Episode
LFN #257 - Joel Skousen: Strategic Relocation, Home Security, and Escaping What's Coming (Never Released)
- Podcast
- Live Free Now w/ John Bush
- Published
- Aug 13, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 2949
- Processing state
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Summary
Joel Skousen has spent nearly five decades helping people answer one question: where should you live when the systems around you start to fail? This talk has never been available publicly. Joel delivered it at Exit & Build 2, and we're releasing it now for the first time. In it he walks through the core of his life's work: Strategic relocation and how to evaluate where you live right now. Population density, prevailing winds, nuclear and military target proximity, water access, growing season, state law, and the neighbors you'd actually be depending on. Joel breaks down why he looks west of the Mississippi, which states he's changed his mind about, and the mistakes people make when they relocate for the wrong reasons. Home and retreat security. Joel is an architect who's designed high security residences across North America, Canada, and Latin America. He gets into secure room design, EMP-protected power, water and food storage, and what actually holds up versus what just feels safe. And the honest assessment of the threats. Grid failure, EMP, economic collapse, war, and the long-term consolidation of surveillance and control. Joel doesn't sugarcoat any of it, and he'll tell you why he refuses to. His view is that optimism is what keeps people from preparing. About Joel Skousen Former Navy and Marine Corps fighter pilot turned architect. He began writing The Secure Home in 1979, making him one of the genuine pioneers of the modern preparedness movement. He's the author of Strategic Relocation: North American Guide to Safe Places, still the definitive reference on threat-based relocation, and co-author of The High Security Shelter Book with his son, a structural engineer. He has published the World Affairs Brief every week for decades. Joel is speaking at Exit &…