The Rapture was a bust, but it still feels like doomsday.

It's Been a Minute

NPR

News Commentary, Society & Culture, News, Spirituality, Religion & Spirituality

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🗓️ 26 September 2025

⏱️ 19 minutes

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Summary

The Christian rapture didn't happen as predicted, but a lot of you still feel like we're living in end times. Why is that?

Right now - from religion to climate change to doomsday prepping - there's a lot of talk about the end of the world. And, yeah, there was a lot of joking (and some believing) this week that the rapture would happen, but this all points to a broader feeling a lot of us have: that something has to change. But what?

In this episode, Brittany is joined by culture writer Joshua Rivera and national writer for Religion News Service Bob Smietana. They answer those questions and get into why the rapture is so appealing to Christians and non-Christians alike. And how Christian beliefs about the end of days are seeping into all of our minds.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Support for NPR and the following message comes from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
0:05.4	RWJF is a national philanthropy, working toward a future where health is no longer a privilege but a right.
0:12.1	Learn more at RWJF.org.
0:17.9	Hello, hello. I'm Brittany Luce and you're listening to It's Been a Minute from NPR, a show about what's going on in culture and why it doesn't happen by accident.
0:34.6	Okay, so this is my top top number one question. Do you think we are living in the end times? Yes or no? Well, okay, yeah. So I'm going to say yes because we're all going to die. So it's always the end times for us. Okay, that's true. Whoever's living now, it is the end times. We're going to read the end. So there we go.
0:55.7	I like that. That's philosophical. I like that. What about you, Joshua? What do you think?
0:58.9	I'm going to be philosophical from the opposite end. And I'm going to say, no, because whatever happens to us, the earth is still going to be here.
1:07.8	That's fair. You know?
1:09.0	So the world's not ending.
1:10.7	Yes. Hello's fair. You know? So the world's not ending. Yes.
1:13.8	Hello. Is anyone out there?
1:16.8	If you can hear me, I am sorry to report. You may have been left behind.
1:22.3	But you're not alone. Culture writer and critic Joshua Rivera and Bob Smetana,
1:27.2	National Writer for Religion News Service, are here with me.
1:30.2	Glad to be here.
1:31.1	Yeah, thanks for having us.
1:32.4	Okay, so this week, there were a lot of people talking about the end of the world.
1:36.7	Specifically, they were talking about the Christian rapture.
1:40.3	It's hard to say who believed this was going to happen and who was joking.
1:44.8	But the rapture blew up on TikTok.
1:48.0	You guys already know, I truly believe with all my heart we will be raptured during Feast of Trumpets this year.
1:53.4	You know, it's like I'm ready to go, but I have this, I have longing for the people that are going to be left behind.
	...

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