It’s the day after Election 2024 and half the population of the United States thinks the end of the world is imminent. And the editors of the satire site Babylon Bee, cofounders and coauthors Joel Berry and Kyle Mann, are delighted.
Their new book The Babylon Bee Guide to the Apocalypse: How to Survive All of the Possible World-Ending Scenarios, From Artificial Intelligence to Zombies (Regnery), releases next week, "which is providential," said Mann, because, "the book is a fun way to poke fun at both sides, because both will feel like the world is ending."
“We are skewering the fearmongering and catastrophizing, taking it to its most absurd conclusions,” said Berry of the fourth book in the Babylon Bee Guide series. “We make fun of everyone, of all religious and political persuasions.”
Founded in 2016, The Babylon Bee is a website extravaganza that sneers and jeers at all things Christian and life-related: politics of course, sports, movies, books, church denominations, science, megachurch preacher Joel Osteen, Hercules actor Kevin Sorbo. Nothing is sacred at The Babylon Bee, which claims 250,000 newsletter subscribers.
Meanwhile, what started as a goofball website has now become a full-time job for Mann, editor-in-chief of the Babylon Bee, and Berry, managing editor.
“We were polarizing from the beginning. In 2016, Trump had been elected and the church in America split in two,” said Berry. “The Bee became polarizing and we kind of enjoyed that. There was a lot of fun to be had by being a bit mischievous, on the outskirts, pissing off people in our church and the Christian community.”
This new book, however, might be the most friendly and palatable to both sides of the cultural divide, the pair say. "It’s definitely the stupidest thing we’ve ever written,” Berry adds. They're promoting the book with hints of the contents including ways to prepare for "the rise of artificial intelligence-powered death robots," and "bunker Interior decorating tips that will wow any guests into your 50-story underground nuclear silo Weapon assembly. " The book even offers an Interactive Zombie Adventure, field training exercises in every chapter, an interview with AI, a list of signs the end is approaching, illustrations, weapons, sarcasm, hilarity, and offense on pretty much every page.
It is even more over the top than their first book, The Babylon Bee Guide to Wokeness (Salem, 2021), which was "more word heavy," said Berry. This one is "a lot more anarchist. This one is crazy with illustrations, columns, puzzles and activities. Turn to any page and you’ll laugh a little.”
Mann adds, “My favorite part has always been making fun of Christian culture, but it’s done out of love. I grew up thinking the rapture was going to occur any minute." He’s seen all the movies, read all books, and was terrified of scenarios brought to life in the Left Behind series of books about post-Rapture events. “There are serious challenges for our nation and the world,” Mann said. “But also we can take a deep breath and realize it’s not all the end of the world.”
Berry assumes folks will be reading The Babylon Bee Guide to the Apocalypse after the election, “with the unrest and craziness" that will follow, and that the book might offer "a little relief, a chance to laugh at what we’re afraid of. It puts things into perspective."
And, of course, Mann and Berry are pretty sure it’s going to be their last Guide book. Maybe. The world is ending, after all.
