Ben Bradford Launches “Are We Doomed?” Podcast on NPR Network

Washington, D.C. – April 23, 2026 – We are obsessed with our own demise.

From AI takeovers to the Yellowstone supervolcano, the “end of the world” is a top-tier entertainment genre.

But are we actually in danger, or just bored? NPR’s latest podcast, Are We Doomed?, aims to answer exactly that.

Launching April 28, the series promises to peel back the layers of our collective paranoia and see what’s really worth worrying about.

The show is the brainchild of award-winning journalist Ben Bradford. You might know him from the hit podcast Landslide or his years reporting for Marketplace. He isn’t just another talking head; he’s a reporter who has spent years covering the intersection of politics, energy, and the environment.

Now, he’s turning his lens toward the things that keep us up at night. The NPR Network, a massive collective of independent public media organizations, is backing the project.

They are betting that we are ready for a high-production, narrative-driven look at the apocalypse.

This isn’t just another gloom-and-doom session. Each episode tackles a specific existential threat—like the historical collapse of the Roman Empire or the AI “singularity”—and analyzes what we are actually doing to stop it.

The show uses a mix of narrative storytelling and deep-dive interviews with scientists and historians.

It’s designed to help you separate the legitimate galactic threats from the “dooms” that were wrongly predicted in the 20th century.

The format is refreshingly structured. Recurring segments include “The Doom Meter,” which ranks the severity of each threat.

Then there’s “Are We Doomed Solves It,” where guests attempt to dismantle a global risk in a single conversation.

It’s a bold format for a dark subject. To round out the experience, each episode comes with an animated companion video released on YouTube.

The most interesting thing about this series isn’t the threats themselves. It’s the curiosity. Despite the heavy themes, the show is described as “unexpectedly hopeful.”

In a media landscape where fear-mongering drives clicks, a show that actually deconstructs fear is a contrarian move. It asks us to prioritize real, measurable problems over social media-driven panic. It’s about learning what bananas can teach us about survival—seriously.

Bradford is fascinated by how we’ve made it this far as a species. That curiosity is the engine of the show. We live in an age of constant, notification-driven anxiety. Are We Doomed? might be the reality check we need to realize that while the world is fragile, it’s also remarkably resilient.

Tune in on April 28 to see if we’re actually cooked or if we’re just overreacting to the headlines.