Doomed to Fail

Speaking of religious history - here's a re-release of our episode on Friar Diego De Landa & the Mayans. There are many Maya people still living in Central / Meso America. They have a rich culture, but they did have tons of written history burned away by Spanish Friars - because Jesus would want you to do that? It's heartbreaking, and Taylor will always be mad about that.  If you are tempted for a...

Religion has sparked wars, inspired art, toppled empires, and comforted the faithful. In these episodes, we explore the stories where belief shaped human history in unforgettable and sometimes unsettling ways.   Episodes: Ep 5 - Part 1: Divorce is fine, calm down! - The Story of Anne Boleyn & Henry VIII When Henry VIII wanted out of his first marriage, he set off a chain reaction that changed reli...

Sources: Sybil - by Flora Rheta Schreiber - https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/sybil-by-flora-rheta-schreiber/259328/item/84207467/?#edition=4801599&idiq=3086510 Sybil Exposed: The Extraordinary Story Behind the Famous Multiple Personality Case - By Debbie Nathan - https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/sybil-exposed-the-extraordinary-story-behind-the-famous-multiple-personality-case_debbie-nathan/271028/?   To...

Imagine you have a lot of money and months of free time, so you decide to climb the highest mountain we've got. That's good for you, but if you die there, you stay there, and recently, there's a line to the top.   In this re-release, we'll discuss the first time, tragic times, and the sherpas who keep the whole thing going. Aren't they the heroes? Join our Founders Club on Patreon to get ad-free e...

Remember the 1950s? We don't either, and it wasn't like, ideal for women and minorities... but there WAS this idea of a place you could go to get away - think Palm Springs now (if you ignore all the unhoused people, which you should not, someone should do something about Palm Springs).   ANYWAY - here's a re-release of a time when men tried to create a paradise by changing nature, and they absolut...

Let's go back to our Volcano Series for Natural Disaster Week! Today, we'll tell the story of how Pompeii and Herculaneum were buried when Mt. Vesuvius erupted in AD 79. We'll cover what type of volcano, the warnings of doom, the cities themselves, how Nero sent help, how they were discovered centuries later, and how climbing Mt. Vesuvius is hella boring. This was part 2 in our 7 part series that...

🌋 Volcanoes Ep 38: Volcanoes Pt 1 - Mt. Toba's Echo: Journey into Earth's Cataclysmic Past A prehistoric eruption so massive it may have nearly wiped out humanity. Ep 42: Volcanoes Pt 2 - Time Capsule of Tragedy: Exploring Pompeii's Frozen History Mount Vesuvius destroys—and preserves—an entire Roman city in one day. Ep 46: Volcanoes Pt 3 - The Silent Summer: Tambora's Echo in Time An eruption in...

We've said it before, and we'll say it again - divorce is an option. It's not great, people will be sad, kids will be traumatized, but it's WORSE to be the child of a murderer and not have a mom.   Today, Farz tells us about how Helle Crafts's husband, Eastern Airlines pilot Richard Crafts, thought that the best way to keep sleeping with floight attendents would be to get rid of his wife, and her...

Episodes: Ep 7 - Part 1: Dorian Gray-t Expectations - Oscar Wilde's wild ride Oscar Wilde’s wit, scandal, and downfall - the wild ride of one of literature’s sharpest voices.   Ep 23 - Part 1: Our Lady of the Night - Mary Shelley Mary Shelley, teenage author of Frankenstein , inventor of science fiction, and survivor of endless tragedy.   Ep 79 - Germany's love affair w/ 1st Nation culture: The st...

It's 1976 - thousands of US Veterans in the American Foreign Legion meet up in Philly for a few days of meetings and camaraderie (and we assume not talking about trauma because it was the 70s).   Staying at the Bellevue Stratford Hotel, hundreds of men would get sick when they returned home, and over 30 would be dead in the next few days.   What caused the Legionnaires (and some people who just wa...

Ep. 47: Doomed to fail species? The story of the passenger pigeon Once the most abundant bird in North America, they darkened the skies in flocks of millions—until humans hunted them into extinction. Ep 179: A Friend Till The End & Beyond - Hachikō The dog who waited at a Tokyo train station every day for his owner, even years after the man had died. Ep 215: Nowhere to Echo - Whale Entrapment When...

What would you do if you accidentally threw away a fortune? In this episode, we dig into the story of James Howells — the IT worker who tossed out a hard drive holding thousands of Bitcoins, worth hundreds of millions of dollars today. From the rise of cryptocurrency to the landfill treasure hunt that captured global headlines, we explore how one mistake turned into one of the most expensive “oops...

Ep 2 - Part 2: Nero: The Fiddling Tyrant Rome’s most infamous emperor, accused of burning his own city and fiddling while it fell into chaos. Ep 12 - Part 2: Ancient Sport Rivalries - The Nika Riots What started as a sports rivalry in Constantinople exploded into a massacre, leaving thousands dead in the Hippodrome. Ep 38: Volcanoes Pt 1 - Mt. Toba's Echo: Journey into Earth's Cataclysmic Past A v...

Let's go back to ancient warfare, shall we? We'll talk about all the things you can fill a clay pot with to throw at enemies—spikes, bees, boiling hot sand—use your imagination!   Then, we will discuss the mysterious Byzantine weapon, Greek Fire. From a siphon, it could shoot white hot fire onto enemy ships, causing pain, devastation, and setting the water aflame.   How Greek Fire was Used to Targ...

Ep 68 - You're Cleared for Disaster: The Tenerife Airport Crash of 1977   The world’s deadliest aviation disaster didn’t happen in the air—it happened on the runway. Two jumbo jets, thick fog, and a fatal misunderstanding. Ep 77 - Cloudy with a Chance of Terror: Cumulonimbus   Towering thunderclouds that can tear planes apart. Pilots fear them, passengers don’t see them coming. Ep 80 - Stratospher...

Let's talk about whales, from what we do and do not know about mammals, to the incredible things that animals have to endure!  Join our Founders Club on Patreon to get ad-free episodes for life!  patreon.com/DoomedtoFailPod We would love to hear from you! Please follow along!  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doomedtofailpod/   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/doomedtofailpod...

The history of medicine is equal parts miracle and nightmare. These episodes prove it. Ep 98 - The Never-ending Story: Henrietta Lacks   Her cancer cells were taken without her consent and became the most important cell line in medical research—changing science forever. Ep 135 - Useless Harbinger of Death?: The Appendix   A tiny organ with no clear purpose… except when it tries to kill you. We exp...

Black Snow: Curtis LeMay, the Firebombing of Tokyo, and the Road to the Atomic Bomb - by James M. Scott - https://www.amazon.com/Black-Snow-Curtis-Firebombing-Atomic/dp/1324002999 The Brutal Bombing of Tokyo 1945 | The Deadliest Bombing in History - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-iS8ZQjr1c Unauthorized History of the Pacific War Podcast - The Firebombing of Tokyo - Episode 416 -  https://www.yo...

Ep 27: Cruising through History: The Rise and Fall of the Edsel Ford’s flashy new car was supposed to be the future. Instead, it became the most famous flop in automotive history. Ep 33: Getting rich quick always works: The story of Charles Ponzi   Before “Ponzi scheme” was a term, there was Ponzi himself—running the ultimate get-rich-quick con until it all collapsed. Ep 112 - Squeeze your Juice a...

Today, in good news, Farz tells the story of San Antonio's kindest philanthropist, Gordon Hartman! Gordon created Morgan's Wonderland - an amusement park that makes attending amusement parks possible for people with disabilities. We'll talk about the mission of the park, the cool rides they created to make sure that everyone can ride safely.   Learn even more at https://morgans.org/ Join our Found...

When people go wrong, the spotlight melts them faster. These episodes explore crimes, courtroom chaos, PR disasters, and unforgettable headlines. Ep 10 Part 1 – OJ & Nicole Simpson A brutal double murder, a televised Bronco chase, and the most infamous trial of the 20th century. Whether he did it or if he did it—America was never the same. Ep 18 - Part 1: BFFs Gone Wrong - Bernie Tiede   A friendl...

Let's go back to a time when trains weren't automated and there was A LOT of room for human error. We talk about the 'Swiss Cheese Model' of disasters all the time and this is a classic case. Late trains, overcrowded passenger cars, neglecting to look at a log book, having the "go" sign up when it should have been "stop" - this case has it all.   We'll also talk about how the story was lost in the...

From molasses tsunamis to space shuttle tragedies, here are some of history’s most infamous engineering disasters. Ep 20 - Part 2: Oh The Humanity!!! - The Hindenburg A luxury airship explodes mid-air in front of a live radio broadcast. Hydrogen, hubris, and horrific design come together in one fiery crash. Ep 26 - Part 1: Under Pressure - The Byford Dolphin & The Titan Submersible What happens wh...

Post WWII, where did all the Rocket Scientists go? Specifically, where did all the GERMAN Rocket Scientests go? Essentially, they went to the highest bidder; some, like Werner von Braun, went to the US, and others went to Russia. Today, we'll tell the story of the race to get a bigger and better ICBM - and how, in a rush to show strength, an undetermined number of people were reduced to ash in The...

Traditionally, the Middle Ages (which is easier to spell) is the time from the 5th century to the fall of Constantinople in 1453. We could also pull it a little later into the birth of the Renaissance, and we might as well bookend this with the Mona Lisa. The space between the Nika Riots and the Mona Lisa is about 1000 years, and a lot happened. 🏛 Early Medieval (c. 500–1000 CE) 532 - The Nika Rio...