The End of the World with Michael and Stu

The End of the World with Michael and Stu
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The End of the World with Michael and Stu

The Apocalypse is Everywhere. The End of the World with Michael and Stu is a (hopefully) insightful and (hopefully) humorous exploration of the rise of apocalyptic news, apocalyptic thinking and apocalyptic culture. Each week, we’ll be looking at a work of art, a piece of media, or an historical event related to the (hopefully not) impending End of the World.

  1. Episode 45: It's a Godawful Small Affair

    4 DAYS AGO

    Episode 45: It's a Godawful Small Affair

    This week we are covering the 2005 Spielberg/Cruise film War of the Worlds. Made in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, the film attempts to make some kind of connection between the H.G. Wells's classic story of alien invasion and the events that had so recently shaken the foundations of America...and it fails to do so, at least in a manner that we found at all convincing or philosophically interesting. But fear not! In this episode you also get to hear the "legendary" story of St...

    54 min
  2. Episode 44: Turn and Face the Strain

    NOV 26

    Episode 44: Turn and Face the Strain

    This week we are covering the COP29 climate conference which took place over the last two weeks in Baku, Azerbaijan. Have they solved the issue? Was this climate conference in actuality a "meet up" for lobbyists in the fossil fuel industry? What is the connection between climate change and social justice, and is this connection one of the reasons the conference has been largely ignored in the American media, particularly in the wake of Trump's 2024 reelection? We answer all of these questions...

    49 min
  3. Episode 43: Our Shadows Taller Than Our Souls

    NOV 19

    Episode 43: Our Shadows Taller Than Our Souls

    This week we are discussing Cormac McCarthy's 2006 novel The Road. A bleak but simultaneously uplifting depiction of a journey through a world in which nature has been totally destroyed, the story offers glimmers of hope in spite of its incredibly grim setting. Themes of childhood, memory, dreaming, and perseverance even in the face of seemingly inevitable death mark this book, which is considered by many to be among the finest novels of the twenty-first century. We also open up th...

    53 min
  4. Episode 42: Project for a New American Violence

    NOV 12

    Episode 42: Project for a New American Violence

    This week we are talking about 2013's The Purge, a low budget high concept home invasion thriller directed by James DeMonaco. We discuss the Aristotelian overtones of the notion that an annual night of violence might allow for a cathartic experience that would help society to be more peaceful the rest of the time, while also exploring a few historical examples of "purge-like" behavior, including witch trials, the sacrificial practices of ancient Carthage, and the English countryside trad...

    46 min
  5. Episode 41: The End of America with Michael and Stu

    NOV 8

    Episode 41: The End of America with Michael and Stu

    It's our election recap episode where we take accountability for our...mistaken belief that Harris would pull out a tight election, when, obviously...that did not happen. We discuss what went wrong for the Harris campaign, while analyzing what this outcome might bode for elections moving forward. Are we destined to just sink deeper and deeper into our algorithmically determined information bubbles, or can this defeat be the spark that inspires dramatic change in the way Democrats approach nat...

    48 min
  6. Episode 40: There is No Turning Back

    NOV 5

    Episode 40: There is No Turning Back

    It's our election day special where we go out on a limb and predict who we think will triumph in the 2024 US presidential election. Is the seeming late swing to Harris real, and if it is real, will it be enough? Has Kill Tony doomed the Trump campaign with his offensive "comedy"? Has Ann Selzer, with whom we were all VERY familiar before this past weekend, done it again? Why is Tucker Carlson all of the sudden attempting to rebrand himself as the new Pat Robertson? Can Stu differentiate betwe...

    47 min
  7. Episode 39: Hurry Up Please It's Time

    OCT 29

    Episode 39: Hurry Up Please It's Time

    We're back on our election beat, in this episode gaming out potential outcomes of the November 5th US presidential elections. What would happen if Trump wins the popular vote but loses the electoral college? What if Harris wins in a landslide? What if the electoral college comes out in a tie? We go through all of these scenarios and also look at some recent comments made by the candidates in order to imagine what might be heading our way next week as this contest finally winds to a close...

    49 min
  8. Episode 38: They've All Come to Look for America

    OCT 22

    Episode 38: They've All Come to Look for America

    This week we are diving back into politics, looking at the platforms of both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, paying particular attention to where each candidate stands on apocalypse-adjacent issues like climate change and military weaponry. The results of our investigation may surprise you!This episode is the first in a series we'll be doing as the 2024 US Presidential election draws ever nearer. We're always hearing that this election is "the most important election of our lifetimes" but may...

    47 min
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About

The Apocalypse is Everywhere. The End of the World with Michael and Stu is a (hopefully) insightful and (hopefully) humorous exploration of the rise of apocalyptic news, apocalyptic thinking and apocalyptic culture. Each week, we’ll be looking at a work of art, a piece of media, or an historical event related to the (hopefully not) impending End of the World.

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