In this week's episode, we'll look at billionaire bunkers and how the elite are preparing for the apocalypse. The idea that the super-wealthy and Silicon Valley elites are busy building secret bunkers in places like Australia and New Zealand has been a popular media story, but when you peel back the slick PR stories what we find is a lot of smoke and mirrors and very little substance. We'll also explore how climate change is creating a hotter, dryer future from Australia to California and how these global trends are driving more people to prepare for disaster. We'll also touch on the fascinating intersections of apocalyptic ideologies, techno-libertarian elites profiting from technology-driven social disruptions, and explore conservative religious preppers in the American northwest, better known as the "American Redoubt," where God, guns, and prepping go hand in hand.

I'm producing these episodes in parallel with a course of the same name which I am teaching at California State University, Chico where I am currently teaching.  Each week I will look at a different topic related to the end of the world, from doomsday preppers and our deepest fears to the role of religion, media, and politics in thinking about the end of the world.

There are several short video segments included which you can watch by following the links below:

Clip 1: American Redoubt

Clip 2: The Oppidum

Clip 3: Rising S Luxury Bunkers

Clip 4: Atlas Shelters

For additional show notes and materials references in this episode be sure to visit my End of the World page:

https://www.chriscrews.com/end-of-the-world-podcast/

Thanks for listening.

Dr. Crews

In Episode 3 we'll dive into the cultural origins of bunkers and fallout shelters and consider how Cold War era politics shaped fears about Communism and nuclear annihilation. We also explore the "first doom boom" of the 1960s when backyard shelter building exploded, and how early survivalist figures like Robert DePugh gave rise to modern doomsday prepping and worries about the end of the world. We'll also touch on new surveillance technologies such as Gorgon's Stare and associated privacy concerns that are driving some people into bunkers and away from prying corporate and government eyes. 

I'm producing these episodes in parallel with a course of the same name which I am teaching at California State University, Chico where I am currently teaching.  Each week I will look at a different topic related to the end of the world, from doomsday preppers and our deepest fears to the role of religion, media, and politics in thinking about the end of the world.

There are several short video segments included which you can watch by following the links below:

Clip 1: Doomsday Planning - Mount Weather

Clip 2: The Shelter, Twilight Zone

Clip 3: L3 Harris Corvus Eye Promo

For additional show notes and materials references in this episode be sure to visit my End of the World page:

https://www.chriscrews.com/end-of-the-world-podcast/

Thanks for listening.

Dr. Crews

In Episode 2 I take a look at prepper culture and how worries about the End of the World are driving people to build bunkers and other secure facilities to help them survive a coming disaster. We'll also look at the Vivos Xpoint facility in South Dakota, one of the largest private bunker complexes in the US. While it may come as a surprise to some, bunkers are actually quite old, with examples like Kaymakli in central Anatolia dating to the period of Hittite rule over 3000 years ago! I'll also start to lay the groundwork for a deeper dive into how prepping culture and bunkers have come to create what author and urban explorer Bradley Garrett calls the "architecture of dread," a topic we will return to in future episodes.

I'm producing these episodes in parallel with a course of the same name which I am teaching at California State University, Chico where I am currently teaching.  Each week I will look at a different topic related to the end of the world, from doomsday preppers and our deepest fears to the role of religion, media, and politics in thinking about the end of the world.

There are several short video segments included which you can watch by following the links below:

Clip 1: Kaymakli Turkey, Underground City

Clip 2: Robert Vicino, Vivos xPoint

Clip 3: Preppers and Covid-19

For additional show notes and materials references in this episode be sure to visit my End of the World page:

https://www.chriscrews.com/end-of-the-world-podcast/

Thanks for listening.

Dr. Crews

In this special bonus for Episode 1 I delve a bit more into the history of the Book of Revelation, looking at what the text actually says and some of the reactions on its content. This is meant to supplement the main Episode 1 and its discussion of the End of the World. 

I'm producing these episodes in parallel with a course of the same name which I am teaching at California State University, Chico where I am currently teaching.  In this first episode (linked here) I delved into some of the history and background context to the End of the World, and ask why ideas about the world ending continue to resonate in our contemporary world and popular culture. Each week I will look at a different topic related to the end of the world, from doomsday preppers and our deepest fears to the role of religion, media, and politics.

For show notes and more details about this course (and some of the materials references in this episode) be sure to visit my End of the World page:

https://www.chriscrews.com/end-of-the-world-podcast/

Thanks for listening.

Dr. Crews

Hi everyone, and welcome to Episode 1 of this special podcast series on the End of the World. 

I'm producing these episodes in parallel with a course of the same name which I am teaching at California State University, Chico where I am currently teaching.  In this first episode I delve into some of the history and background context to the End of the World, and ask why ideas about the world ending continue to resonate in our contemporary world and popular culture. Each week I will look at a different topic related to the end of the world, from doomsday preppers and our deepest fears to the role of religion, media, and politics. 

For show notes and more details about this course (and some of the materials references in this episode) be sure to visit my End of the World page:

https://www.chriscrews.com/end-of-the-world-podcast/

Thanks for listening.

Dr. Crews