‘Goliath’s Curse’ and the Surprising Benefits of Societal Collapse
Angry Planet7 Nov 2025

‘Goliath’s Curse’ and the Surprising Benefits of Societal Collapse

We’re obsessed with apocalypses, big and small. We fantasize about what the future might look like after the fall of society and fear the coming tribulation. Rome fretted about decline until its end. Stories of the Sea Peoples terrified the monarchs of the Late Bronze Age. During the 30 Years’ War, Europeans imagined Armageddon had finally begun.


But a funny thing happens after the collapse: things tend to get a little better for everyone.


Luke Kemp is here to hold our hands through the end of the world as we know it. Kemp is a researcher at Cambridge’s Centre for the Study of Existential Risk and the author of the book Goliath’s Curse: The History and Future of Societal Collapse.


  • Beauty in collapse
  • Matthew’s AI test
  • The Doctor Doom mask
  • “Collapse was good for most people.”
  • Sea People’s mentioned
  • Why a Goliath and not a Leviathan?
  • Down with Thomas Hobbes
  • Fear of a mass panic driving collapse
  • “Emergency powers have a very funny tendency to stick around”
  • The problem with guns, germs, and steel
  • The Tree of Evil
  • On the purpose of human sacrifice
  • Doctor Doom is the belle of the ball
  • Are we ending on a high note?


Buy Goliath’s Curse


Centre for the Study of Existential Risk


The rewards of ruin

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episoder(497)

How to Count Nuclear Weapons

How to Count Nuclear Weapons

Listen to this episode commercial free at https://angryplanetpod.com/No one is really sure how many nuclear weapons are out there. Every number you see is a best guess. Russia and the U.S. have the mo...

12 Jun 202459min

TEASER: Checking In On the Online Nazis With Jason Wilson

TEASER: Checking In On the Online Nazis With Jason Wilson

Sign up at angryplanetpod.com to get instant access to the full episode.A direct link to the episode on Substack.American politics was bizarre in 2016. Alt-right figures dominated many news cycles and...

6 Jun 202413min

The FBI’s Chat App and the Biggest Sting Operation In History

The FBI’s Chat App and the Biggest Sting Operation In History

International criminal organizations are more concerned about message security than the average citizen. The end-to-end encryption of WhatsApp or Signal is great, but drug traffickers are looking for ...

5 Jun 202453min

Ships: America Doesn't Build Them Like It Used To (Or at All)

Ships: America Doesn't Build Them Like It Used To (Or at All)

A lot goes into keeping a navy afloat. There’s ship husbanding, maintenance, and buckets of haze gray. The U.S. used to be good at this, but it hasn’t been on an active war-footing for a long time and...

30 Mai 20241h

TEASER: The Case for World War III Breaking Out This Summer

TEASER: The Case for World War III Breaking Out This Summer

Sign up at angryplanetpod.com to get instant access to the full episode.A direct link to the episode on Substack.The big picture in Europe doesn’t look good. Russia is moving to encircle key cities in...

22 Mai 202412min

The Horrors Behind Your Frozen Shrimp

The Horrors Behind Your Frozen Shrimp

Americans love shrimp. They love it so much they don’t think too hard about where it comes from—or the virtual slaves who are farming them. Joshua Farinella doesn’t have that luxury.A few years ago, F...

20 Mai 202448min

TEASER: Russian Murderers Who Go to War and Come Home to Kill Again

TEASER: Russian Murderers Who Go to War and Come Home to Kill Again

Sign up at angryplanetpod.com to get instant access to the full episode.A direct link to the episode on Substack.In Russia there’s a revolving door between prisons and the frontlines. What began as a ...

2 Mai 202411min

Americans in Ukraine Looking for ‘Daybreak’

Americans in Ukraine Looking for ‘Daybreak’

Luke Paxton and Han Lee know a good cause when they see one. When Russia invades Ukraine in 2022, the American vets know what they need to do. Their time in Afghanistan has given them the skills to he...

29 Apr 20241h 1min

Populært innen Politikk og nyheter

giver-og-gjengen-vg
aftenpodden
aftenpodden-usa
forklart
lydartikler-fra-aftenposten
popradet
stopp-verden
fotballpodden-2
dine-penger-pengeradet
det-store-bildet
rss-gukild-johaug
i-retten
nokon-ma-ga
hanna-de-heldige
e24-podden
rss-ness
aftenbla-bla
rss-dannet-uten-piano
frokostshowet-pa-p5
grasoner-den-nye-kalde-krigen