Best Mic Roland Podcasts (2025)

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Prepper Fiction: Arctic (2019 movie) 37:40

3h ago37:40

37:40

As a nod to winter, Mic, Jeff, and Brian, all watched the 2018 movie, Arctic, starring Mads Mikkelsen. He is the pilot of an airplane that crash-landed somewhere in the arctic. His survival skills have kept him alive for several weeks. When a rescue helicopter arrives, it too crashes due to storm gusts. Only the copilot — a young woman — survived, …

1
4 Novelettes: Susan's Raid, Chapter 1 17:05

7d ago17:05

17:05

The story opens with Susan and Paul carrying food and water to some livestock hidden in a high woods. They are circumventing a new law that limits how much livestock people can own. Susan tells of discovering that the mysterious regular white van is carrying gasoline. She deduces that the gas is for an equally mysterious airplane the Feds are opera…

1
Prepper Fiction: Movie, Aftermath 43:59

14d ago43:59

43:59

Mic, Brian, and Jeff discuss the 2014 movie Aftermath: an independent production about a group of average folks who gather in a north Texas farmhouse cellar to try to survive the radioactive fallout from a nuclear war. This is another of those Everybody Dies movies. The boys comment on what the writer did well for conveying prepper knowledge, and w…

1
4 Novelettes: Harold's Escape, Chapter 6 20:57

21d ago20:57

20:57

The final installment in the backstory of Harold Perkins -- the man who had the steel casting expertise to fix that broken locomotive. In this chapter, Red has dropped them off at the woods along the border. They have to travel by night, without lights that passing drones might see. Then, hope that they've stayed on course to meet the people who th…

1
Extra: Trump Doom, Terror Doom, Storm Doom 38:03

28d ago38:03

38:03

So much Doom! With inauguration just a short while away, the boys review some of the doom we've been told will befall us all. In a more realistic vein, the threat of terrorists remains, regardless of who sits in the White House. We're told that hacker-terrorists have infiltrated many infrastructure systems. If they strike and take down infrastructu…

1
4 Novelettes: Harold's Escape, Chapter 5 22:44

1M ago22:44

22:44

The moment has come. Harold and his family must sneak out of their guarded townhouse and into the secret compartment in James Reddimer's truck. Red manages to involve a guard in restarting the truck as a way of proving his truck was empty. Harold worries about many things as they seem to be traveling no place in particular. The travel authorization…

1
Prepper Fiction: Homestead, the movie 44:04

1M ago44:04

44:04

Mic, Jeff, and Brian all watched the movie Homestead over Christmas week. This is independent Angel Studios' screenplay based on the book series Black Autumn. Originally planned as a series, the first two episodes became a movie. More episodes to follow, says Angel Studios. The boys look at prepper lessons to be learned from the film and touch upon…

1
4 Novelettes: Harold's Escape Chapter 4 20:04

2M ago20:04

20:04

Casting Dorn's part cannot be put off any longer. Red has a one-shot plan to rescue Harold and his family. While it means escaping to "lawless" New Hampshire, it is better than certain death. Their conversation over the details is masked by the roar of the furnace. Red plans to sneak them out that evening. Dorn, however, orders them to be ready to …

1
Extra: Nuclear Reality 44:54

2M ago44:54

44:54

With renewed concerns of possible nuclear exchanges (Ukraine/Russia, Iran/Israel) Mic, Brian, and Jeff explore some of the reality behind nuclear blasts and more importantly, fallout. These were fairly topical among Americans during the Cold War, but with the fall of the Soviet Union, nuclear realities have slipped out of the mainstream American co…

1
4 Novelettes: Harold's Escape, Chapter 3 22:15

2M ago22:15

22:15

While assessing their dismal prospects, (their work is doomed to fail) Harold discovers that a secret resistance organization has a couple of operatives working around the foundry. He recalls a neighbor of his down in Canton Boston telling him about the secret society. Harold confronts one of the operatives to request help. The operative makes no p…

1
Extra: Prepping & The Holidays 34:36

2M ago34:36

34:36

Mic, Brian, and Jeff discuss how the holidays can be significant for preppers. Part of it is having to maintain one's situational awareness when out in crowded public places. Ne'erdowells seek out crowded places to cause trouble. A more positive holiday feature are the deep discounts. A good time for the shrewd prepper to save on preps. Links: Hot …

1
4 Novelettes: Harold's Escape, Chapter 2 14:18

3M ago14:18

14:18

Harold and Mario share a lunch of Canton rations (cold mush). They want to discuss their predicament, but are aware that the foundry's office is bugged. Fry, one of the laborers assigned to the project, shares the news that they are to cast a second aluminum blade base. The first crew's casting failed. The rumor is that the first crew were taken ou…

1
Extra: Post-Election: Time to stop prepping? 35:51

3M ago35:51

35:51

Mic, Brian and Jeff have a roundtable discussion keying off of Todd Sepulveda's November 10th podcast. Todd talked about some people who were prepping for post-election chaos seem to have just stopped prepping since chaos didn't happen. Was that a reasonable response? Because Trump won, will things be safe, secure, and problem free -- at least for …

1
4 Novelettes: Harold's Escape, Chapter 1 12:47

3M ago12:47

12:47

Harold Perkins arrives at a small abandoned foundry well outside of the protective bounds of Canton Boston. He, and another man, have been ordered to cast a new aluminum base for a wind turbine blade. The overseer of this project, a Mr. Dorn, is sternly adamant that failure is not an option. Dorn gets angry when Harold says the small foundry does n…

1
Extra: Should you count on FEMA, or prep? 38:24

3M ago38:24

38:24

Mic, Brian, and Jeff look at the Federal Emergency Management Agency in light of the recent hurricanes and aftermath. Did FEMA deserve the bad press it got? Is FEMA actually supposed to rescue people? Mic looks at the old Civil Defense model (pre-FEMA). Brian looks at the current Swedish version of Civil Defense -- which is strong on DIY. Below are…

1
Book 6: Chapter 21: Returning Home 40:33

4M ago40:33

40:33

Martin and his crew assemble the Ferals for the hike into Manchester. They are blocked by the stocky man and his men who insist on taking some of the Ferals as their own personal slave labor. Stocky's plan is derailed by the Overseer of the Grange. After all of that, the long march into the city begins. Once in the city, the Ferals find opportuniti…

1
Extra: Post-Apocalyptic Rebuild...in 15 Minutes 40:11

4M ago40:11

40:11

This week, Jeff, Brian and Mic will be discussing a 15-minute intro video by a scientist named Lewis Dartnell, who tries to sort out what humanity would have to know to rebuild civilization after an apocalypse. Of course, you can't describe everything you'd need to do to rebuild our current civilization in just a short video. Some things he touches…

1
Book 6: Chapter 20: An Opening 39:33

4M ago39:33

39:33

Martin and Margaret try to manage the sudden horde of Ferals that have settled around the Simmons house. While a solution is found, they put many of the Ferals to work in exchange for a meal of pine fries. A big project to keep most of them busy is digging out an area for a pond along the little stream on the Simmons' property. The work is interrup…

1
Prepper Fiction: No Blade of Grass -- Bug Out ca. 1970 36:48

4M ago36:48

36:48

In this episode, Mic, Brian, and Jeff discuss the post-apocalyptic film of 1970, No Blade Of Grass. It is called by some as the British version of the American film Panic In Year Zero. But the story is not about living in the woods, post-SHTF, but looks only at the journey from the big city to their Bug Out Location in the country. The boys try to …

1
Book 6: Chapter 19: Cast Iron 29:31

4M ago29:31

29:31

Harold and his family arrive in Manchester. The casting process process begins for making a new cylinder head for the ailing locomotive. While they work, Harold shares some of what life was like in the detention camp and some of the mysterious goings on. Once the work was completed, Martin returns home to find a difficult surprise. You can help kee…

1
Prepper Fiction: Rebuilding After SHTF 40:46

5M ago40:46

40:46

A counterpoint to the dark Mad Max vision, are stories of people rebuilding after an SHTF event. Mic dips into his old-movies archives to discuss Swiss Family Robinson (1960). Mic, Jeff, and Brian then look at Kevin Costner's The Postman (1997) as a tale of SHTF survivors who grasp at hope that "America" is coming back and begin to assert control o…

1
Book 6: Chapter 18: Urgent Call 37:06

5M ago37:06

37:06

Martin was busy tending to his unexpected guests when an urgent radio call came in. The railroad project needed the welding repair done immediately. Martin tried to tell Charles to get his welder up to Manchester and do the welding as he had promised, but the Hendrick brothers had gone to the coast and would not return until Friday. The welder was …

1
Prepper Fiction: Mad Max -- Is That Our Future? 39:32

5M ago39:32

39:32

Mic, Brian and Jeff discuss one of the iconic tropes in prepperdom -- the world gone "Mad Max". Formed mostly on the basis of the first two Mad Max movies (and there have been sequels afterward), the chaotic, desolate, and violent world of Mad Max serves as a sort of worst-case archetype for a post-SHTF world. But, how likely is the world to Mad Ma…

1
Book 6: Chapter 17: Confrontation 33:01

5M ago33:01

33:01

Early one morning, the motion alarm that Martin installed in his bean field, goes off. He rushes out to find a mysterious silhouette at the edge. He chases and tackles the person. She turns out to be a member of a group of Feral women who had been hiding in the woods across the road. Margaret coaxes them into cooperating and relocating to behind th…

1
Extra: Grid-Down Doom - How to be in the 10% who survive 44:49

6M ago44:49

44:49

The US Government's EMP Commission's report stated that at E.M.P. attack could take out the nation's power grid for over a year. After a year without the grid, said the report, that 60% to 90% of Americans would be dead. None of us can prevent an EMP, a CME, or a terrorist hack, but there are steps we can take to help be in the surviving 10%. Mic, …

1
Book 6: Chapter 16: Rumors of Monsters 32:32

6M ago32:32

32:32

Martin resumes his chores around the house and checks out Dustin's rabbit snares at the back bean field. He takes a break to help Andy move out to Mara's camp. Andy is thrilled to be rooming with his soul mate. Martin gets back home in time to attend a contentious Grange meeting. Members complain about the Ferals stealing food and spreading disease…

1
Extra: Homestead WalkAround, Mid-summer 21:17

6M ago21:17

21:17

Mic gives an audio tour around the homestead as things stand at mid-summer.-- the quiet, elderberries that were only mostly-dead, what seems like slow fruiting, the chickens and the sad tale of dropping a tree on top of his low garden. Doh. All that, and news that target shooting is, apparently, a popular spectator sport for chickens. Who knew? To …

1
Book 6: Chapter 15: Manchester and Home 37:29

6M ago37:29

37:29

The train leaves Laconia, making its way down through Tilton and Concord, on its way to Manchester. When they arrive, everyone aboard is surprised to see very little ready for them. The city is oddly open-looking. All the trees are gone. lMartin returns home to an enthusiastic welcome, but the chores he frets over were still not done. Your support …

1
Extra: The Prepping Spectrum 41:56

7M ago41:56

41:56

Is it better to prep by trying to be an off-grid homesteader, or a basement stasher of a year's worth of all your consumables? Mic, Jeff, and Brian discuss these two poles of the spectrum of prepping. Brian goes into a couple of rants about the cons of homesteading. He is also frank about some challenges to the basement stasher. Feel free to email …

1
Book 6: Chapter 14: The Unexpected 41:51

7M ago41:51

41:51

Martin is tasked with riding on the front of Engine #6 to inspect the rails as the train leaves Plymouth. He sees two people running on the tracks toward the train. They jump into the brush beside the rails. More people come running down the tracks and jump off at the same place. Shots ring out. Martin signals for the train to stop just before it r…

1
Prepper Fiction: Panic in Year Zero 47:08

7M ago47:08

47:08

Mic, Brian, and Jeff all watched what might be the first realistic SHTF-Bug-Out movie: Panic In Year Zero (1962). While it is, of course, Hollywood fiction, many of the scenes are directly applicable to today. If you needed supplies, would you steal to get them? If you were confronted by someone you meant you harm, should you 'terminate' them right…

1
Book 6: Chapter 13: Hornets' Nest 34:13

7M ago34:13

34:13

As the Train rolls into Plymouth, the gunfire begins. Matt and his men are carrying out their plan, but those plans meet their first wrinkle. The Greens have damaged the tracks. The train can't roll through town as a distraction. It is stuck in the middle of town. The men on the train have to take defensive action. Martin catches a pair of Greens a…

1
Extra: Five Real life Bug-Out-to-the-Woods Experiences 34:22

7M ago34:22

34:22

What would bugging out to the woods really be like? Mic lays out five historical examples of people surviving in the woods for years. > Nicholas Cresswell, 1770s traveling through the American frontier. > The Lykov family, 1936-78, 42 years in Siberian wilderness. > Max, 1941-43, A young Jewish boy hiding in a Polish forest from Nazis for 2 years. …

1
Book 6: Chapter 12: Rolling Down to Plymouth 38:44

8M ago38:44

38:44

The train is finally on its way south. En route, Matt explains his group's plan to neutralize the Greens' northern outpost, then sneak in to free to slave laborers. With their increased numbers, they move on to free the political prisoners. With their larger ad hoc force, they will attempt to capture the Greens' leaders while the rest of the Greens…

1
Prepper Fiction: AI Doom 41:32

8M ago41:32

41:32

Will AI be the cause of human extinction? That's what some experts are warning of. Mic, Brian and Jeff discuss some of the many movies and news stories about artificial intelligence taking over. On the optimistic side, the AI establishes a harsh but overall benevolent dictatorship. On the darker side, the AI systematically tries to wipe out humanit…

1
Book 6: Chapter 11: Making Money 34:52

8M ago34:52

34:52

Martin convinces the three railroad partners to carry on the project, even if none of them fully knew what needed to be done. A key to getting the workers to resume work was for the partners to create their own money -- based on firewood -- as a medium of exchange. Once the rails are connected, the engine assembles the first train south. Martin rid…

1
Prepper Fiction: Zombie Doom 47:34

8M ago47:34

47:34

In the preppersphere, zombies are a metaphor for the masses of the unpreppared, weakened after a prolonged collapse, who slowly fan out into the countryside seeking food. Mic, Jeff, and Brian look a few landmark films and a popular TV series. Does how the characters deal with their zombies hold lessons for how preppers might deal with a possible ho…

1
Book 6: Chapter 10: Storm Damage 37:34

9M ago37:34

37:34

Martin, Charles and Tyler begin their second day of work for Farnum. The mood of all the workers starts out upbeat. The old and new tracks are connected and the locomotive is nearly to the old railhead. A squabble among the workers reveals that Farnum has massively over-promised everyone's stake in the profits. The angry mob attack Farnum, leaving …

1
Prepper Fiction: Bunker Doom 38:49

9M ago38:49

38:49

Mic, Jeff and Brian discuss a few movies in which people expect to survive some SHTF event in an underground bunker. Bomb shelters (bunkers) were very popular in scary parts of the Cold War. While bunkers are best suited to surviving Nuke Doom, some people can see sheltering underground as a great way to survive a whole range of SHTF scenarios. But…

1
Book 6: Chapter 9: Contract Work 36:14

9M ago36:14

36:14

The three men from Cheshire finally arrive in Lincoln. They confront Mr. Farnum about the danger they had to face. Rather than make their ordeal a waste of time, they renegotiate a deal -- one day of labor for a trailer full of wood. Farnum suggests that they might wish to revisit the original terms at the end of the day. The Hendrick brothers repa…

1
Extra: Power Outage Preps Practice 16:14

9M ago16:14

16:14

NH had a storm in early April that took out power for tens of thousands of people. It was a chance to practice using the homestead's grid-down preps. Somethings worked well and life was quite normal, despite the outage. Some things were not as good as they should be. The outage exposed a few weak spots in the preps -- things to fix up for next time…

1
Book 6: Chapter 8: Contested Passage 31:22

10M ago31:22

31:22

Martin, Tyler, and Charles are met with an unforeseen difficulty on their way north. The ongoing argument between the Hendrick brothers causes them to nearly crash. To compound their trouble, they learn that the road they were told to take, to get round the troublemakers in Plymouth, has become blocked by them too. How can they sneak a loud white t…

1
Prepper Fiction: Movie: "Civil War" 47:33

10M ago47:33

47:33

Mic, Jeff and Brian review and discuss the newly-released movie "Civil War" by Alex Garland. The possibilities of civil unrest is an increasing concern among the preparedness-minded, so we approached our look at the movie from a prepper perspective. There is a no-spoilers synopsis in the beginning of this episode, as well as a spoiler warning and a…

1
Fiction: Where are the Envro-Doom Movies? 49:34

10M ago49:34

49:34

Join Mic and his regular co-hosts Brian and Jeff, as they venture into the world of environmental disaster through - literature, film, and real-world predictions. Unlike the commonly explored apocalyptic narratives involving comets or nuclear weapons, EcoDoom is a surprisingly scarce disaster narratives in Hollywood, despite it being trumpeted as a…

1
Book 6: Chapter 7: A Stop in Concord 31:12

10M ago31:12

31:12

Martin and the Hendrick brothers set out for their journey north. While passing Indian Lakes, they are stopped at a roadblock. There, they meet up with Davy Walsh who was on an assignment to clear out the squatters around the lakes. While Davy hitches a ride to Concord, he tells Martin about the efforts to clean up Manchester's drinking water in ho…

1
Prepper Fiction:Econo-Doom 36:29

11M ago36:29

36:29

In this episode, Mic, Brian, and Jeff look at three famous fictional works in which an economic collapse is the cause of SHTF. What caused those collapses? Is there anything we can learn from them? How did the main characters and the populace respond to the collapse? Are there lessons there too? Links for titles in this episode: "Patriots" by John …

1
Book 6: Chapter 6: Coming To Terms 33:42

11M ago33:42

33:42

Mr. Farnum visits the Hendricks' farm and is impressed with Charles' new gasifier-generator-welder. He tells of the need the Central Rail Collaborative has for a bigger welder and some of the the difficulties the CRC has faced thus far. Charles tries to finagle profitable terms in exchange for helping the CRC. To his and Martin's surprise, Farnum a…

1
Fiction: Bio Doom 37:52

11M ago37:52

37:52

Mic, Brian and Jeff explore some of the fiction featuring pandemics or plagues. They will narrow their scope to include the more realistic stories and save the zombie stories for another episode. They discuss several fictional stories with an eye toward what we really experience with the recent Covid pandemic. They also share their own experiences …

1
Book 6: Chapter5: The Grange Meeting 39:45

11M ago39:45

39:45

Nick attends his first Grange meeting and comes forward for membership. After some farmer-related business, and a lecture about corn by Clyde Graedig, a guest speaker addresses the group. Clive Farnum seeks support for his Central Rail Collaborative, a steam train project that he is promoting as the key to a revived New Hampshire economy. If you're…

1
Extra: Two Weeks Without Power 30:48

11M ago30:48

30:48

What would it be like to lose power at your house for two weeks? Mic interviews Jonathan, a Siege stories listener and farmer/prepper, who lost power due to an ice storm. Which of his preps worked well? What holes in his preps did the outage expose? Generators are a godsend but fuel for them is their Achilles Heel. What can be done about that? If y…

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