ABSTRACT
Unlike the previous chapters, this chapter argues that the cold war bunker represented a globalized media scarce condition, where populations were encouraged to seek shelter underground. Yet while the bunker mirrored the media scarce conditions of many other communities discussed in our book, it was initially sold as an extension of the family home, replete with the creature comforts of the time – notably consumer media technologies. However, the chapter details how this mythic media abundant bunker gave way to militarized bunker visions that emphasized the installation’s redundant qualities. Not only would the state bunker contain layers of redundant media technologies in case of attack or technological failure, but the cold war bunker would also never be used for its intended purpose of protection against nuclear arms. Focusing on the case of the Canadian “continuity of government” bunker located outside of the national capital Ottawa, the chapter concludes with an analysis of the contemporary return of the media abundant bunker, or bunker media, an event hall and Cold War Museum that once again attempts to keep the precarity of its apocalyptic media scarcity at bay. Instead of nuclear annihilation, the newly refashioned bunker turns to zombies and spy games to remediate and placate the existential cold war threats of an uncertain future in and beyond the underground.
