"The Anthropocene Reviewed" Reviewed

Have you noticed how difficult it seems lately to find a book, TV show, or movie that lets you unravel meaning on your own without spelling it out for you? Whether the culprit is a new Marvel movie that reiterates its plot every 10 minutes or a novel that you can predict the ending of by page 20, I’ve found it really nice to read or watch something that isn’t completely obvious. If those words resonated with you, and you’re open to media that could change your worldview, then I highly recommend The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green. 

You may recognize John Green from his best-selling novels like The Fault in our Stars and Turtles All the Way Down. When the world shut down in 2020, John Green compiled his thoughts on human life as we know it into The Anthropocene Reviewed. 

In case you’re unfamiliar with the term, the “Anthropocene” is the unofficial epoch of time that categorizes humanity leaving an irreversible mark on planet Earth. Think coral bleaching and ocean acidification, deterioration of the ozone layer, habitat destruction and mass deforestation, etc. 

I admit that The Anthropocene Reviewed sounds like it would just be a boring science book about the Anthropocene, but it reads closer to a memoir. Instead of reiterating the idea “we cause global warming and global warming is bad” in every single chapter, Green takes the refreshing approach of giving seemingly random things – everything from teddy bears, to Monopoly, to the Indy 500 – a review out of five stars. The beauty of the book is that he never straight up tells you how each topic relates to the Anthropocene, so (spoiler alert), when he’s talking about scratch-and-sniff stickers, he gives you the headspace to think about the implications of species extinction on your own.

This book was honestly such a pleasant surprise that stretched my understanding of the Anthropocene beyond what I learned about it in my Environmental Studies major classes. For that reason, I give it five stars. 

Another cool feature of The Anthropocene Reviewed is that John Green recorded every chapter of the book into a podcast episode for you to enjoy on the go. So if you’d rather listen to it and save a tree, check it out wherever you get your podcasts!

Community Corner: Have you read The Anthropocene Reviewed? Which chapter was your favorite? Comment down below! (I was fascinated by the Air-Conditioning chapter – it’s so crazy that air-conditioner units contribute to 10% of the world’s electricity usage…).