Disaster Queen

Join Jenny, the Disaster Queen, as she takes a deep dive into a 15-foot storm surge that devastated turn-of-the-century Galveston, Texas. This posh boomtown took a huge hit and never saw it coming, even though one man probably should have. The Galveston hurricane is still the worst natural disaster in the history of the United States 123 years later and saw over 1/6 of the city's population go to their graves. We will talk about the how, the why, and what was learned and put in place to protect Galveston from hurricanes forever.

Here are the resources I used to research this episode:

book: Isaac's Storm by Erik Larson

book: Storm of the Century by Al Roker

documentary: Isaac's Storm

articles:

https://www.galvestonmonthly.com/whoswho/isaac-cline.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Cline

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Join Jenny, the Disaster Queen and her BFF Becky Dell as they discuss the terrible ending of Jim Jones' socialist dream with the mass "murder-suicide" (the Disaster Queen calls it straight up murder) of over 900 of Jones' followers as well as Congressman Leo Ryan and several members of the media on November 18, 1978. Before the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, it was the largest loss of civilian American life in a single event. Learn about what happened, the events that led to the END, and what the world learned from this heinous tragedy.

Here are the sources I used to research this episode:

Book: The Road to Jonestown by Jeff Guinn

Documentary series : Jonestown: Terror in the Jungle (based on Guinn's book)

Documentary: Jonestown: The Women Behind the Massacre (currently on Hulu)

https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/timeline-of-jonestown

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Jones

Book: Seductive Poison by Deborah Layton

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In this BONUS episode wrapping up season one of the Disaster Queen podcast, join Jenny, the Disaster Queen as she remembers where she was and what she was thinking during the biggest disasters of her life, including the space shuttle Challenger explosion, the Oklahoma City bombing, the 9/11 terror attacks, and more.

Some favorite documentaries I recommend:

9/11: One Day in America

9/11: Four Flights

Challenger: Final Flight

American Experience: Oklahoma City

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When 600 times the normal amount of rain fell on Eastern Kentucky in late July 2022, there was nowhere for its residents to run, and no time: a devastating flash flood came in the middle of the night and washed homes and lives away in mere minutes. Disaster Queen Jenny Rapson talks with lifelong friend Lori Houghton about this tragic natural disaster that occurred in a beautiful yet hard place to live, where they both have familial roots. 45 people and 9,000 homes were lost in this devastating modern-day disaster.

Here are the resources I used to research this episode:

https://dailyyonder.com/east-kentucky-flood/

https://spectrumnews1.com/ky/louisville/news/2023/07/27/surviving-the-floods-rebuilding-eastern-kentucky#:~:text=Between%20July%2026%2DJuly%2030,their%20lives%20in%20the%20storm.

https://www.weather.gov/jkl/July2022Flooding

https://dailyyonder.com/isom-iga-the-grocery-store-that-love-rebuilt/2023/04/14/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/03/22/kentucky-flooding-disasters-housing/

https://dailyyonder.com/rural-kentucky-floods-lack-of-forecasting-broadband/2023/03/23/

https://www.kentucky.com/news/state/kentucky/article263953661.html

https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/06/us/kentucky-flooding-survivor-stories/index.html

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jul/30/kentucky-rescue-victims-flooding

https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/29/us/kentucky-floods-teenager-roof-rescue/index.html

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/kentucky-flood-survivors-say-was-no-time-escape-deluge-rcna41152

https://www.kentucky.com/news/state/kentucky/article277457683.html

https://www.wkyt.com/2022/08/15/story-guitar-recovered-after-eky-flooding-receives-national-attention/

Documentary: East Kentucky Flood

Donate to help survivors of the Eastern Kentucky Flood

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On this episode, Jenny, the Disaster Queen discusses the devastating terror attack by the Palestinian group Black September on a group of Israeli athletes and coaches that ended in disaster and tragedy at the 1972 Olympic games in Munich, West Germany. What was supposed to be an event of brotherhood and sportsmanship was violated by terror and murder.

Here are the resources I used to research this episode:

https://www.britannica.com/event/Munich-Massacre

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Fatah

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Black-September-political-organization-Palestine

https://apnews.com/article/sports-israel-sports-middle-east-munich-2020-tokyo-olympics-8387c0cdbb280e9064eae2c3a1c9d191

https://www.france24.com/en/tv-shows/revisited/20220911-the-munich-olympics-massacre-five-decades-on

One Day in September - documentary

https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/munich-massacre.htm

https://www.npr.org/2022/09/04/1116641214/munich-olympics-massacre-hostage-terrorism-israel-germany

https://www.history.com/topics/1970s/munich-massacre-olympics

https://blog.juedisches-museum-muenchen.de/munichmassacre72-anton-fliegerbauer/

https://blog.juedisches-museum-muenchen.de/munichmassacre72-moshe-weinberg/

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Join Jenny, the Disaster Queen as she discusses the Apollo 1 disaster, which resulted in the death of three astronauts on the ground -- NOT in space. We'll learn about how and why NASA was blindsided by this disaster, about the brave men who died in this tragic accident, and how NASA took steps to ensure that this kind of failure during a routine test would never happen again.

Here are the resources I used to research this episode:

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/55-years-ago-the-apollo-1-fire-and-its-aftermath

Documentary: Mission Control

Documentary: Apollo: Missions to the Moon

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_choose_to_go_to_the_Moon#:~:text=%22We%20choose%20to%20go%20to,on%20the%20Moon%20before%201970.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_1

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Race

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_White_(astronaut)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_B._Chaffee

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On Christmas Eve 1913, a Christmas party for the children of striking copper miners ends in disaster when someone yells "FIRE" and a stampede to get out of the building ensues. Join us as we learn about the lives of these (mostly immigrant) copper miners, their struggles, and the Christmas Eve tragedy that marked Michigan's Upper Peninsula forever. Join Jenny and her special guest, her cousin and co-blogger Emily Berry, as they break down this unthinkable disaster.

Here are the resources I used to research this episode:

https://www.mlive.com/news/2017/12/1913_italian_hall_disaster_was.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calumet,_Michigan

https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/calumet-italian-hall-disaster/

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064494317941

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yjFP1IajQg - Steve Lehto on the Italian Hall Doors

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Clemenc

List of names of the victims: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid02rTcmsRCTsAmmWfk8sS66ByTQqa6ntUF5aMZveCRQ4TvLEEVwiATkzysxdi6p9B6ml&id=291845417514549

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On this episode of the Disaster Queen Podcast, we will go with a tour group of mostly cruise ship passengers as they visit the majestic Whaakari volcano near Whakatane, New Zealand. Known in English as White Island, this gorgeous active volcano is the definition of adventure tourism, and the main source of industry for the town of Whakatane. But it all goes horriby wrong on December 9, 2019 when Whakaari suddenly erupts with no warning - and with 47 people still on it.

Here are the resources I used to research this episode:

https://www.womenshealthmag.com/life/a42295664/whakaari-volcano-victims-survivors/

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/15/white-island-volcano-what-we-know-about-the-victims

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-12-09/white-island-volcano-eruption-anniversary-new-zealand-22-dead/12962748

https://www.outsideonline.com/adventure-travel/news-analysis/whakaari-white-island-new-zealand-volcano-eruption-2019/

Documentary:The Volcano: Rescue from Whakaari

Documentary: Real Stories: The 2019 White Island Eruption

Documentary: 60 Minutes Australia: The White Island Disaster

The Disaster Queen Podcast is a production of Disaster Queen Productions LLC.

It is produced, researched and written by Jenny Rapson, the Disaster Queen. 

The Disaster Queen Pod Squad:

Audio engineering: Robert Rapson

Editing: Josh Rapson 

Original theme music: Robert Rapson

Original podcast artwork: Ken Clark

Website Design: Hello Chicky Design

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On this episode we will discuss my great hometown disaster, the Great Dayton Flood of 1913, which took place in Dayton, Ohio and actually devastated many parts of southern Ohio. The levees at the Great Miami River broke on March 25,1913, places tens of thousands of lives in danger, destroying homes and businesses, and taking hundreds of lives. I grew up learning about this disaster as a kid so it's been the main disaster in my life, and I've seen many of the buildings in our downtown that survived it. Come along for the ride as we talk about who survived, who didn't, highlight the heroes in the community, and talk about how this disaster led to a successful plan of flood prevention for this area.

Here are the resources I used to research this episode:

https://www.daytondailynews.com/news/the-great-dayton-flood-1913-things-know-about-broken-levees-rescue-boats-and-lost-lives/6MzhsTtAysABc4pFACBjpL/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Dayton_Flood

https://www.daytondailynews.com/news/local/one-dayton-flood-twins-dies/vZXLiJWSsB7kt4zAhFdDYI/

https://www.daytondailynews.com/news/100-years-later-dayton-forever-changed-the-great-flood-1913/8hvDbu3xdf3wqHrbS8Y1YM/

https://www.daytondailynews.com/news/great-dayton-flood-fire-followed-waters-second-only-noah/QbTr3sp2jrqwVoY130dPGN/

https://www.history.com/news/great-flood-1913

https://wrightbrothershistory.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-1913-dayton-flood-and-wright-family.html

Books: 

Grand Eccentrics by Mark Bernstein

Through Flood, Through Fire by Curt Dalton

A Time of Terror by Allen W. Eckert

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