Relative Disasters

The mythology of ancient Sparta is that of peerless warriors, un-defeatable soldiers who defended democracy and resisted those who would conquer Greece. The reality is... a lot different. We're going to take a look at what ancient Sparta was actually like, why it was like that, and whether or not their Spartiates were actually that good at war.

It was intended to be "Woodstock West", a celebration of music in a free concert in California. It was intended to have a fun lineup of some of the biggest rock bands on 1969, headlined by The Rolling Stones. It ended with four people dead, hundreds injured, and is often pointed to as the death of the 1960s peace & love / counter-culture movements.

In 1968, a race launched from the British Isles, a race to be the first person to circumnavigate the globe by themself. Nine people entered the race. When it ended, one person had won, seven people had given up, and one person was never found again. We're going to talk about the open ocean, the dangers of the route, and the toll that isolation and danger takes on the human psyc

In 1914, a scientist made a new kind of paint, a paint that glowed. A company was founded, and they needed girls with small hands to work there, applying that paint to the hands and numbers of watches and to the dials of gauges in aircraft. One problem - the paint was deadly. And nobody told the girls.

Auntie Lynn joins us to discuss the disastrous reign of King John - and the numerous sidebars with which we become distracted. This episode is a free-wheeling discussion of John and a lot of random - but interesting - nonsense surrounding his reign! Note: As happens often, the dogs wanted to co-host, so you will hear some puppers in the background.

A flood is a flood, whether it's water or beer - and a 571-ton, 15-foot tall wave is going to be destructive, no matter what it's made of. Join us as we talk about beer, rookeries, prejudices, and settle some myths.

Back in the 1930s, some folks in Australia's sugar industry imported the Cane Toad from South America to help control a destructive beetle population. It... did not go well. It continues to not go well. It will likely keep not going well.

The city of Chi'Ing-yang got flattened in the late fourteen hundreds... and nobody really knows what happened. We'll talk about meteorites, comets, and explosions as we examine some of the more plausible theories. A nerdy brother and sister talk about disasters - that's what the show's all about. Especially in early April.

We're headed underground yet again, to visit beautiful British Colombia and talk about what happens when you mix explosives, methane, and coal dust. It's a tragedy that affected an entire city and is still relevant today.

A guy wrote a book, collecting and codifying religious and social suppression of women. That book became a sensation, propelling the man to fame and fortune. No, we're not talking about some modern "MRA" idiot or so-called "incel"... no, this guy existed over half a millennium ago and we're still seeing his fingerprints on modern misogyny today.