Doomed to Fail

uuuuugh. Cutie patooties Tom and Jackie Hawks were looking to sell their Yacht to spend more time with their family on land. When a gaggle of terrible people, led by former child actor Skylar Deleon decided to kill them in the most horrible way and steal their yacht, they aren't smart (but we're willing to bet that they thought they were) and got caught right away. Now so many lives are ruined. We...

We are running late this week due to travel, so let's re-release! This is a top-notch story - The Mutiny on the Bounty! The Bounty was headed to Tahiti to learn how to propagate breadfruit for nefarious reasons - but there was plenty of back and forth and infighting and wanting to stay in Tahiti, bad leadership, and a mutiny! So fun. Hope you love it.  Join our Founders Club on Patreon to get ad-f...

Today, we are re-releasing the sad sad story of Andrea Yates, a mother who needed a lot of medical and psychological care. She was going through a lot, and ended up killing her children. It's alarmingly sad. So if you're not up for it, we totally understand. Let us know if you have any suggestions for future episodes! Join our Founders Club on Patreon to get ad-free episodes for life!  patreo...

Fingers crossed, Farz survives the year with the stories he's telling us! Today, he walks through the 'mysterious' deaths of Alexei Navalny, Alexander Litvinenko, and Yevgeny Prigozhin—three men who dared to question the work of Russia's current Tzar-in-training, Vladimir Putin. You know us, and you know we love Russian history - so we're on our way to try to understand the why behind what Russia...

Today, it is part one of the Great San Francisco disasters of 1906. We talk about the history of San Francisco, how California became a state, immigration and birthright with the United States v Wong Kim Ark, and finally, the 42 seconds of terror as a 7.9 magnitude earthquake jolted the city awake at 5:12 am on April 18, 1906. That was bad, but the fires started almost immediately - we'll cover th...

The Mona Lisa is widely considered to be the most famous painting in the world. However, it wasn't always this way. The painting was created by Leonardo da Vinci, who is regarded as one of the greatest artists of all time. Interestingly, the painting was left unfinished by da Vinci. The Mona Lisa was just one of many beautiful paintings by da Vinci until it was stolen in 1911. This event thrust th...

Let's explore one of the most densely populated places on the planet - Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong. For three decades, people constructed a tightly-packed, overcrowded residential complex in Hong Kong. Discover the intriguing story behind this unique experiment in human habitation! Sources: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/kowloon-walled-city Join our Founders Club on Patreon to get ad-f...

Let's revisit this terrible story! It's a brutal murder of two trusting elderly people just settling into retirement by some of the worst people you could imagine! This is the story of Tiffany Cole, one of the only women on death row in America, and her boyfriend, Michael Jackson.   Join our Founders Club on Patreon to get ad-free episodes for life!  patreon.com/DoomedtoFailPod We would love...

Let's revisit our episode on the Hatfields & McCoys! They lived in the wilds of Applaciacia; there was a whole thing with a hog, lots of homemade hooch (which was a problem because of taxes), and a few love stories. Join us for this classic tale of rivalry and revenge!  Join our Founders Club on Patreon to get ad-free episodes for life!  patreon.com/DoomedtoFailPod We would love to hear from...

Today we will tell stories of people escaping East Germany into the West. There are lots of tunnels, jumping out of windows, a terrifying homemade hot air balloon, lots of hang gliders, and even a trapeze artist! Imagine a wall being built in your city over night and tomorrow you can't see your family, get to your job, or go to your doctor, and then that wall stays up for almost 30 years. It's wil...

Join us on a fascinating journey back in time as we dive deep into the lives of two intriguing figures - William Bradford and Thomas Morton. 🕰️ Explore the contrasting perspectives that shaped early American history. 🇺🇸 From Bradford's leadership in Plymouth Colony to Morton's controversial antics in Merrymount, this episode unveils the untold stories that shaped the foundations of our nation. 📚...

Oh, Texas! Always in a tizzy aren't y'all? Today we start off with the question what do John Wayne, Lyndon Johnson, and Phil Collins all have in common? You guessed it! they are obsessed with The Alamo. We'll discuss the truths (Yes, they all fought to the death) and the myths (no, they weren't 'heroes' - specifically because they were all fighting for their rights to enslave people). We'll talk a...

Should you believe everything you read? Today Farz tells the story of journalist Stephen Glass who made up a fantastic tale of hackers, data breaches, and early internet scare tactics! T/W Sexual Assault - This story was inspired by "You're Wrong About"'s reporting on The Duke Lacross Team case. We recommend checking out their episode - https://open.spotify.com/episode/41u0MLCM86ikQ4HPORsSJa  Join...

Taylor opens this week's re-release with a story of almost losing a friend in the back yard after a party - If you're listening to this in Jan 2024 it's topical because this just happened in Kansas City. It also sort of happens in the story of Pazuzu Algarad [née John Alexander Lawson]. Drug dealer, man who needed a lot of psychiatric help, child who was abused by his mother, and an eventual murde...

Today Farz tells the once-secret story of the creation of the SR-71 Blackbird stealth plane. Fasten your seatbelts as we unveil the mysteries and stories behind the iconic SR-71 Blackbird. From its groundbreaking design to the classified missions that pushed the boundaries of aviation, we'll explore the high-altitude adventures and the brave pilots who soared into the pages of history. Get ready t...

Have you heard of one of Germany's most popular authors, Karl May? Born in the 1800s, post a life of petty-crime, Karl took his imagination WAY west and wrote several books about a traveling duo - Apache chief Winnetou and German settler Old Shatterhand. Even though none of it was true, that didn't stop Karl from dressing the part and saying it was true. These books are deep in the German zeitgeis...

Today we are re-releasing our episode on Chris Watts and the brutal murder of his family. We've said it before and we'll say it again - Divorce. Is. Fine. Yes, it will be annoying and hard and expensive but it's better than murdering your family and ending up in jail for the rest of your life. We just looked it up and looks like Chris is currently a custodian at a supermax in WI - and still someho...

Picture it - Chicago, 1871 - it's dry, windy, and everything is made of wood (sound familiar?). Chicago's small force of firemen are exhausted from battling a fire at a lumber yard next to a cardboard box factory - if you put that in a movie people would think you made it up! Then, around 8 pm one dry October night, there's a fire in the O'Leary barn. A cow probably didn't do it... probably. Learn...

Let's head back up to the sky and talk about how terrifying and dangerous clouds are! After a little bit of cloud background info, Farz tells us two terrifying stories. First, the story of William Rankin, "The Man Who Rode the Thunder," who hung in the air for 35 minutes after ejecting from his plane. He basically was IN a cloud, lightning, rain, and more. Then, Farz tells us about Delta Flight 19...

Let's talk about one of the most epic love stories of all time - Cleopatra and Mark Antony (who she was with AFTER she had kids with Julias Ceaser) - There is incest, war, spies, intrigue, double-crosses, and more! Ancient Rome and Ancient Egypt clash in this classic love story!  Pretty great that 2000 years later we are still talking about it!  Join our Founders Club on Patreon to get ad-free epi...

You would think that as an F1 Racecar Driver, Michael Schumacher had seen it all. Farz tells us about Formula 1's tragedies, including the death of Ayrton Senna. There are a lot more (a total of 52 since 1952. That's not today's tragedy - Michael Schumacher was just back from retirement when he went skiing. A fall on his head has led to Schumacher being out of commission for the last ten years, so...

Welcome explorers!! Today, let's go west with Lewis and Clark (and everyone they brought, including the child bride & new mom, Sacagawea). We'll start with Thomas Jefferson's big idea and end with Meriweather Lewis's suicide upon his return. Did you know that the story of Lewis and Clark was mainly forgotten until the 1970s? Now, every schoolchild in America knows them! Put on your adventure caps...

Travel back to 1666 London with us! Houses are made of wood and dangerously close together. The summer was intensely dry, and a gale-force wind was coming in from the East. It's the night of September 2, and a baker on Pudding Lane forgot to put out his oven. The bell was rung, but a series of non-decisions by politicians and the rush to evacuate let the fire burn down 5/6th of the city. We're get...

Happy New Year!! Let's kick it off with the most Doomed body of water in America, The Salton Sea. What was once rich farmland and a Palm Springs-style paradise is now a salt-filled body of water surrounded by wasteland. What happened to change the landscape of The Salton Sea so quickly? Where will you be when the Water Wars start? This and more this week on Doomed to Fail!  Join our Founders Club...

Let's learn about volcanoes together. This year, Taylor hosted SEVEN episodes on volcanoes. We learned SO MUCH about the earth, humanity, tectonic plates, Ancient Rome, pyroclastic flows, and our inevitable doom. I am very proud of this work and I hope that you enjoy this wildly long omnibus as much as we do! 1. Mt. Toba's Echo: Journey into Earth's Cataclysmic Past 2. Time Capsule of Tragedy: Exp...