Episode 134: The Clock is Ticking to Doomsday

Send us Fan MailYou’ve probably heard of the Doomsday Clock. It’s the clock whose hands move closer to midnight every time humanity is judged to be closer to annihilation. A few months ago, it inched a tiny bit closer to midnight. Mark wondered whether this phenomenon was akin to how the news media incessantly reports on bad things so as to boost their audience, so he asked Joe about who makes the Clock-setting decisions and whether they serve any real purpose other than generating alarming headlines. Joe and Mark recount the history of the Doomsday Clock, what its creators were trying to accomplish, and whether its impact has been useful or counterproductive.