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

Dec 3, 2019 · 29 min
Episode 16.5: [Tragedy Tuesday] Killing Joke: Escaping the Apocalypse
Leigh's favorite band has had their ups and downs. Aleister Crowley, the occult, magik, summoning bandmates using the dark arts, and a bassist's unannounced flight to Iceland in anticipation of the nuclear holocaust... basically, par for the course if you're in a band. Forty years of making music together is bound to lead to a story or two... Leigh's song pick:: Requiem by Killing Joke https://open.spotify.com/track/29QxWOqd1z0HynG72mAEqn If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a review! Tell your friends! Tell your enemies too, we're not picky. Instagram/Twitter/Facebook: @thisdisasterpod www.thisdisasterpod.com Check out the sweet new merch in our brand new shop! Theme song by Blank Sun: https://blanksun.bandcamp.com
Nov 27, 2019 · 39 min
Episode 16: The Halifax Explosion (feat. Canadian History Ehx)
Our special guest Craig Baird from Canadian History Ehx takes us to World War 1 Halifax, and the largest accidental man-made explosion in history. Canadian listeners have definitely seen the Heritage Minute commercial, but we promise there is 100% more molten rain, tsunamis, shattered glass, and chaos. Nature even gets a blow in. The Heritage Minute commercial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rw-FbwmzPKo Craig's song pick:: (Thursday) Here's Why I Did Not Go to Work Today by Harry Nilsson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5h3nni7j2pc Leigh's song pick:: The Wheel Weaves What The Wheel Wills by The Body/Thou https://thou.bandcamp.com/track/the-wheel-weaves-as-the-wheel-wills Peter's song pick:: Headache by METZ https://metz.bandcamp.com/track/headache Check out Canadian History Ehx (the podcast) wherever you listen! Read the amazing blog: http://canadaehx.blogspot.com/ Follow Craig on Twitter: @CraigBaird If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a review! Also, tell your friends! Tell your enemies too, we're not picky. Instagram/Twitter/Facebook: @thisdisasterpod www.thisdisasterpod.com Theme song by Blank Sun: https://blanksun.bandcamp.com
Nov 19, 2019 · 21 min
Episode 15.5: [Tragedy Tuesday] The Smalls Lighthouse
If you're looking to get away... from everything... consider taking a job as a wickie in a lighthouse. Come with us on a journey back to the Great Lighthouse on Pharos near ancient Alexandria, through the history of lighthouses, and finally to a tale of isolation, death, and madness. There ain't nothing small about the Smalls Lighthouse Tragedy. Peter's song pick:: Kiss All The Pretty Skies Goodbye by Rafael Anton Irisarri https://room40.bandcamp.com/track/kiss-all-the-pretty-skies-goodbye If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a review! Tell your friends! Tell your enemies too, we're not picky. Instagram/Twitter/Facebook: @thisdisasterpod www.thisdisasterpod.com Check out the sweet new merch in our brand new shop! Theme song by Blank Sun: https://blanksun.bandcamp.com
Nov 13, 2019 · 1 hr 9 min
Episode 15: Roanoke: The Lost Colony
Early English attempts at colonizing the Americas went real well. Take a journey back to the lost colony of Roanoke, as would-be settlers are greeted with shipwrecks, disease, starvation, and arrows. So many arrows. Forts make friends as the seeds of the United States are planted in the 16th century. Leigh's song pick:: Bending Light by Neurosis https://neurosis.bandcamp.com/track/bending-light Peter's song pick:: A Nation of Immigrants by Wayfarer https://wayfarercolorado.bandcamp.com/track/a-nation-of-immigrants-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. Instagram/Twitter/Facebook: @thisdisasterpod www.thisdisasterpod.com Theme song by Blank Sun: https://blanksun.bandcamp.com
Nov 5, 2019 · 45 min
Episode 14.5: [Tragedy Tuesday] Cerebus the Aardvark
In 1977, Dave Sim created a new kind of comic book anti-hero: a three-foot-tall, bipedal, anthropomorphic aardvark. Over the course of 300 issues and thirty years, this hero would travel to the moon, become the pope, and spend about a decade in a bar... and then it got weirder. Ladies and gentlemen, the one, the only... Cerebus the Aardvark. Leigh's song pick:: Fracture by King Crimson https://open.spotify.com/track/5ipS4tCSxn0z7NL6To7umt?si=qxNjaJFlQ8W28l4nDDG4ew If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a review! Tell your friends! Tell your enemies too, we're not picky. Instagram/Twitter/Facebook: @thisdisasterpod www.thisdisasterpod.com Check out the sweet new merch in our brand new shop! Theme song by Blank Sun: https://blanksun.bandcamp.com
Oct 30, 2019 · 1 hr 27 min
Episode 14: The Black Death - Part 2
Templar curses, corpse-eating pigs, and waking up to a house full of death. We rejoin our Genoese heroes as they flee Caffa for the safety of home... coughing blood all the way. Their twelve galleys lit the fires that would consume 14th century Europe, resulting in a staggering death toll. It's amazing what a bacterium can do with the help of rodents and a filthy continent. Yersinia pestis: The Little Bug That Could. Leigh's song pick:: The Hum by Killing Joke https://open.spotify.com/track/3nj8CaxtiEcbvrVzvSpwJY Peter's song pick:: Dream House by Deafheaven https://open.spotify.com/track/6l3A2EWZSOA8LTMmzRCyD3 If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a review! Also, tell your friends! Tell your enemies too, we're not picky. Instagram/Twitter/Facebook: @thisdisasterpod www.thisdisasterpod.com Theme song by Blank Sun: https://blanksun.bandcamp.com
Oct 22, 2019 · 30 min
Episode 13.5: [Tragedy Tuesday] Apollo One
The path to any great success is paved in failure... it's about what you do in the face of that failure. In the 1960s, NASA was pushing to win the race to the moon. Their efforts were nearly derailed when tragedy struck Apollo One and her crew. Going from the first flight to the first man on the moon in the space of 60 years was bound to be a challenge... Peter's song pick:: Son of a Preacher Man by Dusty Springfield https://open.spotify.com/track/6ek9SiEj5a65WIs2EV7qiM If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a review! Tell your friends! Tell your enemies too, we're not picky. Instagram/Twitter/Facebook: @thisdisasterpod www.thisdisasterpod.com Check out the sweet new merch in our brand new shop! Theme song by Blank Sun: https://blanksun.bandcamp.com
Oct 16, 2019 · 56 min
Episode 13: The Black Death - Part 1
Every story starts somewhere. In the case of the Black Death it starts with Mongol hordes, smug Italians, diseased rodents, and the misery of 14th century Europe. All of that before we even get to the star of these episodes, the one and only, the Great Mortality. Leigh's song pick:: Dead by Khanate https://khanate.bandcamp.com/track/dead Peter's song pick:: Crone by Portal https://profoundlorerecords.bandcamp.com/track/crone If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a review! Also, tell your friends! Tell your enemies too, we're not picky. Instagram/Twitter/Facebook: @thisdisasterpod www.thisdisasterpod.com Theme song by Blank Sun: https://blanksun.bandcamp.com
Oct 8, 2019 · 52 min
Episode 12.5: [Tragedy Tuesday] Satanic Panic and the PMRC
In the 80s and 90s, our youth were being corrupted by Satan and his apostles: heavy metal, Prince, and Madonna. In this week's (not-so)mini episode, Leigh tells us all about the Satanic Panic that gripped suburban America, and the totally proportional responses taken by Tipper Gore and her riders of the music-pocalypse. Leigh's song pick:: We Come From the One by Sabbath Assembly https://sabbathassembly.bandcamp.com/track/we-come-from-the-one If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a review! Tell your friends! Tell your enemies too, we're not picky. Instagram/Twitter/Facebook: @thisdisasterpod www.thisdisasterpod.com Check out the sweet new merch in our brand new shop! Theme song by Blank Sun: https://blanksun.bandcamp.com
Oct 2, 2019 · 46 min
Episode 12: Egyptian Famine
When your empire dates back six thousand years, odds are it's been through a lot. Still, history didn't prepare the population of Egypt in the beginning of the 13th century when the Nile, their lifesource, failed them. Twice. What happens when you run out of grain to eat? What happens when you run out of animals... Leigh's song pick:: Invisible Osiris by Robedoor https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05ZWquariZo Peter's song pick:: The Purging (Album) by Terra Tenebrosa https://auroraborealisrecordings.bandcamp.com/track/disorder If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a review! Also, tell your friends! Tell your enemies too, we're not picky. Instagram/Twitter/Facebook: @thisdisasterpod www.thisdisasterpod.com Theme song by Blank Sun: https://blanksun.bandcamp.com
Sep 24, 2019 · 23 min
Episode 11.5: [Tragedy Tuesday] The Oxford Comma
The Oxford Comma: either you love it, or you're wrong. In this week's mini episode, Peter tells the story of the comma's colorful legal history. Don't worry... if you're just here for the disasters, there's at least one death. Peter's song pick:: Don't Stop Me Now by Queen https://open.spotify.com/track/7hQJA50XrCWABAu5v6QZ4i?si=gN8iVgJMSxiPfAqzKvwC9Q If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a review! Tell your friends! Tell your enemies too, we're not picky. Instagram/Twitter/Facebook: @thisdisasterpod www.thisdisasterpod.com Check out the sweet new merch in our brand new shop! Theme song by Blank Sun: https://blanksun.bandcamp.com
Sep 18, 2019 · 1 hr 16 min
Episode 11: Cosmic Terror (at the End of the Universe)
We bring in a very special guest to tell us about all the ways the universe is predicted to end. The Big Crunch, The Big Freeze, The Big Rip... all of them sound like tasty deserts, but the only thing they'll serve up is a spoonfull of existential dread. Settle in, hug a loved one, and prepare to learn how everything you've ever known and loved will come to an end. Mercury's Orbit: http://hosting.astro.cornell.edu/academics/courses/astro201/merc_adv.htm Hubble Deep Field: https://hubblesite.org/contents/articles/hubble-deep-fields Journey to the End of Time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uD4izuDMUQA&feature=youtu.be Norm's song pick:: Redshift by Enter Shikari https://open.spotify.com/track/73jA0864oMB3Ca1Jr5mfIshttps://chromemusic.bandcamp.com/track/blood-on-the-moon Leigh's song pick:: Download by Skinny Puppy https://open.spotify.com/track/1mIWvXO7UfIpdLJm4PSapChttps://chromemusic.bandcamp.com/track/blood-on-the-moon Peter's song pick:: The Heavens by Juno Reactor https://open.spotify.com/track/3nS36aPgcI7T4s4bg5yH2uhttps://auroraborealisrecordings.bandcamp.com/track/disorder If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a review! Also, tell your friends! Tell your enemies too, we're not picky. Instagram/Twitter/Facebook: @thisdisasterpod www.thisdisasterpod.com Theme song by Blank Sun: https://blanksun.bandcamp.com
Sep 10, 2019 · 28 min
Episode 10.5: [Tragedy Tuesday] Wish You Weren't Here
In this mini-episode, recorded live at the Ottawa Podcast Festival, Leigh tells the story of a tragic reunion between Syd Barrett and his former Pink Floyd bandmates. Shine on you crazy diamond... wish you weren't here. Leigh's song pick:: Opel by Syd Barrett https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ch3BfpZp8PI If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a review! Tell your friends! Tell your enemies too, we're not picky. Instagram/Twitter/Facebook: @thisdisasterpod www.thisdisasterpod.com Check out the sweet new merch in our brand new shop! Theme song by Blank Sun: https://blanksun.bandcamp.com
Sep 4, 2019 · 54 min
Episode 10: Teignmouth Electron - Part 2
In part two of Donald Crowhurst's story, he sets sail aboard the Teignmouth Electron to claim the Golden Globe prize for the first man to successfully sail around the world single-handed without stopping. An ill-equipped, half-finished boat captained by a hobbyist might not instil an abundance of confidence... nor should it... Leigh's song pick:: Blood On The Moon by Chrome https://chromemusic.bandcamp.com/track/blood-on-the-moon Peter's song pick:: Disorder by The Haxan Cloak https://auroraborealisrecordings.bandcamp.com/track/disorder If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a review! Also, tell your friends! Tell your enemies too, we're not picky. Instagram/Twitter/Facebook: @thisdisasterpod www.thisdisasterpod.com Theme song by Blank Sun: https://blanksun.bandcamp.com
Aug 27, 2019 · 25 min
Episode 9.5: [Tragedy Tuesday] The Hindenburg Disaster
How was this not our first episode? Because we buck the trend, that's why! In an episode full of surprising numbers, we talk about the fateful final voyage of the Hindenburg Zeppelin. A flight from Frankfurt to New Jersey was never so classy... or long... or topped off with a massive fire. Peter's song pick:: Burn Well by WAKE https://wakegrind.bandcamp.com/track/burn-well If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a review! Tell your friends! Tell your enemies too, we're not picky. Instagram/Twitter/Facebook: @thisdisasterpod www.thisdisasterpod.com Check out the sweet new merch in our brand new shop! Theme song by Blank Sun: https://blanksun.bandcamp.com
Aug 21, 2019 · 1 hr
Episode 9: Teignmouth Electron - Part 1
Following Sir Francis Chichester's triumphant circumnavigation by sea in 1967, the Sunday Times wanted to cash in on circumnavigation fever! One wide-eyed and manic contestant dove into the Golden Globe competition, and immediately got in over his head. Hear part one of the story of Donald Crowhurst's bid to be the fastest man to sail around the world in 1968. Leigh's song pick:: Antitoxidote by Melvins https://open.spotify.com/track/6ZMz3zY8hu2QQdGOn4dPFH Peter's song pick:: Bruce Lee by Indian Handcrafts https://indianhandcrafts.bandcamp.com/track/bruce-lee If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a review! Also, tell your friends! Tell your enemies too, we're not picky. Instagram/Twitter/Facebook: @thisdisasterpod www.thisdisasterpod.com Theme song by Blank Sun: https://blanksun.bandcamp.com
Aug 13, 2019 · 39 min
Episode 8.5: [Tragedy Tuesday] Factory Records
Your record label releases seminal albums by Joy Division and New Order, and is instrumental in the founding of a musical movement... how could you possibly screw that up? Leigh tells us exactly how Factory Records did it... Leigh's song pick:: Age Of Consent by New Order https://open.spotify.com/track/2EEinN4Zk8MUv4OQuLsTBj?si=J-EDSMtrReSn_BHEndrvCg If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a review! Instagram/Twitter/Facebook: @thisdisasterpod www.thisdisasterpod.com Theme song by Blank Sun: https://blanksun.bandcamp.com
Aug 7, 2019 · 52 min
Episode 8: Fury of St Helens
Beneath beautiful, serene, idyllic Mount St Helens lay the molten rock that would forever change the face of the mountain and Washington state. A dormant volcano is dormant... until it isn't. Leigh's happy song pick:: Blue Calx by Aphex Twin https://aphextwin.warp.net/release/68148-aphex-twin-selected-ambient-works-volume-ii Leigh's terror song pick:: Love As Arson by Converge https://convergecult.bandcamp.com/track/love-as-arson Peter's happy song pick:: Blackout City by Anamanaguchi https://anamanaguchi.bandcamp.com/track/blackout-city Peter' terror song pick:: Spearheaderon by Altarage https://altarage.bandcamp.com/track/spearheaderon If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a review! Instagram/Twitter/Facebook: @thisdisasterpod www.thisdisasterpod.com Theme song by Blank Sun: https://blanksun.bandcamp.com
Jul 30, 2019 · 26 min
Episode 7.5: [Tragedy Tuesday] Mount Everest Mayhem
What's the laziest you've ever felt? Peter tells the story of a particularly disastrous two days on the tallest mountain on earth. If you've ever had trouble getting up off a couch, this story will amplify your lazy-guilt by a million. Peter's song pick:: Swan Dive by Heave https://heave.bandcamp.com/track/swan-dive If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a review! Instagram/Twitter/Facebook: @thisdisasterpod www.thisdisasterpod.com Theme song by Blank Sun: https://blanksun.bandcamp.com
Jul 24, 2019 · 1 hr 29 min
Episode 7: Woodstock '99
Peace, love, and a 12-foot-tall fence. When the organizers describe their venue as "defensible", maybe think twice about buying a ticket. Fyre doesn't hold a candle to the original disastrous festival, Woodstock '99. Leigh's song pick:: ACD (Abcessive Compulsive Disorder) by Nothing https://nothing.bandcamp.com/track/acd-abcessive-compulsive-disorder-3 Peter's song pick:: No; I'm In Control by KEN mode https://kenmode.bandcamp.com/track/no-im-in-control If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a review! Instagram/Twitter/Facebook: @thisdisasterpod www.thisdisasterpod.com Theme song by Blank Sun: https://blanksun.bandcamp.com