It has become a sport on social media to mock citizens who have not yet decided how to vote in this year’s US presidential election, especially if they say they need “more information” before making their decision. The puncture is valid, up to a point; After all, Kamala Harris has been vice president for the past 3.75 years and Donald Trump was president for the previous four. Google both names; “Insufficient information” will not be the first search result, I promise.

Still, many people (including, apparently, some of the editors who work for me) need deadlines to focus their decision-making, and Election Day is an effective incentive. Don’t you believe me? In the 2020 US presidential election, in the darkest days of the COVID-19 pandemic, 27 percent of voters cast their ballots in person on Election Day, even though standing in line to vote could actually having cost them their lives.

So if you’re a U.S. citizen waiting for the Election Day deadline to make a decision in this year’s presidential race, I have some suggestions for how you could profitably spend your time between now and then. Because you are reading the Bulletin of the Atomic ScientistsI’m guessing you’re probably somewhat concerned about avoiding global catastrophes caused by nuclear weapons and climate change (along with a variety of disruptive technologies, including artificial intelligence and potentially dangerous advances in gene editing, which could also end up endangering the civilization in the future). decades).

During the last months, the BulletinThe writers and editors of have presented a package of substantial but also accessible coverage that analyzes the election in terms of existential threats and how they could be reduced and managed. The following is a collection of pieces from that coverage, carefully selected for the benefit of Americans and concerned citizens around the world who have limited reading time between now and Election Day.

An existential timeline of the Trump/Pence and Biden/Harris presidencies

As Kamala Harris and Donald Trump reach the end of their presidential campaign, the Bulletin”s editors review how the last two US administrations handled the world’s most dangerous threats.

An interactive multimedia presentation by five Bulletin editors.

How Demagogues Destroy Democracy: A Global Step-by-Step Guide

Today’s demagogues are the heralds of a new form of 21st-century despotism: a corrupt “ghost democracy” in which regular elections are held but the rich become super-rich and omnipotent, while the majority of the population feels prey to feelings of helplessness. .

By John Keane, professor of politics at the University of Sydney, Australia, and author of several books on despotism.

On November 5, AI will also be at the polls

The 2024 elections will decide whether the United States leads or retreats from its crucial role in ensuring that artificial intelligence develops in line with democratic values.

By Ali Nouri, Princeton University professor and former deputy assistant to President Biden.

Project 2025: The right-wing conspiracy to torpedo global climate action

The Republican Party threatens to turn a possible second Trump term into a weapon against any domestic climate action. But what happens in the United States does not stay in the United States.

By Michael E. Mann, director of the Center for Science, Sustainability and Media at the University of Pennsylvania.

Trump has a strategic plan for the country: prepare for a nuclear war

If elected, Trump’s political agenda (Project 2025) would push the United States into a costly, dangerous and destabilizing nuclear confrontation not seen since the darkest days of the Cold War.

By Joe Cirincione, long-time nuclear policy analyst.

Trump says he would dissolve pandemic preparedness office, again

Donald Trump stated that he would dissolve the White House office in charge of preventing and responding to pandemics. It’s not the first time.

By Erik English, associate multimedia editor of the Bulletin.

Those who have more reading time between now and November 5, 2024, can also take a look at all the stories in the September number from our bimonthly magazine, “How to Protect Elections and Democracy in a Critical Political Year.” The edition offers 10 articles that present electoral information that you will not find anywhere else or that you will not find presented within the framework of existential threats that the Bulletin is specialized and that other media tend to downplay its importance. Even the most ambitious voter-readers might take a look at this. collection pagewhich acts as an archive for all our stories related to the 2024 elections.

Finally, there is a satirical piece that did not appear in the Bulletin but I suspect it will make them laugh, even in these last tense days before Tuesday’s presidential election. Depending on your political leanings, you may laugh heartily, sadly, bitterly, or even angrily, but I predict you will laugh. Enjoy it, Election Day, and all the other benefits and obligations that democracy confers. Long may it last, in the United States and around the world.