Sometimes you just need a hand to get by. No need to get up in arms. Some people are just armed and dangerous.Peter's song pick:: Go To Hell by Motorheadhttps://open.spotify.com/track/6fe9zK5wfWxXk5b6R2WYXM?si=38cf0fab32f146acLeigh's s

Episode 53: (Sex, Lies, and Nuclear Meltdowns) The SL-1 Disaster

21 days ago 1h 12m

When picking the staff to run your brand new nuclear reactor, would you say you'd want "stable" people that "get along", orrr...Nuclear Norm's song pick:: Kryptonite Smokes the Red Line by Isotope 217https://open.spotify.com/track/61iA7GlyQ

Episode 52: The Bull Island Music Festival

Mar 20th, 2024 1h 1m

Will they ever learn? Let me guess, not enough food? Minimal accommodations? Cowmicide? Wait, what was that last thing... Peter's song pick:: Riders On The Storm (Fredwreck Remix) by Snoop Dogg vs. The Doorshttps://open.spotify.com/trac

[Update] This continues to be a disaster!

Jan 10th, 2024 59m 30s

Peter and Leigh reconvene in the studio IN PERSON FINALLY, discuss the upcoming season, and even get into a mini-disaster!If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a review!Tell your friends!Tell your enemies too, we're not pi

Episode 51: The 1979 Fastnet Race

Jul 28th, 2021 49m 55s

In the final episode of this "season", we revisit disaster on the open ocean. Inclement weather, over three hundred yachts, the history of boats, and just so many reasons to never set foot in the ocean. Peter's song pick:: Dreams by The Cra

Episode 50.5: [Tragedy Tuesday] The Byford Dolphin Incident

Jun 29th, 2021 25m 51s

Just because something happens quickly, doesn't mean it can't be horrific. The most dangerous job in the world meets fatigue, to catastrophic ends. Deep sea diving, rapid decompression, human error, and too-late regulations.Leigh's song pi

Episode 50: Guns N' Roses' Chinese Democracy

Jun 23rd, 2021 1h 13m

You thought overwrought endeavours were limited to videogames? Where do you go now... that you've written Sweet Child O' Mine and November Rain? Axel Rose, Buckethead, midnight pyrotechnics, and chicken coop pronography.That video about ho

Episode 49.5: [Tragedy Tuesday] 1904 Olympic Marathon

Jun 8th, 2021 25m 38s

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, or at least maybe finish a marathon. Things could have gone a whole lot better for the rag-tag band of competitors at the St. Louis Olympics. Dusty roads, ancient wars, rotten apples, and rat poison..

Episode 49 - Duke Nukem Forever

Jun 2nd, 2021 1h 7m

Our special guest Try-All Andy returns for the story of the trials and tribulations that went into producing a sequel that was over a decade in the making. Aliens, misogyny, pop-culture references, and a world record... hail to the king?E3

Episode 48.5: [Tragedy Tuesday] Death in Space

May 25th, 2021 27m 23s

As harsh a place as space can be, there have been surprisingly few deaths in space. Not to worry! Leigh found some for us. Soviet cosmonauts, Soyuz 11, and a pesky valve...Leigh's song pick:: Niin by Arovanehttps://open.spotify.com/track

Episode 48 - Edmonton Tornado, 1987

May 19th, 2021 41m 21s

Craig from Canadian History Ehx returns to once again rob us of sleep. What's the most damage mother nature could possibly do in one hour? Edmonton, Alberta found out in 1987. Tornadoes, the Fujita scale, Canadian devastation, and... you bet

Episode 47.5: [Tragedy Tuesday] One Hungry Juror

May 11th, 2021 32m 56s

Not all disasters happen on a global scale. Leigh tells the story of his experience on jury duty, with its highest highs and lowest lows. Criminal fraud, heated debates, comped meals... and comped... meals...Leigh's song pick:: Isn't Every

Episode 47: Phil Spector

May 5th, 2021 49m 33s

Ever wanted some of your favorite songs ruined by the story of the man behind them? Leigh makes it real hard to separate the man from the art. The Ronettes, John Lennon, George Harrison, hit records, guns, and death.Leigh's song pick:: Be

Episode 46.5: [Tragedy Tuesday] The Yellow Fleet

Apr 27th, 2021 31m 14s

Peter tells the harrowing tale of that time a group of ships got stuck in the Suez Canal... and it's probably not the time you're thinking of. Salty sailors, makeshift regattas, non-sanctioned Olympic games, and alcohol... so much alcohol.P

Episode 46: Kowloon, City of Darkness

Apr 21st, 2021 59m 1s

Been a while since you've felt crowded? Nuclear Norm tells the story of a dystopian cyberpunk fever dream that existed in the heart of Hong Kong. Opium wars, building code violations, plane-scrapers, and Bloodsport.Greg Girard's photograph

Episode 45.5: [Tragedy Tuesday] The WOOZ, Less Than A-MAZE-ing

Apr 13th, 2021 27m 48s

What better way to unwind after a long day of wandering through a mall than paying to get lost in a labyrinth? Misguided endeavors, maze-like working conditions, a ghost in the machine, and a fire...Leigh's song pick:: Hard Sun by Indiohtt

Episode 45: Apollo 13

Apr 7th, 2021 1h 26m

By 1970, flying to the moon was boooooooring... at least, if you asked the People of Earth. Nothing like a spot of near-death to revive public interest! Dropped oxygen tanks, explosions in space, floating pee bags, and Jerry... fuckin' Jerry.

Episode 44.5: [Tragedy Tuesday] TIDAL

Dec 29th, 2020 52m 10s

As a follow-up to his Tragedy Tuesday about the Pono Player, Leigh brings us up to speed on TIDAL, the "audiophile" streaming service. Less disaster, more questionable money grab? Also, a round-up of our favorite albums and songs of 2020 to r

[Announcement] End of the First Era

Dec 23rd, 2020 10m 54s

Peter and Leigh announce the end of the first phase of this disaster and our triumphant return in April 2021! A temporary pause in our regular weekly releases, some teasers of what's to come, and our sincerest thanks. We'll see you all on Apr

Episode 43.5: [Tragedy Tuesday] The Curious Case of Adolphe Sax and his Saxophone

Dec 15th, 2020 50m 19s

If the history of the saxophone's invention had a soundtrack, it certainly wouldn't be smooth jazz. An inventor that just wouldn't quit, despite the world doing its best to stop him in his tracks. Blunt force trauma, poisoning, drowning, vici

Episode 43: [Album Autopsy] Garth Brooks in... The Life of Chris Gaines

Dec 9th, 2020 49m 44s

In this edition of Album Autopsy, Try-All Andy joins us as we are collectively baffled by a supposed radical departure in musical genres. An album not reviled, but hardly beloved... what happens when an artist endeavors to try something differ

Episode 42.5: [Tragedy Tuesday] The Pono Player

Dec 1st, 2020 43m 38s

What do you get when you go on a quest for high-fidelity portable audio, but forget to bring the design sensibilities? Neil Young's Toblerone Player... I mean, Pono Player. Is that triangular prism in your pocket, or are you just pretending t

Episode 42: The Laki Eruption

Nov 25th, 2020 1h 6m

In the late 18th century, the Netherlands really had it out for Iceland. Maybe it was all the red-hot magma, acid rain, and sulfur-filled air, courtesy of the Laki craters? Fire, brimstone, a Dutch hate-boner, and a fire priest.John's song

Episode 41.5: [Tragedy Tuesday] The Third Wave Experiment

Nov 17th, 2020 36m 6s

Why teach a class about 1930s German's descent into fascism when you can just show the whole school how it's done? Not-so-secret salutes, rigorous discipline, a nation-wide underground, and a magnificent leader...Peter's song pick:: Neuropu

Episode 41: [Album Autopsy] Lulu

Nov 11th, 2020 43m 6s

Leaning into "... and the music they make us listen to" from our tagline, Leigh and Peter discuss where universally panned albums went wrong. In this inaugural edition, we talk about what happens when you seemingly pull two artists out of a ha