Why ‘nihilist penguin’ is the mood of the moment

Need a break from the news? We thought so.

After days of dealing with Winter Storm Fern—which has left 600,000 homes without power in the South, and thousands others digging themselves out from under more than snow (especially here in New England)—overwhelmed and exhausted people everywhere have discovered one, rather dark meme that has the internet obsessed: the nihilist penguin.

What exactly is the nihilistic penguin meme?

This clip, from Werner Herzog’s 2007 documentary...