Important, Not Important

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"The Conversations Most Vital to Our Survival As a Species”. Quinn Emmett and Brian Colbert Kennedy, publishers of the popular “Important, Not Important” weekly newsletter and otherwise regular, progressive, terrified folks like you, host weekly-ish conversations with awesome scientists, engineers, doctors, politicians, and journalists, as they discuss the questions and topics most likely to either save the planet, or end it! Topics include climate change, artificial intelligence, clean energy, space exploration, antibiotics, bio-tech and more.

"The Conversations Most Vital to Our Survival As a Species”. Quinn Emmett and Brian Colbert Kennedy, publishers of the popular “Important, Not Important” weekly newsletter and otherwise regular, progressive, terrified folks like you, host weekly-ish conversations with awesome scientists, engineers, doctors, politicians, and journalists, as they discuss the questions and topics most likely to either save the planet, or end it! Topics include climate change, artificial intelligence, clean energy, space exploration, antibiotics, bio-tech and more.

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United States

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Science Podcasts

Arts & Culture Podcasts

Technology Podcasts

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Language:

English

Episodes

(Special Replay) #53: He’s Given 200+ Climate Speeches to Congress. What’s Next?

1/8/2019

Back in Episode 26, Quinn & Brian asked: what drives a man to give 200 climate speeches to Congress? Our guest was Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, the junior senator from Rhode Island and all-around stellar human. He’s been a member of Congress since 2007 and he was just sworn in for his 3rd term – plus, he’s recently been moonlighting as some sort of Captain Planet figure. We discuss his speeches, his future carbon bill, bi-partisanship, calling bullshit when we see it, Rhode Island’s...

Duration:00:53:02

(Special Replay) #52: Is It Harder to Build Clean Power Plants or Play in a Reputable Cover Band?

1/4/2019

Back in Episode 38, Quinn & Brian asked: Is it harder to build clean power plants or play in a reputable cover band? Our guest Sean Casten then went on to win the election for congressman of Brian’s home district, Illinois’ 6th! There’s a little more hope in the world, so we want to re-introduce you to these kickass STEM politicians. Sean is a scientist, clean energy entrepreneur, and cover band member who ran against Peter Roskam, who called climate change “junk science,” which is really...

Duration:00:45:40

(Special Replay) #51: Congress Got a Female Air Force Officer / Engineer / Chemistry Teacher / Mom

1/3/2019

Back in Episode 37, Quinn & Brian asked: Why does Congress need a female Air Force Officer / Engineer / Chemistry Teacher / Mom among its ranks? We found out – and now our guest Chrissy Houlahan is the new congresswoman from Pennsylvania District 6! So we’re playing that episode again to celebrate. We dig into the very personal reasons she ran, what’s so special about Pennsylvania, and the first thing she’s going to do when she gets elected. Plus, how did she collect such an impressive...

Duration:00:51:26

#50: It’s Getting Hot in Herre & America’s Poor are (Not Surprisingly) Dying Fastest

1/1/2019

In Episode 50, Quinn & Brian discuss: How D.C. and LA are dealing with urban heat issues. Our guests are Yesim Sayin Taylor and Molly Peterson. Yesim is the founding Executive Director of the D.C. Policy Center and Molly is a renowned reporter focusing on the environment and climate change (and our first returning guest!). We all remember when Nelly said, “It’s getting hot in herre,” but not a lot of people remember the whole verse: “It’s getting hot in herre, so take off all your clothes...

Duration:01:03:30

#49: How Can HUGE Food & Beverage Companies Contribute to a More Sustainable Future?

12/25/2018

In Episode 49, Quinn & Brian ask: What can the HUGE food and beverage companies do, right now, to improve U.S. food systems and drive trends towards a more sustainable future? It’s a big and complicated question, but our guest Jennifer Mleczko is going to share the one simple thing you can do to address all of it at once. Jennifer is a consultant at the World Bank focused on sustainable development, specifically agriculture and, even more specifically, livestock. There are environmental,...

Duration:01:02:07

BONUS: After Dark #03

12/23/2018

In After Dark Episode 3, Quinn & Brian put the not important back into “Important, Not Important” after a couple weeks of serious and sad topics (just kidding, we talk about cancer and cigarettes). Links: Have feedback or questions? Send a message to funtalk@importantnotimportant.com Support Alex’s Lemonade Stand: https://www.alexslemonade.org/donate Connect with us: Subscribe to our newsletter at ImportantNotImportant.com! Intro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.com Follow Quinn:...

Duration:00:33:33

#48: Why Does Childhood Cancer Exist & What Can We Do to Make It Go Away Forever?

12/18/2018

In Episode 48, Quinn & Brian ask: Why the hell does childhood cancer exist, isn't the world effed up enough as it is, and what can we do to make it go away forever? Our guest is one of our favorite humans, Jay Scott, Co-Executive Director of the Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation. Jay runs the organization with his wife, Liz, in honor of their daughter Alex, who was diagnosed with cancer just two days before her first birthday. She set up a lemonade stand in their yard to help support her...

Duration:01:11:50

#47: The Future of Digital Health, Part 2: America’s Data

12/11/2018

In Episode 47, Quinn goes solo for a minute to discuss: America’s data and the future of digital health. Quinn sits down for a one-on-one chat with Dave Gershgorn, the lead artificial intelligence reporter at Quartz (AKA qz.com), to figure out why our data is different, how the future we were promised is both here and pretty damn far away, and whether/why data is too white. The worlds of healthcare and artificial intelligence are looking – big surprise – really biased right now, but with...

Duration:01:00:27

#46: Is There Nuclear Waste in the Ocean (& Can We Become Super Heroes if There Is)?

12/4/2018

Dr. Claudia Benitez-Nelson is an Associate Dean and Distinguished Professor in the College of Arts & Sciences at the University of South Carolina, and today she schools us on radioactivity in the ocean.

Duration:01:04:55

#45: Poop Vs. Cancer

11/27/2018

Our guest is Dr. Diwakar Davar, a Professor of Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh and a a medical oncologist/hematologist.

Duration:00:48:03

#44: Is Food Waste the Stupidest Thing We Do (& How Do We Cut it in Half)?

11/20/2018

Our guest is Dr. James Rogers, founder and CEO of Apeel Sciences and one of our most mind-blowing guests yet.

Duration:00:59:15

#43: The Future of Digital Health, Part 1

11/13/2018

Our guests are Dr. Indra Joshi & Maxine Mackintosh, the co-founders of One HealthTech.

Duration:00:53:36

#42: What Happens When You’re Almost an Astronaut... And What Comes Next?

11/6/2018

Dr. Sian Proctor tells us how we can all help get more women and more people of color into space, one way or another.

Duration:01:08:12

BONUS: After Dark #02

10/31/2018

Quinn & Brian talk canvassing, the looming election, not being lawyers, Ready Player One, moving in with the girlfriend, waking up at a decent hour, upcoming guests, (not) sitting on stairs, movember, & more

Duration:00:45:58

#41: Outsmarting Cholera

10/30/2018

Our guest is Dr. Minmin Yen, the CEO and co-founder of medical startup PhagePro, where she and her team are developing viruses specifically designed to kill bacteria and prevent bacterial infections.

Duration:01:01:17

Trailer -- Important, Not Important

10/30/2018

"The Conversations Most Vital to Our Survival As a Species”. Quinn Emmett & Brian Colbert Kennedy, publishers of the popular “Important, Not Important” weekly newsletter and otherwise regular, progressive, terrified folks like you, host weekly-ish conversations with awesome scientists, engineers, doctors, politicians, and journalists, as they discuss the questions and topics most likely to either save the planet, or end it! Topics include climate change, artificial intelligence, clean...

Duration:00:01:07

Bonus: The #1 thing you can do to fight climate change

10/26/2018

Hi. So you read the IPCC climate change report. Not great, Bob. We get it. Now you want to do something about it. We get that, too. So here’s a re-run of one of our favorite episodes, “What’s the #1 Thing You Can Do To Affect Climate Change?” Enjoy. -- On the mic and down the street, Peter Kalmus, an atmospheric scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. Peter wrote a book called Being the Change: Live Well and Spark a Climate Revolution and also he’s got...

Duration:01:02:14

#40: What Takes a Young Woman from Art School to NASA... & Why Might That Change Everything Forever, for Everyone?

10/23/2018

Our guest is Ariel Waldman, the author of What's It Like in Space? Stories from Astronauts Who've Been There, the founder of Spacehack.org, the global director of Science Hack Day, and a member of the council for NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts.

Duration:01:16:43

#39: Is The Ocean Running Out of Oxygen? Is That Bad?

10/16/2018

Our guest is Dawn “Deepsea Dawn” Wright, Ph.D., the Chief Scientist of the Environmental Systems Research Institute (AKA Esri) and a Professor of Geography and Oceanography at Oregon State University.

Duration:01:11:49

#38: Is It Harder to Build Clean Power Plants or Play in a Reputable Cover Band?

10/9/2018

Our guest is Sean Casten, a scientist, clean energy entrepreneur, and cover band member who is running for Congress in Illinois’ 6th district.

Duration:00:46:10