That’s Terrible!

On January 15, 2009, US Airways Flight 1549 took off from New York's LaGuardia Airport bound for Charlotte, North Carolina, but it wouldn't get far. A few minutes after takeoff, the plane hit a flock of Canada geese, losing both engines. Captain Chesley Sullenberger III called LaGuardia and asked to come back, but he quickly realized he wouldn't have time and made the decision to land the plane in...

July 24, 1915 should have been a wonderful day for the employees of Western Electric Company's Hawthorne Works and their families. The company had chartered five passenger steamers to carry around 7,000 people from Chicago to Michigan City, Indiana for a picnic. But one of those ships, the Eastland, capsized before it even left the docks on the Chicago River. In this episode, Ted and Barb Wachholz...

This week, Erika and Amelia are joined by Dimitry Pompée, one of the hosts of the Eurovangelists podcast, to discuss something that is NOT terrible but is affected by terrible things: The Eurovision Song Contest. Eurovision is a contest that brings together the nations of Europe (plus a few others) with one great song from each country, each year. It began as a way to unite Europe in the aftermath...

On May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens experienced the most devastating volcanic eruption the United States had ever seen. Now, on the anniversary, Erika and Amelia are talking with a park ranger who spends every day at the Mount St. Helens Visitor Center in Washington telling people about everything the mountain has to offer. Alysa Adams talks about life before, during and after the eruption, and what...

The Great Chicago Fire occurred over three days in October 1871 and destroyed more than three square miles of the city. It began in a barn belonging to Catherine and Patrick O'Leary, but what sparked the fire and who was responsible remains a mystery to this day. The most popular theory is that a cow kicked a lantern over (probably because there's actually a song about it ) but the real culprit co...

Welcome to Centralia, Pennsylvania, a town with just a few residents and a wild history. Long ago, it was a bustling coal mining town, but everything changed in 1962 when a fire broke out underground. That fire still burns today and will probably continue for 250 years.  Erika and Amelia are joined this week by David DeKok, author of Fire Underground: The Ongoing Tragedy of the Centralia Mine Fire...

Get ready for an adventure into one of history’s greatest mysteries! In this episode, hosts Amelia and Erika take to the skies to explore the incredible life—and puzzling disappearance—of pioneering aviator Amelia Earhart. Who was she? What made her such a fearless trailblazer? And what might have happened on her final flight? Joining the show is special guest Sterling Falk from the Amelia Earhart...