ThePodcastofDoom's podcast (general)
The Podcast of Doom explores famous disasters and calamities throughout history.

A not so brief announcement about future podcast episodes.

Direct download: Episode_51_-_A_Podcast_Announcement.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:40pm PDT
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In 1975, the Communist Party Khmer Rouge came to power in Cambodia, and began a series of measures to eliminate their perceived internal opponents and to transform their country into an agrarian-based, communist society. Pol Pot, the leader of the Khmer Rouge, tried to cleanse Cambodian society along racial, social, religious and political lines. They would eventually be overthrown by a foreign army, but only after they had killed 1.5 to 3 million people.

Direct download: Episode_48_-_The_Killing_Fields_of_Cambodia.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:33pm PDT
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In 1846, a wagon train of emmigrants left Springfield, Illinois for the sunnier climes of California. Leaving at the ideal time for a cross-country trip by covered wagon, they knew they would need to get past the Sierra Nevada mountain range by early October. Instead, they were delayed by death, injuries, conflicts, and an ill-advised short cut that took them through thick forests and barren deserts where food and water were in short supply. They arrived at the Sierra just as the season's first blizzard blew in. Cut off by massive snow drifts the members of the Donner Party could only look at each other for food.

Direct download: Episode_46_-_The_Donner_Party_Tragedy.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:41am PDT
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In control of Russia's ancient capital of Moscow, Napoleon and the Grand Armee found they were in control of little else. With winter closing in, food supplies running low, morale disintegrating and his supply route under threat, Napoleon had no choice but to evacuate Moscow. The retreat and decimation of his army would play out on a grand scale.

Direct download: Episode_44_-_Napoleons_Invasion_of_Russia_Part_II.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:25am PDT
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Napoleon Bonaparte worked his way up from artillery commander in  to unchallenged emperor of a French colussus that stretched across Europe from Spain to the Russian frontier. Napoleon seemed to have complete control over the continent, but he was challenged on the seas by the British and in the east by the Russians. Failing to launch a seaborne invasion against the British, he chose to invade Russia instead. It would turn out to be one the worst military decisions ever.

Direct download: Episode_44_-_Napoleons_Invasion_of_Russia_Part_I.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:24pm PDT
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When the Dutch merchant vessel the Batavia left Amsterdam in 1628 it took an unexpected trip that included a planned mutiny, being steered off course, and crashing on a reef in the Indian Ocean. But things were about to get a whole worse for the survivors. Their captain and commander would abandon them in a desparate search for drinking water, while a meglomanical apothecary would take absolute control of the island in which they were beached. He would soon hatch a plan to kill most of them, overwhelm the rescue party and abscond with all the silver and jewels from the ship.

Direct download: Episode_43_-_The_Batavia_Shipwreck.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:27pm PDT
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Just as the world's most lethal war was drawing to a conclusion, humanity was about to face a crisis of even greater proportions. The Spanish Influenza or flu turned out to be the second most fatal panedemic follwoing the Bubonic Plague of the middle ages. More than 50 million people would die from the flu and more than 500 million people would be infected. It was a truly global disease spreading from Europe and America out to all of the continents including Asia, Africa, South America and the islands of the South Pacific.

Direct download: Episode_41_-_The_Spanish_Flu.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:24pm PDT
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Following the death of Mao Zedong, China liberalized its market policies. Under the guidance of new leader Deng Xaioping, China’s economy expanded rapidly, but growth was uneven. While a lucky few grew rich, most Chinese suffered the effects of inflation, limited job opportunities, nepotism and large scale corruption. All while the Communist Party stifled individual freedoms. Following the death of a popular reformer, hundreds of thousands of young Chinese gathered in Tiananmen Square in the heart of China’s capital, Beijing. After more than a month of protests, the government responded—with a very heavy hand.

Direct download: Episode_40_-_The_Crackdown_at_Tiananmen_Square_v.2.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:54pm PDT
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On June 23, 1985, an Air India Boeing 747 blew up over Irish airspace killing all 329 passengers and crew onboard. On the flight were 268 Canadian citizens. It was Canada’s largest mass murder incident ever. A Sikh militant group named Babbar Khalsa was eventually determined to have planted the explosive that brought the plane down. The formal investigation took more than 20 years and was the most expensive in Canadian history, concluding that a cascading series of errors was responsible for the terrorist attack. The investigation held the Canadian government, Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Canadian Security Intelligence Service responsible for lapses in security and prevention. But the original cause may have gone back to the British partition of India and Pakistan in 1947.

Direct download: Episode_24_-_The_Bombing_of_Air_India_182.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:33pm PDT
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A brief statement about the recent typhoon that hit the Phillipines.

Direct download: Commentary-Typhoon_Haiyan.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:58pm PDT
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