Doomed to Fail

Oh, the sweet simplicity of an unregulated water park in the 1980s! You 100% would get injured, you might die, but you'd have an awesome time. Let's discuss Gene Mulvihill and his obsession with creating bigger, better, more dangerous water park attractions! We'll dig into the details and the danger. Strap in (actually, there are no straps, so just hang on) for a wild ride! Sources: Calss Action P...

Let's dive into the history between Iran, Israel, and Iraq. You probably won't be surprised to know that there has been conflict in the Middle East as long as there have been humans.  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/ &...

For our last story for Pride Month, let's talk about Harvey Milk. Harvey was only in politics for a few years but he was groundbreaking in that he was an out gay man who encouraged others to also come out and share who they are. We'll cover Harvey's early life in NY, his time in the Navy, and what ultimately led him to Castro Street in San Francisco!   Source - The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life...

To continue our look at LGBTQ+ history let's talk about Sappho! While we cannot put modern definitions onto ancient people, we do assume that Sappho had relationships with women based on her love poems to women. She ran a school for women on the isle of Lesbos (you get it) and we are still discovering fragments of her work!  Join us as Taylor reads Farz a love poem, and he says 'Sorry, I zoned out...

Let's talk about the true story behind the movie 'The Terminal' it's not nearly as romantic IRL! Mehran Karimi Nasseri was trying to get to the UK from Iran when some paperwork needed to be filled out in France... and he just, didn't do it. For 18 years. If you're like anyone else in the world, you hate being at the airport overnight - so this is actually a tragedy of mental illness and less of a...

Have I said before that I think that we think that talking about plane crashes would just make our deaths in one TOO ironic? So this is saving our lives. Let's talk about the horror of the short trip that was Japan Airlines Flight 123 - A fully filled, gigantic plane with over 500 people- that lost control 12 minutes into the flight, then they wobbled around in the sky for THIRTY MINUTES before cr...

Today we dive into the oft-requested story of the dueling, opera singing, bi-sexual Julie d'Aubigny! We'll tell the tale of her remarkable life, from a court mistress, to dueling on the streets of Paris, to burning the body of a nun to run away with her girlfriend! Lots of twists in this one!   Happy Pride!  Join our Founders Club on Patreon to get ad-free episodes for life!  patreon.com/Doom...

Today, we dig into the 80s culture of celebrity charity work! From Live Aid to 'We Are the World', we started a trend where massive movements were spearheaded by celebrities. USA for Africa, the organization responsible for We Are the World & Hands Across America, stands for 'United Support of Artists for Africa' (we wouldn't have guessed that, because it makes no sense). What IS Hands Across Amer...

Let's talk about the unlucky crew of the Tuna Fishing ship Lucky Dragon #5. Thousands of miles from Japan, the crew was laying lines when the US tested its Castle Bravo nuclear bomb in Bikini Atoll. The Lucky Dragon was well within the 'Safety Zone,' which we know is not a thing. They ended up trudging back to Japan, only to slowly succumb to all the radiation they experienced. We ALSO talk about...

Today we travel to the darker side of organ transplants - when demand is greater than supply, that creates a market, right? Well, yes, but also this time people have to be cut open.  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/ &n...

Let's talk about the most expensive disaster of all time! The meltdown at Reactor 4 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine. A safety test that was anything but 'routine' ended in an explosion of radioactive material, and everything became poison. We'll talk about the USSR, Nuclear Power, the disaster itself, and the aftermath.   This is episode 200!! We are so excited to have gotten this...

Sources -  Movie - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enron:_The_Smartest_Guys_in_the_Room Book - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Smartest_Guys_in_the_Room_(book)   For this episode, Taylor got to read the book behind her favorite documentary of all time - 2005's "The Smartest Guys in the Room" - That's right, liars and grifters, we're stuffing money in offshore accounts and shredding the paperwork -...

Today, in part 1 of Organ Donations, we talk about the history and the rules behind giving someone your organs. It does get a little gross when we learn that lungs come apart into 'lobes' but it's probably still a good thing to know! 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!  Insta...

Today, we talk about the incident before the horror in Amityville, Long Island. 23-year-old Ronnie DeFeo murdered his entire family, parents, and four siblings, at 3:15 in the morning. He shot them in their beds while they were sleeping, then he took a bath and went to work. Ronnie would later claim it was a demon, and the grifters who moved in later would say the house was haunted. Lots of great...

Consider, of course, the definition of 'doomed.' In 1846, several families left the Midwest in pursuit of the California Dream. Eventually, George Donner would be named their leader, and they would follow the Hastings Cutoff for a quick shortcut west. The rest is history.   Of the 87 travelers, 48 will survive, mostly women & children. All will encounter incredible hunger, fear, and destitution be...

Why not do a Friday Re-release!?! Let's take a break from the horrors IRL and talk about The Mary Celeste and the MV Joyita - two ships found drifting with no people... where did the people go??   Bonus bonus - you shoud watch the movie 'Ghost Ship' from 2002 Bonus bonus bonus - Gabriel Byrne played Professor Bhaer in 1994's "Little Women"???? Join our Founders Club on Patreon to get ad-free episo...

Grab your forks, friends - we're having cake! Today, we re-release Taylor's episode on our dear Marie Antoinette. Yes, we hold her dear - she was just a kid put in a ridiculous situation, YES, she cosplayed being poor, YES, she was addicted to gambling. BUT she was also a good mother. Bonus - there's a time slip in this episode that we LOVE. In the Moberly–Jourdain incident, two teachers in 1911 s...

It's a re-release! Let's revisit Episode 45, where we talked about the financial crisis of 2008—what do you remember? Taylor worked at a hedge fund, and she remembers the yearly 'work trip' moving from the Bahamas to..... the Hamptons. How did we get there, and what can we learn from the experience? Join our Founders Club on Patreon to get ad-free episodes for life!  patreon.com/DoomedtoFailP...

Today Taylor tells the story of "The Professor and the Madman" - how the Oxford English Dictionary was created in the late 1800s. Professor James Murray took up the almost impossible task of cataloging the entire English Language, and asked for the public's help. One volunteer sent in over 10k definitions (which all include quotes and several references) - his return address was the Insane Asylum...

Discover the rich history of the Papal States and the evolution of the Catholic Church in our latest episode! Learn about the intriguing interplay between politics and faith from Jesus to Napoleon. Don’t miss out on this deep dive into history! #PapalStates #CatholicChurch #HistoryPodcast Join our Founders Club on Patreon to get ad-free episodes for life!  patreon.com/DoomedtoFailPod We would love...

Let's talk fast cars and family rivalries! Today, we talk through the Ferrari and Lamborghini families, and how their patriarchs worked to have the fastest engine available, and not necessarily the coolest looking car. I think that just happened to happen!  Join our Founders Club on Patreon to get ad-free episodes for life!  patreon.com/DoomedtoFailPod We would love to hear from you! Please f...

Join us for the sad tale of Air New Zealand's flight 901 that crashed in Antarctica in 1979. But first we need a little bit of context and we revisit several Doomed to Fail Episodes:   The Franklin Expedition Ep 58 Volcanoes - between 38 and 71 Antarctica - Ep 158 Mt. Everest - Ep 95   Then we get to the story of the trip, which sounds amazing until it isn't.  Join our Founders Club on Patreon to...

This is the incredible story of the Navajo Code Talkers of World War II! We'll talk a little about the history of the Navajo and how the United States really wanted them to forget their heritage, and especially their language. Navajo children were sent to boarding schools and forced to learn English, so much so that they were punished if they spoke any of their native language at school. Of course...

At this point, maybe if we talk about plane crashes enough, the irony would be TOO intense if we actually died in one! Let's go back 10 years to March 2015, when Germanwings pilot Andreas Lubitz was absolutely not in the right headspace to fly a plane. We dig into the mental health of pilots, why some of them don't get help, and why those who do are stigmatized. Andreas, for example, was on a new...

Farz started this episode with, "I don't know if people are going to be interested in this!" and then proceeded to tell the most hilarious and interesting story! In loving memory of Val Kilmer, Farz walks us through the insane 1996 production of "The Island of Dr. Moreau." From Val being the worst to the director disguising himself as an extra to whatever the hell Marlon Brandon was doing --- it's...