UnDisciplined: How to survive the end of the world

By Matthew LaPlante

Published May 23, 2024 at 10:00 AM MDT

The cover of "A Field Guide to the Apocalypse"

If you have a gnawing sense that this is end of the world as we know it, then know this: You’re not alone. Apocalyptic dread is as old as human history. So, chances are good that this too will pass. But what if it doesn’t? What if the end really is nigh. Well, in that case, Athena Aktipis has some advice for you. In her new book, “A Field Guide to the Apocalypse,” Aktipis says that you, too, can survive and thrive in all sorts of dystopian future scenarios. And, she says, you might even enjoy it.

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Matthew LaPlante

Matthew LaPlante has reported on ritual infanticide in Northern Africa, insurgent warfare in the Middle East, the legacy of genocide in Southeast Asia, and gang violence in Central America. But a few years back, something donned on him: Maybe the news doesn't have to be brutally depressing all the time. Today, he balances his continuing work on more heartbreaking subjects by writing books about the intersection of science, human health and society, including the New York Times best-selling Lifespan with geneticist David Sinclair and the Nautilus Award-winning Longevity Plan with cardiologist John Day. His first solo book, Superlative, looks at what scientists are learning by studying organisms that have evolved in record-setting ways, and his is currently at work on another book about embracing the inevitability of human-caused climate change with an optimistic outlook on the future.

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