Episodes / Episode 08
I Priced a $9.6M Doomsday Bunker. My Apartment Won.
Billionaires are buying bunkers, and Ray says he already lives in one. So he got a quote. At a (fictional) doomsday expo, a saleswoman named Celeste builds it line by line: the shell, the air filter, the generator, five years of food, water, a steel door, ten guards. Ray holds every line up against his studio apartment: a window onto his neighbor's bathroom, a phone at four percent, one can of black beans, and Phil. One company's top model was reported at over $9.6 million. Ray's is $1,250 a month. One line on their quote never gets a price.
640 rent-yearsChapters
- Shell (reported)
- Theirs $9.6M · mine $1,250/mo
- Air
- a $4,000 filter · my neighbor's bathroom
- Food, 5 years (calc)
- $15,000 a person · one can of beans
- Guards (calc)
- $380,000 a year · Phil, unpaid
- Loyalty
- price on request · Phil, still unpaid
Total: Their quote never adds up. Mine fits on a sticky note. I already live in a bunker. Mine comes with a landlord.
Sources
Numbers in the episode are estimates built from these. If you spot a mistake, tell Ray: hello@brokeray.com.
- Doomsday Clock 2026 (85 seconds to midnight): Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 27 Jan 2026
- Entry shelter for four people, up to a week (about $25,000, founder's estimate): AFP via Kuwait Times (Mar 2026), Atlas Survival Shelters; "90+ percent of the market" is the company's own claim: Spectrum News (Jun 2026)
- Missile-silo condos (half floor $1.5M, full floor $3M; no floors for sale): Survival Condo company site and inventory page (Oct–Nov 2026); annual fees "in the tens of thousands": CNN Newsource via WKRC (Aug 2026)
- "The Aristocrat" (over $9.6M; bowling alley, pool, gym): loveMONEY (May 2025), Rising S Company; the 2017 listing was $8.35M (Verdict, BuzzFeed)
- Mark Zuckerberg's Kauai compound (about 5,000 sq ft shelter, reported; about $270M including land, reported): Hawaiʻi Public Radio (Jul 2025), TIME citing WIRED (Dec 2023); "a little shelter… It's a basement": Bloomberg via HuffPost UK (Dec 2024)
- Peter Thiel's Lake Wānaka lodge (consent refused 2022; plans dropped 2024): The Guardian (Aug 2022), RNZ (Jul 2024)
- NBC air filtration (about $4,000): Atlas Survival Shelters (older company page)
- Home standby generator (about $5,090 installed, average): Bob Vila, Angi/HomeAdvisor data (2024)
- One-year, one-person emergency food kit ($3,000): Food & Wine via AOL (Oct 2025), Costco/ReadyWise
- Black beans, 15 oz ($0.92): Walmart (Nov 2026; prices vary by store)
- Water (at least one gallon per person per day): Ready.gov
- Security guards (median pay $38,020, May 2025): U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- The five men and their guards: Douglas Rushkoff, "The super-rich 'preppers' planning to save themselves from the apocalypse," The Guardian (Sep 2022), from his book Survival of the Richest
- $1,000 emergency expense (30% would pay from savings): Bankrate survey (Jan 2026)
- Rent-year: $15,000 (Ray's rent); five-year food and water and ten guards: our own math
Prices come from company sites, news reports and retail listings; "reported" figures were not officially confirmed. The $9.6M figure is a 2025 report (the 2017 listing was $8.35M). Five-year food and water totals and the ten guards are our own math. The expo and Celeste are fictional and do not speak for any company. A rent-year is $15,000, Ray's rent.
Not financial advice. Narration: synthetic voice (ElevenLabs). Script and animation made by hand.