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Are We Doomed? – NPR Network — Science
Are We Doomed? – NPR Network

Is the world ending, or does it just feel like it? “Are We Doomed?” investigates the greatest risks facing society, the planet, and our species. What’s real? What’s hype? And how do we actually make it out alive? Nukes. Asteroids. Autocracy. Rogue AI. Climate-driven pandemics. Angry hippopotamuses. Teeth clenched, curiosity engaged, quips ready, this “slightly narrative” podcast explores everything from the existential and the unexpected to the overblown. Award-winning public radio journalist Ben Bradford brings you wild true stories, high-production sound design, and world-class experts answering the questions they never prepared for (“Why is the Earth doing this to us?”). From NuanceTales and distributed by the NPR Network, this show delves into history, science, technology, and the natural world, to help you separate legitimate world-changing risks from doomsday fantasies. Come for the supervolcano under Yellowstone National Park (real), stay to learn why the post-apocalyptic wasteland won’t look like the movies (sorry, you won’t be wandering with a shotgun and a dog), and leave with a better understanding of how our brilliant, bumbling species can chart a path through our current, terrifying adolescence.

Copyright: © 2026 NuanceTales

Latest Episodes:

Past Dooms That Didn't Arrive May 26, 2026

Show notes

People have been predicting the end of the world forever. They’ve always been wrong. Maybe we’re wrong today, too.
So, we’re looking back at three past dooms predicted in the 20th century, none of which arrived as advertised. Why not? What can we learn? Does it mean that the current biggest end-of-the-world fears may be overblown, misunderstood, or — with effort — preventable? Along the way: failed utopias, dystopias, and the animal Ben fears most: the mini-hippo.
Guest: Matt Novak, journalist at Gizmodo and long-time author of the Paleofuture blog.
Support Are We Doomed?, get bonus episodes, and more: https://doompod.com/support/
Watch earlier episodes on Youtube! https://www.youtube.com/@arewedoomedpod

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How To Survive a Nuclear War May 19, 2026

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The air raid sirens scream (actually, they don’t work anymore). An emergency alert goes out, because … nuclear missiles are in-bound.
It’s happening! How do we survive (non-Hollywood edition)? From diving into crumbling fallout shelters to emerging into a world where nuclear winter is descending, Ben explores what armageddon would actually look like, what the movies get wrong, and why — for most of us — it’s not a flash of light, but a cramped slog.
Support Are We Doomed?, get bonus episodes, and more: https://doompod.com/support/

Listen to our episode "How to Start a Nuclear War."

Watch earlier episodes on Youtube! https://www.youtube.com/@arewedoomedpod

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How Do You Kill a Mosquito? May 12, 2026

Show notes

Mosquitoes are little jerks. They suck your blood to make more mosquitoes, spread deadly diseases like malaria and dengue, and have killed more humans than any other creature in the history of Earth. But now, we can fight back.
Gene-editing technology (CRISPR, gene drives) could temporarily wipe out disease-carrying mosquitoes in whole regions — potentially saving millions of lives. A miracle, but with an unsettling question of its own: Who gets to decide when humanity rewrites nature?
Also: radiation-blasted flies, Australian rabbit smoothies, and … Mosquito Jurassic Park.
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Supervolcano! May 05, 2026

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A supervolcano burbles under Yellowstone National Park. Enormous. Real. According to the internet’s most excitable corners, just itching to turn America into charcoal any minute now.

Ben Bradford investigates what supervolcanoes can actually do, why Yellowstone is almost certainly not about to blow its top, and how scientists tell when a volcano is really waking up. Panic over a national park may be distracting us from another, sneakier, more critical volcanic threat.
Support Are We Doomed?, get bonus episodes, and more: https://doompod.com/support/

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Let’s Design the AI That Kills Us All Apr 28, 2026

Show notes

Maddeningly, even some researchers building artificial intelligence see it as a potential existential threat on par with nuclear war. Ben Bradford follows three simple steps that could lead an AI to turn on humanity and attempt to wipe us out. From autonomous agents with misaligned goals to hacked infrastructure, bioweapons, and a real story of AI blackmail, a nerdy apocalypse thought experiment starts to feel a little too plausible. So, then we try to dismantle our rogue creation.

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How To Start a Nuclear War Apr 28, 2026

Show notes

Humanity has repeatedly brought itself to the brink of nuclear war. Which raises a question: if everyone who can launch a nuke knows that could end the world, why does nuclear war still feel plausible? Ben explores how it could really happen, what close calls of the past tell us, and the bizarre logic of deterrence. And he lands, again and again, on one word: oopsie.

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Introducing Are We Doomed? Apr 21, 2026

Show notes

Grin at the apocalypse and find out with this curious, irreverent weekly podcast exploring the biggest dangers to our society and our species. From nuclear war and societal collapse to rogue AI and the moon drifting off … which “dooms” are real? What can we do? What does history tell us? And do you need to learn wilderness survival?
Each week, acclaimed journalist Ben Bradford investigates the threats that haunt humanity with curiosity and only a little panic behind his eyes. The result: Gripping true stories, thoughtful guests, darkly funny insights, and an unexpected amount of hope. We’ve survived every "end of the world" so far, and let’s figure out why. So we can do it again.

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