Doomsday: History's Most Dangerous Podcast

On today’s special holiday disastersode, we’re visiting a story so unbelievable, NASA actually used it as a diagnostic to pre-screen test applicants. They study it for inaccuracies. Their record so far is 168. Let’s see how we do. On this very special Disaster Moviesode: we’re revisiting the cinematic spectacle of Michael Bay’s 1998 end-of-the-world Action Adventure Sci-Fi Thriller, monster smash...

In space, no one can hear you scream. But on the launch pad? You can yell, scream, or bleed all you want. No one will hear you there either. On this episode: you will find out how rockets work, and how they don’t work; you’ll hear about people vaporized into flaming mists and others faced with a kind of toxic shock syndrome you don’t hear about in commercials. Today's story is another in a long li...

Buck up, idiots. Today’s episode is almost guaranteed to make your next workplace screw-up seem a little less screwed up. We've done a lot of bad day at work episodes. That was the original working title for the podcast. Most of our episodes make you feel more grounded, and hopefully safer in your daily life. This one is more about making you feel better about phoning-in your work sometimes.  This...

In 1917, job and housing markets in the UK were really blowing up. On this episode: you will not hear me mispronounce Trinitrotoluene for half an hour, but I’ll probably mispronounce it anyway. You will also hear me describe people losing their heads. Or parts of their heads. Or limbs. Or lives. But definitely bowel control. World War One was a real boom time across Europe, which can be easy to fo...

Of all the ways people throughout history have died while mining, todays will probably be the most “impactful”. We all want episodes that stretch the boundaries of what a vehicle accident can look like, and today fits that bill nicely. In advance, let me just say, you'll be better off taking the stairs when you've finished this story.  On this episode: we recounts the most statistically-unlikely d...

Most people wouldn’t think a burp could kill you. By the time you finish this episode, you won’t be most people. Make sure your travel vaccines are up-to-date and don’t forget to pack a night mask and noise cancelling headphones in your carry-on because we are returning to Africa. This episode has everything: fish farts, exploding lakes, tennis pro Vitas Gerulaitis, ancient African spirits, and a...

Back in the day before marketing appeared in washrooms, projected on buildings, geo-targeted to your phone and dragged on banners across the sky, people could raise brand awareness by simply blowing things up. This is the story of the worst marketing stunt in American history.  With anything, like music or social media or free speech, no form of communication is inherently evil. It all comes down...

Massachusetts has never been the most friendly of States. From their baseball fans to their witch burners to their license plate motto writers there is a history of bitterness. Today’s story however, is going to be a little sweet.  This gets categorized more into the bizarre and awe-inspiring than forgotten, but the level of detail scooped here will make it feel fresh and new. No joke, this episod...

We’ve talked about the Cold War before. But today we’re going to talk about a very cold war. Just sit back, slice open a Taun Taun, and let’s get into it. We say the only value of any disaster is what can be learned to safeguard people in the future, but in this case it was very much a matter of people dancing on the lip of the volcano. We’re going to talk about a disaster so phenomenal it was era...

According to the NTSB, airplane accidents have a 95.7% survivability rate, and normally that would be great news. Try telling that to the passengers on today’s episode.  On this episode: As promised, we make our inglorious return with a welcome back minisode about the most unlikely plane crash of all time. A disaster so bizarre it actually became the worst case scenario in ICAO Aviation testing. W...

Gratitude. Excrement. Explanations and Updates. This entirely tiny episode has it all! This minisode is actually my quick and candid explanation for my absence from the microphone - but you’ll also get to hear a quick story about rich people drowning terribly, a few teasers about upcoming episodes, and my promise that we’ll be back on the air before you know it. ––––– THANK YOU. Most shows survive...

There’s always been a lot of pressure to have an unforgettable time on New Years’ Eve. Today’s story promises to be unforgettable – so dig out your dancing shoes, party whistles and funeral kazoos - this is the New Years’ Baby of disaster stories. Put on your dancing shoes and update your will. We’re heading to Bangkok to ring in the new year. On this episode: we will describe flaming scalps and s...

Today’s episode is about a disaster so potent it would kill you today as easy as it would kill your descendants 35,000 years from now. And although this episode will be light on actual gore, we will be talking about an awful lot of human organs turning into cancer. But nothing too aggregious. A lot of ignorant but pioneering scientists with brave ideas and bubbling skin had to die for us to learn...

Today’s episode is basically a Public Service Announcement for future time travellers. Do not go back to Victorian England. Disease, murder, and stink around every corner. It’s hard to overestimate how terrible every facet of life was in Victorian England.  On this episode: we’re going to learn what it takes to turn a full size adult into a briquette. Why Jane Eyre stunk, and the best way to saw u...

In Soviet Union, the Airshow comes to you.  On this episode: we are going to learn why fighter jets – graceful and aerobatic though they may be – make terrible ground vehicles. You’ll also learn how to say “run for your lives” in Ukrainian.  We'll be celebrating unlucky episode number thirteen by describing burning jet fuel and debris spraying into a crowd, and something described as behaving “lik...

This episode is a short one but a good one. What it lacks in bloodshed, it will make up for in patriotic razzmatazz and screaming. We are calling this our palate cleanser episode. In this episode: you will hear about people screaming for their lives – nothing weird there. You’ll hear cheese grater used as a verb – that’s kind of new. All in all, this is our palate cleanser episode. You could prett...

We’re heading to South America to talk about a disaster so spectacular that over a thousand Americans recreate it in their own home every year. In this episode: we will describe a deep fryer the size of a department store and flesh dripping from bodies like wax from a candle. In fact, this is the first episode we’ve done that requires two separate safety segments. This was another in our long line...

Jean Paul Sartre said Hell is other people, and he’s right. Commuting proves this true. But if you’ve ever been on a train and had someone clip their nails or fall asleep on you, the people of Australia think your complaints are adorable. If you enjoy the bucolic leisure of a train ride and arriving alive, this is not necessarily the episode for you. On this episode: we’re going to talk about peop...

Weather prediction is hard, and chances are your local weather person has a terrible track record and you think they stink at their job. Well, the weatherman in today’s episode would like you to hold your judgement – and their beer. If you like shipwrecks, sharks and celebrity guest stars, this is the episode for you. In this episode: you will hear about some pretty casual olde-timey racism, the s...

In India you can make prayers to any one of 33 different top tier deities. You may want to. This episode is a bit of a Russian Nesting Doll of suffocation and electrocution and explosions. In this episode: we describe people being electrocuted by goat blood soup. You will hear about an awful lot of death, and explosions, and fire, but don’t worry, because most of the deaths are caused by smotherin...

Grab your clan robes and your snow shovels, today we’re heading to the Nation’s capital. We’re going to see a movie so funny it actually brought the house down. No really, people died. On this episode: we cover our most claustrophobic episode to date, combined with the most dramatic weight-loss strategy you've ever heard of  This was our very first weather-related disaster. Not a natural disaster...

If you Google “worst jobs” you’re going to see things like crime scene clean up and sewer diver, but compared to medieval bell ringer? At least sewer divers can be hosed down. Bell ringers had to be hosed off – like, every surface. In this episode:  you will hear about people superheating to five times the temperature of the surface of the sun before exploding. You’ll learn what a terrible job TV...

Riddle me this. I make intestines peek out of a belly. I make bone protrude from a fractured shin. I make blood spurt from a gash in the buttocks. What annual sporting event am I? Find out this week on Doomsday: History’s Most Dangerous Podcast. In this episode: you will hear about a man being carried around by a horn stabbed in through his neck and poking out his mouth. You’re even going to hear...

This episode is the disaster equivalent of one of those trick birthday candles that just won’t blow out. So if the idea of close, intimate contact with insects, arachnids and reptiles bothers you, today’s episode will bother you. A lot. In this episode:  you will hear-tell of a plague of terror being cleared away by cleansing mercy of a volcano and people voluntarily jumping into boiling water, on...

There are over 400,000 caskets in Arlington National Cemetery, but only one is lined with lead, sealed under several feet of concrete and placed in a metal vault just to prevent it from killing you.  In this episode:  we described the worst groin injury in the recorded history of medical science. You’ll learn how to autopsy a corpse from across a room, and you’re also going to hear Kool-Aid Man an...