The Anthropocene Reviewed

What is "You'll Never Walk Alone" about?

The anthem of Liverpool Football Club, exploring how a musical song became a communal hymn about solidarity, grief, and shared human connection during times of tragedy.

What is "Humanity's Temporal Range" about?

The vastness of deep time and human history, reflecting on the brevity of human existence compared to the age of the Earth and the future of our species.

What is "Halley's Comet" about?

The famous periodic comet, using humanity's historical observations of it to reflect on time, awe, and how astronomical events mark the passage of generations.

What is "Our Capacity for Wonder" about?

Human curiosity and emotional capacity, examining how people maintain awe and wonder in a modern world dominated by routine and distraction.

What is "Lascaux Cave Paintings" about?

17,000-year-old Paleolithic cave art in France, focusing on humanity's ancient desire to leave a mark and communicate across millennia ("I was here").

What is "Scratch 'n' Sniff Stickers" about?

Scented novelty stickers popular in the late 20th century, exploring sensory memory, nostalgia, and the artificial recreation of natural scents.

What is "Diet Dr Pepper" about?

The popular mass-market soft drink, reflecting on consumerism, artificial flavors, and why humans derive comfort from branded products.

What is "Velociraptors" about?

The popular perception of dinosaurs versus scientific reality, exploring how pop culture shapes our understanding of prehistoric life and the passage of time.

What is "Canada Geese" about?

The ubiquitous, highly adaptable bird, examining human conflict with wildlife, urbanization, and how humans label animals as pests when they thrive alongside us.

What is "Teddy Bears" about?

The origins of stuffed animal toys named after Theodore Roosevelt, exploring comfort objects, childhood security, and how humans project affection onto inanimate items.

What is "The Hall of Presidents" about?

The Disney World animatronic attraction, analyzing sanitized national myth-making, patriotism, and how Americans curate political history.

What is "Air-Conditioning" about?

Modern climate control technology, exploring how controlling indoor temperatures reshaped human migration, architecture, and environmental consumption.

What is "Staphylococcus Aureus" about?

The pathogenic bacteria responsible for staph infections, highlighting microscopic biology, human vulnerability to disease, and the history of antibiotics.

What is "The Internet" about?

The global network connecting humanity, examining how constant digital connectivity reshapes human communication, attention spans, and information overload.

What is "Academic Decathlon" about?

High school academic competition events, exploring intellectual ambition, teenage camaraderie, and the subcultures of high school achievement.

What is "Sunsets" about?

The daily atmospheric phenomenon, contemplating cliché in art, beauty, and whether overused subjects can still hold genuine emotional power.

What is "Jerzy Dudek's Performance on May 25, 2005" about?

Liverpool goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek's historic performance in the 2005 Champions League final, focusing on physical limits, luck, and miraculous athletic moments.

What is "Penguins of Madagascar" about?

The animated movie franchise, reflecting on absurd humor, comfort viewing, and how popular entertainment distracts us from real-world anxieties.

What is "Piggly Wiggly" about?

The first self-service grocery store, exploring the revolution of modern supermarket shopping, consumer autonomy, and changes in food distribution.

What is "The Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest" about?

The annual Fourth of July competitive eating event in Coney Island, examining American spectacle, gluttony, and grotesque humor.

What is "CNN" about?

The 24-hour news cycle created by Ted Turner, examining how constant information flow changes anxiety levels, crisis perception, and modern media consumption.

What is "Harvey" about?

The 1950 film starring Jimmy Stewart about a man whose best friend is an invisible six-foot rabbit, exploring kindness, sanity, and choosing imagination over cynicism.

What is "The Yips" about?

The sudden, inexplicable loss of motor skills in athletes and performers, exploring performance anxiety, psychological blocks, and the fragile nature of mastery.

What is "Auld Lang Syne" about?

The traditional Scottish song sung at New Year's Eve, exploring nostalgia, memory, forgotten friendships, and marking the relentless passage of time.

What is "Googling Strangers" about?

The modern habit of searching online for people from our past or random individuals, exploring curiosity, parasocial curiosity, and empathy in the digital age.

What is "Indianapolis" about?

John Green's home city, reflecting on Midwestern identity, urban geography, personal history, and making a home in an understated place.

What is "Kentucky Bluegrass" about?

The standard American lawn grass, critiquing human control over nature, aesthetic conformity, and the ecological cost of maintaining manicured suburban landscapes.

What is "The Indianapolis 500" about?

The world-famous auto race, examining speed, industrial noise, Midwestern tradition, and the collective spectacle of sports gatherings.

What is "Mortification" about?

The deeply human experience of acute embarrassment and shame, examining how embarrassing memories linger and how vulnerability connects us to others.

What is "Monopoly" about?

The classic board game, detailing its origins as an anti-capitalist teaching tool (The Landlord's Game) and how it morphed into a celebration of financial dominance.

What is "Super Mario Kart" about?

The classic 1992 video game, exploring virtual competition, childhood play, and how games foster human connection and shared nostalgia.

What is "Bonneville Salt Flats" about?

The vast salt pan in Utah famous for land speed records, reflecting on extreme geography, human ambition, and driving fast across blank landscapes.

What is "Hiroyuki Doi's Circle Drawings" about?

The Japanese artist who draws intricate, repetitive pen-and-ink circle artworks, exploring grief, mindfulness, obsession, and creating order out of loss.

What is "Whispering" about?

Intimate vocal communication and ASMR triggers, exploring how low-volume sounds convey safety, secrets, and deep emotional connection.

What is "Viral Meningitis" about?

Green's scary personal experience with a severe brain illness, exploring sudden vulnerability, physical suffering, and gratitude for recovery.

What is "Plague" about?

The history of the Yersinia pestis bacterium and historical pandemics, reflecting on how global health crises expose social inequalities and human resilience.

What is "Wintry Mix" about?

Slushy, unpleasant winter weather, examining how humans react to inconvenience, discomfort, and the grey areas between distinct seasons.

What is "The Hot Dogs of Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur" about?

The famous hot dog stand in Reykjavík, Iceland, reflecting on global street food culture, travel, and finding delight in local traditions.

What is "The Notes App" about?

Digital note-taking software, reflecting on spontaneous human thoughts, digital archives, and coping with the COVID-19 pandemic through fragmented writing.

What is "The Mountain Goats" about?

The indie rock band led by John Darnielle, exploring how music provides solace during dark times, emotional catharsis, and fandom.

What is "The QWERTY Keyboard" about?

The standard typewriter layout, exploring path dependence—how arbitrary historical design choices persist simply through momentum and habit.

What is "The World’s Largest Ball of Paint" about?

A quirky Indiana roadside attraction made of thousands of paint layers, exploring human devotion to quirky hobbies, community micro-history, and accumulating meaning over time.

What is "Sycamore Trees" about?

Large American trees with distinct peeling bark, serving as a reflection on nature’s endurance, urban ecology, and personal connection to specific landscapes.

What is "New Partner" about?

The song by Palace Music (Will Oldham), exploring heartbreak, longing, music appreciation, and moving on after relationship changes.

What is "Three Farmers on Their Way to a Dance" about?

August Sander's iconic 1914 photograph, contemplating the young men on the brink of World War I, fate, historical hindsight, and photography's ability to freeze time.

What is "The Kaua'i o-o" about?

An extinct Hawaiian songbird whose last male was recorded singing a mating call to a female that would never come, reflecting on human-caused extinction, loss, and loneliness.

What is "The Smallpox Vaccine" about?

The discovery of vaccination by Edward Jenner and the global eradication of smallpox, celebrating scientific triumph, public health cooperation, and human progress.

What is "The Orbital Sunrise" about?

Seeing 16 sunrises a day from the International Space Station, exploring the overview effect, space exploration, and viewing Earth as a single, fragile home.

What is "The Ginkgo Tree" about?

One of the oldest living tree species that survived prehistoric extinctions and atomic blasts, reflecting on resilience, ancient biology, and living alongside modern urban life.