At the beginning of every apocalyptic thriller, there’s a scene where the hero is getting ready for work, feeding the kids breakfast, cleaning up after a dog that has barfed in the living room, and generally dealing with the million minor stresses of everyday life.
Meanwhile, on the TV or radio in the background, the news cycles through the usual mundanities of petty crime and traffic and weather, except that thrown into the mix there are a handful of Easter eggs: Warnings of nuclear sabre-rattling by jumped-up third-world dictators. Reports of bizarre weather patterns in Europe. A weird viral outbreak on a cruise ship in Alaska. A quirky couple from the Midwest who swear they saw an alien spacecraft collecting samples in the field behind their house.
Andrew Potter wrote The Authenticity Hoax and, with Joseph Heath, The Rebel Sell.
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