The End of the World with Michael and Stu

124: Radioactivity is in the Air for You And Me

This week we're discussing the April 28, 1986 disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the Soviet Union and its aftermath. We use the 2019 HBO mini-series Chernobyl as our guide, despite some of its historical inaccuracies and acts of dramatic compression. We note, in particular, how those very acts of dramatic compression in fact work as a metonymy for the residual Cold War ideology that animates much of the show, which seems very concerned with depicting the ways that Soviet bureaucracy contributed to the disaster while failing to adequately acknowledge how that same bureaucracy contributed to containing what could have been a much graver disaster.  This episode contains spoilers for Chernobyl. Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2309859/fan_mail/new] https://www.instagram.com/theendoftheworldwms/ https://youtube.com/@TheEndoftheWorldwMS?si=xmj-2e0s58JdN8-B https://linktr.ee/endoftheworldwithmichaelandstu

123: Hammer of the Gods

We're back covering a film that is directly in our wheelhouse this week, namely 2020's ridiculous apocalypse movie, Greenland, a Gerard Butler vehicle that explores what it's like to negotiate the aftermath of infidelity as the world around you is literally destroyed by fragments of a murderous comet. We get into all the timely news broadcasts, the Hobbesian AND Rousseauvian responses different people have to the end of the world scenario (interestingly it is the authority figures who behave well and the mere peons who turn into unbridled animals), as well as the ludicrous time wasting that occurs as a "planet killer" comet bears down on the earth. Classic stuff! This episode contains spoilers for Greenland.  Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2309859/fan_mail/new] https://www.instagram.com/theendoftheworldwms/ https://youtube.com/@TheEndoftheWorldwMS?si=xmj-2e0s58JdN8-B https://linktr.ee/endoftheworldwithmichaelandstu

122: Oval Encyclicals in Canyons Heaping the Impasse High with Choir

This week we are going over some recent news, including word of an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the hypothetical "end" of the Iran War, the Pope's powerful statement warning against the hazards of AI for human dignity, and China's minor interventions in Cuba as that country comes more squarely into the sights of the United States.  New York Times on the Ebola Outbreak [https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/24/world/africa/ebola-virus-congo-response.html] New York Times on the Iran War "Ending" [https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/05/24/world/iran-war-trump] Time Magazine on the Pope's Encyclical [https://time.com/article/2026/05/25/pope-leo-encyclical-ai-magnifica-humanitas/] The Text of the Pope's Encyclical [https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/encyclicals/documents/20260515-magnifica-humanitas.html]   Al Jazeera on China and Cuba [https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/5/24/cuba-thanks-china-for-rice-shipment-amid-worsening-humanitarian-conditions] Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2309859/fan_mail/new] https://www.instagram.com/theendoftheworldwms/ https://youtube.com/@TheEndoftheWorldwMS?si=xmj-2e0s58JdN8-B https://linktr.ee/endoftheworldwithmichaelandstu

121: Let the Mystery Be

We're concluding our coverage of The Leftovers, going over the final season in detail. We debate the series' ending, entertain the hypotheticals offered within the show itself (Michael didn't have to think of one this week), and consider the parallels between the "sudden departure" and its aftermath and Covid-19 and its impacts on contemporary society.  This episode contains spoilers for all three seasons of The Leftovers.  Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2309859/fan_mail/new] https://www.instagram.com/theendoftheworldwms/ https://youtube.com/@TheEndoftheWorldwMS?si=xmj-2e0s58JdN8-B https://linktr.ee/endoftheworldwithmichaelandstu

120: I've Heard that I'm on the Road to Purgatory

After a 111 episode break, we're finally returning to one of our favorite shows about the end of the world, that's right, it's The Leftovers Season Two. To celebrate, we have recorded our longest ever episode. There are so many themes to dissect, characters to consider, hypothetical questions to ask...we had to do our best to do this tremendous season of television justice! As was just implied, the episode opens with a trio of Leftovers-related hypotheticals devised by Michael, and for once, he completely stumps Stu, in what is sure to be a highlight for all.  This episode contains spoilers for the first two seasons of The Leftovers. Our Episode on The Leftovers Season One [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-end-of-the-world-with-michael-and-stu/id1729431156?i=1000651178201] Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2309859/fan_mail/new] https://www.instagram.com/theendoftheworldwms/ https://youtube.com/@TheEndoftheWorldwMS?si=xmj-2e0s58JdN8-B https://linktr.ee/endoftheworldwithmichaelandstu