The Siege of New Hampshire

Harold and his family arrive in Manchester. The casting process process begins for making a new cylinder head for the ailing locomotive. While they work, Harold shares some of what life was like in the detention camp and some of the mysterious goings on. Once the work was completed, Martin returns home to find a difficult surprise.

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A counterpoint to the dark Mad Max vision, are stories of people rebuilding after an SHTF event. Mic dips into his old-movies archives to discuss Swiss Family Robinson (1960). Mic, Jeff, and Brian then look at Kevin Costner's The Postman (1997) as a tale of SHTF survivors who grasp at hope that "America" is coming back and begin to assert control over their own lives and defy the local warlord.

Links from films discussed in this podcast

Swiss Family Robinson -- The imdb.org listing, cast, reviews, etc.

Swiss Family Robinson -- Rent from Amazon, or available on Disney+

The Postman -- The imdb.org listing, cast, reviews, etc.

The Postman -- Rent the movie on Amazon if you have Prime

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Martin was busy tending to his unexpected guests when an urgent radio call came in. The railroad project needed the welding repair done immediately. Martin tried to tell Charles to get his welder up to Manchester and do the welding as he had promised, but the Hendrick brothers had gone to the coast and would not return until Friday. The welder was still at the Hendricks' farm but how could he get it up to Manchester without the truck?

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Mic, Brian and Jeff discuss one of the iconic tropes in prepperdom -- the world gone "Mad Max". Formed mostly on the basis of the first two Mad Max movies (and there have been sequels afterward), the chaotic, desolate, and violent world of Mad Max serves as a sort of worst-case archetype for a post-SHTF world.  But, how likely is the world to Mad Max? Can one prep for that? Why aren't there roving gangs of good guys? Join us for the discussion and feel free to share your thoughts too.

Links to films referred to in this episode

Things To Come (1936) Movie adaptation of H.G.Wells' novel. A world war destroys civilization, sending mankind back to the stone age. Synopsis

Captive Women (1951) Movie about post-SHTF barbarism. Synopsis

World Without End (1956) Another movie about post-SHTF barbarism, but with astronauts! Synopsis.

Mad Max: (first film: 1979) -- Wikipedia synopsis. Watch it free at archive.org.

Mad Max 2 (1981) -- Synopsis on imdb.org  Rent at Amazon Prime, YouTube subscription, etc.

Early one morning, the motion alarm that Martin installed in his bean field, goes off. He rushes out to find a mysterious silhouette at the edge. He chases and tackles the person. She turns out to be a member of a group of Feral women who had been hiding in the woods across the road.  Margaret coaxes them into cooperating and relocating to behind the Simmons' house so that they would be safe from the disgruntled townsfolk who are hunting them. The Simmons' do not have enough food for eight new mouths. What can they do?

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The US Government's EMP Commission's report stated that at E.M.P. attack could take out the nation's power grid for over a year. After a year without the grid, said the report, that 60% to 90% of Americans would be dead. None of us can prevent an EMP, a CME, or a terrorist hack, but there are steps we can take to help be in the surviving 10%. Mic, Brian, and Jeff discuss grid-down media and an EMP movie.

Links to material the boys discussed:

Grid-Down / Power-Up (2021 documentary starring Dennis Quaid)

Ted Koppel interview discussing his grid-down book: Lights Out (2015)

Ted Koppel's book, Lights Out, on Amazon (2015)

Movie, E.M.P. 333 Days (2018) free on Tubi, for rent for $2 on YouTube, Google Play, Amazon Prime.

Martin resumes his chores around the house and checks out Dustin's rabbit snares at the back bean field. He takes a break to help Andy move out to Mara's camp. Andy is thrilled to be rooming with his soul mate. Martin gets back home in time to attend a contentious Grange meeting. Members complain about the Ferals stealing food and spreading disease. A mood of vigilanteism sweeps the meeting.

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Mic gives an audio tour around the homestead as things stand at mid-summer.-- the quiet, elderberries that were only mostly-dead, what seems like slow fruiting, the chickens and the sad tale of dropping a tree on top of his low garden. Doh.

All that, and news that target shooting is, apparently, a popular spectator sport for chickens. Who knew?

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The train leaves Laconia, making its way down through Tilton and Concord, on its way to Manchester. When they arrive, everyone aboard is surprised to see very little ready for them. The city is oddly open-looking. All the trees are gone. lMartin returns home to an enthusiastic welcome, but the chores he frets over were still not done.

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Is it better to prep by trying to be an off-grid homesteader, or a basement stasher of a year's worth of all your consumables? Mic, Jeff, and Brian discuss these two poles of the spectrum of prepping.  Brian goes into a couple of rants about the cons of homesteading. He is also frank about some challenges to the basement stasher.

Feel free to email Mic with your two-cents on the issues we discussed. mic (at) mic-roland (dot) com

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