The Granite Mountain Hotshots arrive in Yarnell to help fight what is now the number-one fire priority in all of Arizona. But crew chief Eric Marsh is frustrated when his guys are assigned to create fire breaks at the back of the fire. He wants his team to be on the front lines, where the action is. Meanwhile, driven by high winds, the fire begins to threaten the town of Peeples Valley, forcing the evacuation of the fire command center and throwing the entire firefighting effort into chaos.

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On June 28th, 2013, lightning sparks a wildfire near the town of Yarnell in central Arizona. Fueled by dry conditions, the fire quickly spreads. To contain the blaze, local officials call in elite crews of firefighters known as hotshots. One team, the Granite Mountain Hotshots, from the nearby town of Prescott, are especially eager to prove themselves. But they’ve never faced anything like the Yarnell Hill blaze.

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As Hurricane Katrina approached New Orleans, 13-year-old Edward Buckles, Jr. piled into a car with his family and evacuated. They drove for hours on clogged roads, and slept on a shelter floor that night. When Edward woke up the next morning and saw news reports of his city under water, he began to realize that the life he had known was gone. Today, Edward joins Host Cassie De Pecol to discuss his HBO documentary, Katrina Babies, which looks at the toll the hurricane took on the youth of New Orleans.

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At long last, the government’s rescue effort kicks into high gear and buses arrive to evacuate people from New Orleans. But it’s too late for many residents, who died in their homes waiting to be rescued. Thousands of people’s lives are shattered, and the damage to the city is extensive, particularly in predominantly Black neighborhoods like the Lower Ninth Ward.

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Days after Hurricane Katrina floods their city, residents of New Orleans become increasingly desperate, as the government bungles the rescue effort. Using doors and other items to make improvised rafts, people make their way from their flooded homes to the Superdome and the Convention Center, which the city has set up as emergency shelters, only to find both venues lacking in food and resources. Meanwhile, the city’s largest public hospital, Charity, remains unevacuated, as its staff struggles to keep critical patients alive.

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Officials learn that the storm surge from Katrina has breached New Orleans’s levees, allowing water to pour into the city. Soon, 80 percent of New Orleans is underwater. Many residents become trapped in their homes, and are forced to climb into their attics and onto rooftops, as their neighborhoods flood. With the power out and phone service down, the local and federal government struggle to mount relief efforts, leaving thousands of people to fend for themselves without food, drinking water, or adequate medical care.

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It’s late August 2005, and the city of New Orleans makes preparations for the arrival of Hurricane Katrina. But after decades of hurricanes missing the city, many residents are confident they can ride out the storm. By the time Mayor Ray Nagin orders the first mandatory evacuation in New Orleans history, it’s too late for some to leave.

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Jim Lovell, Fred Haise and Jack Swigert went through the ordeal of their lives on the Apollo 13 Mission. But the people manning Houston’s Mission Control faced their own challenges as they figured out how to bring the astronauts home safe. Former NASA Flight Director Gerry Griffin was in that room, more than 50 years ago. He joins Host Mike Corey to share his experiences steering the mission from the ground, and what it was like to advise director Ron Howard on the movie, Apollo 13.

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Six days into their mission, the Apollo 13 astronauts have been working under immense pressure and on very little sleep. Tempers grow short as they battle with Mission Control in Houston over what steps to take for their biggest challenge yet: reentry into Earth’s atmosphere.

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The three astronauts on the crippled Apollo 13 spacecraft round the Moon and finally begin the return leg of their journey toward Earth. But their troubles are far from over. They still have to strictly ration the amount of power they’re using, so they have enough remaining for the all-important reentry procedure. They also must execute a series of precise “burns”—firing their rockets at just the right instant to get them back on a trajectory to Earth. One small mistake could send them hurtling into deep space, never to return.

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