Last night at dinner, my kids — who are always online and always see everything — mentioned President Trump’s irresponsible threats of nuclear war. They’re bright kids who, I suspect, are about as well-informed as any other 12 and 13 year-olds, so they know the general outline. 

I remember being pretty freaked out at the brinksmanship of the Cold War and, of course, “The Day After” scared the living bejesus out of me when I was around their age. So, despite their relative savviness and maturity, I was nonetheless cautious about how I talked about it, not wanting to upset them.

​Then my son said, “I wonder what the last meme will be before the world blows up?” and he and my daughter began laughing their heads off about it. When I woke up this morning I saw that my daughter had sent me this, answering her brother’s question.

If the planet does survive long enough for my kids to reach adulthood, it will be powered with disaffected irony. Not great, but I suppose there are worse things.​