The Siege of New Hampshire

The final chapter in the Utopians story. Andy is rescued from his snowy hut by Martin and his people. They take him back the Simmons house to warm him up. Andy tells of the Utopians' final days. Following that short epilogue is a set of author's notes on the origin and development of the Utopians for Books 2 and 3, how that served as a foundation for their story, but also what was not developed be...

Mic, Brian, and Jeff discuss the apparent decline in prepper content and community engagement, exploring various reasons such as burnout, shifting demographics, and changing consumer habits. They noted that while the number of preppers may have increased post-COVID, their interests and consumption patterns have evolved, with younger preppers focusing on short-term preparedness and community action...

As November grows colder and the food more scarce, the mood of the Utopians is dark. Discontent rises to the surface and tempers flare. Both Mara and Brandon try to encourage the others but it's too little, too late. Andy returns from hunting for acorns to find Mara and Brandon embroiled in a heated argument. Mara grabs at Brandon, causing him to fall and hit his head on a rock. Fearing that she k...

For your entertainment, and with a nod to the onset of winter, Mic, Brian, and Jeff have each watched a movie about winter survival (or not) or a post-apocalyptic Ice Age Doom. They share what the movies are about (with spoilers) and use them as springboards to some winter advice you can use now -- before any new Ice Age hits. The Movie Links: (all free on YouTube) The Colony (2013) — After some g...

Mara returns to the Utopians' camp with Andy. She advises them, in an impassioned speech, about the lingering danger of capitalist survivors. Andy disagrees that his experience was all that bad, but Mara insists he was nearly captured, tortured, and made a slave. The next day, Andy continues his search for vegan-friendly nuts. He encounters a starving mother on a hill. Don'f forget to Show Mic you...

Recent events and indicators suggest that America might be drifting into socialism. Never mind that it's been a crushing failure every time it's been tried. The Nordic countries are held up as an example to follow, but America has very little of the advantages that make their success possible. So, what's a prepper to do, to position oneself to be better able to weather the Titanic voyage that will...

The six Utopians have settled into their new home, creating rustic blankets, making pottery and gathering food. The vegans among them are not keen on the animals that Mara hunts. Andy goes in search of more nut trees to provide some protein to the vegans. He encounters Martin Simmons after venturing onto his property. Martin and Mara do not hit it off well. Enjoying the adventures of Andy and the...

Mic, Brian, and Jeff echo the tradition of old TV variety shows with a Thanksgiving Special. They list off some of the Dooms they are they are thankful we all missed. They discuss bargain shopping the sales for prepper gear. They discuss various food preservation techniques to preserve some of the seasonally-cheaper foods for the pantry. Links mentioned in this episode That Daily Deal — One semi-r...

The Utopians arrive at their third alternative Bug Out Location, only to find it angrily guarded by locals. Unfazed, Brandon leads them on to his Site D, which turns out to be a former sand and gravel extraction site in the middle of a vast woods. There, they construct their debris huts, gather wild foods, and celebrate having finally found a place for their Paleo Island of the New Humanity. Show...

Mic, Brian, and Jeff discuss the likely coming digital national ID, whether (and how) it might be a problem for even the law-abiding citizen. Brian shares some salient audio clips. To monitor 340 million people via their digital ID requires heavy use of algorithms. Those are prone to flag innocent people — some by mistake but more by design. "Safer" to flag many innocent people than let one bad gu...

The group of Utopians play uneasy hosts to two armed "neighbors" who dropped in for supper. Brandon decides that the group needs to sneak away the next morning. Andy concocts an outrageous diversion to buy them some time to break camp. The women of the group strongly disapprove, but the die is cast. Come morning, the diversion is not enough. The duped "neighbors" show up angry. Things are getting...

With almost every consumer product, from food to medicines to fuel, transported by truck, the trucking industry is a must-not-fail part of modern society. Yet, as crucial as the trucks are, there are several vulnerabilities that could stop the trucks. Mic, Jeff, and especially Brian (as our professional truck driver) examine those weak points. Computerization and AI have improved efficiency but no...

Our group of six survivalists load up Brandon's beat-up van with their survival gear and set out for their Bug Out location. Along the way, there is some trepidation about whether they were right to bug out. Eventually, they arrive at a rutted back road into a state park. They set up their camp off the road so they won't be visible to anyone else coming down that road. They were not invisible, how...

How fragile is the American food-growing industry? Are empty shelves and hungry citizens just one bad harvest away? Mic, Brian, and Jeff each embraced their inner stats-nerd sides and dove into the history, the market, and the modern agricultural industry to find out.  The results surprised all three of them. If you were entertained or felt informed by these DoomCasts, consider becoming a Patron o...

That fateful Monday morning, the power goes out all over the UNH campus. Classes are canceled. Andy and his group meet up at the usual food court table to share intel. The next day, University admins try to reassure their students that all will be well soon, but Brandon thinks not. He thinks the outage will be long-term and the collapse of society that they've all been expecting will happen soon....

Even though Brian already told us that there would be no Civil War 2.0, many people were expecting one. Now, weeks later, they should be asking "Hey. Where's my civil war?" Mic, Brian, and Jeff explore reasons the civil war did not break out, and is looking much less like it will. Mic cites some historical examples of when revolts succeeded and other times when they failed. What can we learn from...

In this first installment of The Rise and Fall of the Utopians, we find the six college friends meeting on the Saturday before the power goes out. They are showing off and sharing the bushcraft skills they had learned over the past week. Several of the group talk of the certainty that society faced an immanent collapse and how they were going to flee the chaos and mayhem for a new, idealized, life...

After the assassination of Charlie Kirk, worries flared up that America could be heading for a sort of civil war. Those words got mentioned over three hundred thousand times on X in the days afterward. Are they right? Is it overblown? Brian and Jeff square off in differing opinions over whether a civil war is coming. While not as action-packed as a fight in a hockey game, they both state their opi...

Is there an "ideal" Bug Out Vehicle? Is it necessarily a jacked up monster truck with knobby mud tires?  Would a humble Toyota Camry do? Mic, Jeff, and Brian discuss what they have for BOVs and what (if anything) qualifies as the ideal. They also share some recommendations for how to "idealize" whatever you've got for a vehicle. Sherp ATV — Jeff's new prepper fantasy vehicle. If you find these top...

The final chapter of Susan's Raid. After a low-speed chase in horse-drawn wagons and yet more running, Susan, Paul and Charon catch up with the bombers at the Ashland bridge. There are guards posted, so the bombers run north to an alternate target. As the train approaches the small iron bridge, Susan's team interrupts the bombers. Susan is suddenly confronted by Martin. Neither expected such a cha...

Pundits are frequently warning of an impending financial doom, two in particular -- the loss of the US Dollar as world reserve currency, and/or the hyperinflation of the dollar as backdoor way to negate America's huge national debt. Are the fears well founded? Has either ever happened before? If so, what happened to people then? What did they do? If you find these topical episodes interesting, tho...

Susan, Charon, and Paul camp out in the woods east of Bristol in hopes of catching the bombers at dawn. Overzealous townsfolk flush out the bombers who get ahead of the team again. Both bombers and the team become exhausted from the chase. Just when Charon thinks he might pick one off with a sniper round, yet another wrinkle emerges. The story is getting close to a finale!  Show Mic you're on pins...

Some sort of doom is always out there, just a couple months away. Just one more data point to tick this way or that. As Brian says, They (the prophets of doom) are killing us off every week." Whether it's a comet striking the earth, or a financial collapse — right around the corner! — or the Yellowstone supervolcano; it's always something. How can a worried prepper separate the real news from the...

Susan, Paul, and Charon travel north on their borrowed bicycles. They make decent time until Paul and Charon's bike suffers a blowout at high speed. They proceed on foot but the bombers got ahead of them again. Susan's team are stopped at checkpoint to the town of Bristol. They have no valid ID and an implausible story about someone trying to blow up the railroad bridge in Ashland. Enjoying this s...

Mic, Brian, and Jeff take a look at the Deep State which has been trying to rule the world a lot longer than AI has been. Historically, the Deep State had become a feature of past empires and often contributed to their downfall. What is the common citizen to do? Would a world run by AI be better or worse than the Deep State? If you were entertained by this DoomCast, consider becoming a Patron on P...