This week: Let’s talk about the Information Era. Here's What You Can Do: Donate (and subscribe!) to the 19th, an independent, non-profit, kick-ass newsroom reporting on gender and politics. Volunteer with Tech Shift to build a fairer, more just technological future. ?️ Get educated about the powerful institutions using technology to change society through the invaluable reporting by The Markup. Be heard about keeping companies accountable to assessing AI for bias and effectiveness and ask your representatives to support the Algorithmic Account ..read more

What have we learned from millennia of water insecurity, of climate changes and disasters, of building along freshwater ways and the ocean, that we can apply today? That's today's big question, and my guest is Dr. Amber Wutich. Dr. Wutich is an ASU President's Professor, Director of the Center for Global Health, and 2023 MacArthur Fellow. She's an expert on water insecurity, and directs the Global Ethnohydrology Study, a cross cultural study of water knowledge and management in over 20 countries. Dr. Wutich’s two decades of community based field work explore how people respond individually and ..read more

This week: Bernie decided March 15th is Long COVID Awareness Day, so I thought it was an appropriate moment to try to pull together the threads of why Long COVID pisses me off so much, examples of other self-defeating issues we never learned from, and a blueprint for how to do better, better. Here's What You Can Do: ?️ Donate to Partners in Health to ensure that everyone, everywhere has access to quality healthcare. Volunteer for a clinical trial to help us better understand the impacts of COVID and Long COVID. Get educated about how you can start a&nbs ..read more

You know you're stressed. You know you're anxious. Do you have depression? And do you need to know the latest in the biology of how the brain works and depression works or doesn't work and whether the gut is involved in getting meaningful help? That's today's big question. I promise it's kind of one question, even if there are a ton of different answers, and they're going to be different for everybody. This conversation is a follow-up to our last couple of conversations about the brain, the gut, and depression. My returning guest is Srijan Sen. Srijan is still the Francis and Kenneth Eisenberg ..read more

The climate clock is ticking faster and faster. How can we use capitalism to undo the bad stuff that capitalism did and maybe even make things better? That's today's big (loaded) question, and my returning guest is Akshat Rathi. Akshat is a London-based senior reporter, newsletter writer, and podcaster for Bloomberg News. Akshat has a PhD in organic chemistry from the University of Oxford, and a BTech in Chemical Engineering from the Institute of Chemical Technology in Mumbai. Akshat was previously a senior reporter at Quartz and a science editor at The Conversation. He is here today to talk a ..read more

This week: Are we in the hardest part of the climate transition? Here's What You Can Do: ?️ Donate to 350.org, a global movement working towards a fossil fuel-free world. Volunteer with your local Mothers Out Front chapter to fight for a world that protects kids. Get educated about building a clean energy company using the videos, exercises, and curriculum in Third Derivative’s Startup Resource Database. ?️ Be heard about climate justice and find an initiative that needs your support or signature in your country using GAIA’s action alert ..read more

What are reverse coattails, and how might they slow climate change, prevent the next pandemic, and keep Nazis off of school boards? That's today's big question, and my returning guest is Amanda Litman. Amanda is one of my favorite people. She is the co-founder and co-executive director of Run for Something, which recruits and supports young, diverse progressives running for down-ballot office, state, and local, and all those fun levels. Since launching in 2017, a thousand years ago, Run for Something has elected more than 1000 leaders across nearly all 50 states, mostly women and people of col ..read more

This week: How are we supposed to navigate this energy transition, AI, and pandemics, if we cannot agree on the most basic, fundamental shit? We argue about tradeoffs or gently suggest expanding the scope of our moral concern to include other people’s air, water, food, shelter, and health, instead of simply saying some things — like the lives of children — are simply, emphatically, non-negotiable. Here's What You Can Do: Donate to Tobacco-Free Kids to protect kids from e-cigarettes. Volunteer with Everytown to prevent gun violence in schools. ?️ Get educated ..read more

This week: Today’s essay is a bit of a departure — I just wanted to make super clear where I stand vis a vis the next eleven months. A MAGA party don't stop unless we stop it. Here's What You Can Do: Donate to Voters of Tomorrow to defend democracy for the next generation. Volunteer with Run For Something to help young, diverse progressives get elected. ?️ Get educated about how your country is keeping up with its commitments to the Paris Agreement using the Climate Action Tracker, and then hold your public officials accountable. Be heard about&nbs ..read more

This week: Today’s essay is my version of a 2024 preview. Unlike other previews, though, it’s less, “This is what is going to happen” and more “These are the table stakes as far as I can tell.” I think that approach is much more helpful, but you can be the judge. Here's What You Can Do: Donate to the 19th, an independent newsroom that focuses on gender, politics, and policy. Journalism is being hit hard, and small outlets that do incredible work like the 19th are more essential than ever. Volunteer with the Environmental Voter Project. If there was ever a year to do this ..read more