Relative Disasters

Strap on your sandals and join us for a trip to the Nubian kingdom of Kush, where, in 27 BCE, the rapidly expanding Roman Empire bit off slightly more than it could chew. This isn't a story of legions marching into battle - instead, this is the tale of Queen Amanirenas, the one-eyed warrior queen who stopped the might of the Roman war machine with courage, strategy, and a handful of golden arrows. On this episode, we're getting into archery vs. siege engines, matrilinear lines of succession, The Candaces, and why an amazingly preserved bust of Cesar Augustus (glass eyes and all!) was buried underneath the front steps of a Kushite temple.

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Sources:

The One-Eyed African Queen Who Defeated the Roman Empire by Adhiambo Edith Magak

The Land of Nubia by Janice Kamrin and Adela Oppenheim

Kandake Amanirenas from Lisapo Ya Kama African History

Decapitated head of Emperor which amazed archaeologists in Sudan in 1910 goes on display by Ben Miller

In the spring of 1846, a group of 90 would-be settlers left Independence, Missouri, for new lives in California. Led by James Reed and George Donner, the group planned to head west by covered wagon as quickly and comfortably as possible, using the Oregon and California trails. But after being delayed by bad directions, a murder trial, an endless desert 'shortcut', and crippling losses, the Donner Party reached the last leg of their journey weeks behind schedule, only to be stopped by an early snowstorm in the Sierra Nevadas. Trapped by below-freezing temperatures and twenty feet of snow, they settled in to try and survive until help arrived, and soon found themselves starving and freezing to death in the most brutal circumstances imaginable. On this episode, we look into the unluckiest road trip in the history of westward expansion, plus a collection of grifters, a very persuasive guidebook, and one of the longest and strangest rescue efforts we've ever come across. 

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

Sources for this episode include:

“Ordeal by Hunger”, by G. R. Stewart, 1936

"The Expedition of the Donner Party and its Tragic Fate", by E. P. D. Houghton

"The Tragic Story of the Donner Party", by L. Radford, 2019

“Diary of Patrick Breen” by P. Breen, 1846-1847

“The Case for Cannibalism” by C. Cassidy, Wired.com, 2021

"Emigrants’ Guide to Oregon and California” by L. W. Hastings, 1845

It's the end of our first season! To celebrate, we're answering all your invasive and highly personal questions, spilling the tea on what went wrong with our least-favorite episode, bickering over who had the best research finds, and going over suggestions for next year. See you in 2022! 

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

Sources for this episode include:

Greg's specific and detailed memories of 2021

Ella's vague and questionable recollections of 2021

Get a glass of Tang and join us for a lofty episode on America's first space station: Skylab! When NASA launched the project in 1973, it heralded a new era of space exploration and scientific progression - one that was still, unfortunately, subject to the law of gravity. When Skylab's orbit began to fail in 1978, NASA engineers found that they couldn't quite aim it for the ocean the way they'd hoped - and they also couldn't quite predict where the flaming tons of wreckage might crash down. Cue the bookies, Chicken Little parties, 'Skylab Repellant Spray', and a slew of other weirdness ranging from the Miss Universe 1979 Pageant to a littering bill from rural Western Australia that went unpaid for thirty years. Along the way we'll cover the Skylab missions, solar activity, spiders in space, and why Ella worries about space junk falling on her head.

Bonus: dear listeners, it's our fortieth (!) episode and the end of Season One! We'd love to hear your thoughts on the past season and ideas for Season Two - you can email us at [email protected] or drop us a DM on Instagram @relative.disasters

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

Sources for this episode include:

Spacelab: A Chronology/ A Classroom in Space

Chicago Tribune. January 11, 1975 - "Skylab Rocket Debris Falls in Indian Ocean"

Karimnagar: Revisiting the Day Skylab Fell by Puli Sharat Kumar

Balladonia, Skylab crash site in Australia: How a fallen space station caused mayhem in the outback by David Whitley

The Strange Tale of the Skylab's Fall From Orbit by Rebecca J. Rosen

This week, we're off to Charleston, South Carolina, where at the height of the American Civil War a secret weapon was launched into Charleston Harbor. It wasn't a very good weapon - in fact, it killed three times as many of its own crew members than enemy sailors - but it was an example of cutting-edge wartime technology that wouldn't be attempted again until World War 1. In sinking the Union ship 'Housatonic', the Confedarate ship 'H.L. Hunley' became the world's first successful combat submarine; however, when it failed to surface after this victory, it became a long, weird footnote in naval history, one that's still posing questions today. Join us for a wartime story of privateering, blockades, torpedo boats, cast iron, and some extremely bad luck as we pick apart the story of the builders, crew, and victims of the 'H. L. Hunley'.

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

Sources for this episode include:

“The H L Hunley: The Secret Hope of the Confederacy”, by Tom Chaffin, 2010

“Air blast injuries killed the crew of the submarine H.L. Hunley”, by R. Lance et al, Plos One, 2017

“The Amazing (If True) Story of the Submarine Mechanic Who Blew Himself Up Then Surfaced as a Secret Agent for Queen Victoria”, by M. Dash for Smithsonian Magazine, 2014

“The Old South Lives as It Buries a Part of the Past”, by E Barry for the Los Angeles Times, 2004

“In the Waves: My Quest to Solve the Mystery of a Civil War Submarine”, by R. Lance, 2020

Hunley.org

Hear the crack of the bat, the munching of cracker-jack, and the calls of the (possibly corrupt) umpire as we take you back to the scandalous 1919 World Series of Major League Baseball! On this episode, we invite our dear listeners to meet a cast of excellently-named conspirators, their gambling buddies, their dreams of unimaginable wealth, and what led to their ultimate downfall; and spoiler alert, it's not just unbridled greed. Grab your glove, toss a few pitches, and settle in for the tale of the so-called Black Sox - what actually happened, plus the myths and legends of a truly wild season of America's pasttime.

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

Sources:

Black Sox in the Courtroom: The Grand Jury, Criminal Trial, and Civil Litigation by Bill Lamb

Notes From The Shadows of Cooperstown by Gene Carney

The Black Sox Scandal by Bill Lamb

Misc. court documents

On a quiet November morning in 1980, a drilling crew making an exploratory borehole in the middle of Lake Peigneur, Louisiana, ran into a problem: their drillbit got stuck at 12,000 feet down. Although they didn't know it, this would be the first sign of an industrial accident on a massive scale, one that would flood a mine, drain a lake, cause a 150-foot waterfall, set off a geyser, and a begin a natural gas explosion. This week, we invite you to grab a salty snack, make sure your safety drills are up-to-date, and join us for a deep dive (sorry) into the Lake Peigneur disaster. 

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

Sources for this episode include:

“The Jefferson Island Mine Inundation: Report of Mine Innundation, Jefferson Island Mine Inundation, Diamond Crystal Salt Company, New Iberia, Iberia Parish, Louisiana” by M. W. Nichols et al, 1981

“How Can a Lake Vanish in 3 Hours?--Phenomenon Explained (The Lake Peigneur Salt Mine Disaster)”, video by L. Klein, 2020

“Lake Peigneur: The Swirling Vortex of Doom”, by A Bellows for Damn Interesting, 2005

“Lake Peigneur”

“4oth Anniversary of salt mine breach causing Louisiana’s Deepest Lake” staff reporters for KLFY

On a quiet December morning in 1917, a Norwegian passenger ship was speeding through the Narrows, just outside Nova Scotia's Halifax Harbor, when it collided with a French freighter packed full of TNT, guncotton, and fuel. The resulting explosion flattened most of the harbor-facing district of Halifax, caused a tsunami and a fire, and killed or injured upwards of ten thousand people. On this episode, we're looking at the causes of the accident and explosion, the heroism of the railway workers and firefighters who averted even greater loss of life, the loss of the Mi'kmaq settlement of Turtle Grove and the Black community of Africville, the blizzard that nearly derailed early rescue efforts, and the almost-unimaginable damage to Dartmouth and Richmond neighborhoods. We're also taking a look at the incredible rescue effort put forth by Canadian and American healthcare workers and emergency services, and the story behind the legacy Christmas tree that Nova Scotia continues to send to Boston every holiday season.

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

Sources for this episode include:

1917 Halifax Explosion and American Response by B. Beed

The Halifax Explosion: Surviving the Blast that Shook a Nation by J. Glasner

The Survivors: The Children of the Halifax Explosion by J. Kitz

Catastrophe and Social Change: Based upon a sociological study of the Halifax Disaster by S. Prince

The story of Turtle Grove by Ava Coulter, Isabel Ruitenbeek and Julia-Simone Rutgers

Tracking Dr. Lonecloud: Showman to Legend Keeper by Ruth Holmes Whitehead

Nova Scotia Archives

Maritime Museum of the Atlantic

This week, we're road tripping with Henry Ford's worst idea: a Brazilian rubber plantation the size of New Jersey, where he planned to clear the Amazonian rainforest, grow hundreds of thousands of rubber trees, and introduce the locals to American-style efficiency. Join us for the lowdown on Ford's obsession with efficiency, the ideal 1920s company town, soccer & square dancing, a riot over canned vegetables, and the incredible run of bad luck that plagued the project from its inception onward.  

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

Sources for this episode include:  

"Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford's Forgotten Jungle City" by G. Grandin, 2009

"Henry Ford's short trip in his first vehicle 125 years ago changed our lives forever" by P W Howard for the Detroit Free Press, 2021

"Ford Rubber Plantations in Brazil", digital collection, The Henry Ford.org

"Henry Ford’s Muscle Shoals", by T. O'Donnell for Urban Utopias, 2019

Henry Ford's biography, Ford.com

Grab a handful of Brazil nuts and a glass of buttermilk, and join us for the tale of a knock-down, drag-out election between the dictator of a small town and the citizens who want him and his cronies out of office. The 1909 election in Zion, Illinois should have been a straightforward democratic vote, but it turned into something much, much more. On this episode, we've got it all: voter suppression and oppression, a collection of con artists and their grifts, millions of dollars in stolen and misappropriated funding, Flat Earthers run amok, and how the town of Zion came to have bathtub decency written into their legislation.

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

Sources:

"Zion City, Illinois: 20th Century Utopia" by P.L. Cook

"Heaven Below: Early Pentecostals and American Culture" by G. Wacker

"Flat Earth: The History of an Infamous Idea" by C. Garwood

1909-1910 issues of the Zion City Independent newspaper

1909-1910 issues of the Zion Herald newspaper

1909-1910 issues of the Lake County Independent and Waukeegan Weekly Sun newspaper

(all courtesy of the Illinois Digital Newspapers Collection hosted by the University of Illinois)

Personal interviews