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 (https://gridalternatives.org/?utm_source=importantnotimportant.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=the-sun-machines-cometh) to advocate for community-powered solar policy that gets everyone on a clean energy grid (🌎 go…
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.…
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…
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 compelling, beautiful, timely, and important…
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 associate professor at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute of New York University,…
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 Wisconsin Madison. Jennifer's research focuses on improving the efficiency and sustainability of fisheries and…
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 —…
Join host Quinn Emmett on this episode of 'Important, Not Important' as he dives into tackling systemic environmental justice issues at the local level with guest Jacqui Patterson. Jacqui, the founder and executive director of the Chisholm Legacy Project, shares insights on connecting black communities disproportionately affected by the climate…
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 earth and environmental sciences. She's the…
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 (https://agra.org/?utm_source=importantnotimportant.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=in-bruges) . • 🌎️ Volunteer…
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 immunoengineer and a principal scientist at MIT.…
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 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 (https://flight.beehiiv.net/v2/clicks/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJ1cmwiOiJodHRwczovL3NlY3VyZS5wcm9qZWN0aG9wZS5vcmcvc2l0ZS9TUGFnZU5hdmlnYXRvci8yMDIyXzA4X0RQT19yMV9jb250cm9sLmh0bWw_YXV0b2xvZ2luPXRydWUmbWZjX3ByZWY9VCZzX3N1YnNyYz1yZDEmdXRtX3NvdXJjZT1pbXBvcnRhbnRub3RpbXBvcnRhbnQuY29tJnV0bV9tZWRpdW09cmVmZXJyYWwmdXRtX2NhbXBhaWduPWJyaWRnZXQtam9uZXMtY2xpbWF0ZS1oZXJvIiwicG9zdF9pZCI6ImJjYjU0OGU1LWU1ODItNDNmOC1iN2E2LTJjMTc4MDBkNjlkYiIsInB1YmxpY2F0aW9uX2lkIjoiYTc4NGM3NWYtZmE4Ny00Y2QyLTg5ZTEtNjEwNjc1NjBiMTljIiwidmlzaXRfdG9rZW4iOiJlMGFkZDhjNi1lZWQ0LTRlYmQtYTM2OC1hZGQwMzFkNjZjMTYiLCJpYXQiOjE3MTM5OTA2OTIsImlzcyI6Im9yY2hpZCJ9.AkyVK2SFOR9muQMhsnU7pQaZ7EiaYVs_QrHXh0kMvwY) to support frontline teams working to strengthen healthcare systems and respond to crises globally. • 🌎️…
Who is still covering Long COVID, and how much is the audience actually growing? That's today's big question, and my guests are Betsy Ladygetz and Miles Griffis, editors and co-founders of The Sick Times, a journalist-founded website chronicling the Long COVID crisis. The Sick Times investigates injustices, challenges powerful institutions,…
This week: Let’s talk about the Information Era. Here's What You Can Do: • Donate (and subscribe!) to the 19th (https://flight.beehiiv.net/v2/clicks/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJ1cmwiOiJodHRwczovLzE5dGhuZXdzLm9yZy8_dXRtX3NvdXJjZT1pbXBvcnRhbnRub3RpbXBvcnRhbnQuY29tJnV0bV9tZWRpdW09cmVmZXJyYWwmdXRtX2NhbXBhaWduPXByb2dyYW0tdGhlLXdvcmxkIiwicG9zdF9pZCI6ImJmZjNkY2I0LWYzNGYtNGZkMC1hYjM1LTE5YmU4ODgyMTZhYSIsInB1YmxpY2F0aW9uX2lkIjoiYTc4NGM3NWYtZmE4Ny00Y2QyLTg5ZTEtNjEwNjc1NjBiMTljIiwidmlzaXRfdG9rZW4iOiI0ZjY5MGQ2ZC0zZTRhLTQxNzYtYWVhZC1mMDQ5OTljOWE4MjAiLCJpYXQiOjE3MTI2OTMxOTQsImlzcyI6Im9yY2hpZCJ9.w0-rND27YYrWDTwcAaE0hGbpp4R7sHrirOZvaoAFF7c) , an independent, non-profit, kick-ass newsroom reporting on gender and politics. • Volunteer with Tech Shift (https://flight.beehiiv.net/v2/clicks/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJ1cmwiOiJodHRwczovL3d3dy50ZWNoc2hpZnQub3JnLz91dG1fc291cmNlPWltcG9ydGFudG5vdGltcG9ydGFudC5jb20mdXRtX21lZGl1bT1yZWZlcnJhbCZ1dG1fY2FtcGFpZ249cHJvZ3JhbS10aGUtd29ybGQiLCJwb3N0X2lkIjoiYmZmM2RjYjQtZjM0Zi00ZmQwLWFiMzUtMTliZTg4ODIxNmFhIiwicHVibGljYXRpb25faWQiOiJhNzg0Yzc1Zi1mYTg3LTRjZDItODllMS02MTA2NzU2MGIxOWMiLCJ2aXNpdF90b2tlbiI6IjRmNjkwZDZkLTNlNGEtNDE3Ni1hZWFkLWYwNDk5OWM5YTgyMCIsImlhdCI6MTcxMjY5MzE5NCwiaXNzIjoib3JjaGlkIn0.Plu6OeXjC_ne48IcXaslwhdnH22odrBfpdZoIXpYp_s) to build a fairer, more just technological future. • 🌏️ Get educated…
What have we learned from millennia of water insecurity, of climate changes and disasters, of building along freshwater ways and the ocean, that we can apply today? That's today's big question, and my guest is Dr. Amber Wutich. Dr. Wutich is an ASU President's Professor, Director of the Center for…
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…
