American Emergency: The Movement to Kill FEMA
· 52 min
Episode American Emergency: The Movement to Kill FEMA
Just after Donald Trump's first term began, he announced that he was considering eliminating the Federal Emergency Management Agency — the agency that helps Americans amid unthinkable disasters. And just a month ago, Trump repeated his disdain for FEMA, declaring that he’s poised to make some big changes.
On this week’s On the Media, we present the first installment in a four-part series called American Emergency: The Movement to Kill FEMA. In this episode, OTM co-host Micah Loewinger tells the origin story of FEMA — which initially focused less on disaster relief and more on plans to save the government from nuclear attack. The agency’s secrecy inspired wild conspiracy theories and paranoia among far-right groups, including the fear that FEMA is building camps to detain citizens and stifle political dissent. The episode culminates with a never-before-told story of a plot to stalk FEMA’s top brass in the nineties.
Further reading:
• Sound of Impact, by Adam Shaw • Raven Rock: The Story of the U.S. Government's Secret Plan to Save Itself--While the Rest of Us Die, by Garrett M. Graff • "FEMA and Disaster – a Look at What Worked and What Didn’t From a FEMA Insider," by Leo Bosner
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Links in the notes 9
- https://books.google.com/books/about/Sound_of_Impact.html?id=i4RGAAAAYAAJ
- https://www.doomsdayscenario.co/
- https://truthout.org/articles/part-one-fema-and-disaster-a-look-at-what-worked-and-what-didn-t-from-a-fema-insider/
- https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm
- https://www.instagram.com/onthemedia/?hl=en
- https://bsky.app/profile/onthemedia.bsky.social
- https://www.tiktok.com/@onthemedia
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- https://pcm.adswizz.com
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