The introduction to Utopia/Dystopia: Conditions of Historical Possibility. A review of Why the West Rules — For Now: The Patterns of History and What They Reveal About the Future by Ian Morris. Eternal fascinations with the End: Why we're suckers for stories of our own demise. Lady nerds and utopias: Speculative fiction is sociology's dream journal; nerds want a place to belong — all women want from these stories is a place where nobody cares if they're girls. If the world is going to hell, why are humans doing so well? Life in 2050: To celebrate the 40th anniversary of Smithsonian magazine, Big Think asked top minds from a variety of fields to weigh in on what we might expect our world to be like 40 years from now. The end is near, no? Two-thousand years and we’re still here. Cyber Armageddon: Robert W. Lucky reflects on the latest fashion in end-of-the-world scenarios. Of dystopia, utopia, Aldous Huxley, and true love: An interview with Mary Ann Braubach of the documentary film Huxley on Huxley. A review of Weeds: How Vagabond Plants Gatecrashed Civilisation and Changed the Way We Think About Nature by Richard Mabey. Phil Plait outlines five things in the universe that could spell the end for humankind. Failed Utopia: Chris Higgins explains the Koreshan Unity Settlement. Lester Brown on the race to save civilization. History boils down to biology, and geography can be unfair, but the advantages they confer may not last forever.
