This Is A Disaster

What better place to build a fishing and country club than at the edge of a recently-compromised dam?  A flood made particularly horrific by all of the debris it took with it, and Johnstown Pennsylvania didn't see it coming... or didn't want to.  Conemaugh Lake, 19th-century industrialists, broken telegraphs, and a demonic Katamari Damacy.   Leigh's song pick:: Domsbore by Boredoms https://open.sp...

Young boys get stranded on an island, and anyone who's read the book knows the rest of the story... or do they? A group of Tongan teenagers in the 1960s acted as a real-world experiment to see whether humanity is more "Lord of the Flies" or "The Coral Island".  Polynesia, 'Ata, shipwreck in the Pacific, and humanity exposed.   Peter's song pick:: In My Mind At Least by PS I Love You https://open.s...

Hey, we heard you like wood, so we stored wood in your wood so you can wood when you wood!  When they first built the Windy City, perhaps they should have considered building materials that were a bit less timber-based.  Controversy about Mrs. O'Leary's cow versus Daniel "Peg Leg" Sullivan aside, the great fire that tore through Chicago in October 1871 took no prisoners.  A cow, a lamp, a drunk, a...

Bad things come in fours.  Leigh tells us about a bottleneck at a Who concert, a stampede at the Roskilde festival, a human garlic press at a Hillsborough soccer match, and the perils of Ten-Cent Beer Night.  The Who, Pearl Jam, Liverpool versus Nottingham Forest, and the Cleveland Indians versus the Texas Rangers... and beer.  Lots and lots of too-cheap beer.   Leigh's song pick:: Riot by Dead Ke...

Leigh tackles one of his White Whales, talking about the ups, downs, and eventual collapse of the production of what could have been the Beach Boys' greatest album.  Human-sized kitty litter, songs about surfing, California girls, a questionable psychotherapist, and untold kilometers of magnetic tape.   Leigh's song pick:: Our Prayer by The Beach Boys https://open.spotify.com/track/11D5wiWcxrLLI2G...

What happens when you pick a fight with Mikey Mouse, and all you have at hand is two million latex balloons?  In 1986, United Way of Chicago found out.  A charity balloon release, a Guinness World Record, spooked prize horses, and a peek into Peter's past.   Peter's song pick:: Just A Simple Plan by Piebald https://open.spotify.com/track/5FK94aMxWNjZEVUtyxRG2B?si=Fb74UNqPQCqcOG9HyBhdfA   T-shirt p...

Special guest Karol (aka doom-rapper "garbageface") drops by the podcast to tell us about possibly the original sticky situation.  How could such a sweet treat turn deadly?  Maybe by storing two million gallons of it in a paper-thin water tower?  A cautionary tale about paying attention to warning signs, and the children running home with cups of molasses.  WW1, building codes, and so much molasse...

How many tragic folk musicians from the 60s could there possibly be?  Leigh helps answer that question with the story of Gram Parsons.  You know you're hitting the rocks when Keith Richards tells you to slow down... Acoustic guitar, tequila and morphine binges in the desert, and a botched cremation.   Leigh's song pick:: Love Hurts by Gram Parsons and  https://open.spotify.com/track/72DefuF22C6aPK...

Some disasters reverberate throughout history.  Santorini wasn't always a ring of islands...  there was a time it was the beautiful peak of a mountain island called Thera.  The archeological site at Akrotiri is our main portal into what exactly happened to the Minoan civilization on Crete and Thera... but the effects of Thera's eruption were felt thousands of kilometers away, and may have even sha...

When it comes to measurement, there's the right way, and there's the Imperial system.  Sometimes when you make the switch from one system to the other, wires get crossed and things can go south.  Was that in liters, or gallons?  The history of the metric system, an airplane flying light, and a decommissioned air base that maybe wasn't so decommissioned.  Nuclear Norm brings the aerial terror!   No...

Did you know that June 30th is International Asteroid Day?  Possibly because of a massive explosion in Siberia on that day in 1908.  While Russia was revolting (the first time), the Tungusic people of Eastern Siberia watched as the sky was torn in half by a column of fire.  Celestial police, this history of asteroid spotting, meteors on their way to meet us, and a nuclear solution.    Leigh's song...

There is a long history behind the idea of resuscitating a seemingly dead person... but it's not all chest compressions and assisted-breathing. There was a time when someone blowing smoke up your ass was a bit more literal.  The road to modern CPR is paved with heart massage, a drunken sailor, and tobacco smoke enemas.   Peter's song pick:: You Can Cry by Dreamshell https://open.spotify.com/track/...

On February 2nd, 1980, tensions came to a breaking point at the New Mexico State Penitentiary.  "But wait" you cry, "you said you don't cover acts of malice!"  Trust us, the disaster here is the bungling before, during, and after the riot.  Mistreat your prisoners long enough, and what do you get?  Axe handles, blowtorches, snitches getting way more than stitches, and a hundred hand-written pages...

In the summer of 1966, the construction of the Heron Road Bridge in Ottawa didn't go exactly to plan.  A cautionary tale about listening to the groaning woodwork, and for one worker about maybe staying away from construction sites... for the rest of his life.  The National Capital, the Heron Road Workers Memorial Bridge, and a man pinned by a police car.   Leigh's song pick:: Summer In The City by...

In 1903, the Turtle walked.  An ancient mountain that the indigenous people of the area knew not to mess with... what better place to build a town?  Better tuck it into the very base of a mine where gargantuan ancient forces spontaneously squeeze coal out.  A mountain, a slide, a horse that made it through, and a reason to Stay In the Hotel.   Craig's song picks:: How The Mountain Came Down by Sto...

Peter and Leigh check in for a "Hey, howya doin'?"  A few tips for staying safe and protecting the most vulnerable, and our plan for self-isolation while keeping the disaster burning!   1) Avoid groups of people, cut any non-essential travel. 2) Wash your hands for at least 20 seconds (sing the ABC song). 3) Resist the urge to hoard, someone needs one of the thing you just bought eleven of.    Fla...

In 1805, a man bought an elephant in a bar.  Little did he know, this would lead to a legacy alongside the Greatest Show on Earth... and also one of the most devastating fires the big top would ever see.  Exotic animals, gasoline-soaked tarp, an inferno, and a reason to always carry a pocket knife.   Peter's song pick:: Let Go by Frou Frou https://open.spotify.com/track/3xKTpGCsafXzV4muM1Hpl3   If...

In the early 19th century, family after family around New York City was contracting Typhoid Fever.  The only common denominator was a soft-spoken Irish cook named Mary.  Her temperament would be tested by an uncouth investigator and his persistence in collecting certain... specimens.  Tinctures, bacilli, hygiene, and a fork-wielding cook in a rage.   Gerri's song pick:: The Sound of Silence by Sim...

Tell us if this sounds familiar: Popular in highschool, folk musician, disastrous ending.  The 1960s weren't kind to aspiring acoustic artists, and Jim Sullivan was no exception.  Nashville, pornography, and alien abduction.   Leigh's song pick:: Tea Leaves by Jim Sullivan https://open.spotify.com/track/3lHNjrnjc6B752A1xmy8dG   If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a review ! Tell...

Next time the weather is getting you down, think back to the time New York City was almost pulverized by the relentless Great White Hurricane.  Join us as we tell the story of a particularly bad winter day in 1888 NYC.  Aristotle, polar fronts, the Greely Expedition, and a new record for number of sidebars in a single episode.   Leigh's song pick:: Interferon by Thomas Leer & Robert Rental https:/...

Following the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, the threat of radiation was ubiquitous.  While radiation took its toll physically, it took an arguably heavier toll on the minds of those that lived near the nuclear plant... and even the world at large.  A psychology professor joins us to talk about the long-term mental health effects of the Reactor Number Four meltdown in 1986.   Gerri's song pick:: Reco...

With the echoes of the Atomic Age fading, the USSR undertook an ambitious plan to build a huge number of massive reactors all along its western border.  Viktor Brukhanov was tasked with building the first four reactors at the Chernobyl nuclear generating station, as well a city nearby called Pripyat.  Instead of generations of clean energy, the Soviets served up the worst nuclear accident in human...

In 1979 Jane Fonda starred in the China Syndrome, a movie about a nuclear meltdown.  Twelve days later, reactor 2 at Three Mile Island melted down.  Our special guest Norm tells us the story of what can go wrong at a nuclear power station and the actual consequences of the meltdown at TMI 2.  Pesky post-its, stubborn valves, and a whole lotta steam.   Norm's song pick:: Welcome Home Armageddon by...

Every story needs context.  In part one of our two-part series on the Chernobyl disaster, we start at the dawn of the atomic age.  Our special guest Nuclear Norm gives us a "nuclear physics for dummies" introduction to the history of nuclear power.  Little Boy, Fat Man, uranium, plutonium, and the shocking death of a nuclear physicist in a very non-laboratory accident.  Join us as we tee up the ev...

The pinnacle of endurance motorsport is the 24 hours of Le Mans.  In 1955, Mercedez had an excellent shot at taking the crown.  Unfortunately, things didn't go to plan for Pierre Levegh, their number two driver.  A tale of speed, split-second decisions, and the chemical properties of magnesium.   Peter's song pick:: Rampage by Kavinsky https://open.spotify.com/track/2L229dt48Ged4SdbenZrd7   If you...