The Most Important Question

By Important, Not ImportantSociety & Culture Science Technology

The Most Important Question episodes

March 12, 2019 BONUS REPLAY: Is Food Waste the Stupidest Thing We Do (& How Do We Cut it in Half)?
We’re digging into our vault and playing a hit this week because there’s big news for former guest Dr. James Rogers and his company Apeel Sciences: Fast Company named Apeel the 7th most innovative company on their list of the World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies in 2019 (and the 2nd most innovative company in the food sector).

In this bonus replay episode, Quinn & Brian ask: Is food waste the stupidest thing we do, as a species, and how can we cut it in half? (or: avocado toast is about to go off, son)

Our guest is Dr. James Rogers, founder and CEO of Apeel Sciences and one of our most mind-blowing guests yet. You may think you know about avocados, but you have no idea.

Apeel Sciences is an agricultural innovation company that creates plant-based technologies to extend the shelf life of fresh produce – like an organic rinse that keeps produce fresh twice as long! These innovations are vital for our survival because, as we said in the title, food waste is quite possibly the stupidest thing our species does. And all of you American Exceptionalism fans out there will be pumped to know that we are the very best, wasting about $165 BILLION of food every year. That means almost 40% of the food produced in the U.S. is never eaten. It’s staggering and a little heartbreaking, but Dr. Rogers is here to help.

Trump’s Book Club:

An Apeel avocado: https://www.amazon.com/registry/wishlist/3R5XF4WMZE0TV/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_ep_ws_2Gr8Ab6RS5WF3

Links:

apeelsciences.com

50 Most Innovative Companies: https://www.fastcompany.com/most-innovative-companies/2019

Connect with James on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/james-rogers-801a572a/

Instagram: @apeelsciences

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/apeelsciences/

Twitter: @apeelsciences

The Third Plate: Field Notes on the Future of Food by Dan Barber: https://www.thethirdplate.com/

Learn about the egg biome: ginkgobioworks.com/

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Intro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.com

Follow Quinn: twitter.com/quinnemmett

Follow Brian: twitter.com/briancolbertken

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Important, Not Important is produced by Podcast Masters
1 hr 1 min
March 08, 2019 Fun Talk: She Will Literally Put Our Child in the Fireplace to Go Make a Cocktail
In Fun Talk Episode 10, Quinn & Brian chat about binging The Good Place, sleeping with dinosaurs, touching a dinosaur bone, the one question we should always be asking in our relationships, whiskey maple donuts, getting Brian off of his motorcycle, coffee revelations, Brian’s trip home to surprise his family and friends, Tier 1 Vs. Tier 2 friends, and why Brian’s mom wants to punch Quinn.
Links:
Have feedback or questions? Send a message to [email protected]
Watch Brian’s morning show on IGS: https://www.instagram.com/importantnotimportant/
'Russian Doll,' 'The Good Place,' 'Miracle Workers' & The Appeal Of The Existential Comedy: https://www.bustle.com/p/russian-doll-the-good-place-miracle-workers-the-appeal-of-the-existential-comedy-16176000
Listen to Tim Blaine’s music: https://soundcloud.com/timblane/magnetic
Connect with us:
Subscribe to our newsletter at ImportantNotImportant.com!
Intro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.com
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40 min
March 05, 2019 #57: Make Food Great (Nutritious) Again
In Episode 57, Quinn & Brian discuss: Why more food ≠ more nutrition. Our excellent guests are Professors Kristie Ebi and Irakli Loladze.

Dr. Ebi is the Rohm & Haas Endowed Professorship in Public Health Sciences at the University of Washington, where she has been conducting research and practice on the health risks of climate variability and change for over twenty years. She focuses on understanding sources of vulnerability, estimating current and future health risks of climate change, and designing adaptation policies and measures to reduce the risks of climate change in multi-stressor environments.

Dr. Loladze is a professor of health sciences at the Bryan Medical Center at Bryan College, where he applies mathematical, computational, and statistical methods to life sciences – which is to say, he’s a math biologist.

Dr. Ebi recently testified in front of Congress – specifically, the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology – in the first of a series of hearings on climate science and why it matters (a series of conversations we’re pretty surprised and excited are actually happening at all, if you need any more evidence that your vote matters). She was speaking about the health implications, which Dr. Loladze has also spent much of his life studying. In fact, he linked rising CO2 levels to the quality of human nutrition and obesity, revealing that some of the advancements that allow us to grow more food also reduce the nutritional quality of those foods.

But you want to know what’s really screwed up about the whole situation? These two don’t have any funding for this potentially world-saving research.

Trump’s Book Club: Einstein in Love: A Scientific Romance by Dennis Overbye: https://www.amazon.com/registry/wishlist/3R5XF4WMZE0TV/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_ep_ws_2Gr8Ab6RS5WF3

Links:

Irakli Loladze on Twitter: https://twitter.com/loladze

Kristie Ebi on Twitter: https://twitter.com/kristie_ebi

“The great nutrient collapse”: https://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2017/09/13/food-nutrients-carbon-dioxide-000511

“Carbon dioxide (CO2) levels this century will alter the protein, micronutrients, and vitamin content of rice grains with potential health consequences for the poorest rice-dependent countries”: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5966189/

“Hidden shift of the ionome of plants exposed to elevated CO2 depletes minerals at the base of human nutrition”: https://lens.elifesciences.org/02245/

“Plague of plenty”: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg17623715-200-plague-of-plenty/

“Net Farm Income Projected to Drop to 12-Year Low”: https://www.fb.org/market-intel/net-farm-income-projected-to-drop-to-12-year-low

“Why Is the Cold Weather So Extreme if the Earth Is Warming?”: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/climate/winter-cold-weather.html

The Tantrum That Saved the World: Carbon Neutral Kids' Book: http://michaelmann.net/content/tantrum-saved-world-carbon-neutral-kids-book

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Subscribe to our newsletter at ImportantNotImportant.com!

Intro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.com

Follow Quinn: twitter.com/quinnemmett

Follow Brian: twitter.com/briancolbertken

Like and share us on Facebook: facebook.com/ImportantNotImportant

Check us on Instagram: instagram.com/ImportantNotImportant

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Important, Not Important is produced by Podcast Masters
1 hr 21 min
March 01, 2019 Fun Talk: I Knowingly Put a Hot Iron on My Friend’s Arm... It Stuck
In Fun Talk Episode 9, Brian is texting, Rhiana Gunn-Wright tells us about her tattoos, and we talk about a whole bunch of other not important stuff: all of Brian’s tattoos, when Brian knowingly put a hot iron on his skin, how checklists can save your life, when kids become aware of things that you are not aware of, Ninjago, skipping an Oscar party, sleeping with dinosaurs, people who don’t believe dinosaurs are real,
Links:
Have feedback or questions? Send a message to [email protected]
Watch Brian’s morning show on IGS: https://www.instagram.com/importantnotimportant/
Read Rhiana’s thoughts on tattoos (and more): https://twitter.com/rgunns/status/1096061510806319111
Krissy “The Butcher” Tattoos: https://www.facebook.com/KrissyTheButcherTattoos/
The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande: http://atulgawande.com/book/the-checklist-manifesto/
Connect with us:
Subscribe to our newsletter at ImportantNotImportant.com
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Check us on Instagram: instagram.com/ImportantNotImportant
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Intro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.com
Important, Not Important is produced by Podcast Masters
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37 min
February 26, 2019 #56: What’s It Feel Like To Be Asked To Save the World?
In Episode 56, Quinn & Brian ask: What’s it feel like to be asked to save the world?

Our guest is Rhiana Gunn-Wright, who is writing policy and leading the Green New Deal project at New Consensus, which is one of the main think tanks working on the Green New Deal.

The Green New Deal is one of the most important pieces of policy being worked on right now, and it could have wide sweeping effects that impact not just our generation but the future for everyone. Conversations around environmental topics tend to get real political real fast, but Rhiana reminds us that this isn’t a political issue – this is not a political game and millions of people will die. Sorry, no joke there, just a stark reality that too many people are happily ignoring.

Trump’s Book Club:

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn: https://www.amazon.com/registry/wishlist/3R5XF4WMZE0TV/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_ep_ws_2Gr8Ab6RS5WF3

Links:

Rhiana Gunn-Wright on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rgunns

Rhiana Gunn-Wright on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rgunner

New Consensus: https://newconsensus.com/

Green New Deal explainer: bit.ly/2tgm66v

The official GND resolution: https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-resolution/109/text

Data for Progress GND Report: https://www.dataforprogress.org/green-new-deal

Sunrise Movement: https://www.sunrisemovement.org

Connect with us:

Subscribe to our newsletter at ImportantNotImportant.com!

Intro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.com

Follow Quinn: twitter.com/quinnemmett

Follow Brian: twitter.com/briancolbertken

Like and share us on Facebook: facebook.com/ImportantNotImportant

Check us on Instagram: instagram.com/ImportantNotImportant

Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/ImportantNotImp

Pin us on Pinterest: pinterest.com/ImportantNotImportant

Tumble us or whatever the hell you do on Tumblr: importantnotimportant.tumblr.com

Important, Not Important is produced by Podcast Masters
1 hr 26 min
February 22, 2019 Fun Talk: My Wife is Just Not Going to Listen to This (Fair)
In Fun Talk Episode 8, Quinn and Brian discuss the joy of Quinn’s girlfriend (Michelle Obama) narrating her own book, benefiting from the inner turmoil of our favorite artists (fun, right?), Brian’s rough day, Brian’s favorite cookie, abstainers Vs. moderators, the need for something new / rash / spontaneous, filling the void deep in our hearts, Americans spending $3.2B on Valentine’s Day, and the long list of things that Quinn does to drive his wife crazy.
Links:
Have feedback or questions? Send a message to [email protected]
Watch Brian’s morning show on IGS: https://www.instagram.com/importantnotimportant/
Listen to Michelle Obama narrate her book: https://www.amazon.com/Becoming/dp/B07B3JQZCL
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: twitter.com/quinnemmett
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Like and share us on Facebook: facebook.com/ImportantNotImportant
Check us on Instagram: instagram.com/ImportantNotImportant
Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/ImportantNotImp
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Important, Not Important is produced by Podcast Masters
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40 min
February 19, 2019 #55: What are the Energy Requirements of Well-being?
In Episode 55, Quinn & Brian ask: What are the energy requirements of well-being?

Our guest is Julia Steinberger, a Professor of Social Ecology & Ecological Economics at the University of Leeds School of Earth and Environment. Her research examines the connections between resource use (energy and materials, greenhouse gas emissions) and societal performance (economic activity and human wellbeing) – or, what happens when you drive your car every damn day. She is interested in quantifying the current and historical linkages between resource use and socioeconomic parameters, and identifying alternative development pathways to guide the necessary transition to a low carbon society.

Basically, all her research can be boiled down to one important question: are we going to make it and maintain our standard of living, given the resources available to us and the technology we have now? And, well... it’s possible, but it’s not going to be easy and some things are going to have to change. Fast.

Trump’s Book Club:

Doughnut Economics by Kate Raworth: https://www.amazon.com/registry/wishlist/3R5XF4WMZE0TV/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_ep_ws_2Gr8Ab6RS5WF3

Links:

Learn more about Prof. Steinberger: https://environment.leeds.ac.uk/see/staff/1553/professor-julia-steinberger

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jksteinberger

Check out Living Well Within Limits: https://lili.leeds.ac.uk/

Watch “Ayana Elizabeth Johnson: How to use the ocean without using it up”: https://www.ted.com/talks/ayana_elizabeth_johnson_how_to_use_the_ocean_without_using_it_up

Cars vs Bus vs Bikes: https://humantransit.org/2012/09/the-photo-that-explains-almost-everything.html

Listen to Doughnut Economics, Rethinking Economics for the 21st Century: Kate Raworth and Azeem Azhar in Conversation: http://exponentialview.libsyn.com/doughnut-economics-rethinking-economics-for-the-21st-century-kate-raworth-and-azeem-azhar-in-conversation

Connect with us:

Subscribe to our newsletter at ImportantNotImportant.com!

Intro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.com

Follow Quinn: twitter.com/quinnemmett

Follow Brian: twitter.com/briancolbertken

Like and share us on Facebook: facebook.com/ImportantNotImportant

Check us on Instagram: instagram.com/ImportantNotImportant

Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/ImportantNotImp

Pin
1 hr 3 min
February 15, 2019 Fun Talk: See You Later, Asgardia
In Fun Talk Episode 7, Quinn and Brian discuss the measles making a comeback, wiping negligent parents off of the planet, becoming old people who don’t listen to new music, the new music we (read: Quinn) actually are listening to (sometimes), a long-time-coming update on the space nation of Asgardia, the pros and cons of Spotify purchasing Anchor and Gimlet, the Green New Deal dropping like it’s hot, watching Free Solo on IMAX (go check it out if you can), and the ice cream we have to go take care of.
Links:
Have feedback or questions? Send a message to [email protected]
Watch Brian’s morning show on IGS: https://www.instagram.com/importantnotimportant/
Read “Asgardia Micro-Nation to Launch 10,000 Satellites to Make Web Free”: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Asgardia_Micro_Nation_to_Launch_10000_Satellites_to_Make_Web_Free_999.html
Listen to StartUp: https://www.gimletmedia.com/startup
Call your representatives about the Green New Deal: http://fivecalls.org
Listen to Quinn’s Essential Albums Playlist: https://itunes.apple.com/us/playlist/essential-albums/pl.u-06ql3sPW6Zp
Connect with us:
Subscribe to our newsletter at ImportantNotImportant.com!
Intro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.com
Follow Quinn: twitter.com/quinnemmett
Follow Brian: twitter.com/briancolbertken
Like and share us on Facebook: facebook.com/ImportantNotImportant
Check us on Instagram: instagram.com/ImportantNotImportant
Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/ImportantNotImp
Pin us on Pinterest: pinterest.com/ImportantNotImportant
Tumble us or whatever the hell you do on Tumblr: importantnotimportant.tumblr.com
Important, Not Important is produced by Podcast Masters
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32 min
February 12, 2019 #54: The State That’s Not a State is a Hell of a Lot Greener Than Your State
In Episode 54, Quinn & Brian discuss: why the state that’s not a state is a hell of a lot greener than your state.

Our guest is Jamie DeMarco, a State-Level Carbon Pricing Coordinator with our friends the Citizens' Climate Lobby (who are working to save our collective asses every single day, NBD). Jamie is dedicated to passing state-level legislation that will serve as a model and inspiration for future national lawmakers – so he definitely has his work cut out for him.

Dealing with society’s environmental self-harm, it turns out, is a lot like acknowledging a toxic relationship with your significant other: you acknowledge the problem (maybe publicly), stop participating in the toxic behavior, and then move to being proactive about the problem. What can we do on both a micro and macro scale to begin influencing environmental policy for the better, and encourage others to do the same?

We already have all of the technology we need to power our society from 100% renewable sources – we just lack the political will to get there. Luckily, we have people like Jamie out there creating will where there’s already a way.

Trump’s Book Club:

Les Misérables by Victor Hugo: https://www.amazon.com/registry/wishlist/3R5XF4WMZE0TV/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_ep_ws_2Gr8Ab6RS5WF3

Links:

Learn more at https://citizensclimatelobby.org/

Find a chapter: https://citizensclimatelobby.org/about-ccl/chapters/

Donate: https://citizensclimatelobby.org/donate/

CCL on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CitizensClimateLobby/

CCL on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/citizensclimate/

CCL on Twitter: https://twitter.com/citizensclimate

Jamie on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jamiedemarco1

Jamie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-demarco-402881118/

Find and contact your representatives: https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative

Read “It's now cheaper to build a new wind farm than to keep a coal plant running”: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/its-now-cheaper-to-build-a-new-wind-farm-than-to-keep-a-coal-plant-running/

Connect with us:

Subscribe to our newsletter at ImportantNotImportant.com!

Intro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.com

Follow Quinn: twitter.com/quinnemmett

Follow Brian: twitter.com/briancolbertken

Like and share us on Facebook: facebook.com/ImportantNotImportant
55 min
February 09, 2019 Fun Talk: Take Your Toes Out of the Peanut Butter Waffle
In Fun Talk Episode 6, Quinn & Brian discuss Brian’s new water bottle, the greatest game ever made (Civilization), being more self-aware of how we spend our time, getting fancy online beds for our aging bodies, redecorating the office, what pastrami and jackfruit are, eating less meat and looking forward to the Impossible Burger 2.0, riding public transportation, what Brian is reading right now, and Quinn’s child’s toes in his other child’s breakfast.
Links: Have feedback or questions? Send a message to [email protected]
Connect with us:
Subscribe to our newsletter at ImportantNotImportant.com!
Intro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.com
Follow Quinn: twitter.com/quinnemmett
Follow Brian: twitter.com/briancolbertken
Like and share us on Facebook: facebook.com/ImportantNotImportant
Check us on Instagram: instagram.com/ImportantNotImportant
Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/ImportantNotImp
Pin us on Pinterest: pinterest.com/ImportantNotImportant
Tumble us or whatever the hell you do on Tumblr: importantnotimportant.tumblr.com
Important, Not Important is produced by Podcast Masters
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40 min

About The Most Important Question

From the publisher's feed

The most important question in today's world of climate chaos, AI psychosis, and crumbling democracy is: what can I do? Your host, Quinn Emmett is completely unqualified to answer it, so he's calling the people that already are.