Hey friends, I want to talk about something big. Change the actual world big, because the world won't unfuck itself, as we all know.

We are joining podcasts across the planet for Pods Fight Poverty, a campaign directly supporting our good friends at Give Directly. Now, if you've been with us since episode 116, which feels like a thousand years ago, you'll remember when we asked one of the most deceptively simple, world altering questions ever.

Why is just giving people money the most effective way to help them change their lives and maybe even end global poverty altogether?

To crack that open I had Caroline Teti and Michael Faye on the show, two people who've spent years with Give Directly, knee deep in data and logistics and lived experience, my favorite combination of things, and guess what the answer turned out to be?

People are the experts on their own lives. You are. So why aren't they? Different people need different things on different days. So if you want them to get exactly what they need, you give them the resources to choose cash directly, and that's what Give Directly does.

No middlemen, no guessing, just trusting other humans with the dignity and agency we would expect and that they deserve. Yeah, wild idea. It works. It works better than almost anything else we've tried.

So here's the part where you come in. None of us can erase global poverty by ourselves. Again, that's our whole tagline. But literally, any one of us can lift one person out of poverty, today, right now. So for Pods Fight Poverty, if you can head to givedirectly.org/important and chip in.

That's givedirectly.org/important. And look to take it even further, my wife and I already personally contribute to Give Directly every year, every month actually, which is the best way to support a group like this, by the way.

And thousands of you all do too. I'm gonna step it up and will personally match the next $5,000 in donations when you use our link, which again is givedirectly.org/important. So let's do it.

And to get you in the spirit, we're gonna revisit our conversation right now with Teti and Michael. It's funny, it's hopeful, it's deeply nerdy, and it'll remind you why this work matters every single day. Thanks as always for giving a shit.

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Have feedback or questions? Tweet us, or send a message to questions@importantnotimportant.com

New here? Get started with our fan favorite episodes at podcast.importantnotimportant.com.

Take Action at www.whatcanido.earth

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INI Book Club:

• “The Biggest Bluff” by Maria Konnikova
• “The Art of Reading Minds” by Henrik Fexeus
• Find all of our guest recommendations at the INI Book Club:

What if talking about menopause out loud was as normal as talking about sports scores or school pickup?

Imagine it in movie plots, in your group chat, at the clinic, and on the campaign trail because when we name what's happening in our bodies, three things can follow: better care, better research, and better policy.

Normalizing the conversation around something that's gonna happen to half the population isn't oversharing. It's infrastructure. This is how we're gonna get appointments that move the needle for people. This is how we're gonna get workplace benefits that actually matter and research dollars that finally match the need, especially for those most impacted and least studied.

So what can I do to make menopause a public everyday conversation?

My guest today is Jennifer Gerson.

She's a journalist at the 19th, one of my favorite publications, and the author of their new menopause newsletter. Jennifer blends sharp reporting with practical scripts, and memes, how to talk to your doctor or your partner or your teen or someone in HR, and maybe your elected representatives too, because you know we love that.

So that this thing that's been so intensely private and understudied, on purpose, becomes public. And so progress compounds. This one can definitely change the conversation in your home and far, far beyond it.

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Have feedback or questions? Tweet us, or send a message to questions@importantnotimportant.com

New here? Get started with our fan favorite episodes at podcast.importantnotimportant.com.

Take Action at www.whatcanido.earth

-----------

INI Book Club:

• The Day The Crayons Made Friends by Drew Daywalt
• Find all of our guest recommendations at the INI Book Club: https://bookshop.org/lists/important-not-important-book-club

Links:

• Jennifer is listening to: the new Snocaps album, and all the Zombies soundtracks
• Find a healthcare provider specializing in midlife women's health using resources at The Menopause Society
• Subscribe to Jennifer's menopause newsletter at the 19th

Follow us:

• Subscribe to our newsletter at importantnotimportant.com
• Support our work and become a Member at importantnotimportant.com/upgrade
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If the American Revolution was, as Ken Burns put it, the biggest event since the birth of Christ, then there's probably never been a better time to explore and drastically expand on why it happened, who was involved, and what it set us up for than right now.

My guest today again is David Schmidt.

David is the producer and co-director, along with Ken Burns and Sarah Botstein, of American Revolution, a six-part, 12-hour series premiering on PBS this November.

David is a childhood friend, but two decades after he and I played Nintendo in his basement, he began working with Florentine Films as a researcher and apprentice editor, beginning with The Roosevelts in 2014, where he also supervised the documentary's seven-episode script.

David's research on the Vietnam War in 2017 won him the Jane Mercer Footage Researcher of the Year Award, and he also worked closely on that project with writer Geoffrey C. Ward and helped coordinate post-production. With Burns, Schmidt also produced the two-part biography Benjamin Franklin in 2022 for PBS.

I can't wait for you to hear this discussion. I think it pairs really nicely with our conversation with Clint Smith and can't wait for you to see this piece.

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Have feedback or questions? Tweet us, or send a message to questions@importantnotimportant.com

New here? Get started with our fan favorite episodes at podcast.importantnotimportant.com.

Take Action at www.whatcanido.earth

-----------

INI Book Club:

• This Here Is Love by Princess Joy L. Perry
• The Sellout by Paul Beatty
• Find all of our guest recommendations at the INI Book Club: https://bookshop.org/lists/important-not-important-book-club

Links:

• Watch the 12-part series, The American Revolution, on PBS https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/the-american-revolution
• Read The American Revolution book by Ken Burns and Geoffrey C. Ward https://bookshop.org/a/8952/9780525658672
• David is listening to: The American Revolution playlist, Hammond Song by The Roches, and The Shape of Water soundtrack

Follow us:

• Subscribe to our newsletter at importantnotimportant.com
• Support our work and become a Member at importantnotimportant.com/upgrade
• Get our