Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast Great Disasters
| Titre | Date | Durée | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Empire State Building Plane Crash | 26 Feb 2024 | 00:31:11 | |
On a foggy day in 1945, the busy streets of New York City were interrupted by a sound that shouldn't have been there - a plane, flying between the skyscrapers, and set on a collision course with the tallest building in the world. | |||
| 2023 In Review | 22 Jan 2024 | 00:46:40 | |
Every year brings its share of tragic events. A few are somewhat predictable - we will always expect a number of hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones, for example - while others are more unusual. Some grab headlines and make history, and others are quickly forgotten. These are the events which shaped 2023. | |||
| 9/11 - American 11 and the North Tower | 10 Sep 2021 | 00:58:08 | |
It was one of the most shocking events of modern times; an attack on an a scale previously unimaginable, and a day that should never be forgotten. | |||
| 9/11 - Overview | 10 Sep 2021 | 01:07:16 | |
It was one of the most shocking events of modern times; an attack on an a scale previously unimaginable, and a day that should never be forgotten. | |||
| HMS Thetis | 12 Jul 2021 | 01:25:24 | |
The submarine sank in relatively sheltered waters, just fourteen miles from shore. Although her front end was on the sea bed, her rear end was lifted several feet out of the water. Surely rescue for the 103 men on board would be quite simple? | |||
| LAM Mozambique Flight 470 | 13 Apr 2021 | 00:33:53 | |
A commercial airliner drops from the sky over Africa without a single word; what happened, and how could it have prevented further tragedy? | |||
| The Schoolhouse Blizzard | 31 Jan 2021 | 00:42:35 | |
It started as a lovely, mild winter's day - but it turned deadly, and those most at risk were the children. | |||
| Peshtigo Fire | 11 Dec 2020 | 00:38:02 | |
It burned around 1.5 million acres, killed over a thousand people, and ranks as the deadliest wildfire in history. Yet it is largely forgotten, because it happened the same night as the Great Fire of Chicago. | |||
| R101 | 27 Nov 2020 | 01:03:00 | |
It was the age of airships - gigantic silver balloons which floated almost silently across the sky - but Britain's dreams of an Imperial airship fleet were about to be tragically dashed. | |||
| Hyatt Regency Skywalk Collapse | 17 Jul 2020 | 00:45:25 | |
It should have been a fun evening of music and dancing - but it abruptly turned into a gruesome scene of tragedy. | |||
| The Tulsa Race Massacre | 28 Jun 2020 | 01:07:05 | |
An incident in an elevator led to an outpouring of hatred, gunfire and flame. It was America's worst single incident of racial violence, yet for decades many had never even heard of it. | |||
| Herald of Free Enterprise | 05 Jun 2020 | 00:49:12 | |
A crowded ferry set sail from Zeebrugge on a cold March evening - but just outside the harbour walls, tragedy struck, and a straightforward crossing turned into a fight to survive. | |||
| 2022 In Review | 13 Mar 2023 | 00:42:13 | |
How much tragedy can a single year bring? From the Hunga Tonga volcano to the Buffalo snow storm, let's take a look at the disasters which shaped the year 2022. | |||
| Carrollton Bus Crash | 22 May 2020 | 00:51:44 | |
After a church outing to an amusement park, an old yellow school bus full of sleepy kids made its way home along the interstate. At the same time, a pickup truck was driving the other way - in the same lane. | |||
| The Boston Molasses Flood | 08 May 2020 | 00:53:06 | |
A wave of black, sticky molasses engulfs a Boston neighbourhood, wreaking a sweet-tasting but deadly kind of havoc. It's one of history's more unusual disasters, but that doesn't mean it should be treated lightly. | |||
| Harrow & Wealdstone Rail Crash | 07 Feb 2020 | 00:41:07 | |
It should have been an ordinary Wednesday morning commute, with the biggest worry being whether there would be any seats free on the train. Instead, it was described as being akin to the battlefields of the war just seven years past. | |||
| The General Slocum | 24 Jan 2020 | 00:42:16 | |
A bright, sunny New York morning turned to disaster in a matter of moments - and it would be the city's most deadly disaster for almost a hundred years. This heartbreaking disaster literally decimated a community, with a death toll of over a thousand, mostly women and children. | |||
| The Victoria Hall Disaster | 10 Jan 2020 | 00:34:31 | |
It was supposed to be a fun afternoon; hundreds of children packed into Sunderland's Victoria Hall for a magic show. Their tickets promised the greatest treat ever given, and the chance of presents, too. However, for many it would end in the most heartbreaking tragedy possible. | |||
| Fukushima Daiichi | 20 Dec 2019 | 00:39:14 | |
The Tohoku earthquake and tsunami brought unspeakable devastation to Japan, but they were only part of the story. A third disaster followed when the first two cut off power to one of the world's largest nuclear power plants. Now a race was on to contain the meltdown and save the country. | |||
| 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami | 29 Nov 2019 | 00:36:03 | |
Japan is a country that's accustomed to earthquakes, and one you might have thought would be prepared for anything. However, they were not prepared for the scale of the megathrust earthquake that happened one Friday afternoon in March. | |||
| Air New Zealand Flight 901 | 15 Nov 2019 | 00:43:07 | |
More than 250 people boarded a DC-10 airliner for a luxurious sightseeing trip in one of the most remote parts of the world. Their trip came to an unexpected and tragic end on the side of a mountain. | |||
| 1931 China Floods | 01 Nov 2019 | 00:31:08 | |
The Yangtze River is the third longest in the world - and when it breaks its banks, its power should not be underestimated. | |||
| Vesuvius | 18 Oct 2019 | 00:32:17 | |
It is perhaps the most famous volcano in the world - but the event it’s best known for happened almost two thousand years ago. So what is it about Mount Vesuvius that allows its story to endure? | |||
| 2010 Copiapo Mining Incident | 23 Dec 2022 | 01:39:40 | |
The story of 33 men trapped deep within a Chilean mine gripped not only their nation, but the whole world. This episode of Great Disasters draws on contemporary reporting and the survivors' accounts to tell a fascinating story of hope and survival against the odds. | |||
| Pearl Harbor | 04 Oct 2019 | 00:43:04 | |
In December, 1941, thousands of American servicemen were enjoying themselves on the idyllic Hawaiian island of Oahu, where the Pacific Fleet was in port. Then, on a date that would "live in infamy", they were abruptly and dramatically pulled into the Second World War. | |||
| Space Shuttle Columbia | 20 Sep 2019 | 00:45:26 | |
On January 16th, 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia launched on its 28th mission, a scientific expedition that would see the crew spend sixteen days in orbit carrying out research. All went well - until it was time to come home.
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| The Carrington Event | 06 Sep 2019 | 00:30:31 | |
In 1859, a spectacular auroral display astonished people all around the world - it was visible far beyond the usual latitudes for such a sight. At the same time, the nascent telegraph system went haywire, and an English astronomer gazing at the sun spotted the connection.
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| The Sampoong Department Store Collapse | 21 Jun 2019 | 00:31:15 | |
In the glamorous Gangnam area of Seoul, South Korea, hundreds of shoppers browsed through luxury goods or stopped to grab a couple of things on their way home from work. Then, with a loud bang, the store literally collapsed around them.
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| The Great Hunger, Ireland 1845-50 | 07 Jun 2019 | 00:43:09 | |
Also known as "an Gorta Mór" in Irish, or the Irish Potato Famine to those outside the Emerald Isle, the Great Hunger created a dividing line in Irish history. It was triggered by the potato blight, but the true depth of misery that it brought was largely created by the politics of the British government.
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| The Princess Alice Disaster | 24 May 2019 | 00:39:12 | |
The Princess Alice was a popular pleasure steamer plying the waters of the River Thames. The Bywell Castle was a collier ship from Newcastle, making its way out to sea after repainting. When the two met on the river, hundreds died.
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| Chernobyl Part Two | 10 May 2019 | 00:46:07 | |
The people of Pripyat knew something had happened at the nearby power plant - but they only realised how serious it was two days later, when they were ordered to evacuate the city. This is the second of two episodes on this topic. | |||
| Chernobyl Part One | 26 Apr 2019 | 00:39:18 | |
In April 1986, power plant operators prepared to carry out a planned test which would take less than a minute. Instead, they triggered a disaster with consequences that would last for thousands of years.
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| Galveston Hurricane 1900 | 12 Apr 2019 | 00:36:52 | |
People gathered on the beaches to watch the awesome waves, but this was no mere squall coming in from the Gulf. It was a hurricane, and by the following day there would not be a single building in Galveston standing undamaged.
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| The Bradford City Stadium Fire | 29 Mar 2019 | 00:37:20 | |
It started as a wisp of smoke, but within a few short minutes it turned into a deadly inferno from which fifty six football fans were unable to escape. | |||
| 2013 Lampedusa Migrant Shipwreck | 03 Jun 2022 | 00:38:38 | |
In this episode of Great Disasters, I'll be looking at the shipwreck of a migrant boat off the coast of Lampedusa in 2013. | |||
| Haiti Earthquake 2010 | 15 Mar 2019 | 00:30:43 | |
Social, political and geological factors combined to create disaster on an almost unbelievable scale. The 2010 Haiti earthquake killed at least 100,000, and displaced millions. | |||
| The Flying Scotsman, 1947 | 01 Mar 2019 | 00:34:26 | |
With an experienced driver in the engine, the Flying Scotsman service was steaming along at full speed on its way to London when suddenly, it left the rails. 28 people were killed in the mangled wreckage. The question was, why? | |||
| Morecambe Bay Cocklepicking Disaster | 15 Feb 2019 | 00:33:53 | |
This episode looks at a disaster which struck close to my home - the Morecambe Bay cocklepicking disaster. A large group of Chinese immigrant labourers were sent out onto the sands to collect cockles, but they didn't know just how dangerous the tide can be. | |||
| The de Havilland Comet | 01 Feb 2019 | 00:26:04 | |
In this episode, I'm looking at the case of the de Havilland Comet - the first commercial jet airliner. Three crashes within short succession in the 1950's hinted at a deadly flaw in the plane's design, but it would take pioneering investigative techniques to reveal it. | |||
| Piper Alpha | 18 Jan 2019 | 00:27:43 | |
In this episode of Great Disasters, I'll be looking at the Piper Alpha explosion; the deadliest off-shore oil rig disaster to date. | |||
| 1955 Le Mans Crash | 13 Jul 2018 | 00:29:54 | |
The 24 Hours of Le Mans is one of the world's most prestigious motor races. Established in 1923, it challenges both man and machine to compete at the very edge of their ability. In 1955, that challenge led to catastrophe. | |||
| Apollo 1 | 01 Jul 2018 | 00:30:58 | |
With America lagging behind the Soviet Union in the space race, JFK made a promise to reach the moon. Three men paid the price on a launch pad at Cape Canaveral. | |||
| Seveso Chemical Disaster | 15 Jun 2018 | 00:32:35 | |
An ordinary summer's day in Italy was disturbed by the sudden appearance of a white cloud. The cloud was vapour that had been released by a local chemical plant, and Seveso would forever be known for its impact. | |||
| North Sea Floods 1953 | 01 Jun 2018 | 00:24:15 | |
British weather in January doesn't tend to be very pleasant, if we're honest about it. However, sometimes it moves far beyond the realms of "slightly miserable" and into a completely different category - deadly. | |||
| The Goiânia Incident | 18 May 2018 | 00:29:06 | |
It started with some abandoned equipment and two scavengers looking for scrap metal. The stuff they found inside looked so pretty, with its magical blue glow, that people passed it around and wore it like carnival glitter. They didn't know that it was deadly. | |||
| 2021 In Review | 10 Jan 2022 | 00:34:20 | |
A look back over the disasters and tragedies which shaped 2021, from COVID-19 to the Surfside Condo Collapse, the La Palma Volcano, and more. | |||
| The Station Nightclub Fire | 04 May 2018 | 00:32:32 | |
On a cold night in February, hundreds of people packed into The Station nightclub to see the band Great White playing. It would be a night none of them would forget - but the band didn't even finish their first song. | |||
| Monongah | 20 Apr 2018 | 00:31:11 | |
Mining has never been a job to take lightly. With the weight of the world above their heads, and only the lights they took underground with them, the miners of Monongah worked in dirty, cramped spaces for the Fairmont Coal Company. They trusted their bosses when they said the mine was safe. | |||
| Mount Tambora | 06 Apr 2018 | 00:22:48 | |
In this episode, I'm looking at one of the most violent volcanic eruptions in history. It measures a 7 on the Volcanic Explosivity Index - dwarfing more famous events like Vesuvius in 79 AD (a 5), Krakatoa in 1883 (a 6) and Pinatubo in 1991 (another 6). This was an eruption so huge that its effects were felt all around the world. | |||
| Exercise Tiger | 23 Mar 2018 | 00:30:19 | |
There was a common quip that American troops in the Second World War were "oversexed, overpaid and over here", but they put their lives on the line just like every other nation involved. So how could around seven hundred of them be killed in one event and then forgotten? | |||