Doomed to Fail

Today starts our Women's History Month coverage! We remind you that nobody is perfect, women, like all genders, contain mulititudes.   Taylor starts off with the story of Helen Keller - from the disease that took her sight and hearing at 19 months - to an international superstar and advocate for disabled people, Socialism, and women. How did she go from her silent dark world to a graduate of Radcl...

Let's travel a century or so in the future from Britain's Peasant Revolt to what happened in Germany after they had their own. It's fully the Renaissance now, but don't tell that to Anabaptist Jan Matthis; he's planning for the End Times. We're going to have a city under siege, a Preacher who (surprise, surprise) wants to be a King and marry everyone, and a lot of good old-fashioned torture. We re...

Let's get creepy for Women's History! Farz walks us through the tale of Elizabeth Bathory, who murdered countless peasants in her Transylvanian castle. Did she bathe in their blood to stay young?? Did she just like killing people? How many places in a castle can you hide a body???   If you live in a castle and know that answer please email us.  Main Source: https://ir.library.illinoisstate.edu/etd...

Let's talk about celebrities & our obsession with them. Farz will walk us through some examples, from fun things like Taylor having a Prince William poster to very scary things like someone sitting on the Queen's bed while she slept. Why do we feel connected to people we've never met, and how can they feel safe with so many strangers knowing intimate details of their lives? Join our Founders Club...

Poetry Professor Taylor will be walking us through the life and times of Geoffery Chaucer! Just kidding - a normal person who doesn't understand Middle English at all, Taylor, will walk us through this story today!   We tie back to last week's peasant revolt to talk about how Chaucer's apartment was above the Aldgate - so he would have watched people rush into London. We also talk about the precip...

Today, Farz tells the story of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who dared to talk about the ruler of Saudi Arabia. After years in exile, Jamal decided to go to Turkey to get married, which sounds great, except he had an ex-wife in Saudi Arabia and a currently very much still married wife in the US. When he needed to get proof from the Embassy that he wasn't married (to the first one, under Islam) he wa...

Summer Of Blood Peasants Revolt Of 1381: Jones, Dan The 1300s were rough in England. There's the plague; there's the 100 Years War, and there's serfdom. An interesting thing that happened after the Black Death killed 50% of the population was that workers were worth more - there were 50% fewer serfs, so they started to be asked to be paid more! That obviously wasn't going to fly with the Lords; yo...

Here's the way to explain how famous John Wilkes Booth was BEFORE - imagine, it's 1996, you are 14, Leonardo Dicaprio is the most handsome person you have ever seen AND we just learned that he can do Shakespeare (We are are SURE that understanding Shakespeare in any way makes you smart, so you are trying) -- THEN Leo kills someone. You have to take down your Teen People pictures of him as you sob...

Photos from wikipedia and - https://plane-crashes.fandom.com/wiki/2002_%C3%9Cberlingen_mid-air_collision   Welp. Farz likes to jostle our nerves, and today is no exception! We're going to talk about a mid-air collision - not the most recent one, but the one that happened in 2002. A DHL plane and a smaller jet collided mid-air; the smaller jet was full of Russian Children on a trip to the beach (an...

Today, Farz takes us on a journey through the history of the US Food System. We'll talk about who owns what, what they want you to eat, and why they want you to eat it! Don't forget to start prepping for your Victory Garden, America!  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!  Inst...

Do you remember October 1987? If you were around, there is no way that you missed the live CNN coverage of Jessica McClure stuck in a well (essentially, an 8-inch pipe; "well" is generous) in Midland, TX. It was the second time that CNN's live reporting attracted millions of viewers (the first was when The Challenger exploded the year before). May we also suggest watching 'Everybody's Baby' the TV...

In today's bonus episode, Taylor talks with formerly incarcerated firefighter Brett Crawford. We reached out to Brett from a comment he left on a very 'gotcha' headline from the NY Times. He graciously spent some time with us to talk about his experiences in prison and in recovery. In times like the LA Fires, the news is so hectic, and we hope this can help us all understand our shared humanity ju...

Let's talk about one of the worst Naval disasters in US history. At the end of WWII, the United States needed to get the uranium for the atomic bomb closer to Japan. Enter the USS Indianapolis - a ship that was just repaired from a kamikaze attack in the Battle of Okinawa. Nobody onboard knew what their mission or cargo was, but it was completed without incident. HOWEVER, on the way back to Guam t...

Well, well, well! Why do we do all the festivities around a presidential inauguration anyway? Today, let's look at some of the most famous speeches and learn the history behind the US Presidential transfer of power, from Washington's inauguration in downtown NYC to the tradition of leaving a letter for your successor! Some of our favorites will include FDR's jab at Hoover and JFK's subtle nods at...

Ew. You've heard this story but not the details! Stella was in New Mexico on Feb 27, 1992 when she stopped for a coffee at McDonald's. She then spilled the coffee in her lap -- and OMG the injuries are horrific. She sued McDonald's (as she should have because, again, OMG)   Then we spent the 90s making fun of her because, of course, coffee is hot. We were terribly terribly wrong. This coffee wasn'...

In an effort to try to understand WTF is going on as Los Angeles burns, Taylor spent a lot of time this week looking for misinformation and trying to find facts in this mess. It's wildly complicated; we're glad we don't work in accounting for a state or large city. One thing is for sure thank you Cal Fire for all you are doing to stop this disaster.  One thing that stood out is that 800 or so of t...

This is one to sit out if you are scared of the ocean! Today, Farz tells the story behind 'Open Water' and how Tom & Eileen Lonergan went diving at the Great Barrier Reef and never came back.   A nightmare. 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...

Co-Host Taylor interviews her dad, Mark, who was born in 1953! We talk DDT trucks, the Polio Vaccine, and what it was like to just not have to worry about it anymore!    Were you at any of our historical events??? We'd love to interview you too!  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...

Hello 2025! Let's start talking about all the work that went into the Polio vaccine & our current mostly polio-free world! From an endemic disease that had been around for all time to the resurgence in the 1900s, Polio was a 'childhood' disease that people just expected to happen. Until our dear FDR was afflicted, and the March of Dimes changed philanthropy forever. Learn about fundraising, testin...

Thank you for an amazing 2024! We are taking a short break and will see you next year!! 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   Youtube:  https://www.youtu...

Finish up the year with us by talking about the Christmastime tragedy of the Lockerbie bombing. We'll talk about the PanAm flight, where it started, where it was headed, and what happened when a suitcase in the cargo hold exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland.   We'll talk suspects, pay-offs, and conspiracy theories.   Thank you for listening to our little show this year!! We will see you in 2025! Joi...

Happy & Merry! Today, let's talk about Santa, old St. Nick, Father Christmas, etc. Then a quick true crime story from the heyday of bank robberies - 1927. In Texas, 4 banks were robbed a week! So, recently pardoned by Ma Ferguson, robber Marshall Ratliff decides to join the fun. On December 23rd he enters a bank, dressed as Santa, what could possibly go wrong?   https://www.findagrave.com/memorial...

Are you looking for a great opportunity in the new world???? Can we introduce you to the beautiful country of Poyias? It's on the coast of South America, and there are palaces and princesses, promenades, and an opera house! The land, you ask? It can give you multiple harvests per year! The rivers, too, you ask? Well - they are filled with GOLD!!! Wait, do people already live there? Yes, yes, they...

What do you do if you are in the coldest, most remote place on earth and you need to have surgery? You probably hope to hell that you brought a doctor along with you... but what if you ARE the doctor who was brought along? Today Farz tells us about Leonid Rogozov, who took out his own appendix! And Jerri Lin Nielsen, who diagnosed and treated her own breast cancer deep in the Antarctic freeze!   V...

Today, we go back across the pond to talk about the Tower of London - not technically a tower if you're looking for something tall, more of a complex with a COMPLEX history (lol). We'll talk about when our dear Anne Boelyn was killed, when Rudolph Hess was held there, and everything in between! Grab your umbrellas (We assume it's always raining there) and learn with us!  Join our Founders Club on...