The Survival Podcast

This past spring I stumbled upon this podcast by sheer accident. I can not recall the circumstances that led to this discovery. Suddenly I am listening to a man with a friendly, southern accent getting wound up about tax day, and the state of Michigan hunting down farmers heirloom varieties of hogs, claiming them to be feral. There was talk of weapons, protecting your property and family. I also heard about techniques for raising rabbits for a protein source, propagating tomatoes and growing a food forest. Who was this guy? I didn't know what to think at the time, but I gave it a few episodes, almost forcing myself to listen. It turns out this happenstance turned into one of the best of my life.

Jack Spirko is the man who's voice resonated in my ears those early days. Jack began T.S.P. about four years ago as a frustrated corporate man who would record on his commute into work everyday. The early episodes are a little rough, but considering the recording studio was a diesel Jetta, pretty respectable. The content is where the quality is. Seeing the "sheeple" following in a cycle of work, spend, work, spend, get into debt, eat un-healthy food. Their social skills, their community, and all common sense skills to survive, disappearing, Jack had a message to convey. He could see the economic meltdown of '08 coming quick. People did not have the necessary abilities to look after themselves any more. Self sufficiency was out the door. Not many folk had savings, cash on hand, food stored, and a plan if things get really bad. Starting from those meager beginnings T.S.P. now has over 45,000 downloads a day and Jack gets to spend his days spreading the message as a full time job.

The T.S.P. is not just about Jack. The community is very intelligent and helpful. The guests that are welcomed into the podcast have incredible knowledge to share. I have listened and learned about such a variety of topics from permaculture(and learning what it is), aquaponics, fighting your local government on backyard chicken hens, bug out vehicles, homesteading skills, lacto-fermentation, and making fuel from algae. The message is to bring yourself into self sufficiency and to stop relying on the system. Should those systems fail, you will be up a creek with out planning and being ready to look after yourself, your family and your community. Planting a garden, preserving food and storing necessities like water and fuel are huge parts of prepping for disaster. The ability to cook and heat(or cool) if the power goes out for more than a few hours is also something to be ready for.

I have been so greatly effected by this podcast. Jack has inspired me to build community with my own podcast "Edible Valley" and help build food security for our area by promoting the ones who produce what we eat. Paleo has become a large part of the prepper community and helps me for new ideas and motivation.  Hearing others peoples successes with the lifestyle is reassurance that is it is the right way to go. I have stepped up my food preserving. I would love to have six months or more supply on hand at all time. My pantry probably has around a month of food, plus what is in my freezers. It feels so good to always have something to eat, just in case. Firearms have once again become important to me. I am planning on tripling my garden space for next growing season so I can have more things to preserve without laying out the cash for it. I will include annuals and perennials to the mix. Chicken hens may also be in my future somewhere. I am motivated to make positive changes, creating a better environment myself and those around me.

I encourage a listen to the Survival Podcast. Jack is not a fear monger, or tin foil hat wearing conspiracy theorist. He understands economics and the real threats to our personal liberties. The ass clowns in federal and state(provincial) politics are ruining all that we hold dear as "free" Westerns, and the growing police state is taking those freedoms away more and more every passing day. Please keep some food on hand, be conservative with your spending(something I have a tough time with), save, grow food, and look after each other. Start small because when shit hit the fan you need to be ready. Catastrophic events, be it an economic collapse, terrorist strike, brutal weather event, or just a flat tire on the way home from work, be prepared and build self sufficiency when ever and where ever you can. The revolution is you. Thank you Jack.

(The Survival Podcast just this week reached a milestone of 1000 episodes. Episode 1000 is over 4 hours long of listener calls explaining how T.S.P. has changed their lives and awoke something inside of them. It is very moving and I was lucky enough to have my call played as part of Episode 1000! It was a special thing to hear.)