From the climate crisis, to the breakneck pace of technological change, to the threat of further pandemics, there’s no shortage of reasons one could find to throw up one’s hands and proclaim ‘the end is nigh’. But what’s the actual likelihood of a societal collapse? Further, what would that even look like? And, in the meantime, what’s the best way to channel the creeping feeling that the world as we know it might be coming to an end?
In Everything Is Going to Be Fine, the San Francisco-based filmmaker Ryan Malloy goes in search of answers on how he ought to prepare for the worst, and, more pressingly, how he should handle his doomsday anxieties in the meantime. Embarking on a journey that includes an interview with Ian Morris, an archaeologist and professor of Classics at Stanford University, sessions with a therapist, and time spent with ‘preppers’, Malloy’s approach is fretful yet lighthearted, ultimately landing on a note of optimism. Shot in 2011, the ideas the film explores are as relevant as ever, lending credence to the idea that widespread pessimism about humanity’s trajectory is a truly timeless feeling.
Director: Ryan Malloy
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War and peace
‘She is living on in many hearts’ – Otto Frank on the legacy of his daughter’s diary
12 minutes
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Art
Why Diego Velázquez needed a lifetime to paint his enigmatic masterpiece
31 minutes
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Earth science and climate
There’s a ‘climate bomb’ ticking beneath the Arctic ice. How can we prepare?
8 minutes
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Political philosophy
The radical activist couple who fought for social change in the courtroom
21 minutes
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Human rights and justice
When a burial for slave trade victims is unearthed, a small island faces a reckoning
29 minutes
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Technology and the self
A haunting scene from ‘Minority Report’ inspires a voyage into time and memory
7 minutes
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Family life
The stream-of-consciousness thoughts and memories that emerge while cooking a meal
5 minutes
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Ecology and environmental sciences
GPS tracking reveals stunning insights into the patterns of migratory birds
6 minutes
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Human rights and justice
Can providing humanitarian aid be illegal? A troubling case from the US-Mexico border
17 minutes