Episodi

  • Propeller Hammered into Rock: The Night the Regulus Vanished

    Propeller Hammered into Rock: The Night the Regulus Vanished
    Oct 16 2026
    Propeller Hammered into Rock: The Night the Regulus Vanished

    A ship's propeller was hammered into solid cliff rock as if by an enormous force, yet the men who did it vanished without a trace. The SS Regulus sank on October 23, 1910, with every soul aboard lost and no bodies recovered - so how did one of her propellers end up embedded in a cliff face, and who made the fateful decisions that night?

    In this episode, we tell the factual account of the Regulus's final voyage, the weather and mechanical failures that led to the ship being adrift, and the three choices offered to the tug crews as the gale closed in - leaving the central decisions and the propeller’s strange fate unresolved until you hear what happened next.

    Person: SS Regulus
    Date: October 23, 1910
    Location: Leeward Cove (wreck at fifteen fathoms)
    Event: Tail shaft broke off Shoal Bay; tug tow chosen at ~10:30 PM Oct 22, 1910
    Period: Launched October 26, 1878; 32 years in service

    - The Regulus was 32 years old at the time of sinking and was launched on October 26, 1878.
    - The ship foundered in the early hours of October 23, 1910, during a gale tracked north from Cuba.
    - The wreck lies on the bottom of Leeward Cove at a depth of fifteen fathoms.
    - The tail shaft broke while the Regulus was at anchor off Shoal Bay, leaving her adrift in worsening weather.
    - At approximately 10:30 PM on October 22, 1910, the decision was made to begin the tow immediately in the dark rather than evacuate crew or wait for daylight.

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    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    19 min
  • When the Switch Lied: The Pasadena Plant That Killed 23

    When the Switch Lied: The Pasadena Plant That Killed 23
    Oct 15 2026
    When the Switch Lied: The Pasadena Plant That Killed 23

    The control room switch read "closed" while the valve was open, and no alarm existed to warn the 1,500 people on site; within ninety seconds a vapor cloud ignited, starting a cascade that killed 23 and injured 314. How did two identical compressed air hoses, reconnected in the wrong order, turn a routine maintenance day into one of the deadliest petrochemical disasters in American history?

    In this episode, we describe the events of October 23, 1989 at the Phillips Petroleum Houston Chemical Complex in Pasadena, Texas, detailing the equipment failures, the human toll, and the unanswered questions that remained after the investigation; could a single swapped connection and absent detectors explain everything that went wrong?

    Date: October 23, 1989
    Location: Phillips Petroleum Houston Chemical Complex, Pasadena, Texas
    Event: Industrial disaster involving polyethylene reactors
    Deaths: 23
    Injuries: 314

    - Facility produced roughly 1.5 billion pounds of plastic per year and employed about 1,500 people on site.
    - At approximately 1:05 p.m. the sequence of failures began, with a 90-second window between valve opening and ignition.
    - Physical damage from the incident reached $715 million.
    - Two compressed air hoses, identical in appearance, had been reconnected in reverse at an unknown time before the disaster.
    - Of the 1,500 on site, 905 were Phillips employees and 600 were contract workers from companies like Fish Engineering and Construction.

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    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    24 min
  • The Last Voyage of Waubuno: 24 Souls, No Answers, One Anchor

    The Last Voyage of Waubuno: 24 Souls, No Answers, One Anchor
    Oct 14 2026
    The Last Voyage of Waubuno: 24 Souls, No Answers, One Anchor

    An iron anchor was pulled from Georgian Bay eighty years after the paddle steamer Waubuno vanished with twenty-four people aboard-and there were no bodies, no wreck identified with certainty, and no inquiry held. How did a working ship built in 1865, known to leak and described as "quite unfit" for the route, sail from Collingwood at 4:00 AM on November 22, 1879, and simply disappear?

    In this episode, we tell what survives in the record: the sightings, the damaged lifeboat, the waterlogged ledger, the company that blocked answers, and the unanswered question that haunts the shoreline-what really happened to the Waubuno?

    Person: Captain George Plumpton Burkitt
    Date: November 22, 1879
    Location: Georgian Bay (between Collingwood and Parry Sound)
    Event: Disappearance of the paddle steamer Waubuno
    Cargo value: approximately $10,000

    - The Waubuno slipped from Collingwood Harbour at 4:00 AM on November 22, 1879.
    - Twenty-four people aboard the Waubuno vanished; no bodies were recovered.
    - The ship was built in 1865 and was fourteen years old at the time of disappearance.
    - Workers pumped water out of the hull the Sunday before departure after water rose to the level of the fire hole.
    - Searchers recovered an overturned metallic lifeboat stove in at both ends and a life preserver stenciled with the ship's name.

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    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    22 min
  • Bloodied Bandages, Stopped Clocks: The Vanishing of MV Joyita

    Bloodied Bandages, Stopped Clocks: The Vanishing of MV Joyita
    Oct 13 2026
    Bloodied Bandages, Stopped Clocks: The Vanishing of MV Joyita

    A drifting ship found with lights on, clocks stopped at 10:25, a doctor's bag intact and four blood-stained bandages on deck-yet no sign of any of the 25 people who sailed from Apia six weeks earlier. What plausible sequence could leave a practically unsinkable vessel half-submerged, listing, radio tuned to distress but incapable of sending, and every soul aboard vanished without a trace?

    In this episode, we lay out the documented facts of the Joyita voyage and the ship’s history to map exactly what was left behind and what was missing, closing on the single unresolved question: how did 25 people disappear from a cork-lined hull that could not sink?

    Person: Captain Thomas Henry "Dusty" Miller
    Event: Departure from Apia on October 3, 1955
    Location: Drifting north of Vanua Levu, found November 10, 1955
    Status: 25 people missing, ship recovered intact
    Ship: 69-foot cork-lined wooden hull, built 1931

    - The Joyita departed Apia with 25 people on October 3, 1955 and failed to arrive in Tokelau by October 5.
    - The ship was found on November 10, 1955 by Captain Gerald Douglas, listing heavily and half-submerged more than 600 miles off course.
    - Four blood-stained bandages and an intact doctor's bag belonging to Dr. Alfred Denis Parsons were found on deck.
    - The ship’s clocks had stopped at 10:25 and the radio remained tuned to the international distress frequency but its cable had been severed and painted over, limiting range to about two miles.
    - The Joyita carried 640 cubic feet of cork lining and eighty empty 45-gallon drums in the hold, making her effectively unsinkable.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    23 min
  • The Last Letter: The Disappearance of USS Albany

    The Last Letter: The Disappearance of USS Albany
    Oct 12 2026
    The Last Letter: The Disappearance of USS Albany

    Fear that the sea swallowed certainty: a decorated sloop, a careful commander, and a signed letter dated September 28, 1854 were the last solid facts-then 250 men vanished with no wreckage or survivors. How did a ship that had just reported its crew well and had completed a successful Caribbean patrol disappear without a trace?

    In this episode, we lay out the timeline, the ship's service record, and the last communications that preceded the loss, and we ask whether equipment concerns or something else explains what happened to the Albany.

    Person: Commander James T. Gerry
    Date: September 28, 1854
    Event: Last known letter from commander before disappearance
    Location: Aspinwall, Atlantic coast of Panama (letter origin); Caribbean (final cruise)
    Status: Declared lost January 1856 after 15 months of search

    - Albany displaced just over 1,000 tons, measured 147 feet in length and 38 feet across the beam.
    - She carried 20 to 22 guns and could make up to 13 knots under full sail.
    - Complement as of late June 1854: 18 officers, 156 seamen, and 23 Marines (estimated ~250 souls aboard at departure).
    - Commander Gerry’s last dated letter was written from Aspinwall on September 28, 1854, describing an armed night encounter in Venezuela roughly 25-30 paces away.
    - The Navy searched for 15 months before officially declaring USS Albany lost in January 1856.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    23 min
  • The Two-Kilo Bomb That Sank the SS Patria-Who Paid?

    The Two-Kilo Bomb That Sank the SS Patria-Who Paid?
    Oct 11 2026
    The Two-Kilo Bomb That Sank the SS Patria-Who Paid?

    Fear that a small action could spiral into mass death: an 11,885-ton liner sank in 16 minutes after a two-kilogram explosive intended to immobilize her instead flooded the ship, killing over 200 people - so who authorized a device that would later be called a “rescue bomb”?

    In this episode, we lay out the sequence of events aboard the Patria and the decisions that led to catastrophe, from the intercepted ships to the two explosive attempts, and ask whether the operation that aimed to save lives was fatally miscalculated.

    Person: Munya Mardor
    Date: November 25, 1940
    Location: Haifa harbor
    Event: Sinking of SS Patria
    Ship tonnage: 11,885

    - The Patria’s certified civilian capacity was 805 people, including crew.
    - By the morning of November 25, the Patria carried roughly 1,900 people - more than 1,000 over capacity.
    - The ship’s lifeboat capacity matched its certified capacity: 805 places.
    - The first bomb, placed November 22, weighed approximately 2 kilograms and failed to detonate at 21:00.
    - A second, larger explosive was smuggled aboard November 24 against the inner hull, and the Patria sank in 16 minutes with over 200 people trapped in the holds.

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    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    22 min
  • The Forgotten Inferno: How 1,164 Men Died on the Sultana

    The Forgotten Inferno: How 1,164 Men Died on the Sultana
    Oct 10 2026
    The Forgotten Inferno: How 1,164 Men Died on the Sultana

    Everyone thought they were finally going home: a photo taken April 26, 1865 shows a steamboat built for 376 men packed with 2,127 souls, and by the next night more than 1,000 were dead - how did a cracked boiler, a paid overloading, and the timing of Lincoln’s death conspire to erase this disaster from public memory?

    In this episode, we tell what happened on the Sultana, how decisions by military and ship officers led to the worst maritime disaster in American history, and why the nation turned its attention elsewhere; could a single patched boiler and a single financial deal doom thousands of recently paroled soldiers?

    Person: James Cass Mason
    Date: April 26-27, 1865
    Location: Vicksburg and on the Mississippi River
    Event: Sultana boiler explosion and maritime disaster
    Number aboard: 2,127 passengers

    - The Sultana was designed to carry 376 passengers but had 2,127 people aboard when photographed in Helena, Arkansas on April 26, 1865.
    - By the night after the photograph, more than 1,000 men were dead; the episode title cites 1,164 deaths from the transcript.
    - One boiler seam cracked ten hours south of Vicksburg and was patched with a plate thinner than the original boiler wall.
    - Captain Reuben Benton Hatch arranged payments per soldier to Captain Mason, creating an incentive to overload the Sultana.
    - The Sultana’s four fire-tube boilers were each 18 feet long and 46 inches in diameter, built to an 1848 specification.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    23 min
  • When Film Ignited Itself: The Night 40,000 Reels Vanished

    When Film Ignited Itself: The Night 40,000 Reels Vanished
    Oct 9 2026
    When Film Ignited Itself: The Night 40,000 Reels Vanished

    Heat, sealed vaults, and a material that carries its own oxygen: a July heat wave and forty-eight brick-and-steel vaults turned a certified "fireproof" storage into an unstoppable furnace. Over three hours and twenty-four minutes, more than forty thousand reels-many the only surviving elements of silent-era films-were consumed; how could a building built to protect cinema become the thing that destroyed it?

    In this episode, we recount the chain of technical, environmental, and human factors behind the Little Ferry fire and what was stored inside those vaults, closing on the question that drove the loss: how did nitrate film’s chemistry and a summer heat wave conspire to erase decades of American cinema?

    Person: Charles Greeves
    Date: July 9, 1937
    Location: Little Ferry, New Jersey
    Event: Fire in a film storage building
    Quantity: more than 40,000 reels

    - The building contained forty-eight individual vaults, each with a steel door and eight inches of brick on every interior wall.
    - The structure was built in 1934 by William Fehrs and certified as fireproof but had no sprinklers, no mechanical ventilation, and no overnight security guard.
    - The fire burned for three hours and twenty-four minutes and destroyed not one frame could be replaced.
    - Stored materials included the complete works of Valeska Suratt, most of Tom Mix’s eighty-five Fox films, Theda Bara’s silent films, and the original negative of D. W. Griffith’s Way Down East.
    - A 1933 study had shown spontaneous ignition temperatures for nitrate film were underestimated, but that finding had not been widely applied before the July 1937 heat wave.

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    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    22 min