Important, Not Important

This week: How can we better protect farmworkers?Plus, the news:A free online summit for eco-anxiety from RITAA new era for Alzheimer’s treatmentsInflated prices of packaged foodSaving lives with better weather forecastingHere's What You Can Do:Donate to the Food Chain Workers Alliance, a coalition dedicated to improving working conditions for workers in every stage of food production, and to the Native CDFI Network to improve access to capital and credit for Indigenous farm workers.Volunteer to build a climate resilience hub so your community can better respond to extreme heat events and other disasters.Get educated about how to protect yourself and your community from heat and other extreme weather.Be heard about building heat-resilient communities and share the Heat Action Platform tool and U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit with your city officials.News RoundupHealth & MedicineCost Plus Drugs is utilizing strategic

Why the hell is America's public transportation so terrible? That's today's big question, and my guest is Nicholas Dagen Bloom. He's the author of the subtly titled new book, the Great American Transit Disaster. Nicholas is a professor of urban policy and planning at Hunter College. He's the author of a bunch of books including Public Housing That Worked, The Metropolitan Airport and How States Shaped Post-War America. He's also the co-editor of the prize-winning Public Housing Myths and Affordable Housing in New York. This new book, the Great American Transit Disaster (out now) is a deep dive into how we got here, and the overwhelming evidence that transit divestment was a choice rather than destiny, with a lot of actors involved.The willful divestment over the past 100 years to purposefully build out our car culture today drives a full third of our greenhouse gas emissions. Undoing it won't be an easy or simple task. But the good news is, there are multi solving opportunities everywhere for not only less ra

This week: Why don’t I eat animals?Plus, the news:Carbon capture is (mostly) BSNarcan vending machines save livesThe vertical farming boom doesn’t have enough powerHacking EV charging stationsAnd more!Here's What You Can Do:Donate to the Food Animals Concerns Trust to advocate for raising food producing animals in a healthy and humane manner.Volunteer with the Environmental Voter Project to turn out more environmental voters for elections at every level.Get educated about climate-friendly food with this municipal guide from Friends of the Earth, a blueprint for your town to reduce meat consumption, costs, and associated pollution deaths.Be heard about reproductive freedom and urge Congress to protect abortion access on a federal level.Invest in tech companies supporting global decarbonization.News RoundupHealth & Medicine“Dementia Villages” could be the future of home careNarcan vending machines are saving

How can we live happier lives? That's today's big question, and my guest is Dr. Marc Schulz, the co-author with Dr. Robert Waldinger of “The Good Life: Lessons From the World's Longest Scientific Study of Happiness” They're the most recent generation of co-directors of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, the longest study of happiness ever conducted. Marc is the Associate Director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development and the Sue Kardus PhD 1971 Chair in Psychology at Bryn Mawr College, where he also directs the data science program. And previously, he chaired the Psychology Department and Clinical Development Psychology PhD program at Bryn Mawr.Now, look, how can we lead happier lives is obviously nuanced, complicated question.But I don't think it'll surprise you that almost 90 years of data from this study has shown that well-nourished relationships inside and outside the home are a major key, if not, the major key to what you might call a happy life. It's not money, it's not work or any of these th

This week: Texans have a huge opportunity to get even MORE liberty — from the sun.Plus: Diabetes is expected to double, the state of carbon removal, A.I. detection tools, futurepandemic prepping, BEES?!, and moreHere's What You Can Do:⚡️ It’s getting hot out there. Direct your city officials to the Heat Action Platform Policy Tool to explore existing heat adaptation solutions for your community.⚡️Thinking of becoming a nurse? Bless you, and thank you. Here are some resources including FAQs about education requirements, salary, and benefits.⚡️ Representation in books helps kids build self-esteem and increase self-acceptance. Find kid-affirming books for your family or classroom with a ColorPop Book bundle.⚡️ Defend rights to digital privacy all over the world by donating to The Electronic Frontier Foundation.⚡️ Align your money with your values by finding a financial institution near you with sustainable banking services.News RoundupHea

This week: Can Apple help improve mental health?Here's What You Can Do: ⚡️LGBTQ+ youth are 4x more likely to attempt suicide than their peers. Help the The Trevor Project build a safer, more-inclusive world through crisis services, peer support, education, and advocacy. Happy Pride!

This week: Is the future inevitable?Plus: A lack of OB-GYN’s in a post-Roe world, some new bills for agrivoltaics, the best in climate journalism, the link between COVID and Alzheimer’s, misinformation, and moreHere's What You Can Do:⚡️ Our algorithms and technology are only as good as the people who make them. Empower future innovators to consider the social impact of their work with Tech Shift. ⚡️ Donate to the Urban Ocean Lab, a think tank working on solutions and policies to make coastal cities climate-ready. ⚡️ Electrifying school buses reduces air pollution, immediately improving the health of kids while ALSO reducing emissions. Tell your school board about Highland Fleets, an organization working to make electric fleets accessible for all. ⚡️ As climate change increases the frequency and intensity of extreme weather, emergency services are becoming overstretched. Climate Resilience Hubs prepare communities before, during, and after an emergency. Find yours with this interactive map from Climate Crew. ⚡

This week: Got fired? Start over.Plus: More young people are getting cancer, the rise of solar power, new YouTube misinformation rules, getting paid to bike to work, and moreHere's What You Can Do:⚡️ If apocalyptic skies and hazardous air quality reports are making your climate anxiety a little more intense this week (I feel you), look into the Climate Psychiatry Alliance’s database to find a climate-aware psychiatrist near you.⚡️ Help spread fire adaptation practices and give communities the tools they need to reduce their wildfire risk and increase their resilience by donating to Fire Adapted Communities.⚡️ Campaign to speed up the transition away from coal in your community by joining a local team to retire coal plants.⚡️ While you’re staying indoors to avoid the unhealthy air outside, purchase an air purifier to keep your indoor air quality up to par (got Scrooge McDuck cash? Donate a few to local schools).⚡️ Learn more about the impacts of air pollut

This week: Ask these questions before you click on ANYTHING.Plus: Gut inflammation news, California insurance gets harder to find, 750k adults just lost Medicaid, what (non-vaccinated) COVID actually does to your lungs, and moreHere's What You Can Do:⚡️ PFAS (“forever chemicals”) have been linked to serious health problems. Urge Congress bans PFAS from all food contact materials by using this script from Toxic-Free Future. ⚡️ Work in marketing? Join Clean Creatives, a movement of advertisers and PR professionals, and pledge to cut ties with fossil fuels.⚡️ Reclaim your right to privacy online with the Mullvad VPN (I use it every day). ⚡️ Keep informed with Circle of Blue’s in-depth reporting on the solutions and challenges to the water scarcity crisis. News RoundupHealth & MedicineMost pregnancy-related deaths occur in the year after a baby is born, prompting new strategies in caring for new mothers The science behind how chronic stress impacts gut healthNano-plastics are

 What's in wildfire smoke and how can you protect yourself from it? Those are today's big questions, and my guest is Dr. Mary Prunicki. Dr. Prunicki is the Director of Air Pollution and Health Research at Stanford University under the Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy and Asthma Research. Her lab examines the impact of air pollution and wildfires on health, specifically immune health. Dr. Prunicki and I got together in late summer 2021 as fires and smoke just enveloped the American West and eventually the East Coast too. Almost two years later, the west has seen a very wet winter and relative if temporary respite from fires, but Canada's on fire now, and everyone can see and taste the smoke as the jet stream carries it all the way across the continent. So it's always a good time to understand how to protect yourself and your family, and that begins with understanding what you're protecting yourselves from, so we're rerunning this very popular and necessary conversation to make sure you and I, and all of us ar

This week: Things feel pretty out of control. Get used to it.Plus: The Canadian West is burning, Oregon bans PFAS, ChatGPT plugins for everyone, the All We Can Save project is hiring, and moreHere's What You Can Do:⚡️Wildfire smoke exposure is directly linked to myriad health impacts due to poor air quality. Know your daily risk by using this Purple Air outdoor air monitor.⚡️We need to heal ourselves to heal the planet. Find resources and community to help with your climate anxiety through the Climate Mental Health Network.⚡️Act locally. Use ReFED to find current food waste policies and programs you can learn from and implement in your town.⚡️Work in local government? Biobot Analytics provides wastewater testing tools so we can better estimate the number of COVID-19 (and other diseases) infections in the communityNews RoundupHealth & MedicineThese are the cities with most bike deaths per capita (I share news like this to illustrate where we can make drastic improvements)Not to be outdone, the So

Is healthcare a human right? That's today's big question, and it clearly shouldn't be a question, but here we are. My guest to help explain the obvious today is Dr. Sheila Davis, the CEO of Partners in Health. Sheila entered the global health arena in 1999, responding to the global HIV and AIDS pandemic. A few years later, she co-founded a small NGO that worked in both South Africa and Boston on a wide array of health projects, including the operation of a rural village nurse clinic. She joined PIH in 2010 as their main operation in Haiti was torn apart by the earthquake there and worked her way up over the years, becoming the Chief of the Ebola response during the 2014-2016 West Africa epidemic. And then as the Chief of Clinical Operations and the Chief Nursing Officer, Sheila oversaw nursing efforts as well as the supply chain, medical informatics, laboratory infrastructure, and quality improvement activities.Dr. Davis is a frequent national speaker on global health and clinical topics, including HIV and AI

This week: COVID is over (as far as we know it). What did we learn, and what’s next?PLUS: Gay blood donations are a go, wind power in the UK, social media guidelines, millions for Black farmers, water report cards, and moreHere's What You Can Do:⚡️ Discover which websites are harvesting your data using The Markup’s Blacklight tool ⚡️ Prepare your home for a wildfire using these resources from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection⚡️ Ensure everyone, everywhere, receives access to quality healthcare by donating to Partners In Health⚡️ With SNAP benefits getting rolled back, make sure more people have access to food and volunteer with or donate to Feeding America⚡️ Keep an eye on wastewater tracking data to understand the prevalence of COVID in your area News RoundupHealth & MedicineThe APA has released a health advisory on social media use for kids Gay and bisexual men are now eligible to donate blood without having to abstain from sex. Welcome to the...

How much food do you throw away every week? And do you have to? That's today's big question, and my guest is Matt Rogers. Matt is a former Apple iPod and iPhone engineer. The Co-Founder of Nest thermostats, Founder of incite.org, and former Chairman of Carbon180. He is now the Co-Founder and CEO of Mill.What's Mill? It's a membership to a food-shrinking, de-stinking kitchen bin, and it just may be one of the most important levers you and I can take to fight food waste and climate change. I'm a huge fan of Matt's multidisciplinary work to drive systems change across tech, non-profits, and politics.Mill may be his most direct take on it yet. -----------Have feedback or questions? Tweet us, or send a message to questions@importantnotimportant.comNew here? Get started with our fan favorite episodes at podcast.importantnotimportant.com.-----------INI Book Club:The Alchemy of Air by Thomas HagerCradle to Cradle by William McDonough and Michael BraungartFind all of our guest recommendations at the INI Book Club

This week: Solutions to our biggest problems shouldn’t be so perplexing. On the other hand, washing our hands wasn’t obvious for a couple hundred thousand years, and my kids STILL don't want to do it.Plus: Seasonal allergy news, a new Barbie, non-profit grocery stores, climate hackers, the SEC, the WHO, Google’s huge new feature, and Khan Academy revolutionizes education — againHere's What You Can Do:⚡️ Floods or not, fire season’s (probably) right around the corner. Get up to the minute air quality reports with a Purple Air monitor (and nifty map, too) ⚡️ Your community may need to replace toxic lead water service lines. Check out Beyond Plastic’s report on the pros and cons of PVC pipes. ⚡️ Sure, the economy and market are completely unpredictable at this point, but there’s no better time to put your retirement fund to work fighting climate change. Do it with Carbon Collective. ⚡️ Speaking of lead pipes — will microplastics and PFAS (“forever chemicals”) be our version? Check out PFAS Central’s PFAS-free br

You've got insurance, right? Are you sure? That's today's big question, and my guest is Washington Post reporter Brianna Sacks. Brianna's an extreme weather and disaster reporter for the Post where she explores how climate change is transforming the United States through violent storms, intense heat, widespread wildfires, and other forms of extreme weather.Brianna deploys to disaster zones, which are sometimes very close to home, and does enterprise reporting on the preparations for responses to and the aftermaths of catastrophic events. We're having this conversation today because last month Brianna revealed how insurers have slashed Hurricane Ian payouts far below damage estimates, often up to 80%.I cannot emphasize enough that the future includes an insurance landscape that is among the most important in our very brittle economy and society. It underpins everything we rely on, so understanding not only your own insurance but how well your mortgage holder and the system at large are prepared for what's here

This week: Is what you’re working on important?Plus: The cleanest produce, a mosquito factory, lots of rooftop solar, autonomous GPT, maybe, and the latest with the Colorado RiverHere's What You Can Do:⚡️ Climate change and mental health are inextricably linked. Get some help with the Climate Mental Health Network. ⚡️ Live in or own a multi-family building? Check out how BlocPower can help electrify it. ⚡️ If you’re like “I wonder if my town or state has e-bike rebates”, here’s a Google Sheet with every known rebate in the country ⚡️ Start a student alliance for tech ethics at your university with the Techshift Alliance. News RoundupHealth & MedicineThe countries with the highest rates of malaria deaths have approved Oxford’s new vaccine Brazil built a massive mosquito factory — it’s not what you think Our friends at Biobot Analytics have expanded their wastewater monitoring into norovirus outbreaks Are we close to a

What can I do? The simple question is the underlying premise of everything we do here. It's often the easiest one to help people answer for themselves, but from the outside, it's often the most imposing.All of which is why we keep coming back to it, and why I'm so excited about the fantastic new book, The Climate Action Handbook by Dr. Heidi Roop. Dr. Roop is the Director of the University of Minnesota Climate Adaptation Partnership and an assistant professor of climate science and extension specialist at the University of Minnesota. She also serves as the Director of Knowledge Transfer for the NSF-funded COLDEX Science and Technology Center.Dr. Roop's research and extension programs have taken her from Antarctica to Minnesota, and they combine cutting-edge climate science and effective science communication to increase the use and integration of climate change information in decision-making at a whole range of scales, from city and state to national and international levels.Safe to say, I'm very into that a

This week: A very basic way to use a mental model, you’re welcome.PLUS: Mosquitoes, overseas abortion pills, healthy ice cream, German nuclear power, electric school buses, and more.Here's What You Can Do:⚡️ Interested in community solar? Check out Wattbuy’s tools to get some. ⚡️ One of the most effective ways to make fashion more sustainable is to partner up with our friends at Fashion Revolution⚡️ Want to understand if there’s (actually) a moral case for fossil fuels? You should read Amy Westervelt’s handy little guide. ⚡️ There are over 9000 school board seats up for election this year. Help Run for Something support candidates who actually give a shit about kids. ⚡️ Over 60? Put your experience and skills to work and join Third Act to help fight the climate crisis. News RoundupHealth & MedicineHere come the mosquitoes (the screened porch is one of mankind’s best inventions) Could an

Why is it so dangerous to have Black babies in America?April 11-17th is Black Maternal Health Week, and so we are replaying one of our favourite episodes from 2021 with guest Representative Lauren Underwood of Illinois, a nurse and former senior advisor to President Obama. We discuss how this country is failing Black mothers, and her incredible Momnibus Act, a suite of 12 bills designed to improve Black maternal health outcomes in America, where Black women are dying in or after childbirth at 3x-4x rates of white women.In this incredible conversation, Rep. Underwood goes deep to help us understand the complexities of the problem, the crushing personal inspiration for her work, and what we can all do to help.-----------Have feedback or questions? Tweet us, or send a message to questions@importantnotimportant.comNew here? Get started with our fan favorite episodes at podcast.importantnotimportant.com.-----------INI Book Club:Find all of our guest recommendations at the INI Book Club: https://bookshop.org/lists/