Failure To Launch

Latest Episodes:

Mad Mike Hughes, The Flat Earth Rocketman Jan 15, 2026

Show notes

Like most stuntmen, Michael Hughes had a very confusing life and an overwhelming need to become famous at any cost. In this episode, we cover how that need drove him into conspiracy mania and got him killed flying a glorified pressure cooker.

Sources:
- DIY Rockets, Daredevils, and the Tragedy of Mad Mike Hughes [WIRED]
- "Mad Mike" Hughes Rejected Science and Chased Fame. It Killed Him. [Popular Mechanics]
- https://madmikehughes.com/

- Rocketman [2019]

Mittelwerk: Part 6 (w. Joe Kassabian) Dec 31, 2025

Show notes

CONTENT WARNING
Only 21 people were ever convicted for crimes at Mittelwerk. Only 1 was executed. This week, we're finalizing our series on the slave factory that produced Hitler's vengeance weapons. Joining us is genocide historian Joe Kassabian to lend his insight on how Mittelbau fit into the larger German camp network and slave labour scheme.

Listen to Joe talk more history on Lions Led By Donkeys

SOURCES:

Andre Sellier, A History of the Dora Camp: The Untold Story of the Nazi Slave Labor Camp That Secretly Manufactured V-2 Rockets
Jean Michel & Louis Nucera, Dora: The Nazi Concentration Camp Where Modern Space Technology Was Born and 30,000 Prisoners Died
Michael Neufeld, The Rocket and the Reich: Peenemünde and the Coming of the Ballistic Missile Era
Benny Grunfeld, A Teenager in Hitler's Death Camps
T D Dungan, V-2: A Combat History of the First Ballistic Missile

*PREVIEW* Men in Black 3 (2012) Dec 23, 2025

Show notes

This is a preview of a bonus episode. To hear the rest of the episode and unlock more bonus content, consider supporting Failure To Launch on Patreon.

Mittelwerk, Hitler's Rocket Factory: Part 5 Dec 17, 2025

Show notes

CONTENT WARNING

This week we're back into our series delving into Mittelwerk, the underground rocket factory / concentration camp that produced Hitler's "Vengeance Weapons". In Part 5, we look at the official establishment of the Mittelbau complex and the constellation of subcamps that sprung up around it.

SOURCES:

*UNLOCKED* Arkbird (Ace Combat 5) Dec 12, 2025

Show notes

The White Bird. The Bridge to Peace. Osea's greatest superweapon. Today, we're talking about the High-Altitude Mobile Spacecraft (HAMS) or as it's more commonly known: The Arkbird. We cover everything from its conception in the paranoid heyday of the Cold War, how it was created as a symbol of peace and cooperation, and its use as a weapon of war.

Sources:
- Arkbird Declaration (2008 G7 Meeting, LEO), Gaze Magazine
- Arkbird, Encyclopedia Strangereal
- The Circum-Pacific War, Encyclopedia Strangereal
- Scinfaxi-Class, Covert Shores
Theme song provided by DJ Danarchy

Mittelwerk, Hitler's Rocket Factory: Part 4 Dec 03, 2025

Show notes

CONTENT WARNING

This week we're back into our series delving into Mittelwerk, the underground rocket factory / concentration camp that produced Hitler's "Vengeance Weapons". In Part 4, we take a look at the wider events in Nazi politics and the war in 1944 and how they all filter back to the tunnels under Nordhausen.

SOURCES:

*PREVIEW* FTL | Q&A #1 Nov 21, 2025

Show notes

This is a preview of a bonus episode. To hear the rest of the episode and unlock more bonus content, consider supporting Failure To Launch on Patreon.

Welcome to the first Failure To Launch Questions & Answers episode! Pulling together questions asked on Patreon and our Discord, this is our chance to let the audience see the real Us.

Mittelwerk, Hitler's Rocket Factory: Part 3 Nov 18, 2025

Show notes

CONTENT WARNING

We are back and continuing our series on Mittelwerk-Dora, the rocket factory concentration camp that churned out Hitler's Vengeance weapons. In Part 3, we cover the foundation of the factory itself, its first months of operation, and the conditions faced by slave labourers from all around Europe in the tunnels under Nordhausen.

SOURCES:

*PREVIEW* Mickey 17 (w. Jacob Dallas) Oct 31, 2025

Show notes

This is a preview of a bonus episode. To hear the rest of the episode and unlock more bonus content, consider supporting Failure To Launch on Patreon.

We're back and joined by host of The Socialist Shelf podcast Jacob Dallas to talk about 2025's Mickey 17. We go through the plot, the philosophy and ethics of cloning, and how this movie's attitudes toward class issues and dystopia compare to director Bong Joon Ho's earlier works, say, Snowpiercer. The tardigrade teddy bears were an A+ addition, though.

Yuri Gagarin, The Soviet Andrew Tate (w. Milo Edwards) Oct 28, 2025

Show notes

The Soviet Everyman. The Mayor of Star City. The Crusader Against Hipsters. This week, we're joined by podcast host and comedian Milo Edwards to talk about Yuri Gagarin's colourful post-flight career: becoming a manosphere influencer and the divine role model for all Russian children.

Find Milo's work and comedy tour dates here!

Support FTL on Patreon to unlock bonus content and Discord access

Sources:

1. The Cosmonaut Who Couldn't Stop Smiling, Andrew Jenks

FTL theme song by DJ Danarchy

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