Episode 32 - Doomsday Preppers 42 Minutes of Reality

Intro/outro music: “Gay Bar Videogame” by The Wildbunch
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/The_Wildbunch/Gay_Bar/Gay_Bar_videogame

1:32 Mike’s holiday gift for JS
2:20 Introducing this month’s show
2:51 Concept and episode structure
7:42 Ep 1 Highlights: Mike and Chad
12:36 Ep 2 Highlights: Curt and Rodney
17:22 Ep 3 Highlights: Tracy and Dan
21:24 Ep 4 Highlights: Rob and Greg
25:04 Ep 5 Highlights: John, Bret and Shane
27:15 Mike’s quick hits for Eps 6-8
30:42 Ep 9 Highlights: Joe and Mark
36:40 Debating how much producers were egging on protagonists
40:13 Segueing into worldview and common themes
42:37 JS makes comparison b/w views of ‘extreme preppers’ and ‘conspiracy culture’
43:24 Returning to distinction b/w ‘normal’ disaster prep and ‘doomsday prepper’ identity
45:03 Other common themes – distrust of outsiders/foreigners and incoherence of scenarios
46:45 JS thinks there’s grain of truth to ‘economic collapse’ scenarios and we debate a bit about Venezuela [Go see website for coda from Mike on his argument]
48:04 Mike thought ridiculous ‘Red Dawn’ scenario was actually one of the more plausible
49:42 Mike was irritated by show’s pandering – esp. given that it was on National Geographic’s channel
50:42 Segueing into motivation behind ‘doomsday prepper’ worldview – larger-than-life performance of trad gender roles
52:26 These people are loaded with $$$ – which made Mike very unsympathetic
53:44 JS thinks that this is rooted in a ‘risk-averse’ psychology coupled with too much money
55:08 Beginning our discussion of this month’s article
56:53 JS agrees with main thrust of argument, but disagrees with some specifics – thinks that perhaps all cultural qualities are not necessarily as gendered as author describes
57:59 Mike’s defense of article’s argument and JS’s refinement of his counter-argument
59:21 JS thinks that prepper worldview is more rooted in rise of globalized economy, but Mike is skeptical
1:01:20 Mike thought article’s analysis of prepping as expression of traditional fatherly authority was interesting
1:02:14 JS picks up on earlier thread about centrality of self-reliance in prepper worldview and we discuss whether self-reliance and dependence are gendered
1:04:12 JS critiques sub-argument about female preppers being ‘hysterical’ based on some counter-examples from the episodes we watched
1:05:55 Article mentions examples of questionable authenticity and we interpret what that means for show’s authenticity overall
1:08:54 Ending on show’s appeal – Is there something sincere or is it entirely based in irony?
1:12:28 JS patiently listens while Mike rants for a while
1:13:39 JS announces next month’s episode
1:14:30 Usual stuff: email, rate/review, and don’t forget to subscribe just because Mike forgot to mention it!