Lore Podcast — Episode 288: "Doom & Gloom"
Host: Aaron Mahnke | Air Date: September 8, 2025

Episode Theme Overview

In this episode, Aaron Mahnke masterfully explores humanity’s age-old obsession with the end of the world. From apocalyptic myths and real-world catastrophes to doomsday prophets and societal panics, Mahnke traces how “doom and gloom” have haunted cultures throughout history. He demonstrates that while our tales and fears about the apocalypse may vary, our need to tell, share, and learn from these stories is universal — and, perhaps, our strongest means of survival.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Pompeii Casts: A Reminder of Fragility

[00:51] - [03:15]

• Story of Giuseppe Fiorelli (1863): Fiorelli revolutionizes archaeological excavation in Pompeii by excavating from the top down, leading to the discovery of voids left by decomposed bodies in volcanic ash.
• Fiorelli Process: Injecting plaster into the voids creates horrifyingly detailed statues of victims at the moment of death—both “creepy” and deeply human.
  • Quote:

    "If you haven't already seen them. They are deeply chilling and heartbreakingly human. And above all, they are a reminder that even the most advanced civilizations are not safe from the end of the world." — Aaron Mahnke [02:58]

• Transition to End-of-World Myths: The casts serve as a metaphor for sudden and total destruction.

The Universality & Variety of Apocalypse Myths

[03:15] – [12:00]

• Across cultures, apocalyptic legends often feature not only destruction, but rebirth—a cyclical process.
  • Zoroastrian myth: River of molten metal cleanses the world.
  • Chuang myth (Malaysia): The planet flips over, creating a new world.
  • Aztec mythology: Series of cataclysms, each ending and remaking the world.

Flood Myths:

• Biblical flood (Noah’s Ark) is just one among many, and not the oldest.
  • Ancient Mesopotamia (Ziyadsera, 2300 BCE): A similar ark story predates Genesis by centuries.
  • Greek: Zeus wipes out humanity with a flood, but 2 righteous survive in an ark.
  • Hindu: Manu, advised by Vishnu (as a fish), survives a deluge to rebuild life.
  • Ojibwe/Anishinaabe: Nanabuzu survives atop a log; a small coot bird retrieves the mud for the new world.
• Quote:

  “Stories of the great flood exist in the Americas, too... The only survivor is a guy named Nanabuzu, who manages to float his way into the next world atop a log raft.” — Aaron Mahnke [09:32]

• Scholars now believe these stories spread along trade routes, adapting across cultures—a “game of telephone” on a mythic scale.

Doomsday Prophets Who Changed History

[12:00] – [20:30]

Christopher Columbus: An Unexpected Prophet

• Columbus calculated the world would end in 1656, linking his exploration to doomsday urgency—spurred by the desire to spread Christianity before the Second Coming.
• The irony: His actions triggered the “Great Dying”—over 90% of Indigenous populations in the Americas perished from genocide and disease, even altering the planet’s climate by reforesting abandoned farmland.
  • Quote:

    "In attempting to warn people about a fake apocalypse, Columbus himself would be the one to set a very real apocalypse in motion for the native peoples of the Americas." — Aaron Mahnke [15:20]

William Miller and the Millerites

• Miller, a War of 1812 veteran, becomes obsessed with biblical prophecy, predicting Christ's return for March 23, 1843.
• Millions prepare, giving away possessions and futures.
• After repeated failed dates, the movement fragments, but a remnant (led by Ellen and James White) becomes the Seventh Day Adventist Church.
  • Memorable Moment:

    "Think of it like the eras tour, but apocalypse style." — Aaron Mahnke [17:48]

    • Describes Miller's relentless revival circuit tour.

Modern Panics: Halley’s Comet and the World's End

[20:30] – [28:46]

• 1910: Halley's Comet approaches; media and scientists—especially Camille Flammarion—spark mass panic by speculating about poisonous gases in the comet’s tail.
  • Flammarion's doomsday scenarios spread faster than his reassurances.
  • Fake cures and protective talismans are sold; opportunism flourishes.
• Americans party and capitalize on the scare (anti-comet pills, insurance, whiskey).
  • Quote:

    "One New York socialite named Gertrude Cruser threw a 2am bash at her family mansion, which she decorated with skeletons, paper satans and bats with glowing eyes dangling from the ceiling." — Aaron Mahnke [26:55]

• Outcome: The comet does nothing unusual; life resumes.
• Mark Twain, born and dying with the comet, fulfills a self-stoked prophecy.
  • Quote:

    "It will be the greatest disappointment of my life if I don't go out with Halley's Comet, the Almighty has said, no doubt. Now, here are these two unaccountable freaks. They came in together, they must go out together." — Mark Twain, as recounted by Mahnke [28:12]

Why We Tell End-of-World Stories

[28:46] – [31:46]

• Historical linkage between comets and disaster (China, Pliny the Elder, Cotton Mather).
• Aaron underscores the human tendency to seek explanations (and scapegoats) in chaos.
  • Quote:

    "In times of great uncertainty, people tend to reach for two things above all, an explanation and someone to blame." — Aaron Mahnke [29:38]

• Despite fears and fate, humanity endures.

The Enduring Challenge: Communicating Across Millennia

[31:46] – [38:49]

• What warnings would last into a post-apocalypse future?
• Post-nuclear age challenge: how do we warn future generations about radioactive waste?
  • Language is too fragile—10,000 years ago there was no written language at all.
  • Images (e.g., faces in agony) might not be understood by evolved humans; physical deterrents (like “landscapes of thorns”) may not survive environmental change.
• Most creative solution: glowing cats (genetically engineered to respond to radiation)—but only useful if people know what it means.
• Ultimate answer: Folklore is humanity’s long-lived, evolving alarm system. Stories, tales, and religions can impart warnings that transcend language and change.
  • Quote:

    “There is one communication tool that has the power to change and adapt and survive in any community that adopts it... I’m talking, of course, about folklore.” — Aaron Mahnke [37:35] “At the end of the day, the only thing with a longer half-life than a heap of toxic waste is a really good story.” — Aaron Mahnke [38:43]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “They are deeply chilling and heartbreakingly human. And above all, they are a reminder that even the most advanced civilizations are not safe from the end of the world.” — Aaron Mahnke [02:58]

• “It’s easy to think it was horrendous, no question. But does this really qualify as the end of the world after all?” — Aaron Mahnke on the Great Dying [15:38]

• "Think of it like the eras tour, but apocalypse style." — Aaron Mahnke, on William Miller’s revival circuit [17:48]

• “But don’t think that it was all doom and gloom. People were still kind of excited about the whole affair.” — Aaron Mahnke [26:15]

• “There is one communication tool that has the power to change and adapt and survive… I’m talking, of course, about folklore.” — Aaron Mahnke [37:35]

Timestamps of Important Segments

• [00:51] — Discovery and meaning of Pompeii’s plaster casts
• [03:15 – 12:00] — Universal and cyclical apocalyptic myths (global flood stories, myth diffusion)
• [12:00 – 15:38] — Columbus’s doomsday prophecy and its tragic real-world fulfillment
• [15:39 – 20:30] — William Miller, the Millerites, and the “Great Disappointment”
• [20:30 – 28:46] — 1910 Halley’s Comet panic and the American response; Mark Twain
• [28:46 – 29:40] — Comets as omens and the psychological need for apocalypse stories
• [31:46 – 38:49] — How to warn the distant future about nuclear waste: languages, images, hostile architecture, genetically engineered cats, and the enduring legacy of folklore

Conclusion

“Doom & Gloom” reveals that the human drive to predict, narrate, and prepare for the end times is far older and more meaningful than any single catastrophe. Whether through scientific ingenuity, religious fervor, or timeless folklore, our stories about the world’s end paradoxically help us understand, survive, and sometimes even reinvent the world itself.

Final reflection:

“At the end of the day, the only thing with a longer half-life than a heap of toxic waste is a really good story.” — Aaron Mahnke [38:43]