How air quality dictates your decisions, cognition, and votes

July 29, 2026

How air quality dictates your decisions, cognition, and votes

Do weather apps give a false sense of security?

Air quality influences our brain function, physical wellbeing, and long-term lifespan far more than we realize. In this episode of the Beyond GDP: The Social Progress Podcast, we examine the massive, underreported threats floating through our air and why traditional broad-scale data points miss what is happening on a block-by-block level.

Louise Thomas, CEO of Air Aware Labs, shares her journey from British civil service to building an extraordinary digital solution: a tool with air quality insights that track your pollution exposure and help you train, commute and live healthier across the world.

Michael Green and Louise Thomas talk about the surprising connections between fine particulate matter, subtle physiological changes, human decision-making, and urban policy design, offering new insights into how citizens can take care of themselves wherever they live.

  • How early in life does air pollution actually start to impact us?
  • What’s worse: air pollution, smoking, or obesity?
  • Does it really matter what time of day you open your windows?

Walking on the wrong side of the pavement might be impacting your health more than you think.  

How air quality dictates your decisions, cognition, and votes

Do weather apps give a false sense of security?

Air quality influences our brain function, physical wellbeing, and long-term lifespan far more than we realize. In this episode of the Beyond GDP: The Social Progress Podcast, we examine the massive, underreported threats floating through our air and why traditional broad-scale data points miss what is happening on a block-by-block level.

Louise Thomas, CEO of Air Aware Labs, shares her journey from British civil service to building an extraordinary digital solution: a tool with air quality insights that track your pollution exposure and help you train, commute and live healthier across the world.

Michael Green and Louise Thomas talk about the surprising connections between fine particulate matter, subtle physiological changes, human decision-making, and urban policy design, offering new insights into how citizens can take care of themselves wherever they live.

  • How early in life does air pollution actually start to impact us?
  • What’s worse: air pollution, smoking, or obesity?
  • Does it really matter what time of day you open your windows?

Walking on the wrong side of the pavement might be impacting your health more than you think.