In this episode of Levity, writer and journalist Tom Ough joins the hosts to discuss the biggest threats facing humanity—from nuclear war and super-volcanoes to artificial intelligence and aging. Drawing on ideas from his book The Anti-Catastrophe League, Ough explores how society can better anticipate, mitigate, and survive existential risks.

Key Points:

This episode explores the hidden logic behind humanity’s biggest doomsday threats. From nuclear war to AI, Tom Ough argues that foresight—not panic—is our best defence. The discussion ends with a provocative idea: aging itself may be our most neglected catastrophe.

• Existential vs catastrophic risks: Ough explains the difference between events that could wipe out humanity entirely (existential risks) and those that would severely damage civilisation without total extinction, such as nuclear war or super-volcanic eruptions 
• Nuclear war remains a real danger: He describes how geopolitical tensions could spiral into a nuclear exchange through domino-like escalation, and why diplomacy and arms control remain the only reliable defences 
• Asteroids and human success stories: The conversation highlights how humanity has already learned to deflect asteroids, a rare example of successfully neutralising an existential threat—one that has received surprisingly little public attention 
• Super-volcanoes and energy solutions: Ough discusses the devastation a super-volcanic eruption could cause, alongside speculative but intriguing ideas such as using geothermal energy to slowly draw heat away from dangerous volcanic systems 
• AI and aging as overlooked risks: Artificial intelligence is framed as both a misuse and loss-of-control problem, while aging—though less dramatic—is described as the most certain and universal threat to individuals, yet one society struggles to treat with urgency.