Know Your Disaster with Miss Alex

Know Your Disaster with Miss Alex

By Alex GibsonSociety & CultureHistory
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Know Your Disaster with Miss Alex episodes

  • Episode 9: The Great Galveston Hurricane

    Miss Alex makes her triumphant (?) return to discuss The Great Galveston Hurricane of 1900, hurricane naming conventions, and most importantly, the supercentenarian index. Enjoy -- it's good to be back!

    24 min
  • Episode 8: Banana Massacre

    As Miss Alex conquers an evil cold, gather 'round to hear of a far more evil incident in South American history: The Banana Massacre of 1928, an attack against fruit laborers on behalf of the behemoth fruit companies of the day. Not a traditional disaster, but a disaster nonetheless.

    23 min
  • Episode 7: Plague of Justinian

    Miss Alex hates rats. Really, really hates rats. Listen to her explain why she hates rats, why she disagrees with the rat defenders, and learn about the plague that started them all: the Plague of Justinian!

    Don't miss the ode to the plague doctor, otherwise known as the villian in True Detective season two. Miss you, Tim Riggins.

    21 min
  • Episode 5: The Limnic Eruptions of Cameroon

    After a busy season delay, Miss Alex is back with a new episode! Hurray!

    Have you heard of exploding lakes? There are only three in the world, but two of them proved to be deadly in the mysterious phenomenon of limnic eruptions that occurred in 1984 and 1986. Miss Alex puts on her geologist hat to tell the story behind these bizarre and fatal eruptions, other potential sites, and CO2 emissions in the world today.

    It's good to be back!

    22 min
  • Episode 4: Intro to Stadium Disasters & Estadio Nacional

    In U.S. history, stadium disasters aren't as much of a thing -- other than in racing accidents, they're extremely rare. Elsewhere in the world, though, as different large crowds have fled for exits or rushed fields, stadium stampedes and other events have quickly become devastating and catastrophic.

    Miss Alex wanted to learn a bit about stadium incidents, why they happen, and what happened in the deadliest ever stadium incident in Lima, Peru at Estadio Nacional in 1964. The lesson? There's more to these incidents than fans upset at a bad call.

    20 min

About Know Your Disaster with Miss Alex

From the publisher's feed

Miss Alex is known for sharing the stories of horrific plagues during awkward lunch hours. She's an avid reader of Wikipedia's "list of worst natural disasters" page, and reading Camus's "The Plague" as a 14-year-old scared the crap out of her just enough to become fascinated with them (and terrified of rodents).