It’s been a week full of high-profile mayhem and catastrophe here in the U.S., and two of its manifestations have hit very close to home for me personally. My sister lives in Salem, Massachusetts, right next to Boston, and was driving through Boston itself on Monday when chaos broke loose in the city after the…
Tag: apocalypse watch
A new flood of apocalyptic cinema, where art imitates life
From an unexpectedly meaty piece published by — of all sources — NBC, on the current upsurge of apocalyptic cinema and its real-world meanings and implications: Ready for the end of the world as we know it? The popular culture certainly is. When “Defiance” arrives Monday night on the SyFy channel and “Oblivion” hits theaters…
If climate scientists are terrified, how should the rest of us react?
Well, there you have it. Using scientific theories, toy ecosystem modeling and paleontological evidence as a crystal ball, 18 scientists, including an SFU professor, predict the Earthâs ecosystems are careering towards an imminent, irreversible collapse. In “Approaching a state-shift in Earthâs biosphere,” a paper just published in Nature, the authors examine the Earthâs accelerating loss…
Horror and Apocalypse: The Dark Mirror Film Festival – October 20, 2012
Apologies to all Teeming Brain readers for the lack of a new Recommended Reading post today. All of my spare time this week has been taken up by various other commitments, including writing and turning in the first installment of “Numinosities,” my new column about horror, religion, and philosophy for [Nameless] Magazine. Then there’s the…
Doom from Above: When the End Arrives, Will Anyone See It Coming?
The Extinction Papers â Chapter Three So few humans look to the sky these days, engrossed as they are with the glowing box on the wall, the interconnected device held in their hand, and the cracks in the pavement in front of them as they count each step to the grave. Add to this…
John Dee’s Enochian Apocalypse
Doctor John Dee (1527-1609) remains one of Londonâs most intriguing historical figures. He was a confidant of Queen Elizabeth I, who guided the nation through one of its most challenging eras, partly based upon Deeâs unique blend of alchemy, divination and Hermetic philosophy. In fact, the Queen had so much faith in Deeâs calculations she…
Energy, food, and the upside (or not) of dystopia
This piece from The Telegraph’s Jeremy Warner is supposed to be about the upside of the fact that we’ve transitioned definitively to a new era of elevated food and energy prices, but the upshot that Warner arrives at sounds less like a silver lining than a recipe for a Promethean desperate-dystopian transformation of human…
Recommended Reading 23
This week’s bumper crop of excellent reading and viewing includes: an essay on the past, present, and future of apocalyptic expectations and their measurable impact on real-world religious and secular circumstances, including our present geopolitical prospects; a fine examination by Charles Hugh Smith of the moral-and-monetary corruption infecting not just the “1 percent” but everybody…
Midway (FILM TRAILER) by Chris Jordan
Midway is, or will be, a film from the MIDWAY media project, and its trailer is one of those rare instances of the form that, like the megatrailer for Cloud Atlas, delivers a powerful experience in its own right. Here’s what it’s all about: The MIDWAY film project is a powerful visual journey into the…
Recommended Reading 21
This week’s recommended readings include: a mainstream news article about the distinct possibility of an Armageddon-like solar superstorm; a look at the origin, present situation, and apparently indefinite future of the “Great Recession” by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard; a consideration of the spiritual crisis of capitalism; reflections on the real relationship between writing and money; an autopsy…