Relative Disasters

Latest Episodes:

The Centralia Coal Seam Fire Collapse of 1981 (Episode 3, Remastered) Dec 31, 2020

Show notes

In Episode 3 we go to Centralia, Pennsylvania to explore a disaster that's much bigger than it looks from downtown. You'll hear all about mine fires, the slow and dangerous death of Centralia, and how failures at the city, county, state and federal levels started and worsened an enormous underground fire - one that's expected to burn for the next 250 years.

Enjoy the show? Support us on Patreon, at ⁠⁠⁠www.patreon.com/RelativeDisastersPodcast⁠⁠⁠.

"How an Underground Fire Destroyed an Entire Town", Morton, E., for Slate. 2014.

"Centralia, Pennsylvania: Hell on Earth!", Bolognese, A., 1982

"Unseen Danger", DeKok, D., 1986

"Fire Underground: The Ongoing Tragedy of the Centralia Mine Fire", DeKok, D., 2010

"Centralia Fire", PBS Special. 1982.

"The Last Residents of Centralia", Journeyman Pictures. 2003

Notes: Remastered 6/30/22 - The audio is still a little tinny on Greg's voice, but the vocal balance should be better.

Mansa Musa and the Cairo Economic Crash of 1324 (Episode 2, Remastered) Dec 14, 2020

Show notes

Our second episode is all about the economic crash that hit Cairo in 1324. You'll hear all about The World's Richest Man Ever - Mansa Musa, King of the Mali Empire - and his spending habits, what to shop for in a trade economy, why salt was once as valuable as gold, where to go to school in Timbuctu, and exactly how many $10000 hot dogs it takes to cause an economic crisis.

(Remastered 1/30/23)

Enjoy the show? Support us on Patreon, at ⁠⁠⁠www.patreon.com/RelativeDisastersPodcast⁠⁠⁠.

The London Tornado of 1091 (Episode 1, Remastered) Dec 05, 2020

Show notes

Our first episode is all about the monster tornado that hit London in 1091. You'll learn all about TORRO Scale Zero, how stormchasers in the US memorialized Bill Paxton, the Benedictine historians Florence and William, the safest part of St. Mary-le-Bow Church in Cheapside, how much a Norman helmet weighed, and what medieval London (probably) smelled like.

Enjoy the show? Support us on Patreon, at ⁠⁠⁠www.patreon.com/RelativeDisastersPodcast⁠⁠⁠.

Sources for this episode include:

"Extreme Weather: Forty Years of the Tornado and Storm Research Organisation (TORRO)", Doe, R. K., 2015

Torro.org.UK

Guinnessworldrecords.org

"Tornadoes in Medieval Britian", Rowe, M. W. The Journal of Meterology, September 1975

"Work of the devil : Tornadoes of the British Isles to 1660" , Rowe, M. W. The Journal of Meterology, October 1999

"Tornado Outbreaks in Europe", Tijssen, L., 2015

"The Story of the British and their Weather" Nobbs, P. , 2016

Note - 2/13/22 - I went back and remastered the audio - it sounds a lot better now! -Greg

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