That’s Terrible!

On November 9, 1975, a bulk freighter called the Edmund Fitzgerald began its final voyage of the season, hauling iron ore across Lake Superior. But the next day, November 10, a storm struck, and the ship and its crew of 29 were lost. In this episode, Erika and Amelia talk with Corey Adkins from the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society in Whitefish Point, Michigan.  You can learn more about the...

On October 30, 1938, the radio show The Mercury Theater on the Air had a special episode planned: a scary play for Halloween. The War of the Worlds was the story of Martians landing in New Jersey and attacking New York City. And the acting was so good that people actually believed the attack was real!  On today's episode, Erika and Amelia talk with Gail Jarrow, author of SPOOKED!: How a Radio Broa...

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT! That's Terrible! is now on Substack . Subscribe today for blog posts about all of our episodes including photos and more! Just look for @terriblepod or click the link above.   Now, on with the show!   It's spooky season, and we didn't have to look hard to find the perfect story. This week, Erika and Amelia talk with Dan Lipcan from the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts...

That's Terrible! is going international this week! Erika and Amelia talk with Paul O'Sullivan from Blarney Castle and Gardens in Cork, Ireland. It's a place with some spooky features, like a poison garden and a witch that roams the grounds at night (don't worry, she's trapped during the day). It's also the site of the Blarney Stone, which sits on top of the main tower at the castle. Legend has it,...

The Great Molasses Flood occurred on January 15, 1919 when a storage tank failed at the Purity Distilling Company in Boston's North End. Millions of gallons of hot molasses went pouring into the streets, then cooled down and thickened, creating a sticky mess. The wave swept up people and animals and destroyed buildings, and the cooled, thick molasses took so long to clean up that for decades after...

This episode is chock full of book recommendations, so scroll all the way through the show notes for links! Amelia and Erika (and a surprise third cohost, some girl named Nora) are joined by New York Times bestselling author Alan Gratz , whose stories put fictional kids in the middle of terrible true events. He talks about how he chooses his terrible topics, his favorite themes to write about and...

The morning of April 18, 1906 brought a rude awakening for residents of San Francisco, California. At 5:12 a.m., a massive earthquake struck, breaking gas lines and starting fires that burned throughout the city for days. On today's show, Erika and Amelia talk with Jack Grippi, a retired geologist who now conducts walking tours for the San Francisco Historical Society. He talks about the science b...

If you haven't listened to Part 1, we highly recommend you do before listening to this one.  The Radium Girls were factory workers who painted clock dials at the United States Radium Corporation in Orange, New Jersey and the Radium Dial Company in Ottawa, Illinois. They were well paid, and the job was fun. The paint made things glow in the dark, and the girls often used it on themselves as well, p...

This topic was so big, we had to split it into two episodes. Trust us: It's worth it! The Radium Girls were factory workers who painted clock dials at the United States Radium Corporation in Orange, New Jersey and the Radium Dial Company in Ottawa, Illinois. They were well paid, and the job was fun. The paint made things glow in the dark, and the girls often used it on themselves as well, painting...

On January 15, 2009, US Airways Flight 1549 took off from New York's LaGuardia Airport bound for Charlotte, North Carolina, but it wouldn't get far. A few minutes after takeoff, the plane hit a flock of Canada geese, losing both engines. Captain Chesley Sullenberger III called LaGuardia and asked to come back, but he quickly realized he wouldn't have time and made the decision to land the plane in...

July 24, 1915 should have been a wonderful day for the employees of Western Electric Company's Hawthorne Works and their families. The company had chartered five passenger steamers to carry around 7,000 people from Chicago to Michigan City, Indiana for a picnic. But one of those ships, the Eastland, capsized before it even left the docks on the Chicago River. In this episode, Ted and Barb Wachholz...

This week, Erika and Amelia are joined by Dimitry Pompée, one of the hosts of the Eurovangelists podcast, to discuss something that is NOT terrible but is affected by terrible things: The Eurovision Song Contest. Eurovision is a contest that brings together the nations of Europe (plus a few others) with one great song from each country, each year. It began as a way to unite Europe in the aftermath...

On May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens experienced the most devastating volcanic eruption the United States had ever seen. Now, on the anniversary, Erika and Amelia are talking with a park ranger who spends every day at the Mount St. Helens Visitor Center in Washington telling people about everything the mountain has to offer. Alysa Adams talks about life before, during and after the eruption, and what...

The Great Chicago Fire occurred over three days in October 1871 and destroyed more than three square miles of the city. It began in a barn belonging to Catherine and Patrick O'Leary, but what sparked the fire and who was responsible remains a mystery to this day. The most popular theory is that a cow kicked a lantern over (probably because there's actually a song about it ) but the real culprit co...

Welcome to Centralia, Pennsylvania, a town with just a few residents and a wild history. Long ago, it was a bustling coal mining town, but everything changed in 1962 when a fire broke out underground. That fire still burns today and will probably continue for 250 years.  Erika and Amelia are joined this week by David DeKok, author of Fire Underground: The Ongoing Tragedy of the Centralia Mine Fire...

Get ready for an adventure into one of history’s greatest mysteries! In this episode, hosts Amelia and Erika take to the skies to explore the incredible life—and puzzling disappearance—of pioneering aviator Amelia Earhart. Who was she? What made her such a fearless trailblazer? And what might have happened on her final flight? Joining the show is special guest Sterling Falk from the Amelia Earhart...