ThePodcastofDoom's podcast

The Podcast of Doom explores famous disasters and calamities throughout history.

Episode 53 - Who Responded to COVID Best? 01/07/2021

Episode 53 - Who Responded to COVID Best? We will review the national government responses to coronavirus by these countries: /episode/index/show/thepodcastofdoom/id/17458166

Emergency Episode - Coronavirus Outbreak 04/02/2020

Emergency Episode - Coronavirus Outbreak Surprise! I did not expect to be doing anymore podcasts. But the recent outbreak of coronavirus known as COVID-19 demanded an explanation. We are seeing a global pandemic on a colossal scale and taking precautions that few people remember before in their lifetimes. In this episode we will explore how we got here, what is going on now and what the future could possible hold. I guarantee you, that this is a topic you will never forget. /episode/index/show/thepodcastofdoom/id/13812875

Episode 51 - A Podcast Announcement 01/19/2019

Episode 51 - A Podcast Announcement A not so brief announcement about future podcast episodes. /episode/index/show/thepodcastofdoom/id/8318192

Episode 50 - The Boxing Day Tsunami and Earthquake 11/24/2018

Episode 50 - The Boxing Day Tsunami and Earthquake On December 26, 2004, an earthquake measuring approximately 9.1 struck just off Sumatra. The shaking lasted between 8 and 10 minutes, displaced hundreds of billions of gallons of seawater. The death toll was enormous, at 280,000 people. Fatalities took place in 14 countries when oceans waves pushed inland, crushing and flooding everything in its path. The tsunami also caught by surprise thousands of western tourists who had flocked to those coasts to enjoy their beautiful beaches. /episode/index/show/thepodcastofdoom/id/7668392

Episode 49 - The Challenger and Columbia Space Shuttle Disasters 10/13/2018

Episode 49 - The Challenger and Columbia Space Shuttle Disasters NASA suffered 2 space shuttle disasters: Challenger and Columbia. In both cases all seven crew members died. In both cases the true source of the problem was organizational not mechanical. The failure of parts without negative consequences was so common in the space shuttle program, there was a name for it, "normalization of deviance." /episode/index/show/thepodcastofdoom/id/7174001

Episode 48 - The Killing Fields of Cambodia 08/23/2018

Episode 48 - The Killing Fields of Cambodia In 1975, the Communist Party Khmer Rouge came to power in Cambodia, and began a series of measures to eliminate their perceived internal opponents and to transform their country into an agrarian-based, communist society. Pol Pot, the leader of the Khmer Rouge, tried to cleanse Cambodian society along racial, social, religious and political lines. They would eventually be overthrown by a foreign army, but only after they had killed 1.5 to 3 million people. /episode/index/show/thepodcastofdoom/id/6958709

Episode 47 - The Armenian Genocide 07/19/2018

Episode 47 - The Armenian Genocide As the Ottoman Empire went into decline in the early 20th century relations between Muslim Turks and Christian Armenians deteriorated. Demands for reform were met with violence. After the Ottomans entered into World War I the battlefield losses mounted and blame was focused on the Armenians marking the beginning of a genocide that would ultimately take 800,000 to 1.5 million lives. /episode/index/show/thepodcastofdoom/id/6827602

Episode 46 - The Donner Party Tragedy 06/06/2018

Episode 46 - The Donner Party Tragedy In 1846, a wagon train left Illinois for California. They would need to make it past the mountains by early October. Instead, they were delayed by death, injuries, conflicts, and an ill-advised short cut. They arrived at the Sierra just as the season's first blizzard blew in. Cut off by massive snow drifts the members of the Donner Party could only look at each other for food. /episode/index/show/thepodcastofdoom/id/6675083

Episode 45a - Charmed Times 05/05/2018

Episode 45a - Charmed Times An announcement of the next five episode topics and an analysis of the current state of the world. /episode/index/show/thepodcastofdoom/id/6559959

Episode 45 - Hurricane Katrina 04/15/2018

Episode 45 - Hurricane Katrina On August 29, 2005, Louisiana and Mississippi were hit by the full force of Hurricane Katrina, a Category 3 storm that had been a Category 5. Close to 2,000 people died including residents trapped in their attics and patients in hospitals. Thousands of people were left trapped on their roofs with no food or drinkable water, while tens of thousands crowded into the Superdome and Convention Center, where they suffered for days. /episode/index/show/thepodcastofdoom/id/6483259

Episode 44- Napoleon's Invasion of Russia - Part II 03/17/2018

Episode 44- Napoleon's Invasion of Russia - Part II In control of Russia's ancient capital of Moscow, Napoleon and the Grand Armee found they were in control of little else. With winter closing in, food supplies running low, morale disintegrating and his supply route under threat, Napoleon had no choice but to evacuate Moscow. The retreat and decimation of his army would play out on a grand scale. /episode/index/show/thepodcastofdoom/id/6375890

Episode 44 - Napoleon's Invasion of Russia Part I 02/24/2018

Episode 44 - Napoleon's Invasion of Russia Part I Napoleon Bonaparte worked his way up from artillery commander in to unchallenged emperor of a French colussus that stretched across Europe from Spain to the Russian frontier. Napoleon seemed to have complete control over the continent, but he was challenged on the seas by the British and in the east by the Russians. Failing to launch a seaborne invasion against the British, he chose to invade Russia instead. It would turn out to be one the worst military decisions ever. /episode/index/show/thepodcastofdoom/id/6297224

Episode 43 - The Batavia Shipwreck 01/27/2018

Episode 43 - The Batavia Shipwreck When the Batavia left Holland in 1628 it took an unexpected detour and crashed on a reef in the Indian Ocean. But things were about to get a whole worse for the survivors. Their captain and commander would abandon them in a desparate search for drinking water, while a meglomanical apothecary would take absolute control of the island in which they were beached. He would soon hatch a plan to kill most of them, overwhelm the rescue party and abscond with all the silver and jewels from the ship. /episode/index/show/thepodcastofdoom/id/6195182

Episode 42 - The Concorde Jet Crash 12/15/2017

Episode 42 - The Concorde Jet Crash There was a time when the Concorde supersonic jet represented the future of pasenger air travel. The jets were sleek, modern and traveled twice as fast as conventional jets cutting the flight time from New York to Paris to just 3.5 hours. The future of the Concorde ended shortly after this tragic accident, when 109 people died on the plane and four died in the hotel where the jet crashed. /episode/index/show/thepodcastofdoom/id/6048501

Episode 41 - The Spanish Flu 11/24/2017

Episode 41 - The Spanish Flu As the world's most lethal war was drawing to a conclusion, humanity was faced a crisis of even greater proportions. The Spanish Influenza turned out to be the second most fatal panedemic follwoing the Bubonic Plague of the middle ages. More than 50 million people would die from the flu and more than 500 million people would be infected. It was a truly global disease spreading from Europe and America out to all of the continents including Asia, Africa, South America and the islands of the South Pacific. /episode/index/show/thepodcastofdoom/id/5977356

Episode 40a - Question and Answer Time 10/29/2017

Episode 40a - Question and Answer Time We'll be answering listener questions and revealing the topics for Episodes 41 - 45. /episode/index/show/thepodcastofdoom/id/5888493

Episode 40 - The Crackdown at Tiananmen Square 10/07/2017

Episode 40 - The Crackdown at Tiananmen Square Following the death of Mao Zedong, China liberalized its market policies. Under the guidance of new leader Deng Xaioping, China’s economy expanded rapidly, but growth was uneven. While a lucky few grew rich, most Chinese suffered the effects of inflation, limited job opportunities, nepotism and large scale corruption. Hundreads of thousands of young Chinese gathered in Tiananmen Square in the heart of China’s capital, Beijing. The government responded—with a very heavy hand. /episode/index/show/thepodcastofdoom/id/5817648

Episode 39 - Vlad the Impaler - The Original Dracula 09/09/2017

Episode 39 - Vlad the Impaler - The Original Dracula Bram Stoker, used this actual prince as the inspiration for his famous vampire character, Count Dracula. Vlad Tepes or Vlad Dracula was the real life ruler of Wallachia in the 15th century. In the war between the Hungarians and the Ottomans he switched sides several times depending on his immediate needs. Once in power he used the threats of impalement and being burned alive to maintain order. To many he was a villian, but to Romanians he was a hero. /episode/index/show/thepodcastofdoom/id/5723418

Episode 38 - The Ship Explosions at Halifax and Texas City 08/04/2017

Episode 38 - The Ship Explosions at Halifax and Texas City On the morning of December 6, 1917, the ship, SS Mont-Blanc, laden with high explosives collided with the SS Imo in the Canadian port city of Halifax, setting the Mont-Blanc on fire, causing the largest man-made explosion prior to the development of nuclear weapons. 30 years later in Texas City, Texas, another vessel, the SS Grandcamp was transporting 2,200 tons of ammonium nitrate when a fire started in the ship’s cargo hold. /episode/index/show/thepodcastofdoom/id/5610674

Episode 37 - The Nuclear Explosion and Meltdown at Chernobyl 06/23/2017

Episode 37 - The Nuclear Explosion and Meltdown at Chernobyl In 1986, Russia was still communist and Ukraine was still part of the Soviet Union. The town of Chernobyl in northern Ukraine was home to a major nuclear power plant that produced 10% of Ukraine’s electrical needs. During a late night safety test, inherent reactor design flaws along with operator error resulted in an uncontrolled reaction that resulted in a steam explosion and eventually a graphite fire. For the next 9 days, plumes of fissionable material were lofted into the air eventually dropping back down on the USSR and Europe. /episode/index/show/thepodcastofdoom/id/5474837

Episode 36 - The Piper Alpha Oil Platform Explosion 05/21/2017

Episode 36 - The Piper Alpha Oil Platform Explosion At its peak, the Piper Alpha oil platform was producing 300,000 barrels of oil a day, or 10% of Britain’s total oil production from just one platform. In 1980, the platform was modified to drill for natural gas in addition to oil. In 1988, the rig was due for major maintenance and upgrades. The operator, Occidental Petroleum, made the decision not to shut production down during this work. When a safety valve was removed for scheduled repairs it initiated a series of errors and events that led to a number of massive explosions that took the lives of 167 workers or three-quarters of the crew. /episode/index/show/thepodcastofdoom/id/5376118

Release of Subjects for Episodes 36 -40 05/01/2017

Release of Subjects for Episodes 36 -40 An announcement regarding the subjects for episodes 36-40. /episode/index/show/thepodcastofdoom/id/5315835

Episode 35 - Clampdown Part II - The Siege at Waco 03/27/2017

Episode 35 - Clampdown Part II - The Siege at Waco David Koresh was a powerful figure in the Davidians, a Seventh-Day Adventist splinter group. In 1993, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives raided Koresh’s ranch in Waco, Texas. A gun battle between the ATF and the Branch Davidians ended with the deaths of four agents and six of Koresh’s followers. Two months later, the FBI attempted to raid the compound again. During the raid, tear gas was launched into the domicile where the Davidians were holed up. There were 98 men, women and children inside the building when it exploded into flames. /episode/index/show/thepodcastofdoom/id/5205726

Episode 35 - Clampdown Part I - The MOVE Bombing 03/07/2017

Episode 35 - Clampdown Part I - The MOVE Bombing In 1985, Philadelphia police attempted to enter the residence of a radical religious/political organization known as MOVE. When numerous attempts to enter the house from either side failed, the city police commissioner ordered an explosive device to be dropped on the house right in the middle of a densely populated residential neighborhood. The result was the deaths of six adults and five children and the burning down of an entire neighborhood. This is Part I of two parts. Part II will be about David Koresh and the Branch Davidians. /episode/index/show/thepodcastofdoom/id/5145917

Episode 34 - Jews vs. Romans: The Bar Kokhba Revolt 02/04/2017

Episode 34 - Jews vs. Romans: The Bar Kokhba Revolt When the ancient Romans attempted to establish control in Judea during the first century of the modern era, they touched off violent rebellions from the native Jewish residents. These violent wars between the Jews and the Romans led to the deaths of thousands of people. In the year 132, Simon Bar Kokhba led a third and final revolt. After a number of initial rebel victories, Emperor Hadrian called in his general Julius Severus to lead an immense Roman army assembled from every corner of the empire to deal with the Jewish rebels. The war led to the deaths of more than a half a million Jews and the Jewish state was wiped away not to return for 1,800 years. These events played an important part in the bible, particularly the Gospels. /episode/index/show/thepodcastofdoom/id/5054574

Episode 34 - Jews vs. Romans: The Bar Kokhba Revolt 02/04/2017

Episode 33 - The French and Russian Heatwaves 12/23/2016

Episode 33 - The French and Russian Heatwaves Two heatwaves, less than ten years apart and less than fifteen years ago struck Western and Eastern Europe killing tens of thousands of people, many as they suffered in their apartments and homes. Were these freak occurrences or something we should be getting adjusted to? /episode/index/show/thepodcastofdoom/id/4937338

Episode 32 - The Ancash Avalanche and Earthquake 11/02/2016

Episode 32 - The Ancash Avalanche and Earthquake On Sunday, May 31, 1970, while most of Peru was watching the World Cup game of Brazil vs. Italy, a major earthquake struck just off the coast. The quake flattened buildings and collapsed bridges and roads, but the worst was yet to come when a 500 meter long slab of ice slid off a 21,000 foot mountain peak and made a beeline for the villages below. /episode/index/show/thepodcastofdoom/id/4795339

Episode 31 - The Deadly Cloud at Lake Nyos 10/09/2016

Episode 31 - The Deadly Cloud at Lake Nyos On August 21, 1986, a giant cloud of carbon dioxide rose from Lake Nyos in Cameroon, Africa. As the cloud filtered down it displaced all of the air in its wake. Sixteen miles away it settled into three villages killing some 1,700 people. Lake Nyos was the first known large-scale asphyxiation caused by a natural event. /episode/index/show/thepodcastofdoom/id/4729446

Episode 30 - The Children's Crusade 09/23/2016

Episode 30 - The Children's Crusade After the failures of four Christian crusades to save the holy land from the infidel Saracens, the good people of Europe had finally had enough. It was time for the knights, nobles and corrupt merchant sailors to step aside and make way for the pure warriors--the Children Crusaders. /episode/index/show/thepodcastofdoom/id/4690182

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