The Anthropocene Reviewed · Complexly, John Green
Penguins of Madagascar and the Smallpox Vaccine
April 29, 2021·27 min·2 clips
John Green explains how a documentary crew shoves penguins off a cliff, exposing our god-like role in the Anthropocene.
As heard by us
A joke about a movie opening becomes a clear-eyed meditation on dread and medicine.
The piece opens in a comic register, then lets the ground drop out from under it. A scene from Penguins of Madagascar and the nuisance of a familiar blowhard set up a lighter mood, but the real business is the smallpox vaccine and the fear wrapped around it.
Why you'd press play
Press play when you want a playful opening to widen into smallpox vaccine history.
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