A few days ago, when passengers set off on a deep sea expedition in the Atlantic Ocean, they were aboard a vessel that many experts had already concluded was dangerously designed.

William Broad, a science correspondent for The Times, explains why he was worried from the start.

Guest: William J. Broad, a science correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

• What to know about the Titan, the vessel that went missing on Sunday on its way to the Titanic shipwreck site with five people aboard.
• Three decades ago, a dive in the three-person submersible Alvin revealed not only an alien world but why people engage in such risky pursuits.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.