May 2, 2025 • 26 mins
Preparing for the end of the world is a multibillion-dollar business. People are stockpiling weapons, buying luxury bunkers, and even building flammable moats...but prepping is also an American tradition.
This episode was produced by Hady Mawajdeh, edited by Jolie Myers, fact checked by Laura Bullard, engineered by Andrea Kristinsdottir, and hosted by Noel King.
Further reading: Be Prepared: Doomsday Prepping in the United States by Robert E. Kirsch and Emily Ray, Everything Must Go: The Stories We Tell about the End of the World by Dorian LynskeyListen to Today, Explained ad-free by becoming a Vox Member: vox.com/members. Transcript at vox.com/today-explained-podcast.
A member of the post-apocalyptic "Wasteland Warriors" group celebrating to metal music. Photo by Axel Heimken/picture alliance via Getty Images.
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