The Most Important Question
Science for people who give a sh*t.
Want to feel better AND unf*ck the world? The 6-time Webby nominee delivers deep conversations with the world's smartest people (scientists, doctors, CEO's, farmers, and more!), and digestible news updates every single week, to help you answer the world's most important question: What can I do?
We're talkin' clean energy and coral reefs, COVID vaccines and pediatric cancer research, clean water and carbon capture tech, asteroid deflection and artificial intelligence ethics.
"A vital service in an era where important truths, outright fiction and mere trivia all compete for your attention.” - Craig Mazin, creator, writer, and executive producer of HBO's Chernobyl
Hosted by Quinn Emmett
- Update frequency
- every 5 days
- Average duration
- 46 minutes
- Episodes
- 435
- Years Active
- 2018 - 2025
Essay: Build Something Useful
This week:
You're wasting your talent on bullshit while the world burns.
You — yes, you — can actually use your very unique set of skills for good. Even and especially at scale, even — yes — right now…
We Need To Talk About Bird Flu
We (Quinn) has been avoiding this question for quite a while.
I even wrote a few thousand words about it a couple months ago and didn't publish it because it was a bit of a downer.
But that's kind of…
Essay: Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.
This week:
Be prepared — because these fires that are still burning are only the beginning. Start somewhere, start right in front of you, do what you can.
Here's What You Can Do:
LA isn’t the only plac…
Essay: About 2025
This week:
It’s been a minute. Thanks for your patience. Please check out my 2025 preview, and if you’d be so kind, share it widely.
Here's What You Can Do:
- Donate to Everytown to support their efforts…
Bridging Misinformation Gaps with Local Journalism
What's the missing link in local journalism?
That's today's big question, and my guest is Lyndsey Gilpin.
Lyndsey is the Senior Manager of Community Engagement at Grist. Lyndsey was the founder and e…
Essay: Only 86,000 To Go. You in?
This week:
This entire (short!) episode is a call to action. It's time to do this thing...do the thing, but also take care of yourselves and your loved ones these next couple weeks.
It's a lot right …
Thinking In Systems To Save An Indivisible World
Is multisolving the future? Is it today? Should we do more?
That's all today's big question and my guest is Dr. Elizabeth Sawin.
Dr. Sawin is the Founder and Director of the Multisolving Institute, …
Poverty Is A Policy Choice
How do we make it easier for more Americans to reliably put food (in particular, hot food) on the table?
That's today’s big question, and my guest is Salaam Bhatti.
Salaam is the SNAP Director at the…
Best of: Check Your Insurance Policy
We first ran this episode in May 2023, but following back-to-back hurricanes in Florida this month, it remains as relevant as ever.
You've got insurance, right? Are you sure?
That's today's big questio…
Best of: Fresh Banana Leaves
There’s no word for “conservation” in many Indigenous languages.
Some come close, but mean something more like “taking care of” or “looking after.”
And that’s probably because the very idea of conserva…
Essay: Why We Made An App
This week:
You’d think that -- considering we just spent two years building our new What Can I Do? app -- that I’d have a really good answer for why we were doing it in the first place.
But I didn’t. …
Introducing: What Can I Do?
It’s another big day in a very big month for us.
Our extremely tiny team has been busting our asses for almost two years to bring you something fucking extraordinary, something I’m just so proud of, a…
Finding Joy In Climate Solutions
What if we get it right?
That's today's big question, and my returning guest is Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson.
Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson is a marine biologist. She is a policy expert, a writer, and a…
Best of: A Conversation With A Future President of the United States
In this throwback episode from October 2020, Quinn & Brian discuss: Why state elections matter not just for your state but for the future of our planet.
Our guests are: Aimy Steele & Amanda Litman.
Ai…
Essay: How to Eat More Plants (And Less Beef)
This week:
Next up in our series of “How to Eat More Plants”. Today’s topic? Beef!
Here's What You Can Do:
- Read the essay and get the links online here
- Donate to the Humane Farming Association to suppor…
Essay: The Sun Machines Cometh
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 to advocate for communit…
Essay: How To Eat More Plants
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, includi…
Essay: The Turn of the Tide
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…
Everything Is Connected (No, Seriously)
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,…
AI Ethics Not Found
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 dat…