Failure To Launch

What would alien life look like? Would it look shockingly like an Ho-229 jet fighter? Would it be best researched by an AI with the mind of a preschooler? This week, we're joined by comic artist and speculative biology enthusiast Jay Eaton to talk about potential alien life and a really weird 2005 Discovery documentary, Alien Planet . Check out Jay's webcomic, Runaway to the Stars, here an...

This is a preview of a bonus episode. To hear the rest of the episode and unlock more bonus content, consider supporting Failure To Launch on Patreon .

Cosmonaut Boris Volynov almost died twice in one week in January 1969. The first was when his Soyuz-5 capsule nearly burned up on reentry. The second was when a Soviet Army defector ambushed the motorcade carrying him, seven other cosmonauts, and Premier Leonid Brezhnev with akimbo Makarovs. This is Part 1 of our series into the weird story of an attempted assassination of the leader of the Soviet...

ЩΉΛƬ DӨ YӨЦ ƧΣΣ? On audience request, this time we're reviewing 2007's Sunshine . It's got a great cast, a legendary soundtrack, good reviews, financial failure, and it made Cillian Murphy an atheist.

This is a preview of a bonus episode. To hear the rest of the episode and unlock more bonus content, consider supporting Failure To Launch on Patreon .

No, a trio of astronauts on NASA's Skylab station did not stage a mutiny over poor working conditions. Yes, they would've been justified if they had staged a real mutiny. Today, we're tackling Skylab-4 and the legend of the First Strike in Space. Find our new merch store here! Support FTL on Patreon to unlock bonus content and join our Discord community! SOURCES: - Skylab: The Human Si...

This is a preview of a bonus episode. To hear the rest of the episode and unlock more bonus content, consider supporting Failure To Launch on Patreon .

In the late 70s, OKB-52 head Vladimir Chelomey decided to try and compete with the new Buran space shuttle project. He did it in secret, with stolen funds, and against express orders from the Kremlin. Today, we're talking with space history youtuber Alexander The OK about how it all somehow went wrong. Watch Alex's content here! Support FTL on Patreon to unlock bonus content and join our D...

Like most stuntmen, Michael Hughes had a very confusing life and an overwhelming need to become famous at any cost. In this episode, we cover how that need drove him into conspiracy mania and got him killed flying a glorified pressure cooker. Sources: - DIY Rockets, Daredevils, and the Tragedy of Mad Mike Hughes [WIRED] - "Mad Mike" Hughes Rejected Science and Chased Fame. It Killed Him....

CONTENT WARNING Only 21 people were ever convicted for crimes at Mittelwerk. Only 1 was executed. This week, we're finalizing our series on the slave factory that produced Hitler's vengeance weapons. Joining us is genocide historian Joe Kassabian to lend his insight on how Mittelbau fit into the larger German camp network and slave labour scheme. Listen to Joe talk more history on Lions Le...

This is a preview of a bonus episode. To hear the rest of the episode and unlock more bonus content, consider supporting Failure To Launch on Patreon .

CONTENT WARNING This week we're back into our series delving into Mittelwerk, the underground rocket factory / concentration camp that produced Hitler's "Vengeance Weapons". In Part 5, we look at the official establishment of the Mittelbau complex and the constellation of subcamps that sprung up around it. SOURCES: Andre Sellier, A History of the Dora Camp: The Untold Story of th...

The White Bird. The Bridge to Peace. Osea's greatest superweapon. Today, we're talking about the High-Altitude Mobile Spacecraft (HAMS) or as it's more commonly known: The Arkbird. We cover everything from its conception in the paranoid heyday of the Cold War, how it was created as a symbol of peace and cooperation, and its use as a weapon of war. Sources: - Arkbird Declaration (2008 G...

CONTENT WARNING This week we're back into our series delving into Mittelwerk, the underground rocket factory / concentration camp that produced Hitler's "Vengeance Weapons". In Part 4, we take a look at the wider events in Nazi politics and the war in 1944 and how they all filter back to the tunnels under Nordhausen. SOURCES: Andre Sellier, A History of the Dora Camp: The Untold...

This is a preview of a bonus episode. To hear the rest of the episode and unlock more bonus content, consider supporting Failure To Launch on Patreon . Welcome to the first Failure To Launch Questions & Answers episode! Pulling together questions asked on Patreon and our Discord, this is our chance to let the audience see the real Us.

CONTENT WARNING We are back and continuing our series on Mittelwerk-Dora, the rocket factory concentration camp that churned out Hitler's Vengeance weapons. In Part 3, we cover the foundation of the factory itself, its first months of operation, and the conditions faced by slave labourers from all around Europe in the tunnels under Nordhausen. SOURCES: Andre Sellier, A History of the Dora Camp...

This is a preview of a bonus episode. To hear the rest of the episode and unlock more bonus content, consider supporting Failure To Launch on Patreon . We're back and joined by host of The Socialist Shelf podcast Jacob Dallas to talk about 2025's Mickey 17 . We go through the plot, the philosophy and ethics of cloning, and how this movie's attitudes toward class issues and dystopia com...

The Soviet Everyman. The Mayor of Star City. The Crusader Against Hipsters. This week, we're joined by podcast host and comedian Milo Edwards to talk about Yuri Gagarin's colourful post-flight career: becoming a manosphere influencer and the divine role model for all Russian children. Find Milo's work and comedy tour dates here! Support FTL on Patreon to unlock bonus content and Discor...

CONTENT WARNING Continuing our exploration into the history of Mittelwerk, the death factory that produced Wernher Von Braun's V2 missiles, we cover the successes of the A4 missile bringing unwanted attention, the use of concentration camp labour at the Peenemunde missile facility, and Operation Hydra, the British plan to bomb that facility flat. SOURCES: Jean Michel & Louis Nucera, Dora:...

This is a preview of a bonus episode. To hear the rest of the episode and unlock more bonus content, consider supporting Failure To Launch on Patreon . This week, Quinn, Chris, and Other Chris are joined by Josh Boerman and AJ Ditty of the Worst of All Possible Worlds podcast to talk about the famous 2000 flop of Titan AE - a showing so bad it killed Fox Animation Studios! We cover the movie itsel...

HUGE CONTENT WARNING FOR THIS SERIES To start our retelling of the story of the Mittelwerk death factory, we cover the early history of the Nazi military rocket program. The VfR amateur rocket club, Walter Dornberger, and the internal politics and squabbling that created the infamous Peenemunde rocket test site. SOURCES: Jean Michel & Louis Nucera, Dora: The Nazi Concentration Camp Where Moder...

This is a preview of a bonus episode. To hear the rest of the episode and unlock more bonus content, consider supporting Failure To Launch on Patreon .

Since 1963, it has been illegal under international law to place nuclear weapons in orbit. But the Soviets were brave enough to ask: "What is orbit, really?". This week, we're talking to Joe Kassabian ( @JoeKassabian ), host of the Lions Led By Donkeys Podcast, about OGCh or FOBS, the Soviet superweapon attempt to beat America's missile shield. And a whole lot of OKB politics. Fo...

As part of our ongoing series on space conspiracy theories, we brought in expert help to tackle one of the most virulent conspiracy theorists of our day. This week, Quinn, Chris, and Other Chris are joined by Dan Friesen of the Knowledge Fight podcast to talk about all the dumb things Alex Jones believes about space. What has happened in space, what will happen in space, and whether Alex will get...

This is a preview of a bonus episode. To hear the rest of the episode and unlock more bonus content, consider supporting Failure To Launch on Patreon .