Episode 18: The Jungle

Episode 23: Bubonic Plague

The bubonic plague was more than swollen lymph nodes and medieval panic. CC and Kitty trace Yersinia pestis, the Black Death, Caffa, Florence, quarantine, plague myths, and the social collapse that reshaped Europe. Plus: cats, bad folklore, and why “Ring-a-Ring-a-Rosie” probably is not about plague.Subscribe for weekly disaster investigations. SOURCES: https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2014/07/ring-around-the-rosie-metafolklore-rhyme-and-reason/#:~:text=The%20rhyme%20is%20about%20the%20Great%20Plague%2C,doesn't%20fit%20well%20with%20the%20plague%20interpretation [https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2014/07/ring-around-the-rosie-metafolklore-rhyme-and-reason/#:~:text=The%20rhyme%20is%20about%20the%20Great%20Plague%2C,doesn't%20fit%20well%20with%20the%20plague%20interpretation] https://www.genome.gov/27546229/dissecting-the-cause-of-the-black-death [https://www.genome.gov/27546229/dissecting-the-cause-of-the-black-death] https://www.britannica.com/place/Byzantine-Empire [https://www.britannica.com/place/Byzantine-Empire] https://www.britannica.com/event/plague-of-Justinian [https://www.britannica.com/event/plague-of-Justinian] https://origins.osu.edu/connecting-history/covid-justinianic-plague-lessons [https://origins.osu.edu/connecting-history/covid-justinianic-plague-lessons] https://www.cdc.gov/one-health/about/about-zoonotic-diseases.html [https://www.cdc.gov/one-health/about/about-zoonotic-diseases.html] https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/Origins-Hundred-Years-War/ [https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/Origins-Hundred-Years-War/] https://www.visualdx.com/visualdx/diagnosis/septicemic+plague?diagnosisId=53824&moduleId=101 [https://www.visualdx.com/visualdx/diagnosis/septicemic+plague?diagnosisId=53824&moduleId=101] https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/plague [https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/plague]

Episode 22: Strange Historical Deaths

Strange historical deaths have a way of becoming bigger than the facts. This week, CC and Kitty look at Rasputin’s death myth, Edward II’s infamous rumor, and Edgar Allan Poe’s unresolved final days. Poison, politics, medieval gossip, cooping theories, and broken records all collide in an episode about how history remembers the dead. Subscribe for weekly disaster investigations, historical wreckage, and the aftermath that follows.Sources: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/what-really-happened-during-murder-rasputin-russia-mad-monk-180961572/ [https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/what-really-happened-during-murder-rasputin-russia-mad-monk-180961572/] https://allthatsinteresting.com/rasputin-penis [https://allthatsinteresting.com/rasputin-penis] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38386172/ [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38386172/] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_II [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_II] https://www.nps.gov/edal/learn/historyculture/people-poefamily.htm [https://www.nps.gov/edal/learn/historyculture/people-poefamily.htm] https://www.nps.gov/articles/poe-death.htm [https://www.nps.gov/articles/poe-death.htm] https://catalystmag.umaryland.edu/rooted-in-history-175-years-later-mystery-still-shrouds-poes-death/ [https://catalystmag.umaryland.edu/rooted-in-history-175-years-later-mystery-still-shrouds-poes-death/] https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/brochures-and-fact-sheets/wernicke-korsakoff-syndrome [https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/brochures-and-fact-sheets/wernicke-korsakoff-syndrome] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laudanum [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laudanum]

Episode 21: Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire killed 146 workers in 1911 and became a turning point in labor history. CC and Kitty cover the factory conditions, the Uprising of the 20,000, Clara Lemlich, the locked-exit legacy, the trial, and the workplace safety reforms that followed. Subscribe for weekly disaster investigations from Wreckage & Ruins. SOURCES: https://fashionhistory.fitnyc.edu/shirtwaist/ [https://fashionhistory.fitnyc.edu/shirtwaist/] https://lithub.com/a-brief-history-of-mass-manufactured-clothing/ [https://lithub.com/a-brief-history-of-mass-manufactured-clothing/] https://aflcio.org/about/history/labor-history-events/triangle-shirtwaist-fire [https://aflcio.org/about/history/labor-history-events/triangle-shirtwaist-fire] https://www.history.com/articles/triangle-shirtwaist-fire [https://www.history.com/articles/triangle-shirtwaist-fire] https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/shirtwaist-kings/ [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/shirtwaist-kings/] https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/biography-clara-lemlich/ [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/biography-clara-lemlich/] https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/uprising-of-20000-1909#:~:text=Throughout%20the%20uprising%2C%20arrests%20and,named%20%E2%80%9Cindustrial%20feminism%E2%80%9D [https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/uprising-of-20000-1909#:~:text=Throughout%20the%20uprising%2C%20arrests%20and,named%20%E2%80%9Cindustrial%20feminism%E2%80%9D]). https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/triangle/#transcript [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/triangle/#transcript] https://trianglefire.ilr.cornell.edu/slides/182.html#screen [https://trianglefire.ilr.cornell.edu/slides/182.html#screen] https://shc.stanford.edu/arcade/publications/occasion/fire-stories/raining-blood-and-money-remembering-triangle-shirtwaist [https://shc.stanford.edu/arcade/publications/occasion/fire-stories/raining-blood-and-money-remembering-triangle-shirtwaist] https://trianglefire.ilr.cornell.edu/victimsWitnesses/unidentifiedVictims.html#:~:text=Michael%20Hirsch%20is%20an%20independent%20researcher%20who,Age%2022%2C%20lived%20at%2018%20Cornelia%20Street [https://trianglefire.ilr.cornell.edu/victimsWitnesses/unidentifiedVictims.html#:~:text=Michael%20Hirsch%20is%20an%20independent%20researcher%20who,Age%2022%2C%20lived%20at%2018%20Cornelia%20Street] https://www.famous-trials.com/trianglefire/964-home [https://www.famous-trials.com/trianglefire/964-home] https://trianglefire.ilr.cornell.edu/legacy/legislativeReform.html#:~:text=During%20its%20second%20year%20of,code%20after%20the%20Triangle%20Fire [https://trianglefire.ilr.cornell.edu/legacy/legislativeReform.html#:~:text=During%20its%20second%20year%20of,code%20after%20the%20Triangle%20Fire]. https://www.dol.gov/general/aboutdol/history/mono-regsafepart07#:~:text=The%20main%20purpose%20of%20the,had%20stressed%20the%20health%20problem [https://www.dol.gov/general/aboutdol/history/mono-regsafepart07#:~:text=The%20main%20purpose%20of%20the,had%20stressed%20the%20health%20problem]. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Tammany-Hall [https://www.britannica.com/topic/Tammany-Hall] Triangle: Remembering the Fire on HBO

Episode 20: Air Florida Flight 90

On January 13, 1982, Air Florida Flight 90 took off from Washington National Airport in a snowstorm and crashed into the 14th Street Bridge before falling into the icy Potomac River. CC and Kitty walk through the deicing delay, the NTSB findings, the cockpit decisions, and the rescue that saved five people from the water. Subscribe to Wreckage & Ruins for weekly disaster investigations, aftermaths, and the decisions that shaped what came next. SOURCES:https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/626875246/ [https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/626875246/] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Florida [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Florida] https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/accidentreports/reports/aar8208.pdf [https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/accidentreports/reports/aar8208.pdf] https://arlingtonhistorical.com/items/show/164 [https://arlingtonhistorical.com/items/show/164] https://people.com/trained-pilot-survived-1982-potomac-plane-crash-tragedy-exclusive-8783981 [https://people.com/trained-pilot-survived-1982-potomac-plane-crash-tragedy-exclusive-8783981]

Episode 19: SS Eastland

Episode 19: SS Eastland CC and Kitty discuss the tragic story of the SS Eastland. The disaster on July 24, 1915, which claimed the lives of 844 people exposed critical failings in maritime safety regulations, inspection procedures, and the greed that prioritized profit over human life. While true accountability remained elusive for the victims' families, the memory of the Eastland disaster finally forced lasting, necessary changes to maritime law, ensuring that stability, not just lifeboat capacity, became the focus of safety. The legacy of the Eastland is cemented in the lives lost, the extraordinary community response that followed, and the silent promise of safer waters for all who sail today. SOURCES: https://www.dco.uscg.mil/Portals/9/DCO%20Documents/5p/CG-5PC/CG-CVC/MIR/Readings/Trident-History-1915-EASTLAND.pdf?ver=2020-06-30-195529-750 [https://www.dco.uscg.mil/Portals/9/DCO%20Documents/5p/CG-5PC/CG-CVC/MIR/Readings/Trident-History-1915-EASTLAND.pdf?ver=2020-06-30-195529-750] https://eastlanddisaster.org/history/timeline [https://eastlanddisaster.org/history/timeline] http://www.deepbluesea.training/nautical-terms.html [http://www.deepbluesea.training/nautical-terms.html] https://www.nprillinois.org/illinois/2015-07-19/looking-back-at-the-s-s-eastland-disaster [https://www.nprillinois.org/illinois/2015-07-19/looking-back-at-the-s-s-eastland-disaster] https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/july-24/hundreds-drown-in-eastland-disaster [https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/july-24/hundreds-drown-in-eastland-disaster] https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/eastland-disaster-killed-more-passengers-titanic-and-lusitania-why-has-it-been-forgotten-180953146/ [https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/eastland-disaster-killed-more-passengers-titanic-and-lusitania-why-has-it-been-forgotten-180953146/] https://www.pbs.org/video/the-eastland-disaster-04xrn4/ [https://www.pbs.org/video/the-eastland-disaster-04xrn4/] https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/1998/december/why-we-call-ship-she [https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/1998/december/why-we-call-ship-she] https://www.iwm.org.uk/ [https://www.iwm.org.uk/] https://chicagology.com/notorious-chicago/eastland/ [https://chicagology.com/notorious-chicago/eastland/]