Relative Disasters

In 1905, a backed-up canal on the Colorado River caused a years-long flood into Imperial Valley, California. The resulting deluge of freshwater, along with new advances in canal engineering and agricultural practices, became an important part of southern California's economy, allowing the land to provide fresh produce and meat to much of the Southwestern United States. The flood also created a...

On the December 15 evening rush hour in 1967, traffic was heavy on the Silver Bridge, a 40-year-old suspension bridge connecting the states of Ohio and West Virginia. When a single link broke on the bridge's suspension system, none of those drivers had time to react - and within 20 seconds, dozens of cars and trucks had toppled into the icy Ohio River as the bridge collapsed. 64 people fell in...

In the late spring of 1889, southern Pennsylvania's South Fork Hunting and Fishing Club was gearing up for another summer of luxurious hiking, boating, and swimming, when an unexpected rainstorm dropped 10 inches of water on their pristine mountain getaway. The resulting rise in the club's lake, Lake Conemaugh, spelled disaster for the dam holding it back. And with the failure of the dam c...

In the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics, a British ski jumper named Michael Edwards competed with enthusiasm, sportsmanship, and optimism. It had been a lifelong dream to compete in the Olympics, and he made the most of it, soaring to ... dead last in every event in which he competed. On this episode, the story of "Eddie the Eagle", skiing in England (it's harder than you think!), Olympi...

In the spring of 1902, Mt Pelée, a volcano on the Caribbean island of Martinique, began behaving a little strangely. First, there was the overwhelming stink of sulphur. Then, steam eruptions became visible, and ash began to fall. Next were snake attacks, mudslides, flash floods, tsunamis, and smallpox. At the foot of the volcano, in the town of St Pierre, people were torn between evacuation ... an...

On a chilly February morning in 1992, 79-year-old Stella Liebeck ordered a 49-cent cup of hot coffee from a McDonald's drive-through. When she opened the top to add cream and sugar, the flimsy cup spilled 190-degree coffee into her lap, resulting in excruciatingly painful 3rd degree burns. Mrs. Liebeck sued for gross negligence, asking McDonald's to improve their cups, lower the temperatur...

The Le Mans 24, one of auto racing's oldest and most dangerous endurance races, has seen its share of fatal accidents over the past 100 years. That's thanks to mixed surfaces, sharp corners and curves, unpredictable weather, and very, very fast driving for hours at a time. Spectators at Le Mans expect to see the cutting edge of automotive technology from all the major European carmakers PL...

In this episode, we're tackling one of the great wildlife stories of all time: Cocaine Bear. We'll get into the finer points of drug laws, a quick history of cocaine (a key ingredient in both shampoo and children's medicines!), the socioeconomic ramifications of Reagan's "War on Drugs", and the adrenaline-seeking hi-jinks of Drew Thornton II. But the real star of our stor...

In December 1872, the American brigantine 'Mary Celeste' was found drifting hundreds of miles off the coast of Portugal - with not a living soul aboard, and no sign whatsoever of what had caused her crew and passengers to abandon ship. On this episode, we cover Mary Celeste's history of bad vibes all the way from her maiden voyage (where the captain died) to her final sinking (where th...

Strap on your sandals and join us for a trip to the Nubian kingdom of Kush, where, in 27 BCE, the rapidly expanding Roman Empire bit off slightly more than it could chew. This isn't a story of legions marching into battle - instead, this is the tale of Queen Amanirenas, the one-eyed warrior queen who stopped the might of the Roman war machine with courage, strategy, and a handful of golden arr...

In the spring of 1846, a group of 90 would-be settlers left Independence, Missouri, for new lives in California. Led by James Reed and George Donner, the group planned to head west by covered wagon as quickly and comfortably as possible, using the Oregon and California trails. But after being delayed by bad directions, a murder trial, an endless desert 'shortcut', and crippling losses, the...

It's the end of our first season! To celebrate, we're answering all your invasive and highly personal questions, spilling the tea on what went wrong with our least-favorite episode, bickering over who had the best research finds, and going over suggestions for next year. See you in 2022!  Love the show? Support us on Patreon, at ⁠www.patreon.com/RelativeDisastersPodcast⁠ . Sources for this...

Get a glass of Tang and join us for a lofty episode on America's first space station: Skylab! When NASA launched the project in 1973, it heralded a new era of space exploration and scientific progression - one that was still, unfortunately, subject to the law of gravity. When Skylab's orbit began to fail in 1978, NASA engineers found that they couldn't quite aim it for the ocean the wa...

This week, we're off to Charleston, South Carolina, where at the height of the American Civil War a secret weapon was launched into Charleston Harbor. It wasn't a very good weapon - in fact, it killed three times as many of its own crew members than enemy sailors - but it was an example of cutting-edge wartime technology that wouldn't be attempted again until World War 1. In sinking th...

Hear the crack of the bat, the munching of cracker-jack, and the calls of the (possibly corrupt) umpire as we take you back to the scandalous 1919 World Series of Major League Baseball! On this episode, we invite our dear listeners to meet a cast of excellently-named conspirators, their gambling buddies, their dreams of unimaginable wealth, and what led to their ultimate downfall; and spoiler aler...

On a quiet November morning in 1980, a drilling crew making an exploratory borehole in the middle of Lake Peigneur, Louisiana, ran into a problem: their drillbit got stuck at 12,000 feet down. Although they didn't know it, this would be the first sign of an industrial accident on a massive scale, one that would flood a mine, drain a lake, cause a 150-foot waterfall, set off a geyser, and a beg...

On a quiet December morning in 1917, a Norwegian passenger ship was speeding through the Narrows, just outside Nova Scotia's Halifax Harbor, when it collided with a French freighter packed full of TNT, guncotton, and fuel. The resulting explosion flattened most of the harbor-facing district of Halifax, caused a tsunami and a fire, and killed or injured upwards of ten thousand people. On this e...

This week, we're road tripping with Henry Ford's worst idea: a Brazilian rubber plantation the size of New Jersey, where he planned to clear the Amazonian rainforest, grow hundreds of thousands of rubber trees, and introduce the locals to American-style efficiency. Join us for the lowdown on Ford's obsession with efficiency, the ideal 1920s company town, soccer & square dancing, a...

Grab a handful of Brazil nuts and a glass of buttermilk, and join us for the tale of a knock-down, drag-out election between the dictator of a small town and the citizens who want him and his cronies out of office. The 1909 election in Zion, Illinois should have been a straightforward democratic vote, but it turned into something much, much more. On this episode, we've got it all: voter suppre...

It’s mushroom clouds over Hollywood in this episode, as we immerse ourselves in the tale of the 1956 making of “The Conqueror”, an 'historical' epic based on the life of Genghis Khan. Produced by Howard Hughes on the largest budget in RKO Studios’ history, the picture starred A-list actors John Wayne and Susan Hayward, and was shot in beautiful Snow Canyon, Utah. That location happened to...

Come with us back to the Hundred Years' War, with a battle not between opposing armies but against (apparently) God. In the red corner: The English army of Edward the Third! In the blue corner: Lightning, freezing temperatures, 55-MPH winds, and hailstones bigger than your fist! The Black Monday Hailstorm of 1360 caused more deaths and injuries than any previous "battle" in the Hundr...

The luxury liner SS Andrea Doria made the voyage from Italy to America a hundred times without incident, and earned rave reviews from her wealthy passengers, who loved her modern décor and fabulous food. On her hundred-and-first trip, however, a cascade of poor decisions, design flaws, and bad luck ended in her sinking just off the coast of Massachusetts. On this episode, we take you through one o...

In this episode, we take a look at one man's personal disaster that led to a wonderful figure from American history - Emperor Norton I, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico. We'll discuss dogs, congress, a certain bridge, anti-Chinese racism of the mid-1800s, and we'll take a deep dive in to the truth of Norton's life as well as his posthumous mythology! Enjoy the s...

Down for a vist to the world's largest cave system? In this episode, we look at the discovery and development of what is now known as the Mammoth–Flint Ridge Cave System, in the US state of Kentucky. These days, it's owned by the federal government and overseen by the National Park Service; but a hundred years ago, caverns and entrances to the system, as well as unconnected caves, were own...

Come join us in the water! On this episode, we explore how sharks are being driven to extinction and why that matters for humanity. We talk about Jaws, Megalodon, amiable sharks, human-left-foot-soup, and which shark Greg would go swimming with! Sit back, relax, and keep an eye on your toaster - that thing's gonna kill you. Enjoy the show? Support us on Patreon, at ⁠⁠www.patreon.com/RelativeDi...