All around the world, something dire is happening for the first time since the bubonic plague.

Demographer Nicholas Eberstadt on Uncommon Knowledge Now.

Welcome to Uncommon Knowledge.

I'm Peter Robinson.

A fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, Nicholas Eberstadt, earned both his bachelor's degree and a doctorate in political economy from Harvard.

His books include the 2016 bestseller, Men Without Work, America's Invisible Crisis.

In recent years, Dr. Eberstadt has devoted himself to studying demographics, in particular

to global depopulation.

Our text today, Dr. Eberstadt's recent article in Foreign Affairs magazine, The Age of Depopulation.

Nick, welcome back to Uncommon Knowledge.

Thank you for inviting me back, Peter.

All right.

The depopulation bomb.

Nick Eberstadt in Foreign Affairs, quote,

humans are about to enter a new era of history.

For the first time since the Black Death in the 1300s, the planetary population will decline.

We'll take this continent by continent in just a moment, as you do in your article.

But give us an overview.

How has the population behaved over these last seven centuries since the bubonic plague?

And what's happening?

Right.

Well, since we last met our intrepid heroes in the 14th century, the world's population

...