These days, a radio show about the end of the world airs on weekend nights from a bunker in Dallas. But instead of pretending aliens are invading, its host, Scott Bales, 42, tells his audience what to do if this or other catastrophes—such as a large meteor hitting the planet, nuclear war, or a dollar crash—actually happen.
Bales is a prepper, shorthand for someone who devotes time and money preparing to survive cataclysmic events. He’s also an entrepreneur capitalizing on preppers’ fears. His 64-person company, Deep Earth Bunker, builds fortified shelters. Fees for a simple bunker start around $50,000 and climb above $10 million and Bales says he’s sold more than 1,400 to “hard-core preppers who are either rich or [they’re] poor and save their money.†Two reality shows that made debuts earlier this year have helped his business: National Geographic Channel’s Doomsday Preppers and Discovery Channel’s Doomsday Bunkers, which featured Bales on each of its episodes this spring, sparking nearly 16,000 requests.