This Is A Disaster

A podcast about disasters and the music they make us listen to.

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111 episodes
Updated Nov 12, 2025
Explicit

Episodes111

Newest first

Aug 25, 2020 · 36 min
Episode 35.5: [Tragedy Tuesday] The Legendary E.T. Landfill
It's all fun and games until Steven Spielberg brings you his precious property to turn into a video game. In the early 1980s, Atari was unstoppable... but the little brown extraterrestrial did his best. A crazy short development time, a waning interest in video games, and the worst game ever made (according to some). Leigh's song pick:: The Working Hour by Tears for Fears https://open.spotify.com/track/23DKn3AP0fpx1aAYth2Pax?si=NCHlKLgyT4a_AX1AMJi__w If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a review! Tell your friends! Tell your enemies too, we're not picky. Become a patron, get cool stuff, and help us make some exciting new content! www.patreon.com/thisdisasterpod DRAW! Tell the world to listen to our podcast while tagging us on social media, and get entered into a draw for some super sweet (and exclusive) merch! Contest ends August 31st! Instagram/Twitter/Facebook: @thisdisasterpod www.thisdisasterpod.com
Aug 19, 2020 · 1 hr 3 min
Episode 35: Climate Change, Part 1
Our special guest drops by for a two-part series about the slow-burn disaster happening all around us. What's a greenhouse gas? Are we in an ice age? Will the poles melt and send us spinning off into outer space? You never know what could happen when Nuclear Norm is around... Norm's song pick:: Backroads by Lonely The Brave https://open.spotify.com/track/33dunxmWFO2n1a2sjD1wGD?si=FukIhYt9REmU_d_Xryfbww Music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fk2phEP7AWU Leigh's song pick:: Journeys by Divination Peter's song pick:: Ether by Mogwai https://open.spotify.com/track/7rzjpFTtsDw5COMhHqq2oT If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a review! Also, tell your friends! Tell your enemies too, we're not picky. Become a patron, get exclusive content, help us make more disasters! www.patreon.com/thisdisasterpod DRAW! Tell the world to listen to our podcast while tagging us on social media, and get entered into a draw for some super sweet (and exclusive) merch! Contest ends August 31st. Instagram/Twitter/Facebook: @thisdisasterpod www.thisdisasterpod.com Theme song by Blank Sun: https://blanksun.bandcamp.com
Aug 11, 2020 · 31 min
Episode34 .5: [Tragedy Tuesday] Cecil Kelley's Radioactive End
In 1958, Los Alamos National Laboratory was buzzing with new and exciting ways to eradicate humanity and leave the Earth a desolate, radioactive wasteland. Turns out we've been nuking ourselves willingly for over a century... unless you're Cecil Kelley, in which case the radiation was far less voluntary. Plutonium, critical mass, and excursion event, and an alarmingly quick end... Peter's song pick(s):: Down in the Park by Tubeway Army https://open.spotify.com/track/2vmBGX73EXJIAAN6nesH6T?si=zVzWrajMTVmWLlCzjKoqWQ Down in the Park by Foo Fighters https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30DMi866ThM Down in the Park by Marilyn Manson https://open.spotify.com/track/0YCyOP5nkAp2aiowFSTqkE?si=TuVvzh-dTASAjS8tM0s_yA If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a review! Tell your friends! Tell your enemies too, we're not picky. Become a patron, get cool stuff, and help us make some exciting new content! www.patreon.com/thisdisasterpod DRAW! Tell the world to listen to our podcast while tagging us on social media, and get entered into a draw for some super sweet (and exclusive) merch! Contest ends August 31st! Instagram/Twitter/Facebook: @thisdisasterpod www.thisdisasterpod.com
Aug 5, 2020 · 54 min
Episode 34: Mel Lyman, The Greatest Man In The World (And Not Troubled By It In The Least)
When you're known as the meanest tub-bassist around, you're bound to attract all kinds. Sometimes it's a self-proclaimed Harmonica Jesus who stumbles into being the head of a cult. Charles Manson made having a "family" a la mode, so maybe it was bound to happen? Bank robbery, arguing hippies, blue grass music, and harmonica... so much harmonica... Leigh's song pick:: Jug Band Music by Jim Kweskin https://open.spotify.com/track/2CL8Rg2okXt0FFNNzwmzk3?si=jg7b2nCHQ1yJ7-9pgzIEYg Peter's song pick:: Flowers on the Wall by The Statler Brothers https://open.spotify.com/track/3uG4ygD1bIP3YspJm9N4KO?si=0ynWmexNQsSI1JJe3mSGxw If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a review! Also, tell your friends! Tell your enemies too, we're not picky. Become a patron, get exclusive content, help us make more disasters! www.patreon.com/thisdisasterpod DRAW! Tell the world to listen to our podcast while tagging us on social media, and get entered into a draw for some super sweet (and exclusive) merch! Contest ends August 31st. Instagram/Twitter/Facebook: @thisdisasterpod www.thisdisasterpod.com Theme song by Blank Sun: https://blanksun.bandcamp.com
Jul 28, 2020 · 45 min
Episode 33.5: [Tragedy Tuesday] Woodstock 50
In 1969, the Woodstock festival became the stuff of legends. In 1999, the Woodstock festival became infamous. In 2019, the Woodstock festival became... nothing. With fifty years of colossal brand recognition, how could Woodstock 50 NOT be a massive success? A master class in not paying your bills, and not getting the permit... Leigh's song pick:: The Ground Below by Run The Jewels https://open.spotify.com/track/4MHwb2IwcCmVP2QuFXrcXs Peter's song pick:: Smile Like You Mean It by The Killers https://open.spotify.com/track/1jUT2mNIfOYH1m5KLV2UbY If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a review! Tell your friends! Tell your enemies too, we're not picky. Become a patron, get cool stuff, and help us make some exciting new content! www.patreon.com/thisdisasterpod DRAW! Tell the world to listen to our podcast while tagging us on social media, and get entered into a draw for some super sweet (and exclusive) merch! Contest ends August 31st! Instagram/Twitter/Facebook: @thisdisasterpod www.thisdisasterpod.com
Jul 24, 2020 · 9 min
[Freebie] Patreon-exclusive Micro Disaster: A Nazi Flush
What's so cool about Patreon anyway? Here's a free bonus episode from our series of micro disasters that come out every two weeks! What's the worst thing that has ever happened as a consequence of you flushing a toilet? Peter brings you something to think about next time you think you're having a crappy day. There's a new bonus episode every second Saturday! Head over to our Patreon to check them out: https://www.patreon.com/thisdisasterpod If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a review! Also, tell your friends! Tell your enemies too, we're not picky. Become a patron, get exclusive content, help us make more disasters! www.patreon.com/thisdisasterpod Instagram/Twitter/Facebook: @thisdisasterpod www.thisdisasterpod.com Music by Blank Sun: https://blanksun.bandcamp.com
Jul 22, 2020 · 49 min
Episode 33: The Franklin Expedition
There's gotta be a better way to go east than going east, or at least that's what Franklin thought when he set sail for the fabled Northwest Passage. Maybe if you're going to risk life and limb on an expedition, don't take a ship called "The Terror" along for the ride. Erebus, The Terror, Lord Franklin, silk slippers, hundreds of kilometers over ice and snow, and not a whole lot of hope... The Franklin Expedition. The Mummified Remains of John Hartnell of the Erebus https://www.macleans.ca/society/face-to-face-with-a-franklin-crew-member-140-years-later/#gallery/franklin-crew-photographs-by-brian-spenceley/slide-3 Craig's song pick:: Don't Eat the Yellow Snow by Frank Zappa https://open.spotify.com/track/1QY4TdhuNIOX2SHLdElzd5?si=TvVIxBAnS72zsFlbL6mZJg Leigh's song pick:: I Made My Sacrifice Accordingly by They Grieve https://theygrieve.bandcamp.com/album/i-made-my-sacrifice-accordingly Peter's song pick:: Father by Hunter, Gatherer https://huntergathererblackmetal.bandcamp.com/track/father If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a review! Also, tell your friends! Tell your enemies too, we're not picky. Become a patron, get exclusive content, help us make more disasters! www.patreon.com/thisdisasterpod DRAW! Tell the world to listen to our podcast while tagging us on social media, and get entered into a draw for some super sweet (and exclusive) merch! Contest ends August 31st. Instagram/Twitter/Facebook: @thisdisasterpod www.thisdisasterpod.com Theme song by Blank Sun: https://blanksun.bandcamp.com
Jul 14, 2020 · 28 min
Episode 32.5: [Tragedy Tuesday] Texas City Explosion(s)
We're not going to get into the specifics, but if you combine ammonium nitrate and some other nasty things on a repurposed warship, you've got a floating time bomb. Nobody told the spectators in the Port of Texas City on April 16th, 1947 though... Munitions, flying anchors, the mob, the Texas City Disaster. Peter's song pick:: Summer Wind by Frank Sinatra https://open.spotify.com/track/5ZXHIeyneAhJHjR1JQ2cYs?si=ELA6BCD7ThOkcXVTrQAb8Q If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a review! Tell your friends! Tell your enemies too, we're not picky. Become a patron, get cool stuff, and help us make some exciting new content! www.patreon.com/thisdisasterpod DRAW! Tell the world to listen to our podcast while tagging us on social media, and get entered into a draw for some super sweet (and exclusive) merch! Contest ends August 31st! Instagram/Twitter/Facebook: @thisdisasterpod www.thisdisasterpod.com
Jul 8, 2020 · 1 hr 33 min
Episode 32: Daikatana
John Romero went from arcade wizard, to programming prodigy, to visionary responsible in large part for classic games like Doom, Doom 2, and Quake. Unfortunately, there's only really one way to go when you're at the top... id Software, an Ion Storm, a Deus Ex, a too-expensive-and-impractical office, and one big sword. Daikatana. Masters of Doom by David Kushner https://www.amazon.ca/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed-Culture/dp/0812972155 Andy's song pick:: Self-Obsessed and Sexxee by Sonic Youth https://open.spotify.com/track/06PgAfrRjbjtybZjT6257o?si=7DOKqYfuT3Kme37P5LHhYA Leigh's song pick:: 747 by Blind Idiot God Peter's song pick:: Adios by KMFDM https://open.spotify.com/track/3fvw80ajmq6CbF0xXFM3ZG?si=yrNrgN5CTESbwXFvj3UqNw If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a review! Also, tell your friends! Tell your enemies too, we're not picky. Become a patron, get exclusive content, help us make more disasters! www.patreon.com/thisdisasterpod DRAW! Tell the world to listen to our podcast while tagging us on social media, and get entered into a draw for some super sweet (and exclusive) merch! Contest ends August Instagram/Twitter/Facebook: @thisdisasterpod www.thisdisasterpod.com Theme song by Blank Sun: https://blanksun.bandcamp.com
Jun 30, 2020 · 27 min
Episode 31.5: [Tragedy Tuesday] The Death of Marvin Gaye
Let's get it on: Marvin Gaye was a landmark soul and R&B artists, but his life didn't mirror the carefree coolness of his music. The perils of drug use, living in destructive environments, and arming your aggressor... even if it's your father. Sexual healing, bringing your mouth to a gunfight, and why exercise is better than cocaine. Leigh's song pick:: Nightshift by The Commodores https://open.spotify.com/track/5stHnMIM1zwRS24mH6dAzS?si=kbO5lMKLQxmZUwbAQfuBWg If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a review! Tell your friends! Tell your enemies too, we're not picky. Become a patron, get cool stuff, and help us make some exciting new content! www.patreon.com/thisdisasterpod DRAW! Tell the world to listen to our podcast while tagging us on social media, and get entered into a draw for some super sweet (and exclusive) merch! Contest ends August 31st! Instagram/Twitter/Facebook: @thisdisasterpod www.thisdisasterpod.com
Jun 24, 2020 · 57 min
Episode 31: The Johnstown Flood
What better place to build a fishing and country club than at the edge of a recently-compromised dam? A flood made particularly horrific by all of the debris it took with it, and Johnstown Pennsylvania didn't see it coming... or didn't want to. Conemaugh Lake, 19th-century industrialists, broken telegraphs, and a demonic Katamari Damacy. Leigh's song pick:: Domsbore by Boredoms https://open.spotify.com/track/1Slx16FJ2gCtfEKenXXqGZ?si=Mdzxd6jOQ4aZob1q6i-rOw Peter's song pick:: Brought To The Water by Deafheaven https://open.spotify.com/track/48sOuol9Wo73V1M6R3OcxG?si=fMu8CPNdQC20WQ_CBpEs2A If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a review! Also, tell your friends! Tell your enemies too, we're not picky. Become a patron, get exclusive content, help us make more disasters! www.patreon.com/thisdisasterpod Instagram/Twitter/Facebook: @thisdisasterpod www.thisdisasterpod.com Theme song by Blank Sun: https://blanksun.bandcamp.com
Jun 16, 2020 · 26 min
Episode 30.5: [Tragedy Tuesday] Lord of the Flies (For Real)
Young boys get stranded on an island, and anyone who's read the book knows the rest of the story... or do they? A group of Tongan teenagers in the 1960s acted as a real-world experiment to see whether humanity is more "Lord of the Flies" or "The Coral Island". Polynesia, 'Ata, shipwreck in the Pacific, and humanity exposed. Peter's song pick:: In My Mind At Least by PS I Love You https://open.spotify.com/track/0kJdZcOa5qJixMvDblsn0E?si=KAiv4uosT-aj0-ek67N3eQ If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a review! Tell your friends! Tell your enemies too, we're not picky. Become a patron, get cool stuff, and help us make some exciting new content! www.patreon.com/thisdisasterpod Instagram/Twitter/Facebook: @thisdisasterpod www.thisdisasterpod.com Theme song by Blank Sun: https://blanksun.bandcamp.com
Jun 10, 2020 · 1 hr 1 min
Episode 30: The Great Chicago Fire
Hey, we heard you like wood, so we stored wood in your wood so you can wood when you wood! When they first built the Windy City, perhaps they should have considered building materials that were a bit less timber-based. Controversy about Mrs. O'Leary's cow versus Daniel "Peg Leg" Sullivan aside, the great fire that tore through Chicago in October 1871 took no prisoners. A cow, a lamp, a drunk, a city made of kindling, and twenty-four hours of one of the worst infernos to hit a major US city. Leigh's song pick:: Woundwort by Fall of Efrafa https://open.spotify.com/track/1IleUPbCNU4HxnAHu38MX2?si=5EJOX_H7R-uvtpH6jFa8Bw Peter's song pick:: Nobody's Listening by Linkin Park https://open.spotify.com/track/1EU3VuKGZOvd1HTkxLPUXK If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a review! Also, tell your friends! Tell your enemies too, we're not picky. Become a patron, get exclusive content, help us make more disasters! www.patreon.com/thisdisasterpod Instagram/Twitter/Facebook: @thisdisasterpod www.thisdisasterpod.com Theme song by Blank Sun: https://blanksun.bandcamp.com
Jun 2, 2020 · 47 min
Episode 29.5: [Tragedy Tuesday] Four Bad Nights: The Who, Roskilde, Hillsborough, and Ten Cent Beer Night
Bad things come in fours. Leigh tells us about a bottleneck at a Who concert, a stampede at the Roskilde festival, a human garlic press at a Hillsborough soccer match, and the perils of Ten-Cent Beer Night. The Who, Pearl Jam, Liverpool versus Nottingham Forest, and the Cleveland Indians versus the Texas Rangers... and beer. Lots and lots of too-cheap beer. Leigh's song pick:: Riot by Dead Kennedys https://open.spotify.com/track/1aCf2VZNBccqLAJgzusAdx?si=Ovw7LG3qTdiN0PoiDabd4g If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a review! Tell your friends! Tell your enemies too, we're not picky. Become a patron, get cool stuff, and help us make some exciting new content! www.patreon.com/thisdisasterpod Instagram/Twitter/Facebook: @thisdisasterpod www.thisdisasterpod.com Theme song by Blank Sun: https://blanksun.bandcamp.com
May 27, 2020 · 1 hr 14 min
Episode 29: Brian Wilson's Smile
Leigh tackles one of his White Whales, talking about the ups, downs, and eventual collapse of the production of what could have been the Beach Boys' greatest album. Human-sized kitty litter, songs about surfing, California girls, a questionable psychotherapist, and untold kilometers of magnetic tape. Leigh's song pick:: Our Prayer by The Beach Boys https://open.spotify.com/track/11D5wiWcxrLLI2G0yxsykJ?si=uL9FIpKeRJ67ppPasFRT9g Peter's song pick:: Living Every Single Hell by The Sun Through A Telescope https://tstat.bandcamp.com/track/living-every-single-hell-2 If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a review! Also, tell your friends! Tell your enemies too, we're not picky. Become a patron, get exclusive content, help us make more disasters! www.patreon.com/thisdisasterpod Want a cool Disaster Shirt? Pre-order yours before May 31st! Patrons, don't forget your discount code... www.thisdisasterpod.com/shop Instagram/Twitter/Facebook: @thisdisasterpod www.thisdisasterpod.com Theme song by Blank Sun: https://blanksun.bandcamp.com
May 19, 2020 · 25 min
Episode 28.5: [Tragedy Tuesday] Cleveland Balloonfest 1986
What happens when you pick a fight with Mikey Mouse, and all you have at hand is two million latex balloons? In 1986, United Way of Chicago found out. A charity balloon release, a Guinness World Record, spooked prize horses, and a peek into Peter's past. Peter's song pick:: Just A Simple Plan by Piebald https://open.spotify.com/track/5FK94aMxWNjZEVUtyxRG2B?si=Fb74UNqPQCqcOG9HyBhdfA T-shirt pre-orders are on now until May 31st! First batch is being made to order, and not sure when we'll be doing round 2. Grab yours now! www.thisdisasterpod.com/shop If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a review! Tell your friends! Tell your enemies too, we're not picky. Become a patron, get cool stuff, and help us make some exciting new content! www.patreon.com/thisdisasterpod Instagram/Twitter/Facebook: @thisdisasterpod www.thisdisasterpod.com Theme song by Blank Sun: https://blanksun.bandcamp.com
May 13, 2020 · 38 min
Episode 28: Boston Molasses Flood
Special guest Karol (aka doom-rapper "garbageface") drops by the podcast to tell us about possibly the original sticky situation. How could such a sweet treat turn deadly? Maybe by storing two million gallons of it in a paper-thin water tower? A cautionary tale about paying attention to warning signs, and the children running home with cups of molasses. WW1, building codes, and so much molasses. Video about the efforts to simulate the Boston Molasses Flood: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5sYoUnp5A0 Karol, aka "garbageface": https://garbageface.bandcamp.com/ Leigh & Peter's band, HAMN: https://hamn.bandcamp.com/ Karol's song pick:: Sloth Esteem by The Slothspring https://hirs.bandcamp.com/track/sloth-esteem Leigh's song pick:: Hamburger Lady by Throbbing Gristle https://open.spotify.com/track/1opJnFer19nDXPpAw3PK9S Peter's song pick:: Mirror Reaper by Bell Witch https://bellwitch.bandcamp.com/album/mirror-reaper If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a review! Also, tell your friends! Tell your enemies too, we're not picky. Become a patron, get exclusive content, help us make more disasters! www.patreon.com/thisdisasterpod Want a cool Disaster Shirt? Pre-order yours before May 31st! Patrons, don't forget your discount code... www.thisdisasterpod.com/shop Instagram/Twitter/Facebook: @thisdisasterpod www.thisdisasterpod.com Theme song by Blank Sun: https://blanksun.bandcamp.com
May 5, 2020 · 38 min
Episode 27.5: [Tragedy Tuesday] Gram Parsons: A Life Spent
How many tragic folk musicians from the 60s could there possibly be? Leigh helps answer that question with the story of Gram Parsons. You know you're hitting the rocks when Keith Richards tells you to slow down... Acoustic guitar, tequila and morphine binges in the desert, and a botched cremation. Leigh's song pick:: Love Hurts by Gram Parsons and https://open.spotify.com/track/72DefuF22C6aPKrWhRFCBS If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a review! Tell your friends! Tell your enemies too, we're not picky. Become a patron, get cool stuff, and help us make some exciting new content! www.patreon.com/thisdisasterpod T-shirt pre-orders are on now until May 31st! First batch is being made to order, and not sure when we'll be doing round 2. Grab yours now! www.thisdisasterpod.com/shop Instagram/Twitter/Facebook: @thisdisasterpod www.thisdisasterpod.com Theme song by Blank Sun: https://blanksun.bandcamp.com
Apr 29, 2020 · 58 min
Episode 27: Thera, Destroyer
Some disasters reverberate throughout history. Santorini wasn't always a ring of islands... there was a time it was the beautiful peak of a mountain island called Thera. The archeological site at Akrotiri is our main portal into what exactly happened to the Minoan civilization on Crete and Thera... but the effects of Thera's eruption were felt thousands of kilometers away, and may have even shaped the course of history. The Exodus, the parting of the red (reed?) sea, ancient Egyptian plagues, and the lost city of Atlantis. Leigh's song pick:: Parish of Tama (Ossuary Dub) by Painkiller https://open.spotify.com/track/15N3c26rKcFMMaJWFWHwdR Peter's song pick:: Pompeii by ES Posthumus https://open.spotify.com/track/0OQqwcp91YgRBpjtyCWdEQ If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a review! Also, tell your friends! Tell your enemies too, we're not picky. Become a patron, get exclusive content, help us make more disasters! www.patreon.com/thisdisasterpod Want a cool Disaster Shirt? Pre-order yours before May 31st! Patrons, don't forget your discount code... www.thisdisasterpod.com/shop Instagram/Twitter/Facebook: @thisdisasterpod www.thisdisasterpod.com Theme song by Blank Sun: https://blanksun.bandcamp.com
Apr 21, 2020 · 43 min
Episode 26.5: [Tragedy Tuesday] Nightmare at 41,000 Feet (12,500 Meters)
When it comes to measurement, there's the right way, and there's the Imperial system. Sometimes when you make the switch from one system to the other, wires get crossed and things can go south. Was that in liters, or gallons? The history of the metric system, an airplane flying light, and a decommissioned air base that maybe wasn't so decommissioned. Nuclear Norm brings the aerial terror! Norm's song pick:: Gravity by Four Year Strong https://open.spotify.com/track/3imHubPTLDHmh75y98jzdN If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a review! Tell your friends! Tell your enemies too, we're not picky. Become a patron, get cool stuff, and help us make some exciting new content! www.patreon.com/thisdisasterpod Want some words of woe? Check out our new bookshelf! https://www.thisdisasterpod.com/bookshelf/ Instagram/Twitter/Facebook: @thisdisasterpod www.thisdisasterpod.com Theme song by Blank Sun: https://blanksun.bandcamp.com