Digging Up the History of the Family Bomb Shelter

For 75 Years, Images of Bunker Life Have Reflected the Shifting Optimism, Anxieties, and Cynicism of the Nuclear Age

The Russian invasion of Ukraine is not the first conflict to unfold on social media, but commentators have been quick to dub it the first “TikTok War.” Videos by young Ukrainians inside bomb shelters give us some of the most personal glimpses to date of teenage life inside a war zone. Amassing millions of views, offerings like “My Typical Day in a Bomb Shelter” and “What I Buy in a Supermarket During a War” document destroyed cities, bunker cooking, and daily life underground, with nuclear threat lurking offscreen. Broadcast on …