It Could Happen Here – CZM Book Club: The Comet, by W.E.B. Du Bois (March 1, 2026)

Episode Overview

This episode of the Cool Zone Media Book Club, hosted by Margaret Killjoy, features a dramatic reading and analysis of “The Comet” (1920) by W.E.B. Du Bois. The show explores the novella’s groundbreaking approach to race, apocalypse, and the possibility of rebirth beyond social collapse, reflecting on Du Bois’ influential role as a historian, sociologist, and early Afrofuturist. The episode invites listeners into the world of Du Bois’ fiction and reflects on its ongoing relevance and power.

Key Themes & Discussion Points

Introduction to W.E.B. Du Bois & Context of "The Comet"

[02:07]

• Margaret shares background:
  • Du Bois was a civil rights leader, Harvard-trained sociologist, co-founder of the NAACP, and a major influence on historical understandings of reconstruction and Black agency.
  • Best known for nonfiction works like The Souls of Black Folk and Black Reconstruction in America, Du Bois also wrote fiction to explore ideas unaddressable in essays.
  • “The Comet” is recognized as a foundational piece of Black science fiction and early Afrofuturism.
  • Du Bois’s interest in religious metaphor, apocalyptic language, and societal structures is a major influence on the story’s style and substance.

Summary and Dramatic Reading of “The Comet”

[03:03] onwards

• Margaret narrates the story, focusing on Jim, a Black bank messenger in New York, who survives a global catastrophe triggered by a comet passing Earth.
• As Jim emerges from the bank vault, he finds the city silent and filled with the dead, a haunting vision of instant social collapse and mass death.
• Moving through New York, Jim encounters Julia, a wealthy white woman; together, they believe they may be the last people alive.
• Their search for other survivors takes them through Harlem and Manhattan, structuring an exploration of class and racial difference in the face of apocalypse.
• The narrative develops mythic and Biblical overtones: Jim and Julia become a new Adam and Eve, united in shared vulnerability but haunted by society’s old divisions.

Racial & Social Dynamics:

• The racial and class barriers between Jim and Julia blur in extreme circumstances, but never wholly disappear.
• Notable scene: When Julia’s father and fiancé return—having survived outside New York—the restoration of ordinary social order immediately reinstates racial hierarchy, as Jim is both thanked and othered.
• “He has dared all to rescue me...but she did not look at him again.” (Margaret, quoting Du Bois, [46:44])

Biblical & Apocalyptic Imagery:

• Frequent reference to themes of rebirth, redemption, and the leveling nature of mass death.
• “The rich and the poor are met together…the Lord is maker of them all.” (Du Bois, read by Margaret, [36:28])
• Characters gesture towards a moment of human equality before being swept back into old roles.

Literary Analysis & Reflections

[47:47]

• Margaret and Hazel (the show’s story selection assistant) offer post-story reflection:
  • Du Bois uses conventional tropes—“apocalypse and rebirth,” “archetypes from the Garden of Eden”—to imagine the destruction of racism and birth of new humanity.
  • The story’s return to brutal social order after the crisis is “profoundly degrading and dehumanizing,” illustrating how deeply such roles persist.
  • Yet the ending allows a moment of Black joy and survival—a reminder of “resistance and interdependence, a promise that the fight for liberation continues.”
• Hazel notes: “I enjoy...how when the cars honk and the fireworks crack, the noise they make is put into quotation marks as if they're characters who are also speaking. I find this stylistically quite charming.” ([47:47])
• Margaret on Du Bois’ style: “He loves alliteration...I really appreciate that he actually cares about the craft of writing.” ([49:00])
• Discussion of how apocalyptic fiction has shifted from horror to a genre of its own, and reflection on the leveling effect of death in history.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On Social Hierarchy and Human Distinction

“The rich and the poor are met together...the Lord is maker of them all.”
— Margaret quoting Du Bois ([36:28])

“Yes, I was not human yesterday...And your people were not my people, she said. But today...”
— Margaret, reading ([36:51])

On the Meaning of Apocalypse

“Death. The Leveler, he muttered. And the Revealer, she whispered gently, rising to her feet.”
— Margaret ([36:58])

“Du Bois’ protagonist could only imagine the destruction of racism through the destruction of his entire society...”
— Hazel ([47:21])

On Literary Style

“I also really appreciate that he's managed to write a nuclear apocalypse story before the invention of the nuclear bomb, and it's interesting because it was probably presented as horror, but it doesn’t read as horror to me now.”
— Margaret ([49:21])

“I enjoy...how when the cars honk and the fireworks crack, the noise they make is put into quotation marks as if they're characters who are also speaking.”
— Hazel, as quoted by Margaret ([47:47])

Important Timestamps & Segments

| Timestamp | Segment Description | |------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 02:07 | Background on Du Bois and his place in Black history, science fiction, and political thought | | 03:03 | Start of dramatic reading of “The Comet” | | 19:28 | Introduction of Julia, and the intersection of race and gender as apocalypse unravels social boundaries | | 34:44 | Move toward mutual understanding and kinship between Jim and Julia | | 46:44 | Restoration of social order and racial hierarchy when Julia’s family and world return | | 47:47 | Post-story analysis with Hazel; discussion of themes, style, and story's ongoing relevance | | 49:00 | Margaret’s personal reflections on style and the historical nature of apocalypse fiction |

Episode Takeaways

• “The Comet” by W.E.B. Du Bois is more than early science fiction—it’s a profound meditation on race, apocalypse, and rebirth.
• The episode highlights the story’s prophetic vision of how social roles endure and are challenged during catastrophe.
• Listeners are left with a sense of hope in resistance and the enduring struggle for liberation, even within cycles of collapse and restoration.

Final Thoughts

Margaret closes with a call to mutual care and struggle:

“Take care of each other. Love each other. It is our duty to fight for freedom and it is our duty to win.” ([50:40])

—

This summary captures the heart of the episode, making it accessible for listeners and non-listeners alike, with clear sections, direct quotes, and thoughtful breakdowns of both story and analysis.