SCIENCE FOR PEOPLE WHO GIVE A SHIT

Videos

Sept. 2, 2022

Newsletter #290: Life at 1.2°C

This week: • The cost of electrification • The end of free COVID tests • The water crisis in Jackson • Minimizing cancer treatment side effects • The companies selling your location data to the police Action Steps • Read (https://www.rewiringamerica.org/electrify-home-guide) Rewiring America's home electrification guide, and then share it…

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Aug. 26, 2022

Newsletter #289: The new arms race (where everybody wins?)

This week: • Heat in China ramping up a clean economy arms race • How to learn more about Long COVID • Cleaning up after coal • Magic mushrooms and depression • Better data for pregnant people Action Steps • Check out (https://www.ctvc.co/ira-and-the-new-capital-cost/)CTVC's rundown on Ira's impact on capital costs…

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Aug. 19, 2022

Newsletter #288: What $200,000 buys you

This week: • What IRA means for cars • Centralizing data for the next pandemic • A parched Earth • Big Pharma is Big Mad about IRA • Fingers crossed that Big Tech will protect democracy Action Steps: • Listen to (https://thecoolestshow.com/inflation-reduction-act-roundtable-w-rhiana-gunn-wright-dana-johnson-and-bishop-marcia-dinkins/) a very-Ira episode of "The Coolest Show" podcast…

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Aug. 15, 2022

Fellowship of the Climate

“What can I do?” This is the question I get most often. It’s the question that early on pivoted our newsletter and then this podcast towards measurable action steps that help you feel better and drive systemic change. I don’t have anywhere near all the answers to basically anything, so…

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Aug. 1, 2022

Episode X: A Far Out Geek Girl Rises

In a world where trust in institutions and in news is falling and the role of influencers is growing, finding the connective tissue between you and your audience is key to, well, connecting. To establish a rapport, which can if nourished, lead to trust, which can lead to a genuine…

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July 29, 2022

Newsletter #286: Holy sh*t what a week

This week: • A surprise for climate development that isn't terrifying? • Facebook might relax their COVID misinformation policies • Less land, more rice • Alzheimer's under a microscope • A treasure trove of biological proteins Get more: • Get more news, analysis, and Action Steps at newsletter.importantnotimportant.com • Got…

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July 22, 2022

Newsletter #285: How to beat the heat and avoid quacks

This week: • How to beat the heat in your city • COVID quackery • Introducing "Explainers"! • A blockbuster depression study • A new federal privacy bill is comin' Get more: • Get more news, analysis, and Action Steps at newsletter.importantnotimportant.com • Got feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.com (mailto:questions@importantnotimportant.com)…

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July 15, 2022

Newsletter #284: How to beat plastic

This week: • Manchin fuels more heat waves • COVID reinforcements on the way • India and California fight plastic • How we fight monkeypox • Wow Ring doorbells are not great Get more: • Get more news, analysis, and Action Steps at newsletter.importantnotimportant.com • Got feedback? Email us at…

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July 11, 2022

Vaginas and Friends

We have ignored vaginas for so long. Hear me out. On the one hand, history and popular culture, from god-kings to love songs to movies to fan fiction, are littered with supposedly straight men with a single pursuit: intercourse with a vagina. But along the way these same men have…

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July 8, 2022

Newsletter #283: What Google's hiding (for you)

This week: • What's a chief heat officer? • Fixing schools in the time of COVID • Why plant-based meat is a massive 80/20 move for the climate (and your health) • Uh, Juul is back? • Google's hiding your "sensitive" location data Get more: • Get more news, analysis,…

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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 beach. Vegetables, somehow. Their friends. Their family.…

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June 24, 2022

Newsletter #281: What to eat and where to get it

This week: • The SEC's coming for greenwashing in a real way • BA4: Endgame and BA5: Infinity War are here and immune evasive • Eat more local veggies • Bye-bye vapes (and nicotine?) • A digital privacy bill might actually see the light of day Get more: • Get…

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June 17, 2022

Newsletter #280: What's next for Alzheimer's?

This week: • Where do gas cars go when we buy electric? • A bunch of COVID updates • The Colorado River's next chapter • What's next for Alzheimer's • Holy shit Facebook's tracking pixel is more invasive than expected, which is saying something Get more: • Get more news,…

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June 10, 2022

Newsletter #279: Moderna's got a new booster

This week: • Biden's going it alone on electrification • Moderna's got a new booster • Why food is so expensive • An unbelievable cancer result • Apple's saying goodbye to passwords Get more: • Get more news, analysis, and Action Steps at newsletter.importantnotimportant.com • Got feedback? Email us at…

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June 9, 2022

COVID: The Update

Soup to nuts, I’m more concerned about COVID today than I’ve been at any point in the past year. I don’t think it’ll be a horror show soon, not like it was before, but we haven’t (yet!) put ourselves in a position to get ahead of a virus whose entire…

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June 8, 2022

Why We Can't Focus

We are all being pulled in so many different directions. The clock is ticking and we have a climate and virus and society and economy to fix and we’re distracted, all of the time. Not just by all of these immense, complicated, systemic issues, not just by an explosion of…

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June 3, 2022

Newsletter #278: The deal with monkeypox

This week: • SEC climate risk reporting gets closer to reality • What's the Paxlovid rebound? • How to make strawberries last weeks longer • What the hell is monkeypox? • Mastercard wants to give you variable interest rates in exchange for your face Get more: • Get more news,…

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May 27, 2022

Newsletter #277: Why EV batteries are suddenly SO expensive?

This week: • Lithium is expensive AF because it's in wildly short supply • Paxlovid and Long COVID, a thing? • Global breadbaskets are getting hotter and/or wetter and/or laced with explosives • Fuck guns • Healthcare info privacy is not a thing, apparently Get more: • Get more news,…

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May 16, 2022

Black Moms Matter, Redux

A woman’s right to choose is under renewed attack in America and the federal protection it has benefited from for so long, however tenuous, is closer than ever to going away. It's vitally important we understand the underlying systems behind any singular issue, and ask “Why is this this way?”…

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May 6, 2022

Newsletter #275: How Hot is it in India?

This week: • India's heat continues • When a surge is not a surge • Antibiotics (still) in meat • Abortion • Email cybersecurity is...lacking Get more: • Get more news, analysis, and Action Steps at newsletter.importantnotimportant.com • Got feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.com (mailto:questions@importantnotimportant.com) • Follow us on Twitter…

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May 3, 2022

Internal Activism

If you give a shit, well, you’ve probably had at least a few moments where the enormity of what’s in front of us has challenged your mental health in some way. I can’t imagine there are many folks listening to this show who’ve never felt the heaviness of our climate…

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April 29, 2022

Newsletter #274: Is Wind Power Unprofitable?

This week: • Wind isn't profitable • Kids vaccines on the hold up • The kitchen sink answer to food waste, it's metaphors galore today • Menthol cigarettes are all smoked out • America's new AI chief Get more: • Get more news, analysis, and Action Steps at newsletter.importantnotimportant.com •…

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April 22, 2022

Newsletter #273: Where Batteries Come From

This week: • Should we mine the ocean? • Mask mandates are over, what else? • Split up the FDA • Alzheimer's trials are very white • Ronan Farrow comes for Pegasus spyware Get more: • Get more news, analysis, and Action Steps at newsletter.importantnotimportant.com • Got feedback? Email us…

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April 15, 2022

Newsletter #272: Is carbon removal real?

This week: • Carbon removal: Hope is not a plan. A bajillion dollars might be! • COVID and diabetes is the new Bennifer • Walmart's regenerative farming pledge is about dirt • PFAS in food wrappers, not delicious • How hospitals get cyberattacked, but why Get more: • Get more…

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