Season 1

This episode contains fart jokes about radiation victims. Viewer discretion is advised. On today’s episode: we’ll watch POWs compete for food in a House Hunters International style format, we’ll visit some of the more irradiated places in eastern Europe, and we’ll learn the difference between a burp and a fart explosion-wise. I’d also like to point out that if you were listening to this episode as a PATREON member, not only would you have heard it sooner and add-free, but this episode would be almost 10 minutes longer as we looked into dead cold war spies, the Instagrammers of the Siberian Maldives, the British sci-fi show lifted directly from this disaster and placed on the moon - Space 1999, the awful reality of nuclear dirty bombs, we visited the single most nuked place on earth, we lea...

This episode contains fart jokes about radiation victims. Viewer discretion is advised. On today’s episode: we’ll watch POWs compete for food in a House Hunters International style format, we’ll visit some of the more irradiated places in eastern Europe, and we’ll learn the difference between a burp and a fart explosion-wise. I’d also like to point out that if you were listening to this episode as a PATREON member, not only would you have heard it sooner and add-free, but this episode would be almost 10 minutes longer as we looked into dead cold war spies, the Instagrammers of the Siberian Maldives, the British sci-fi show lifted directly from this disaster and placed on the moon - Space 1999, the awful reality of nuclear dirty bombs, we visited the single most nuked place on earth, we lea...

Hello and welcome to the Doomsday: History’s Most Dangerous Mailbag: The Threequel. Together we’ve seen an awful lot of $@!# across time and space and it’s only natural that you would have questions – so here is your chance hear them answered. Maybe learn something a little gross, maybe a little interesting. This is my chance to publicly answer some of the friendly, odd and occasionally gross questions that feed in through our various social media channels. On today’s episode: we’re covering a classic would-you-rather involving spiders and sharks, I’ll tell you about an episode that never happened, and I’m holding a fairly disturbing counting contest! If you’re curious to hear my take on things rattling around upstairs, feel free to holler. You can reach out on twitter, instagram and faceb...

When I say “sporting disaster” most immediately think of that time your team crapped the bed so hard. Well today, we’re going to make a new memory that’ll make your old memory feel more like a page out of your dream journal.  On this episode: we’ll explore the blood smeared history of NCAA college football; you’ll learn the quickest way off a building; and we’ll discuss what to do if your brain catches on fire – figuratively, not literally. This episode is a celebration of the history of Football ­– from humble origins, kicking a rock 2,000 years ago, to the pigskin, to the flying wedge retirement maneuver, to the Big Game disaster – which was and remains to this day, by a considerable margin, the deadliest sporting disaster in American history - and no one’s ever even heard of it! They sh...

Hello and welcome to the Doomsday: History’s Most Dangerous Mailbag: The Sequel. That's right - a second episode in the books as promised. Together we’ve seen an awful lot of $@!# across time and space and it’s only natural that you would have questions – so here is your chance hear them answered. Maybe learn something a little gross, maybe a little interesting. This is my chance to publicly answer some of the friendly, odd and occasionally gross questions that feed in through our various social media channels. On today’s episode: we’ll explore the worst deaths on the show, so far - plus my favourite – see if you can guess who. We’ll cover the story of the most stitches I’ve ever received in a single sitting, and we’ll find out if we’re ever going back to Hollywood. There’s even an extende...

No one loves work functions, but office booze cruises are worse because there’s no sneaking out early. But you’ve probably never been on a work cruise so bad it led to the death of 635,000 people? In this history changing episode: you’ll learn the death-cries of different presidents, we’ll learn how a cannon can have more than one business-end, and we’re going to play the worst game of ship-board body-part Twister that literally changed the course of American history forever. This is one hell of a story. It has everything – love, political intrigue, explosions! But it also has shocking levels of personal greed, jealousy and consequence. It’s a larger-than-life story with real life consequences. We’ve done a few episodes now where people in authority makes rash or bizarre decisions that end...

Hello, and welcome to the very first in an on-going series, Doomsday: History’s Most Dangerous Mailbag! Together we’ve seen an awful lot of $@!# across time and space and it’s only natural that you would have questions – so here is your chance hear them answered. Maybe learn something a little gross, maybe a little interesting. This is my chance to publicly answer some of the friendly, odd and occasionally gross questions that feed in through our various social media channels. On today’s episode: we’ll find out just how many people love nuclear annihilation, we’ll debate impalements, and we’ll even comment on my ass. If you’re curious to hear my take on things rattling around upstairs, feel free to shout out. You can reach us on twitter, instagram and facebook as DoomsdayPodcast Or fire us...

Florida deputies once pulled over a weaving driver. His excuse was he’d been drinking and then was this squirrel in his shirt that kept biting him. Oh, the things you’ll see on Florida’s roadways. Or won’t… In this very special 1980’s themed first-time-in-Florida episode: we’ll find out how seatbelts help prevent blood stains; we’ll see what happens when you drive underwater; and we’ll have a special second safety segment covering Florida road etiquette. It's always surprising to me how many different ways bridges can fail. It makes me feel like they should maybe offer prayer candles when you pull up to the foot of a bridge. This is a story so frightening to anyone who holds a driver’s license, that it’ll make you forget this story takes place in Florida. Not to fear, there’s not a lot of ...

In this very special return episode, we’re going to discuss the concept of “what goes up must come down”. They’re never really specific about where or in how many pieces. On today’s episode: we’ll discuss the most blood-thirsty game of roulette ever. You’ll see what happens with 7,500 Dodge Caravans worth of fuel explodes within walking distance. And you’ll learn why you should never put your kids in a sewer, no matter how great of a parent you are. The safety segment from today’s story is designed to teach you about rocket safety, but since I can’t teach you everything in one short podcast, my best advice is to relisten to every past episode, tell a friend, then quiz each other. It's not everyday you get to watch a sideways rocket launch that performs an incomplete orbit over the countrys...

We’re returning to the airwaves by heading back to Victorian England in this very special end-of-year Christmas minisode, so bring your hip waders, and your breathing apparatus – there will be feces. On this very special mini catch-up-sode: I’ll explain to you why this year earned a feces-themed minisode. I’ll do it while reminding you why Victorian England sucks so bad. And although you won’t learn a lot about feces, you will hear a lot about them. I’ve returned from my self-isolation. I needed to work on my mental health for a bit to get my head straight. I wanted to offer my most heart-felt thanks to all those who reached out or donated during my hiatus. Words can’t express my gratitude, but I will try. You’ll have to listen. EDIT: That’s how I described it back then. I feel bad for tha...

When you see All-purpose flour at the store, you know it can make everything from breads to cookies to cereals? Well did you also know it can make explosions? On this episode: you’ll discover how bloodthirsty the French are about their favourite food; you’ll see what happens when you ride through a machine Charlie Chaplin style; and you’ll learn what to do if a limb ever became two dimensional. I love that we got to visit Minnesota finally, and they really welcomed us with a bang. This is one of those stories where you start to get into it, you find out what happened, then you find out why it happened, and you’re immediately hit with – wait, that’s a thing that can happen? If you happen to love our “wait, that’s a thing that can happen?” episodes, have we got an episode for you. By the end...

On today’s very special episode, you will hear a tale of love and heroism unlike anything we’ve ever told. But at the same time, you’re going to hear about people riding over waterfalls in rubber balls and barrels and jet-skis. So yeah – it’s an emotional mixed bag of an episode. On this episode: we’ll discuss the blood thirstiest natural wonder in the world – and it’s not the one you’d think; you’ll learn what “coming to grief” means; and you’ll hear about people being dashed on rocks and drowned in every creative way possible. This is our first visit to this natural wonder of the world. It won’t be our last. There are so many stories of disaster, tragedy and loss at Niagara Falls that we could spin this off as an entire season. But we chose this one harrowing story to begin our familiari...

If you hate the idea of horses being injured as I do, then let me say right off the bat that there will not be a single horse injured during this episode. I promise they are pretty much the only things NOT getting hurt in this episode. Welcome to the Happy Valley Race Course. The unhappiest Happy Valley in the world. On this episode: we’ll discuss Britain’s atrocious people skills; you’ll hear “Occam’s Razor” used as a verb; you’ll hear about people Tetrised into debris, and what happens when your arms become a Halloween prop. how a simple day of gambling turned into one of the deadliest fires in Hong Kong’s history, all because someone decided it was okay for a prestigious, upper-class racing venue to have worse stands than the correlejas stands from our third episode. You know your conce...

On today’s episode, we’re going to play the biggest game of the floor is lava in California history. But there won’t actually be a volcano in this story. That would make so much more sense. On this episode: we’ll discuss the difference between evacuating your home and evacuating your body; we’ll find out why you don’t mix crude oil with electricity; and we’ll discover a weather phenomenon strange enough to remove your eyebrows. Not everything can be quantified in Dodge Caravans. With some stories, the most telling thing about them isn’t how big or fast they were – it’s about the terrible unlikeliness of something like that ever happening in the first place. What terrible set of circumstance brought these two things together to interact in such as a way that I make an entire episode out of ...

Depending where you live or grew up, there’s probably some dark moment of local historical injustice you’re not overly proud of. On this special bonus not-so-minisode, we’re going to check out mine! On today’s special extra not-so-minisode: you will finally learn why you hate clowns so much, you’ll find out why early Toronto had so many teeth on the ground, and we’ll discuss fighting techniques included but not limited to: thumbing people’s eyeballs out, fish hooking the cheek, and biting people’s noses and ears off. This is a hometown episode for me, and although I can visit the scenes of this incredible story any day of the week, I ask myself why? On paper, this may seem like the silliest or least serious story we’ve ever told. Why? Just because it’s full of prostitutes and rubber noses ...

If you think going to the bank can be a hassle, and always wondered what’s the difference between flammable and inflammable, have we got a story for you. On this episode: you’ll hear about the worst bank deposit in aviation history; you’ll learn why you should never parachute without practice; and you’ll learn the medical effects of reverse-telescoping your legs into your abdomen. When I say we’re about to rediscover the tale of America’s very first aeronautic disaster, you would think this would be better known. Especially after you find out it was a blimp! We spend so much time romanticizing all those people who burned to death on the Hindenburg. No one sheds a tear for those poor people who took the Goodyear Blimp to the bank that September morning. It was an incident as unusual as it w...

A lot of people have fears about flying: turbulence, engine failure, the sheer this-is-too-heavy-to-stay-in-the-air of it all, but we’re going to tell you a story about a whole new way to die in the air you didn’t even know about. On this episode: you’ll hear about people being reduced to burning tatters; you’ll learn why your $200 IPod Shuffle is more dangerous than lightning; and we’ll even maybe teach you the best seats for surviving a plane crash, sort of. I wish I could see the faces of people discovering this frightening and unforeseen way that nature simply doesn’t care about your life goals or travel itinerary. It’s not everyday I get to bear bad news like this, but in the last episode I described how many invisible things can kill you, and today I get to spoil a whole new one you’...

We always say the only upside of a disaster is the legacy of safety from the lessons learned – but not today. I don’t want to spoil the surprise here, but I think you’ll find today’s story, most riveting On this episode: there will be your typical mutilations, manglings and scissorings; you can try to imagine being repeatedly cut in half but in three dimensions; and we’ll play a game of Would You Rather fall 150 feet onto rocks, or find yourself pressed into mud and suffocated. Today is one for the engineering disaster and “bad day at work” enthusiasts. Without spoiling anything, this is a good one if you’re afraid of heights, or water, or industrial accidents, or shoddy workmanship. It checks a lot of boxes. It also pays homage to a ridiculously overly-popular TikTok about the importance ...

You know the story about the guy who started with a paperclip and traded up to a Porsche? This episodes like that, but replace paperclip and Porsche with cancer, and here we go. On this episode: not a lot of heist stories turn into full-on nightmares, so this is our first sort of cross-over crime/disaster episode. We’re going to talk about non-sexual swelling and burning, we’re going to see a punch-up at a funeral, and by the end someone’s arm is going to bubble off. There are a lot of invisible things that can harm or outright kill you. The cast of today’s story will find themselves in possession of some of the worst stuff imaginable – and it doesn’t go well. You’ll learn how the dangers of simple scavenging, combined with the effects of the disappointing Brazilian education system of the...

Today, we’re going to make you afraid of water, and invertebrates, and working. We’ve covered a lot of Bad Day at Work episodes, but this is by far the worst one we’ve ever done, and we don’t mean just by blood volume. We mean by pure existential horror. Enjoy! On this episode: we’re going to explore a job so difficult, there are less than 400 people on the planet who can do it, you’re going to hear about the forced the expulsion of his thoracoabdominal cavity, and you’re going to hear the term meat balloon used contextually. This one came as a request from some of our most depraved listeners, and this is hands down the most existentially horrifying episode we’ve done to date. As they say, it would be easier for a fat man to pass through the head of a needle than for the cast of today’s st...

No matter what the scariest thing you’ve ever seen on Halloween, it was a baby food sampling party compared to what we’re about to talk about. On this episode: you’re going to hear about people crushed under concrete two feet thick; a particularly instructional kind of trauma; and the generous help of volunteers trying to straighten out twisted limbs to make people appear more comfortable. I don’t want to say this episode stinks, but it’s gassier than you could imagine. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on your point-of-view, this is the kind of gas you can’t smell. Not to spoil things, but we will definitely spend a minute talking about propane safety, and why it’s so important for public events to start on time. I promise, this episode is actually about something so innocent and fu...

If you’ve ever watched someone using drugs while going to the bathroom on a train, you’ve seen some pretty egregious stuff, but I can promise you’ve never seen anything like this before. It’s the Malbone Street Disaster of 1918 On this episode: you’re going to hear about people performing acrobatics through a cacophony of sharpness. And debatably, it only gets worse from there. And it all takes place in the dark. We have had plenty of episodes in the “bad day at work” category, but this one, woof. We should count this in our suite of Bad Commute episodes – stories so awful that they can’t help you feel better about your regular commute, almost guaranteed. I start this episode questioning your experience on your local transit, especially if you have a local subway or metro. When most people...

Do you like mountain roads, claustrophobia, and not breathing well? Well, have we got a road trip for you. We’re visiting Afghanistan, but we’re not visiting it for the breathtaking beauty - we’re visiting for the unrelenting brutality. On this episode: you’re going to hear about just about every bad thing that can happen behind the wheel; you’re not going to hear a lot of impact injuries; and there will be fire and people will suffocate as many ways as they can. Imagine being sealed into a narrow tunnel carved through a mountain. Fire and smoke and screams are everywhere. Darkness closes in as the temperature rises. Every breath becomes agony, and you still have a mile and half to go. Commuting is the worst. This is our first time in Afghanistan, and we’re here in time to take in some of ...

Today we’re going to cover a ghost story, which is cool, but most of the ghosts are women and children, so actually I actually would have been more comfortable starting with a child labour joke. On this episode: you’re going to hear a lot about bosses and employees and employee rights and work-life balance, and in our history of bad day at work episodes, this one is special. That said, you’re going to hear about people tetrised into debris and then set on fire. This isn’t one of our greatest pick-me-up episodes, but we’ll try to have some fun along the way. We’ve talked about some emotionally draining and painful disasters, but having researched hundreds of disasters, I was touched by the level of humanity displayed in this one. What we’re about to discuss has been called “the Worst Indust...