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Wealthy Americans and corporations are building bunkers to prep for disaster and secure data

As geopolitical tensions rise, large corporations are shopping for underground bunkers that can survive a nuclear blast to protect their data centers and C-suite employees from an attack. Doomsday-spooked people with means are adding underground safe rooms and fortified shelters to their list of amenities when building their dream homes. Not that you can blame them.

Early adopters are primarily cryptocurrency firms and high-profile businessmen, companies that build such protective facilities told Semafor. Part of the heightened appeal for bunkers is the ever-growing value of data. Larry Hall, owner of Kansas-based Survival Condo, said he recently priced an underground data center and executive suite space to a crypto company for $64 million. Survival Condo counts eight companies in the planning stages of building bunkers, three of which are competing to purchase an existing 150,000-square-foot facility in Kansas serving the same purpose—a project started by a Big Oil billionaire who died before it was completed.

The pitch is the apocalypse. “The nuclear clock is moving closer to midnight,” Hall says. “The more worries there are in the headline news, the more people look for solutions.” But critics warn that these bunkers create a false perception that a nuclear war is survivable. They argue that people planning to live through an atomic blast aren’t focusing on the real and current dangers posed by nuclear threats, and the critical need to stop the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

Meanwhile, government disaster experts say bunkers aren’t necessary. A Federal Emergency Management Agency 100-page guide on responding to a nuclear detonation focuses on having the public get inside and stay inside, ideally in a basement and away from outside walls for at least a day. Those existing spaces can provide protection from radioactive fallout, says FEMA.

But increasingly, buyers say bunkers offer a sense of security. The market for U.S. bomb and fallout shelters is forecast to grow from around $130 million last year to more than $175 million by 2030, according to a market research report from BlueWeave Consulting. The report says major growth factors include “the rising threat of nuclear or terrorist attacks or civil unrest.”

Trump’s Supreme Court Win

U.S. will continue freeze on foreign aid payments, including nearly $2 billion in payments for past work

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. on Wednesday night handed the Trump administration a victory for now in saying that the U.S. did not need to immediately pay more than $1.9 billion to contracted aid organizations for work they already completed. A federal judge had set a midnight deadline for the agencies to release funds for the foreign aid work, which was withheld in the wake of the president’s Day 1 directive to gut U.S. spending overseas. Roberts stayed that lower court’s order and asked the aid groups that sued the Trump administration to provide a response by noon tomorrow after which the court will decide its next steps.

According to the Washington Post, the request to the Supreme Court marked “the second time the new administration has asked the justices to intervene after a lower-court judge blocked Trump’s efforts to reshape the federal government.” Last week, the high court refused to immediately clear the way for the removal of Hampton Dellinger, the head of an independent watchdog agency, whom Trump tried to fire.

Trump issued the wide-ranging pause on foreign aid shortly after his inauguration. His allies quickly began dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development, the $40 billion arm of the government that assists humanitarian work in more than 100 countries. Successful USAID programs credited with containing outbreaks of Ebola and other threats, and saving more than 20 million lives in Africa through HIV and AIDS treatments, are among those still cut off from agency funds, USAID officials and partner organizations say, as formal notifications of program cancellations are still rolling out. In all, the Trump administration said it will eliminate 90% of multiyear USAID contract awards, for a cut of $54 billion. Another 4,100 of 9,100 State Department grants were being eliminated, for a cut of $4.4 billion.

The Decline of Christianity in the U.S.

The flight from the faith is slowing, while 'religiously unaffiliated' grows

The portion of the U.S. population identifying as Christian has declined significantly over the last two decades, but a massive new Pew Research study finds that trend may be leveling off. The study, which surveyed nearly 40,000 Americans, found that 62% identify as Christian. By comparison, when Pew did a similar study in 2007, 78% said they were Christian.

Most of that decline occurred until five years ago, when it began to level off, according to the research. The current Christian breakdown in the U.S. is that 40% identify as Protestant, 19% identify as Catholic and the remaining 3% say they are Christian without specifying an additional denomination. One major change in recent years is the portion of liberals who identify as Christian, reports NPR. Back in 2007, Pew found that nearly two-thirds of those who were politically liberal were also Christian. Now, that number has dropped to just over one-third of liberals who say they're Christian. While the portion of conservatives who identify as Christian is now lower as well, though the drop is fairly small in comparison.

But it’s clear that being “religiously unaffiliated” is far more common today. Pew found that nearly three in 10 people identify as religiously unaffiliated, which can mean atheist, agnostic, or no religion in particular. Younger adults who were raised in only nominally religious homes or outside of religion all together are more likely to be unaffiliated than are older adults. Perhaps because we have so many different ways of finding community outside of one’s local church.

Spring Break Travel Hits Record Prices

Trip fares are now double what they were in 2019

Spring break is about getting away and easing the stress we’ve been under all winter, right? But the prices for your tickets and hotels could cause some new anxiety because it’s never been more expensive to go on vacation during the spring months.

Just how much are we talking about? The average trips during the peak period in March now costs a whopping $8,306, Bloomberg reported. This hefty price tag is more than double what travelers spent in 2019 and is 26% higher than last year, according to data from travel insurer Squaremouth.

To crunch those numbers, Squaremouth examined the value of 6,000 trips from Feb. 20 to April 15, 2025. (The cost of travel must be submitted when purchasing insurance.) The company also surveyed 8,000 U.S. travelers about their plans, finding that at least 40% of respondents were using this time to make good on long-held travel desires to go to far-flung locales. For example, popular destinations like Italy and Japan have seen significant growth this year, with the latter emerging as a surprising favorite. (And if you’re interested in visiting Japan, I’ve got a cool and clever newsletter for you).

Should You Learn to Drive a Stick?

It’s a dying art … but you’ll be glad you did

But it's also a dying art form. While manual transmission cars have become something of a favorite for car guys and collectors, fewer and fewer stick-shift cars are being produced. According to the New York Times, only about one percent of cars produced for sale in America have a manual transmission. Of course, there are plenty of enthusiasts that are fighting for a renaissance. Stick-shift loyalists aren't taking the electric car revolution lying down and some automakers are hearing their cries, developing stick shifts just for fun.

Worry about those that matter.