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Humans

From doomy prophecies to epic dystopias, we are suckers for end times

Despite facing real existential threats like climate change, we remain too fascinated by the end of the world, argues a new book

26 February 2025

2G07GFJ A road sign reads — We may live in an age of doomscrolling, but we can keep wild, apocalyptic thinking at bay
Stephen Taylor/Alamy

A Brief History of the End of the F*cking World
Tom Phillips (Wildfire)

In 1950s Chicago, aliens from the planet Clarion made contact with Dorothy Martin. They warned her of a “holocaust of the coming events” that would begin on 21 December, 1954. Lake Michigan would subsume Chicago, and the rest of the world would follow into oblivion. Martin and her followers would be airlifted to safety on Clarion via flying saucers – but only if they first removed all…

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