The Most Important Question

In Episode 114, Quinn asks: What are carbon offsets, and do they even work? 

Our returning guest is Akshat Rathi, a reporter at Bloomberg Green. 

Carbon offsets -- like our planet -- are so hot right now. And like our planet -- they kind of don’t work! So fun. 

But they could -- and while missions #1 to #11 are eliminate emissions, everywhere, we’ve gotta go negative at some point, so we might as well figure it out, and figure out how to scale them, like yesterday.

You need them, I need them, we all need them.

Forests (of all kinds) are great, but imperfect. New tech like next-generation wind and solar, methane-tracking satellites, and vacuums that literally suck carbon out of the sky are imperfect, too. But so is Quinn!

Find out how you can offset your own impact, and help get us to negative, stat.

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This week: a brutal day for oil; fungi on the move (not great); wastewater: so hot right now; paying for climate protection; vaccine inequities; and facial recognition on the way out (for now).

Important, Not Important is produced by Crate Media

Synopsis: We can time travel to the past to understand how we got to where we are today. But the past doesn’t dictate the future - not anymore. So we have to look forward. The decisions we make today will guarantee that the world of 2041 is cleaner, safer, and more equitable than 2021.

Do Better Better essays help you build mental models and ask questions about our changing world — for yourself, your family, and your business.

These essays compliment the audio version of our weekly newsletter, and of course, our ground-breaking conversations with diverse, interdisciplinary humans working on the frontlines of the future.

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In Episode 113, Quinn asks: What can we learn from plants?

The answer, it turns out, is: A whole heck of a lot.

Our guest is the wonderful and way overqualified Dr. Beronda Montgomery -- PhD, writer, researcher, scholar, and author of “Lessons from Plants.” Dr. Montgomery’s dedicated her work to understanding how individuals are impacted by their environment.

Life as a human is hard. I mean, that’s why we open every episode with the question, “Why are you vital to the survival of the species?” — because it so often feels like that survival is in question.

But imagine, if you will, being a plant — you think being stuck inside the past year sucks? Try being the fiddle leaf fig you one-clicked from Bloomscape in 2019! It NEVER gets to go outside. 

Plants are just out here, stuck in the ground, living entirely at the whim of a constantly changing, and often harsh, environment. Still, they go on and flourish, despite everything. 

Listen in to find out all the incredible lessons we can take away from the plants all around us -- from being a team player, how to persevere through adversity, and even being a better mentor.

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This week: An electric truck for the masses; India’s vaccine production stays home; Better cancer screening; Beef emissions.

Important, Not Important is produced by Crate Media

Oh, when we were young and so naive.

In Episode #9 (!), Quinn and Brian got to know Dr. Nahid Bhadelia, an infectious diseases physician, Associate Professor at the Boston University School of Medicine, and the Medical Director of Special Pathogens Unit (SPU) at Boston Medical Center.

TLDR of the episode was “We should probably prepare for a pandemic.”

FUN STORY.

In Episode #112, Dr. Bhadelia’s back -- and she’s got some big news to share.

But before we get to her announcement (and what it means for society as we know it) -- Quinn’s gotta know: was she as prepared for COVID as she thought? What did she learn? And how can we set ourselves and future generations up to fare, I don’t know, even slightly better next time?

You won’t find a better infectious disease resource than Dr. B, and we’re so thankful she’s come back, now, at the turn of the tide. #gandalf

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In Episode 111, Quinn & Brian discuss the past, present, and future of government IT infrastructure. ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED???

Our guest is Aneesh Chopra, the first Chief Technology Officer of the United States. Twelve years after serving under President Obama, he’s the co-founder of CareJourney, whose mission is to empower individuals and organizations they trust with open, clinically-relevant analytics and insights in the pursuit of the optimal healthcare journey. Sounds nice!

Technology moves fast. Just look at Dogecoin! Government IT… not so much. 

So how the hell do we take the rapid innovations of Silicon Valley (fine, Miami) and apply it to our nimble little bureaucracy? It takes a little MacGyvering -- and a lot of talking.

Aneesh’s goal is to be a translator between the public sector and the private sector, from health care to voting to SolarWinds. And just in time: modernizing the technical infrastructure of our government actually has bipartisan support — just look how the White House embraced Twitter! (sob sob sob)

Aneesh has the ideas, tools, and plans to enhance communication, maximize our technological capabilities, and get hacked just a little less by Russia. Just a little.

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This week: fossil fuel financing under the microscope, India’s COVID summer, MDMA to the rescue, how to fix our water pipes.

Important, Not Important is produced by Crate Media

In Episode 110, Quinn’s talking about the end of the universe.

His guest is Sarafina Nance, Ph.D. candidate at Berkeley, astrophysicist, author, and women’s health advocate. She also hosts Constellation, a TV show by Seeker.

How the hell is the universe gonna end? Is it soon? What does it mean for each of us? What if it only feeeeeels like the universe is ending? What does that moment teach you?

Sarafina’s dedicated her life to studying and understanding the farthest reaches of space -- and our very (very) tiny place in it. And she’s taken that understanding to heart, fighting and surviving in a field of study that doesn’t make a lot of room for women of color, and a personal health battle that couldn’t have come at a worse time.

Learn Sarafina’s story, the mental tools she’s used to not only persevere, but flourish, and how to take on the end of the universe, in this incredible conversation.

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This week: AI is going backwards; carbon offsets are a mirage; falling birthrates and COVID; the end of malaria?; Jordan’s out of water.

Important, Not Important is produced by Crate Media