Hi, I'm David Farrier, a New Zealander accidentally marooned in America, and I want to grasp

what makes this country tick, and what I've grasped is that a lot of Americans are planning

for what to do when this country stops ticking.

You trust your home to keep your family safe, but there are many threats that don't stop

at locked doors and brick walls.

Your house isn't made to withstand uncertain dangers.

It turns out 40% of Americans believe that stocking up on suppliers or building an underground

shelter is a bit of investment than saving for retirement.

But what are people worried about?

Well, according to this ad I got served on Facebook for a bunker building company, a lot

of things.

Natural disasters, home invasion, or social unrest.

Now, a few years ago, I would have put America's passion for prepping down to paranoia, but

then the pandemic happened.

I saw how quickly that toilet paper disappeared off the shelves.

Once the pandemic, some surveys have 45% of Americans spending money on survival materials,

up 20% on pre-pandemic 2019.

Building a bunker is a step further, but a step that isn't just in the domain of wacky

reality TV anymore, and all that worry and dread has meant bunkers are now a multi-billion

dollar a year industry.

So grab as much tin food as you can and say goodbye to civilization as you go underground

into your heavily fortified subterranean space, because this is the bunker's episode.

...