Maternal Health Week , and so we are replaying one of our favourite episodes from 2021 with guest Representative Lauren Underwood of Illinois, a …
Finding the Humanity in Artificial Intelligence
April 10, 2023
If you had all of the data in the world at your hands, what question would you ask first? That's today's big question, and my guest is Dr. Emma Pierson . Emma is an assistant professor of computer science at the Jacobs Techn…
Best of: What Really Happens When You Just Give People Money?
April 3, 2023
What if we just gave people money? That's today's big question and my guests are Caroline Teti and Michael Faye from GiveDirectly . This conversation from 2021, one of my all-time favorites is one of those conversations that…
Best of the Best: How to Stop School Shootings in the USA
March 28, 2023
Here we are, yet again. We first ran this episode with Fred Guttenberg, father of Parkland victim, Jaime Guttenberg in 2020 - and what has changed? More gun violence and more senseless deaths. It doesn't have to be this way.…
Where In The World Are All Of The Electricians?
March 27, 2023
Where the hell did all of the electricians go? That's today's big question, and my guest is leading journalist Emily Pontecorvo . Until recently, Emily was an energy, environment, and climate reporter at Grist , one of our f…
🌎 ESG is good business (but don't call it ESG)
March 24, 2023
This week: Fighting over ESG is stupid, risky, and bad business. Let’s move on. Plus: RSV vaccines, the E-BIKE Act, Skittles (?), deepfakes, allergies, and a new season of DRILLED What We Can Do: ⚡️ Submit your comment to ke…
The Dive Into Challenger Deep
March 20, 2023
What if you got the chance to dive to the bottom of the ocean? Would you go? And what would you find there? That's today's big question and my returning guest, one of my all-time favorites, is Dr. Dawn Wright , better known …
🌎 Welcome to the Unknown Unknowns
March 17, 2023
This week: What we know — and more importantly, what we don’t — about what AI is capable of, and how much change we’re capable of absorbing. Plus: the Willow Project, H-1B visas, blueberries, honeybee vaccines, climate discl…
Best Of: Is The Ocean Running Out of Oxygen? Is That Bad?
March 13, 2023
What if I told you there was less oxygen in the ocean than there used to be? That's today's big question, and my guest is Dr. Dawn Wright, or as many in the ocean community know her "Deep Sea Dawn." Dawn Wright is an elected…
⚡️Your Home Electrification Questions, Answered
March 9, 2023
This week: In response to our ongoing and delightful home electrification series with our friends at Rewiring America , we have received a hell of a lot of questions that are beyond our ability to answer. So we brought in th…
🌎 A living act of resistance
March 8, 2023
This week: Can little-old-you really make a difference? Hell yes you can. Plus: cheaper insulin, cleaner camping gear, a new (lidless) coffee cup, good news on BetterHelp, and maybe even some paid leave. Here's What You Can …
Best of: Lessons From Plants
March 6, 2023
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 percei…
Best Of: Did A.I. Just Make My Life’s Work Obsolete?
Feb. 27, 2023
How many nights have you spent up recently worried that AI is just gonna take your job? That's today's big question, and my guest is Dr. Mohammed AlQuraishi . Almost three years before chatGPT and New Bing really hit the sce…
🌎 How to get sh*t done
Feb. 24, 2023
This week: Pulled in a million directions? Wondering what the hell you do with your days? Find your north stars (and become devastatingly effective) with one simple question. What We Can Do: ⚡️ Please don’t use public wifi w…