Why It Matters

The worldwide spread of the new coronavirus has pulled back the curtain on the vulnerabilities of our interconnected world. Now we are left asking some basic questio...

You’re making the rounds at a party when someone asks you about NATO. Is it still important? The alliance is credited with preventing a third world war, but a lot of...

As climate change accelerates, some scientists are researching ways to alter our climate to slow down warming. But the method, called solar geoengineering, comes wit...

The aftershocks of Russia’s interference in the 2016 U.S. election are still being felt today. Is the United States ready for future elections?

Militaries around the world are designing artificial intelligence–powered weapons that could one day make their own decisions about who to target. The technology cou...

At the start of the new year, the Why It Matters team takes a look at some of the best interview segments that didn’t make it into the episodes.  ...

Antibiotics have saved untold millions of lives, but bacteria are learning to outsmart them at alarming rates. Projections show that by 2050, ten million people coul...

Space is getting crowded. The biggest challenge is space junk—the debris that results when satellites break up or get shot down. If we aren’t careful, space junk, an...

Women and girls are excluded from career paths in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). This gender gap is causing the world to lose out on “the ...

For years, China processed more than half of the world’s plastic recycling. Then, in 2018, it stopped. Things have gotten messy since then.

A U.S. president can launch a first-strike nuclear attack at any time and, according to the law, does not need to seek advice first. Some experts think that’s too mu...

Each episode breaks down an issue that is shaping our world’s future. Join host Gabrielle Sierra as she speaks with the leaders and thinkers who are facing these que...