The Day It Finally Happens

Alien Contact, Dinosaur Parks, Immortal Humans - And Other Possible Phenomena

Author: Mike Pearl

A speculative glimpse at the numerous possibilities of how the world will end and what happens when it does, written by VICE journalist Mike Pearl

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Summary

A speculative glimpse at the numerous possibilities of how the world will end and what happens when it does, written by VICE journalist Mike Pearl

Description

If you live on planet Earth, you're probably scared about the future. Terrorism, complicated international relations, global warming, and a raft of other issues make it hard not to be.

But how close are we to the end? And what can we expect when we finally reach it?

In this hilarious, enlightening and often terrifying book, Pearl gives us a glimpse of the potential end of the world scenarios that could happen sooner than we think - from nuclear war to the end of antibiotics, discovering distant life to the realisation that all cemeteries are full. Weaving together his own research, alongside interviews with scientists and political thinkers, and visiting 'preppers', Pearl investigates how close we really are to the end of the world - and what we can expect when it finally happens. . .

Critic Reviews

Brilliantly anxiety affirming...Thanks to Mike Pearl, I can now claim my constant feeling of dread is based on expert interviews and careful scientific research. Zach Weinersmith, coauthor of Soonish: Ten Emerging Technologies That’ll Improve and/or Ruin Everything
A deeply entertaining-if occasionally horrifying-imagining of a world where the unlikely has become the reality. Joshua Piven, author of The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook
The Day It Finally Happens got my brain buzzing with stories that bring together fantasy and reality. The well-researched speculations induce daydreams and nightmares and mark Mike Pearl as one of his generation's most interesting writers. Alec Ross, New York Times bestselling author of The Industries of the Future
In his fascinating book The Day It Finally Happens journalist Mike Pearl, who admits almost gleefully that he suffers from generalized anxiety disorder and extended stretches of panic, imagines the future and is shocked by what he foresees. Think Woody Allen meets Alvin Toffler. Just as Toffler's Future Shock set a standard for crystal ball gazing decades ago, Pearl's mighty oak of a book gives us a sobering, and at times humorous, assessment of what's on today's horizon. When you present a litany of dire statistics, as Pearl often does, it's wise to preserve a sense of humor. Pearl has that in abundance. He's a funny guy, but with a serious side. I came away from The Day It Finally Happens bubbling with new information, and hopeful-but not certain-of a better future. Charles Panati, author of Panati’s Extraordinary Endings of Practically Everything and Everybody
The Day It Finally Happens is unlike anything I've ever read. It's a bit like losing yourself in a thrumming kaleidoscope of our favorite hypothetical futures, which range from looming hellscapes to our most durable dreams-but you'll be surprisingly well-informed when you finally come to in the present. Sharp, comic, blunt, and justifiably anxious, Pearl is the ideal tour guide to what lies ahead. You'll probably find yourself, as I did, flipping to the next scenario, and the next, long past any sane hour of the night. Pearl's investigations into the worlds of tomorrow are never anything less than engrossing. Brian Merchant, bestselling author of The One Device: The Secret History of the iPhone
Alternately reassuring and hair-raising, The Day It Finally Happens uncovers surprising answers to all those 'What if?' questions that keep us up at night. It's like peering through a crack in time at what lies ahead and feeling yourself unable to take your eyes away. Trust Mike Pearl to be your intrepid guide to the future. David Feldman, author of Why Do Clocks Run Clockwise? and Why Do Fish Sleep?
I was floored by the detail in this survey of looming doom. Whether you intend to survive the cataclysm or merely drown passively in a tsunami of fire you should be versed in every one of these scenarios. Remember to keep a small bag packed! John Roderick, host of the Omnibus Project Podcast, an apocalypse primer

About the Author

Mike Pearl is a journalist, author and screenwriter based in Los Angeles. He's been published in The Hollywood Reporter, The Awl, Grist, Death and Taxes, VICE's website and magazine, and VICE Motherboard's science fiction outlet known as Terraform.

Pearl has found a niche as an investigator of the seemingly absurd. His column "How Scared Should I Be?" attempted to quantify the scariness of the world's anxiety-inducing topics, like North Korea, gun ownership, the zika virus, and getting punched in the face. His second column, "Hours and Minutes" delved into the immediate implications of geopolitical meltdowns and war scenarios. Entires in both columns frequently attracted millions of readers.

The Day It Finally Happens is Pearl's first book.

More on this Book

If you live on planet Earth, you're probably scared about the future. Terrorism, complicated international relations, global warming, and a raft of other issues make it hard not to be. But how close are we to the end? And what can we expect when we finally reach it? In this hilarious, enlightening and often terrifying book, Pearl gives us a glimpse of the potential end of the world scenarios that could happen sooner than we think - from nuclear war to the end of antibiotics, discovering distant life to the realisation that all cemeteries are full. Weaving together his own research, alongside interviews with scientists and political thinkers, and visiting 'preppers', Pearl investigates how close we really are to the end of the world - and what we can expect when it finally happens. . .