Bad Ideas Podcast

In 1720 a rash of market speculation (or stock-jobbing as it was called at the time) swept through England. Everyone, it seemed was desperate to get their hands on stock in The South Seas Company. Within the span of a year the bubble had rapidly expanded and even more rapidly burst. But what was The South Sea Company, what caused the bubble, and what does any of it have to do with Louisiana? All these questions and more are answered in this episode of Bad Ideas!

In the late 1970s parapsychology was in full swing. Scientists sought to prove ESP, telekinesis, and many other psychic phenomena. James Randi, Steve Shaw, and Michael Edwards sought out to prove that magicians and illusionists needed to be on hand to make sure that even scientists couldn't be duped by psychics. Project Alpha is their story about a long con in which they duped scientists for more than 21 months into thinking that they were genuine psychics.

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How did the Osborne Corporation go from being an industry leader in the "luggable" computer market, to going bankrupt less than five years later? This is the story of the Osborne Effect, the miscalculation that is commonly believed to have sunk the Osborne Corporation, and why it doesn't tell the whole story of this once promising company's failure.

Some of our sources:

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/06/20/no_osborne_effect_at_osborne/

https://web.archive.org/web/20050618022709/https://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/pulpit20050616.html

Today Al and Tony cover the worst methods of birth control mankind has come up with. Everything from crocodile dung to bronze rings and weasel testicles has been tried. Listen to find out more!

|| More Human Echoes stuff: http://humanechoes.com || Become a member for BONUS PODCASTS: http://bit.ly/1NkSWnQ || Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/HumanEchoes

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In 1890 William T. Love had a dream of a city powered by electricity, and supplied by ships that would traverse the canal he intended to build around Niagara Falls. But things went badly for Love, and he had to abandon his dream with the town unbuilt and the canal only partially dug. But what started as a hole in the ground would turn into one of the most horrifying environmental disasters in U.S. history. This is the story of the Love Canal.

Sources:

http://myamericanodyssey.com/dumped-on-the-messy-truth-about-love-canal-ny/

http://articles.latimes.com/1993-05-16/news/mn-35999_1_love-canal

There's a lot of obscure therapy out there, but few that are as blatantly child abuse as attachment therapy and rebirthing. Al and Tony dive into this pseudoscience and cover the death of Candace Newmaker and her killers Connell Watkins and Julie Ponder.

|| More Human Echoes stuff: http://humanechoes.com || Become a member for BONUS PODCASTS: http://bit.ly/1NkSWnQ || Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/HumanEchoes

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Listen to Bad Ideas: https://youtu.be/8RDb6jlY_4A

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When Harvard commissioned Mark Rothko to paint a mural for their new building it probably seemed like a good idea. But shortly after the famous artist delivered his work the brilliant colors had already begun to fade. Why? That's the story we're telling this week on Bad Ideas.

Some of this episode information came from:

Mark Rothko: a Biography by James E. B. Breslin: https://www.amazon.com/Mark-Rothko-Biography-James-Breslin/dp/0226074064#customerReviews

Watching Them Turn Off the Rothkos By Louis Menand: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/watching-them-turn-off-the-rothkos

Mount Pelée bubbled and smoked over the town of St. Pierre, but there were elections happening in the town. Would it be better to evacuate the whole city on the off chance the volcano decided to erupt? Or should town officials downplay the danger and try to keep the town safe? Considering the show, you can guess which was chosen. This episode covers the 1902 eruption of Mount Pelée and aftermath that followed. It was the worst volcanic disaster of the 20th century, and one of the worst natural disasters on record.

|| More Human Echoes stuff: http://humanechoes.com || Become a member for BONUS PODCASTS: http://bit.ly/1NkSWnQ || Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/HumanEchoes

Bad Ideas Podcast on iTunes: http://apple.co/2yrDfyx

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Listen to Bad Ideas: https://youtu.be/8RDb6jlY_4A

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@ManicPix

Mooning. It's an offensive but largely harmless act most of the time. But the first recorded mooning in history resulted in the death of between 10,000 and 30,000 people. Albert tells that story this week on the Bad Ideas Podcast.

Source: The Wars Of The Jews Or The History Of The Destruction Of Jerusalem Book II Chapter 12-1 http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/josephus/war-2.htm

Dashcon was one of the most mismanaged attempts at a convention in history. Other than memes about ball pits, the con was an absolute disaster that bordered on fraud. This first attempt at a Tumblr convention would go down in history as an epic example of outright incompetence.

|| More Human Echoes stuff: http://humanechoes.com || Become a member for BONUS PODCASTS: http://bit.ly/1NkSWnQ || Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/HumanEchoes

Bad Ideas Podcast on iTunes: http://apple.co/2yrDfyx

Buy some T-shirts: http://bit.ly/1NetNNP

Follow us on Mixer for all of our live streams:: https://Mixer.com/HumanEchoes

Listen to Bad Ideas: https://youtu.be/8RDb6jlY_4A

Watch Dirt Block: https://youtu.be/MfdHU-E_N70

Watch Dwarf Fortress: https://youtu.be/H2KR9Ny4iy8

You can also follow the Human Echoes Peeps on Twitter!

@HumanEchoes

@tsouthcotte

@albert_berg

@josephdevon