How The World Ends 101 with Special Guest Dr. David Perlmutter | Zombie Book Club Ep 129

Texas Solves the outbreak in 5 minutes, sorry New York.

In this episode, we sit down with Dr. David Perlmutter, professor of Media & Communication at Texas Tech University, to dissect how societies record—and eventually lose—their histories when the grid goes dark. From ancient clay tablets to floppy disks, we explore why the very mediums we trust to preserve culture can become our Achilles’ heel. Dr. Perlmutter breaks down the role of teachers, archivists, and storytellers in a crisis, weighs the ethics of propaganda versus transparent messaging, and shows how decentralized decision‑making keep military units cohesive when supply lines crumble.

Links relevant to the episode topics

• Dr. David Perlmutter's bio: https://www.depts.ttu.edu/comc/faculty/faculty/dperlmutter.php
• The Last of Us analysis (why it resonates with real‑world apocalypse thinking): https://writersblockmagazine.com/2023/05/23/the-last-of-us-love-and-humanity-in-a-post-apocalyptic-world
• “Apocalypse software” – building resilient local intranets and offline digital libraries: https://apocalypse.support/7_level_7_early_digital_civilization/s_4_local_isplike_services.html
• Ötzi the Ice Man: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%96tzi
• Collapse OS’ an Open Source Operating System for the Post-Apocalypse: https://www.vice.com/en/article/collapse-os-is-an-open-source-operating-system-for-the-post-apocalypse/

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