Disaster Area

It would start with a headache, a fever, maybe a funny tummy. But soon enough your knee would give out, or your arm would hang limp, or you would struggle to breathe. You'd be taken to the hospital, where you'd get your diagnosis - polio. If you survived, you ran the risk of doing so with paralyzed limbs, struggling to walk on bulky leg braces. Your parents would be terrified they might lose you, and so everybody wanted the one thing that could stop all of this - a vaccine. Videos: New England Journal of Medicine: The Cutter Incident, 50 Years Later American Experience: The Polio Crusade The Iron Lung and Polio by M.Rockoff | OPENPediatrics Articles and books: Polio: An American Story, by David M. Oshinsky The Cutter Incident, by Dr. Paul Offit NEJM: The Cutter Incident

It would start with a headache, a fever, maybe a funny tummy. But soon enough your knee would give out, or your arm would hang limp, or you would struggle to breathe. You'd be taken to the hospital, where you'd get your diagnosis - polio. If you survived, you ran the risk of doing so with paralyzed limbs, struggling to walk on bulky leg braces. Your parents would be terrified they might lose you, and so everybody wanted the one thing that could stop all of this - a vaccine. Videos: New England Journal of Medicine: The Cutter Incident, 50 Years Later American Experience: The Polio Crusade The Iron Lung and Polio by M.Rockoff | OPENPediatrics Articles and books: Polio: An American Story, by David M. Oshinsky The Cutter Incident, by Dr. Paul Offit NEJM: The Cutter Incident

NOTE: This was released in May of 2025, but due to life being what it is, I didn't get to finish the final two parts of the episode. So I am rereleasing this episode this week, and the next two weeks I will release the following two episodes. I have now officially backed myself in a corner and I simply MUST finish the episodes now. It would start with a headache, a fever, maybe a funny tummy. But soon enough your knee would give out, or your arm would hang limp, or you would struggle to breathe. You'd be taken to the hospital, where you'd get your diagnosis - polio. If you survived, you ran the risk of doing so with paralyzed limbs, struggling to walk on bulky leg braces. Your parents would be terrified they might lose you, and so everybody wanted the one thing that could stop all of this - a vaccine. Videos: New England Journal of Medicine: The Cutter Incident, 50 Years Later American Experience: The Polio Crusade The Iron Lung and Polio by M.Rockoff | OPENPediatrics Articles and books: Polio: An American Story, by David M. Oshinsky The Cutter Incident, by Dr. Paul Offit NEJM: The Cutter Incident

2001 was not the only year in which something tragic occurred on September 11th. On that day in 1974, eighty-two people would board a plane from Charleston, South Carolina, to Charlotte, North Carolina. Only ten would survive. Videos: 9/11/74: The Untold Story of Charlotte's Deadliest Plane Crash Stephen Colbert and Anderson Cooper's beautiful conversation about grief Talkative Pilots: Eastern Airlines Flight 212 Articles and books: A fiery plane crash on 9/11/74 changed Charleston forever. 50 years later, its scars linger. NTSB Crash Report for Eastern Airlines Flight 212 Charlotte's deadliest plane crash has finally been memorialized after 51 years

King Henry I of England had grand plans for the future of his sole legitimate male heir, William Aetheling. None of those plans would come to pass. Articles and books: The Sinking Of The White Ship 1120 The White Ship, by Charles Spencer The Impact of the White Ship Disaster of 1120 900 years since the White Ship disaster How one catastrophic shipwreck sank a medieval dynasty Divers find The Tragic White Ship

On a cold April night in 1865, the calm across the waters of the Mississippi River was shattered by a sudden explosion - one which destroyed a steamboat and most of the Confederate POWs crowded on its decks. Videos: Remember the Sultana The History Channel: The Sultana Part-Time Explorer: America's Worst Shipwreck Articles and books: Sultana: Surviving the Civil War, Prison, and the Worst Maritime Disaster in American History, by Alan Huffman Knoxville, TN: S.S. Sultana Memorial Appomattox Court House: The Surrender Meeting American Battlefield Trust: The Sultana Disaster The Sultana Disaster Museum Toledo Blade: The Sinking of the Sultana

On a cold April night in 1865, the calm across the waters of the Mississippi River was shattered by a sudden explosion - one which destroyed a steamboat and most of the Confederate POWs crowded on its decks. Videos: Remember the Sultana The History Channel: The Sultana Part-Time Explorer: America's Worst Shipwreck Articles and books: Sultana: Surviving the Civil War, Prison, and the Worst Maritime Disaster in American History, by Alan Huffman Knoxville, TN: S.S. Sultana Memorial Appomattox Court House: The Surrender Meeting American Battlefield Trust: The Sultana Disaster The Sultana Disaster Museum Toledo Blade: The Sinking of the Sultana

It's the podcast's tenth birthday! Also, where we've been and where we're going.

In the early morning hours of September 22nd, 1993, a cross-country train departed from Mobile, Alabama, on its way to Miami. As it headed up along the train tracks out of the city, the train didn't know one important thing - that half of the bridge over the Big Bayou Canot wasn't there anymore. Videos: Seconds from Disaster: The Wreck of the Sunset Limited Forensic Files: Visibility Zero Rail Disasters: Wreck of the Sunset Limited Articles and books: Barge Pilot Blamed in Fatal Amtrak Wreck No Criminal Liability Is Found in Amtrak Bayou Derailment Mobile Press-Register 200th Anniversary: Sunset Limited train wreck memories not diminished by passing years NTSB report on the accident  

On a sunny Sunday morning in 2017, a man in an SUV pulled up outside a small white church in Sutherland Springs, TX. The people inside would become the targets of the weapons he carried. But when he sped away about twenty minutes later, he would be the one escaping gunfire. Videos: Miracle on 4th Street Sutherland Springs shooter recorded his confession to severe beating of stepson Victims' stories heard through videos of Sutherland Springs church services Articles and books: I’m Not a Hero’: Man Who Shot and Chased Texas Church Gunman Shares His Story Secret Service case study focused on the Sutherland Springs shooting as an example of the link between domestic violence and mass attacks From the first deadly shot until the last — how the Texas church shooting unfolded Comal County authorities didn’t charge Sutherland Springs gunman with rape, even though the victim described brutal attack Texas massacre survivors say gunman Devin Kelley became enraged by scared children during church shooting Exclusive: Guilt and grief overwhelm the mother-in-law of the Sutherland Springs gunman Texas church gunman lied about past to become a security guard, records show Site of deadliest church shooting in US history is torn down over protests by some Texas families Texas Church Shooting Video Shows Gunman’s Methodical Attack, Official Says Conspiracy theorists harass Sutherland Springs churchgoers, pastor whose daughter was killed Washington Post: Investigative Timeline - Sutherland Springs Baptist Church Mass Casualty Event Secret Service: First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs - A Case Study Between Domestic Violence and Mass Attacks Air Force must pay more than $230M in church shooting

On a sunny Sunday morning in 2017, a man in an SUV pulled up outside a small white church in Sutherland Springs, TX. The people inside would become the targets of the weapons he carried. But when he sped away about twenty minutes later, he would be the one escaping gunfire. Videos: Miracle on 4th Street Sutherland Springs shooter recorded his confession to severe beating of stepson Victims' stories heard through videos of Sutherland Springs church services Articles and books: I’m Not a Hero’: Man Who Shot and Chased Texas Church Gunman Shares His Story Secret Service case study focused on the Sutherland Springs shooting as an example of the link between domestic violence and mass attacks From the first deadly shot until the last — how the Texas church shooting unfolded Comal County authorities didn’t charge Sutherland Springs gunman with rape, even though the victim described brutal attack Texas massacre survivors say gunman Devin Kelley became enraged by scared children during church shooting Exclusive: Guilt and grief overwhelm the mother-in-law of the Sutherland Springs gunman Texas church gunman lied about past to become a security guard, records show Site of deadliest church shooting in US history is torn down over protests by some Texas families Texas Church Shooting Video Shows Gunman’s Methodical Attack, Official Says Conspiracy theorists harass Sutherland Springs churchgoers, pastor whose daughter was killed Washington Post: Investigative Timeline - Sutherland Springs Baptist Church Mass Casualty Event Secret Service: First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs - A Case Study Between Domestic Violence and Mass Attacks Air Force must pay more than $230M in church shooting

On a sunny Sunday morning in 2017, a man in an SUV pulled up outside a small white church in Sutherland Springs, TX. The people inside would become the targets of the weapons he carried. But when he sped away about twenty minutes later, he would be the one escaping gunfire. Videos: Miracle on 4th Street Sutherland Springs shooter recorded his confession to severe beating of stepson Victims' stories heard through videos of Sutherland Springs church services Articles and books: I’m Not a Hero’: Man Who Shot and Chased Texas Church Gunman Shares His Story Secret Service case study focused on the Sutherland Springs shooting as an example of the link between domestic violence and mass attacks From the first deadly shot until the last — how the Texas church shooting unfolded Comal County authorities didn’t charge Sutherland Springs gunman with rape, even though the victim described brutal attack Texas massacre survivors say gunman Devin Kelley became enraged by scared children during church shooting Exclusive: Guilt and grief overwhelm the mother-in-law of the Sutherland Springs gunman Texas church gunman lied about past to become a security guard, records show Site of deadliest church shooting in US history is torn down over protests by some Texas families Texas Church Shooting Video Shows Gunman’s Methodical Attack, Official Says Conspiracy theorists harass Sutherland Springs churchgoers, pastor whose daughter was killed Washington Post: Investigative Timeline - Sutherland Springs Baptist Church Mass Casualty Event Secret Service: First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs - A Case Study Between Domestic Violence and Mass Attacks Air Force must pay more than $230M in church shooting

A week ago, the Guadalupe River in Texas overflowed its banks and swept away dozens of campers. It turns out that this is not the first time it's done so - and not the first time some of those campers didn't survive. Videos: "Rescue 911" segment on the tragedy Señor Onion’s Archives: Guadalupe Flood of 1987 Sheriff recounts tragic Comfort, TX flood The Flood: Who Will Save Our Children? Articles and books: Toll At 8 In Texas Flooding 2 Young Campers Are Still Missing Almost 40 years ago, 10 children died in a Comfort flood that shook Texas

(Podcaster's note: The second part of the Cutter incident episode is forthcoming; I'm just trying to get it juuuuuust right. :)) November 7th, 2018, was just supposed to be another fun night of drinking and line dancing at the Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks, CA. But at 11:18 PM, all of that ended in an instant. Videos: TikTok: shannon_mcgee visiting the site 1.5 years later TikTok: Official account of @borderlinebar RAW VIDEO: Thousand Oaks gunman seen shooting inside Borderline Bar & Grill | ABC7 Thousand Oaks shooting survivor: "My friend killed my other friends" Co-Owner Of Borderline Bar And Grill Accused Of Embezzling $43K Ventura County DA Releases New Video Of Borderline Bar Shooting Columbine Survivor Survives Virginia Tech Articles and books: Must Reads: Friends took this photo at their favorite bar in Thousand Oaks. Minutes later, the shooting started CHP officer’s bullet killed sheriff’s deputy who responded to Thousand Oaks bar shooting Authorities Describe 'Confusion And Chaos' At Borderline Bar Shooting In California What Thousand Oaks shooting suspect posted to social media during massacre Here Are the Victims of the Thousand Oaks Shooting First Responder Was Killed in Restaurant Mass Shooting at Same Place Where He Proposed to His Wife Borderline shooting hero Matt Wennerstrom honored at Thousand Oaks memorial after motorcycle crash The Americans who have lived through multiple mass shootings

It would start with a headache, a fever, maybe a funny tummy. But soon enough your knee would give out, or your arm would hang limp, or you would struggle to breathe. You'd be taken to the hospital, where you'd get your diagnosis - polio. If you survived, you ran the risk of doing so with paralyzed limbs, struggling to walk on bulky leg braces. Your parents would be terrified they might lose you, and so everybody wanted the one thing that could stop all of this - a vaccine. Videos: New England Journal of Medicine: The Cutter Incident, 50 Years Later American Experience: The Polio Crusade The Iron Lung and Polio by M.Rockoff | OPENPediatrics Articles and books: Polio: An American Story, by David M. Oshinsky The Cutter Incident, by Dr. Paul Offit NEJM: The Cutter Incident

In a bustling city of pirates and wickedness, one might think things couldn't get any more dangerous. But in the Jamaican city of Port Royal in 1692, that thought would be tested, and tested hard. Videos: History of Port Royal (Underwater Cities) Articles and books: Apocalypse 1692: Empire, Slavery, and the Great Port Royal Earthquake, by Ben Hughes Historic Earthquakes: Jamaica, 1692 June 07 UTC Jamaica Port Royal If you'd like to donate to the GFM for my car, you can find that here: https://gofund.me/a0585132

To raise money for car repairs, Jennifer answers the question you've all been wondering - how well can she talk about a disaster while ... let's say "not sober." Please help Jennifer fix her car! It takes our esteemed cohost Professor on rides to go see cows and he therefore cannot live without it. Links below: GoFundMe: https://gofund.me/59bec8ad Paypal: disasterarea@mail.com Cashapp: $disasterareapod Venmo: @disasterareapodcast  

It was almost the end of a typical Tuesday for workers at the Sofa Super Store in Charleston, South Carolina, in June of 2007, and several of them went out to the loading dock to smoke and kill a little time. One stray cigarette butt thrown too near the trash, and within an hour and a half nine firefighters would be dead. Videos: Charleston Fire Department’s recovery from deadly Sofa Super Store fire First hour of dispatch audio from the Sofa Super Store fire Charleston 9: The Ultimate Sacrifice Line-of-Duty Death and Injury Investigations - NIST Fire Modeling - The Charleston Investigation Articles and books: Newsweek: 'It looked like Hell was burning' Post and Courier: Sofa store owner tells his side Post and Courier: Trapped: The story of nine Charleston firefighters' deaths NIST Study on Charleston Furniture Store Fire Calls for National Safety Improvements Remembering the Charleston 9: 17 years after deadly Sofa Super Store fire The Sofa Super Store fire: The blaze that reshaped the Charleston Fire Department  

On a warm November evening in 1996, in the rural farmland not far from Delhi, the remains of two aircraft plummeted from the skies. The collision which caused them to fall is still the deadliest mid-air collision in history. Videos: Mayday/Air Crash Investigation episode on Charkhi Dadri collision Disaster Breakdown: The Charkhi Dadri mid-air collision Remains of Charkhi Dadri mid-air collision "Head On" Articles and books: Accident report Human error is blamed for crash At Least 349 Are Killed in Collision Indian Officials Gather Evidence on Midair Collision Haryana's Charkhi Dadri plans a memorial for 1996 mid-air collision victims

On a warm November evening in 1996, in the rural farmland not far from Delhi, the remains of two aircraft plummeted from the skies. The collision which caused them to fall is still the deadliest mid-air collision in history. Videos: Mayday/Air Crash Investigation episode on Charkhi Dadri collision Disaster Breakdown: The Charkhi Dadri mid-air collision Remains of Charkhi Dadri mid-air collision "Head On" Articles and books: Accident report Human error is blamed for crash At Least 349 Are Killed in Collision Indian Officials Gather Evidence on Midair Collision Haryana's Charkhi Dadri plans a memorial for 1996 mid-air collision victims