Cramming for the Apocalypse Podcast

Available Episodes

5 of 20

Ep. 11 - Talking About Preparedness
Y’all, it’s our last episode of Season 2! My how time flies! Before I get into it, a respondent to the survey I sent out the last few weeks mentioned that it would be nice to have the toolkit in one space. Well, guess what, you’re in luck! Last year, we compiled the full toolkit in this handy-dandy workbook where all of this can be found in one place. It’s helpful to reference the original posts, but this will help you walk through each step of the process. I’ll note that I’ve intended to do some updating and editing of this workbook, but haven’t had the time or capacity to do it. I’ll let you know if it gets a refresh.In this week’s episode we talk about how to have conversations about preparedness and how essential that is for community preparedness.You can find our original post about this topic here:In the meantime if you want to review any of our past episodes, you can just navigate to the “Resources and Toolkits” menu at the top of the main page.This has been a true pleasure recording this series with Brekke. As I noted in the episode, we really are going to try to record some bonus episodes. But as we head into summer, we know that extra time is not going to be afforded to us moms so nothing is planned as of yet. You can stay tuned here on the Substack for updates on those episodes.In the meantime, let us know what other topics you want to hear about at [email protected] for being along on this ride with us!Happy prepping!Cramming for the Apocalypse is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Cramming for the Apocalypse at crammingfortheapocalypse.substack.com/subscribe
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Ep. 10 - Community Preparedness
If you haven’t yet taken the survey about virtual classes we’re hoping to offer in the fall, there’s still time to complete it!In our penultimate episode of Season 2, we talk about the topic that I write about all the time in my newsletter: community preparedness. This is a much less tangible element of preparedness and isn’t one you’re going to accomplish over as weekend or even a few weeks. It’s a long-term process of relationship-building. Hopefully this conversation that Brekke and I had helps to give you some inspiration and motivation to help you begin to branch out with neighborhood preparedness.Here is the written version of this topic from last year to reference back to it.Additionally, we mentioned a few FEMA resources that, as of this writing, are still on the FEMA website, but as with everything on federal websites right now, there’s no telling what will be removed and when. So here are a few downloaded PDFs that might be helpful:* Community Resilience: Using a Religious Literacy Primer to Improve Engagement with Faith Communities | FEMA* National Disaster Recovery Framework | FEMA* Disaster Resource Identification | FEMAAnd last, Brekke mentioned the idea of having a book club serve as the convening activity for you and your neighbors. Here are some great books to get your started:* A Paradise Built in Hell by Rebecca Solnit* Generation Dread by Britt Wray* The Great Displacement by Jake Bittle* The Light Pirate by Lily Brooks-Dalton* Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson* The Future by Naomi Alderman* Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony DoerrAlso, I write the occasional book review in my newsletter, so if you want some other recommendations or want to check back, you can just go to the “Book Club” tab from the main page.Cramming for the Apocalypse is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Cramming for the Apocalypse at crammingfortheapocalypse.substack.com/subscribe
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Ep. 9 - Evacuation Plans and Go Bags
Before we launch into the podcast, I wanted to let you know that I’m currently working with MakeWith Hardware & Learning Center here in Portland to develop VIRTUAL workshops that help guide you through aspects of preparedness. If you are interested in taking such a class, we’d love for you to take a very quick survey to get a sense of the topics you’re interested in and some other aspects of what we could offer. Also, answering the survey just helps us gauge whether there’s enough interest to offer it, so just taking the survey is info in and of itself.If there’s ample interest, then we foresee launching these sessions next Fall 2025, so stay tuned!This week is the one many of you who have tuned in because of the LA fires have been waiting for: planning for evacuation. And yes, this has the list for what to put in your Go Bag which you can also find in the original post from last year.Also, we had a fun riff on what might go into a $5 Go-Bag, so if you’re reading this and want to partake, we’d LOVE to hear what you were able to put in your $5 Go-Bag (hint: grocery bag + dollar store finds would probably do the trick).Cramming for the Apocalypse is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Cramming for the Apocalypse at crammingfortheapocalypse.substack.com/subscribe
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Ep. 8 - Sanitation
This week is a fun one because we’re talking all about your poop! But also we’re talking about how not to get sick if your sewer system goes down. Those of us living in higher income countries can take our functioning toilets for granted, but it should not be taken lightly when we’re preparing for an emergency.In fact, in this paper published in the Journal of Emergency Medicine Clinics of North America, Drs. Stephen Y. Liang and Nicole Messenger discuss the emergence of infectious diseases after hydrologic disasters including hurricanes, tsunamis, storm surges, excessive rainfall, floods, and even drought. They note that 40% of deaths after a natural disaster, specifically for people who are displaced, are due to diarrheal illnesses. This shows how important it is to prepare for sanitation for your own family.So now you know how important it is to manage your poop and all the other germs that go along with living in this world.You can read our original post, complete with a list of what you should have in your toilet kit and general hygiene kit:Now enjoy listening to our discussion about…poop.Thanks for reading Cramming for the Apocalypse! This post is public so feel free to share it. Get full access to Cramming for the Apocalypse at crammingfortheapocalypse.substack.com/subscribe
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Ep. 7 - Preparing Finances & Documents
This week is the very unsexy conversation about finances and documents. The conversation also took a very dystopian turn when we discussed all that the current Administration is doing to harass and deport people who look to them like an immigrant and what Congress is doing to limit voting rights. What a world we live in.Nonetheless, here is the original post which includes a full list of the documents we tick off in the episode:Additionally, I mentioned 1Password as the place where I store my document information. It’s also where I store all my passwords and I love it. But as Brekke noted, she’s trying to move away from storing important docs in the cloud. So it’s up to you. Get full access to Cramming for the Apocalypse at crammingfortheapocalypse.substack.com/subscribe
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