What does real collapse actually look like?

In 2005, Hurricane Katrina turned New Orleans into something unrecognizable. Power failed. Communication broke down. And for a period of time, people were left to figure things out on their own.

In this episode of After the Fall, John Michael Layne sits down with Wes Gabb—a New Orleans native who lived through Hurricane Katrina as a teenager.

Wes shares what it was like as the storm approached, the chaos of evacuating under pressure, and the moment it became clear that things were not going back to normal anytime soon. From gridlocked highways to complete communication breakdown, this conversation reveals how quickly systems can fail—and how unprepared most people are for that reality.

But this isn’t just a story about Katrina.

It’s a conversation about mindset—how people respond when expectations collide with reality, and what separates those who adapt from those who don’t.

In this episode:

•  The illusion of safety before the storm 
•  What evacuating Katrina actually looked like 
•  How quickly communication systems failed 
•  The gap between expectation and reality 
•  Lessons in preparation, adaptability, and resilience 

Connect with Wes Gabb:

🌐 hollywoodcreationswv.com

About the Show:

After the Fall explores apocalyptic fiction, real-world disasters, and the mindset required to survive when systems break down.

When things go wrong, most people don’t rise to the occasion—they fall to the level of their mindset.

In this episode, I break down what I call The Shackleton Mindset—a way of thinking built on clarity, responsibility, discipline, and calm under pressure. Drawing from the real-world leadership of Ernest Shackleton and connecting it to modern life, we walk through the mental framework that actually determines how people respond when systems fail, uncertainty rises, and pressure hits.

This isn’t about gear, tactics, or worst-case scenarios. It’s about how you think, how you act, and who you become when it matters most.

We’ll cover:

•  Why mindset matters more than preparation alone 
•  The difference between responsibility and victimhood 
•  How people actually behaved during real disruptions like COVID 
•  Why calm is a trained skill—not a personality trait 
•  How to think clearly when others panic 
•  And how to build a mindset that holds when everything else breaks 

Because when everything falls apart, your mindset isn’t tested—it’s revealed.

If you’ve ever wondered how you would respond when things go wrong, this episode gives you the framework to answer that question—before it’s too late.

In this episode of After the Fall, I sit down with Garrett Holt—an indie author and U.S. Navy professional whose background in intelligence, history, and political science brings a unique level of realism to his writing.

Garrett is the author of Siege of the Forgotten Order, a post-apocalyptic novel that blends military strategy, dark science fiction, and elements of horror. We talk about how his real-world experience shapes his storytelling, what it’s like building a book and audience at the same time, and what actually goes into launching a series from scratch.

Beyond writing, this conversation dives into survival psychology, leadership under pressure, and how large-scale systems begin to break down. It’s a grounded, practical look at the kinds of scenarios often explored in fiction—and why they resonate so strongly right now.

Whether you’re a writer, a reader, or someone interested in preparedness and real-world risk, this episode offers both insight and perspective.

🔍 Topics Covered:

•  Writing post-apocalyptic fiction with real-world influence 
•  Military experience and storytelling 
•  Survival mindset and leadership 
•  Building an audience as a new author 
•  BookTok and modern publishing strategies 
•  Collapse scenarios and system instability 

🔑 SEO Keywords:

post apocalyptic fiction, indie author podcast, survival mindset, societal collapse, disaster scenarios, military fiction, writing process, book marketing, booktok strategy, preparedness mindset, leadership in crisis, post apocalyptic series, systems failure, resilience 

Everyone talks about the end of the world—but what are the real risks?

In this episode, we break down the ten most likely ways civilization could collapse based on science, history, and the systems we rely on every day. From global pandemics and nuclear war to super volcanoes, solar superstorms, and cascading system failures driven by artificial intelligence, this is a grounded look at how fragile modern life can be. 

This isn’t about Hollywood scenarios or worst-case speculation. It’s about understanding how interconnected our world has become—and how disruptions in one system can trigger failures in others.

We also explore why most large-scale disasters wouldn’t come from a single event, but from a chain reaction that unfolds over time.

In the end, preparedness isn’t about fear. It’s about resilience—and being ready when things don’t go according to plan.

🔻 In This Episode:

•  Global Pandemic 
•  Nuclear War and EMP 
•  Abrupt Climate Shift 
•  Global Crop Failure 
•  Ecosystem Collapse 
•  Solar Superstorm 
•  Artificial Intelligence and system failure 
•  Supervolcano eruptions 
•  Asteroid impacts 
•  Gamma-ray bursts 

🎯 Key Idea:

The end of civilization is far more likely to come from something we already understand—pushed beyond what we’re prepared to handle.

What does real survival training actually teach you?

In this episode of After the Fall, I sit down with Stuart Buchanan—former Australian Army infantryman, SERE instructor, and author of Dragon Rising—to explore what survival really looks like when systems begin to break down.

We discuss the mental and physical realities of survival, the biggest mistakes people make in the early stages of a crisis, and why preparedness is about far more than just gear.

Stuart shares insights from his military and survival training background, including the importance of mindset, decision-making under pressure, and how quickly normal life can begin to unravel.

We also explore how post-apocalyptic fiction connects to real-world risk—and what these stories reveal about human behavior when everything changes.

🎯 In this episode:

• What SERE (Survive, Evade, Resist, Escape) training involves
• Why survival is primarily a mental challenge
• The most common early mistakes in a crisis
• What preparedness actually looks like in practice
• How fiction reflects real human behavior under pressure

🔗 Links & Resources

📩 Newsletter: https://johnmichaellayne.com

📖 Dragon Rising by Stuart Buchanan: Link Here

🎙️ About the Show

After the Fall explores post-apocalyptic fiction, science, and survival—looking at how the world ends, and what might come after.

What does the word apocalypse actually mean?

Most of us associate it with destruction—collapse, catastrophe, the end of the world. But the original meaning of the word tells a very different story.

In this first episode of After the Fall, we explore the origins of the word apocalypse, how its meaning changed over time, and what that shift reveals about how humans think about the end of the world.

From ancient myths like Ragnarök to modern fears of pandemics, climate collapse, and technological risk, every civilization imagines its own ending. But these stories are rarely just about destruction—they’re about what catastrophe reveals.

We also explore a powerful idea: that disasters don’t just destroy societies—they reshape them, exposing underlying strengths, weaknesses, and truths that were already there.

If apocalypse originally meant a revealing, then maybe the end of the world isn’t just about collapse… but about what becomes visible when everything else falls away.

🔗 Links & Resources

📩 Join the newsletter: https://johnmichaellayne.com

📖 Seasons of Ash by John Michael Layne: 

🎙️ About the Show

After the Fall is a podcast about post-apocalyptic fiction, science, and survival—exploring how the world ends, and what might come after.