How the U.S. Government Built an Underground City, and Other State Secrets

This month a federal watchdog raised the alarm over thousands of staffing cuts at the Federal Emergency Management Agency. On this week’s On the Media, an episode from our miniseries American Emergency, all about FEMA: the agency that steps in when large-scale catastrophes like wildfires, floods, and hurricanes strike. Despite its vital work, the agency is widely despised and mythologized – and it’s fighting to stay alive under the Trump administration.

In this episode, which first aired in the spring, 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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