The Scientists Studying the End of the World

The New Yorker staff writer Rivka Galchen joins Tyler Foggatt to discuss a class at the University of Chicago with a tantalizingly dark title: Are We Doomed? It’s in the interdisciplinary field of existential risk, which studies the threats posed by climate change, nuclear warfare, and artificial intelligence. Galchen, who spent a semester observing the course and its students, considers how to contend with this bleak future, and how to understand the young people who may inherit it.

This episode originally aired June 5, 2024

This week’s reading:

• “Donald Trump, Zohran Mamdani, and Posting as Politics” by Kyle Chayka
• “Do We Need Another Green Revolution?,” by Elizabeth Kolbert
• “What Therapists Treating Immigrants Hear,” by Geraldo Cadava

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The Political Scene draws on the reporting and analysis found in The New Yorker for lively conversations about the big questions in American politics. Join the magazine’s writers and editors as they put into context the latest news—about elections, the economy, the White House, the Supreme Court, and much more. New episodes are available three times a week. 

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