From Earth magazine, is 2012 the end of the world or just another year of living in harm’s way? Oklahoma survivalist Paul Pantone says he has a machine that runs on anything — extremists, conspiracy theorists and police all want to know more. Pick your poison: Steve Mirsky on how humankind could doom itself. From NYRB, Malise Ruthven is waiting for the Apocalypse: From the Romantics to Romney. Meet the preppers, a rattled, robust survivalist movement whose members just hate being called survivalists; Emily Matchar investigates the 21st century's wildest new apocalyptic scene. Envisioning a civilization recovery plan: What knowledge contained in what books of science, culture and civilization would you most want to pass on to the surviving humans as they faced the prospect of adapting to a new environment and rebuilding their lives over many generations? The survivalist: Congressman Roscoe Bartlett (R-Md.) prepares for a threatened future. Apocalypse Not: Matt Ridley on why you shouldn’t worry about end times. It’s not that bad: Arnold Brown on why our global future is better than it appears. Peter Garretson on what our civilization needs is a billion-year plan.
