Relative Disasters

It's our most dramatic disaster ever this week, as we take a look back in time to explain what happens when an 10-kilometer-wide asteroid hits a planet with life on it. In short: the dinosaurs perish, an ice age follows global forest fires, and the air quality hit an all-time low for ten years straight. On the other hand, after the impact, mammals had the perfect conditions to become bigger and brainier, sharks survived quite nicely, and plant and insect life diversified and flourished. 

On this episode we're talking asteroids, glitter, impact craters, dueling geologists, and why fur was THE fashion accessory for Fimbulwinter. 

Love the show? Support us on Patreon, at ⁠www.patreon.com/RelativeDisastersPodcast⁠.

Primary Sources for this episode include:

"Extraterrestrial Cause for the Cretaceous-Tertiary Extinction" by Luis Alvarez, Walter Alvarez, Frank Asaro, Helen V. Michel

Science Magazine Volume 208 Number 4448, 6 June 1980, pg. 1095-1108

"The Chicxulub Asteroid Impact and Mass Extinction at the Cretaceous-Paleogene Boundary" by Peter Schulte, et. al.

In 1903, a young Italian man emigrated to America in hopes of finding work, love, and money. Over the following thirty years, Charles Ponzi would work dozens of jobs, form several companies, marry a very nice stenographer, and become an important (and notorious) member of the immigrant Italian-American communities he landed in. 

On this episode, we're taking a deep dive into Ponzi's background and the dozens of smaller scams that informed the financial scheme he's best known for - the wild success and inevitable collapse of his Securities and Exchange Company, a fraud which caused the collapse of six banks and removed 20 million dollars from the local economy. 

Love the show? Support us on Patreon, at ⁠www.patreon.com/RelativeDisastersPodcast⁠.

Sources for this article include:

"Charles Ponzi - Biography (1882–1949)", Staff writer, Biography.Com, 2014

"In Ponzi We Trust", by M. Darby for Smithsonian Magazine, 1998

"The Rise of Mr. Ponzi", by C. Ponzi, 1935

"Charles Ponzi, The Financial Idiot Who Drove Boston Money Mad in 1920", Staff writer, New England Historical Society, 2021

On May 10, 1849, wealthy New Yorkers set out for a night at the Astor Place Opera House to enjoy English actor William Macready's performance in "Macbeth". A few streets away, however, fans of rival American actor Edwin Forrest were preparing to 'express their opinion' at the urging of inflammatory press pieces and Tammany Hall. Before the night was out, Astor Place would be the scene of chaos, rioting, and the deaths and injuries of dozens of New Yorkers, police, and soldiers.

On this episode, we're discussing theater hooliganism, William Shakespeare, English vs. American acting styles, and how the New York State militia came to be firing cannons at unarmed American citizens in the middle of Manhattan. 

Love the show? Support us on Patreon, at ⁠www.patreon.com/RelativeDisastersPodcast⁠.

Sources:

"Account of the terrific and fatal riot at the New-York Astor Place Opera House, on the night of May 10th, 1849; with the quarrels of Forrest and Macready, including all the causes which led to that awful tragedy! Wherein an infuriated mob was quelled by the public authorities and military, with its mournful termination in the sudden death or mutilation of more than fifty citizens, with full and authentic particulars" by H.M. Ranney, 1849

"Remembering New York City's Opera Riots", S. Simon (host), Weekend Edition, 2006

"When New York City Rioted Over Hamlet Being Too British", by B. G. Kellem for Smithsonian Magazine, 2017

On a sunny June day in 1904, well over a thousand German-American residents of Manhattan set out for a picnic and river cruise aboard the stately P.S. General Slocum. Fourteen years old, freshly painted and polished, and enjoying a reputation as one of New York's largest and most comfortable excursion steamships, the General Slocum was also a master class in maritime safety violations, with lifeboats that couldn't be launched, life preservers that couldn't float, and a fire suppression system that relied on rotten hoses and an untrained crew. Two hours after her launch that day, the vast majority of her passengers would be dead; the remainder would spend years trying to come to terms with New York's worst maritime disaster.

On this episode, we're discussing fake safety inspections, imaginary fire drills, what makes cork float, swimming in Hell Gate, life in New York City's Little Germany, and some theories on why some disasters are remembered far longer than others.

Love the show? Support us on Patreon, at ⁠www.patreon.com/RelativeDisastersPodcast⁠.

Sources for this episode include: 

New York’s Awful Steamboat Horror, HD Northrup, 1905

The General Slocum, by J. Kalafus for Gare Maritime, 2007

"The General Slocum Disaster of June 15, 1904", by V Wingfield for the New York Public Library Blog, 2011

"Thousands Sob as Baby Unveils Slocum Statue" NY Times, 1905

“Fearful Visitation, The Steamship Fire of the General Slocum, 1904” documentary by PBS, 2004

It's an Arctic Ghost Ship Double-Header! First up is the HMS Terror, which carried Sir John Franklin's 1845 expedition all the way to King William Island in the very far north of Nunavut, Canada, before freezing into the pack ice and being abandoned; and in the second half, we've got the SS Baychimo, a cargo freighter lost in pack ice off the coast of Alaska in 1931. Although they were abandoned at either end of the Arctic and nearly a century apart, both the Terror and the Baychimo were repeatedly spotted - and in some cases, boarded - by locals multiple times before disappearing again. 

On this episode, we're talking about how interesting the Arctic Ocean is, why so many people died looking for the Northwest Passage, pack ice fun facts, and whether kraken have bathtub toys. Put on your winter gear, pop those drinks in a cooler, and get your icebreakers ready - it's going to be a chilly one.

Love the show? Support us on Patreon, at ⁠www.patreon.com/RelativeDisastersPodcast⁠.

Sources:

"HMS Terror and Erebus", Royal Museums of Greenwich website

"Arctic shipwreck 'frozen in time' astounds archaeologists" by R Smith for National Geographic, 2019

"Ship found in Arctic 168 years after doomed Northwest Passage attempt" by P Watson for The Guardian, 2016

"Arctic 'ghost ship' found -- Sir John Franklin's doomed HMS Terror" by B Jones for CNN.com, 2016

"Baychimo: Arctic Ghost Ship" by A Dalton, 2006

"SS Baychimo: the Ghost Ship that sailed alone for 38 years and disappeared…", staff writer for Random Times, 2018

"Rediscovering the S.S. Baychimo at the UA Museum of the North" University of Alaska Museum of the North webpage, 2016

"No traces found today of SS Baychimo, the “Ghost Ship of the Arctic” that roamed the seas unmanned for decades" by M Chalakoski for The Vintage News, 2018

On a hot July evening in 1979, thousands of Chicagoans gathered in Comisky Park for a double-header between the Chicago White Sox and the Detroit Tigers. After a lackluster season, White Sox owner Bill Veeck was hoping to fill seats with a promotion called "Disco Demolition Night", in which spectators could get a discount ticket if they brought a disco record to be blown up by local radio celebrity Steve Dahl. 

On this all-American episode, we're discussing the national game (baseball) and the national music (rock 'n roll, baby), along with riot police, disco, explosions, radio talk shows, blow-dried hairdos and one very pissed-off radio DJ. 

Love the show? Support us on Patreon, at ⁠www.patreon.com/RelativeDisastersPodcast⁠.

Sources for this episode include: 

"Disco Demolition Night" by A. Behrens for ESPN Chicago, 2004

“When Fans Wanted to Rock,the Baseball Stopped: Sports, Promotions, and the Demolition of Disco on Chicago’s South Side" by C. J. Young for The Baseball Research Journal, 2009

"The Death of Disco Did Not Take Place: Disco Demolition Night and The Rhetorical Destruction of Disco" by J. Williams for the Richard Macksey Journal, 2021

“Disco Demolition 25th Anniversary: The Real Story", 2000

"Disco Demolition Night was Not Racist, Not Anti-Gay" by S Dahl for Medium, 2016

"Disco Demolition: The Night They Tried to Crush Black Music" by A. Petridis for the Guardian, 2019

Who knew that a ball of plutonium could be dangerous? We were surprised too! 

At the end of World War II, the United States' Manhattan Project was left with an extra plutonium core, intended for an atomic bomb that was never built. What does one do with a subcritical ball of plutonium? Experiment, of course. At Los Alamos Laboratory in New Mexico, scientists and physicists performed a number of criticality studies and tried out various neutron reflector materials on "Rufus". 

On this episode, we're discussing the Los Alamos Laboratory, proper use of a flathead screwdriver, lab cowboys, the strengths and flaws of Rufus: The Demon Core, and the two tragic and preventable deaths associated with Rufus. As a special bonus, Greg drops the worst pun that Ella's ever heard.

Love the show? Support us on Patreon, at ⁠www.patreon.com/RelativeDisastersPodcast⁠.

Sources:

"The Demon Core and the Strange Death of Louis Slotin" by A Wellerstein for the New Yorker, 2016

"The Third Core's Revenge" by A Wellerstein for Restricted Data: The Nuclear Secrecy Blog, 2013

"The Blue Flash" by A Wellerstein for Restricted Data: The Nuclear Secrecy Blog, 2016

This week it's a public health special on a topic you probably don't need to worry too much about: leprosy. Today it's treated with a three-drug cocktail, but in 1892 Queensland, Australia, it was so feared that the government made Peel Island, off the cost of Brisbane, into a leper colony. Here, sufferers from across the state would be housed, treated, and kept isolated from the general population until they died. Of course, from the moment the first patients arrived ... nothing went smoothly.

On this episode, we're getting into healthcare architecture, uninhabited islands, Hansen's Disease, some incredibly racist public health policies, dueling pianos, and why you shouldn't inject gold into your bloodstream.

Love the show? Support us on Patreon, at ⁠www.patreon.com/RelativeDisastersPodcast⁠.

Main sources for this episode include:

“Isolation and Segregation: An Intercultural Analysis of the Peel Island Lazaret” by Juckes, Greenop, and Jarzab, 2013

“Peel Island: Paradise or Prison?” by P Ludlow, 1999

"Peel Island Lazaret" CyArk Project, 2017

"'Intended solely for their greater comfort and happiness': Historical archaeology, paternalism and the Peel Island Lazaret", by J M Prangnell, 1999

We just can't seem to stay away from the beautiful (and dangerous) state of Pennsylvania! Today we're visiting a town called Donora, where in October of 1848 the weather and the local zinc factory combined to create a blanket of yellow smog that lay over the town for five full days. Unfortunately for the citizens of Donora, this particular smog wasn't just smelly and impossible to drive in, but loaded with poisonous fluorine. 20 people died in the event, and an estimated 6,000 residents were injured before heavy rains were able to clear the air. 

On this episode, we're talking about temperature inversions, Acts of God, the surface of Venus, a cornucopia of lawsuits, and why your fog should never be yellow and opaque. 

Love the show? Support us on Patreon, at ⁠www.patreon.com/RelativeDisastersPodcast⁠.

Sources for this episode include:

"1948 Donora Smog", Wikipedia, last updated 2022

"A Darkness in Donora", E Kiester Jr. for Smithsonian Magazine, 1999

"Museum Remembers Donora's Deadly 1948 Smog" D Hopey for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 2008

"When smoke ran like water: tales of environmental deception and the battle against pollution" D Davis, 2002

"The Deadly Donora Smog of 1948 Spurred Environmental Protection - But Have We Forgotten The Lesson?" L Boissoneault for Smithsonian Magazine, 2018

In the summer of 1945, as World War II was drawing to a close, a number of unusual animal attacks occurred in and around the town of Erehwon, New Jersey, on the American east coast. Miles away from their nesting ground in the Pine Barrens wilderness, a pair of Jersey Devils were spotted circling a playground, 'befouling' a public library, burning down a barn, scaring campers, and, in the most serious incident, attacking and carrying away a 10-year-old child. 

On our annual Special Episode, we're talking about the rare North American amphibian 'Ineptias mendax' - commonly known as the Jersey Devil. We'll get into their unique biology, life cycle, diet (NOT known to include human children) and habits, as well as a full explanation of the events of 1945. And of course we'll sidebar on the Hermit of Erehwon, the 1909 sightings, two exercises in creative taxidermy, the history of Smith's Bird Farm, the Jersey Devil Gingerbread Men, and - why not?- the invention of snake oil.

Love the show? Support us on Patreon, at ⁠www.patreon.com/RelativeDisastersPodcast⁠.

Sources for this episode include:

"My Time in the Barrens", M. Morrison, 2001 (reprint)

"Into the Lair of the Jersey Devil", M. Morrison, P. Smith for the National Geographic Magazine, 1975

"Pine Barrens Secrets: What we still don’t know about the Jersey Devil", M. Morrison, P. Smith for the National Geographic Magazine, 1979

Smith Family Papers Collection and Nemo and Burlington County Newspapers Collection, Nemo County (NJ) Historical Society, 1860-1995

"1945 Attacks: Overview", staff writer, FriendsoftheNewJerseyDevil.com, 2019