Jessica Weisberg

Grayling’s New College of the Humanities “is not an atheist institution,” he and other spokespeople for the university have stated repeatedly. But it’s hard to imagine Richard Dawkins soft-pedaling on the topic of religion. Grayling insists that he’s not as vehement as his colleague. “I’m the velvet version,” he likes to say.

Makers of a new film imagine 2012 as an idyllic time of peace, environmental stewardship, and equality. The documentary asserts that whatever happens in 2012, it will allow things like rooftop farms, bicycle culture, and other aspects of urban environmentalism to thrive. It sounds completely lovely. But film does not explain is why we must await the stroke of 2012 to start building this utopian vision.