A podcast about people, mostly, who find themselves in situations in which help is not on the way, or maybe help is on the way, but not all that helpful. Either way, the victims will have to save themselves...or not.
In 1859, in San Francisco, Joshua Abraham Norton, declared himself "Emperor of the United States", and eventually "Protector of Mexico".
$1.6 million in rare photographs disappear. An owner of one of the oldest photographic galleries in the country is accused of defrauding artists, collectors, and friends in the case.
Emperor Norton (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Norton)
Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist says he was conned in dealer’s $1.6m art fraud scheme (https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2023/02/13/pulitzer-prize-winning-photojournalist-says-he-was-conned-in-dealers-16m-art-fraud-scheme)
A Michigan Art Dealer Accused of Defrauding Collectors Out of $1.6 Million Is Expected to Strike a Plea Deal (https://robbreport.com/lifestyle/news/wendy-beard-art-fraud-1234849713/)
A Michigan Photography Dealer Allegedly Bilked Elderly Clients Out of More Than $1.6 Million by Pretending to Be in a Coma (https://news.artnet.com/art-world/michigan-photography-dealer-bilking-elderly-clients-2197849)
Michigan photography dealer Tom Halsted passed away... (https://www.iphotocentral.com/news/article-view.php/1/258/246/1624/0/0/10)
18 Apr 2023
John R. Brinkley and Forrest Fenn's Treasure
John R. Brinkley dreamed of being a doctor. Unfortunately he couldn't achieve that goal. He could however say he was one, and became known for implanting goat gonads into patients. Brinkley was on the forefront of quack medicine, disinformation, and conspiracy theory radio.
Forrest Fenn, a wealthy art collector, decided to create a treasure hunt to get people outdoors. He filled a chest with treasure, and hid it somewhere in the Rocky Mountains. The lure of the treasure led people from around the world to analyze the clues, and search for the treasure. The hunt led to injuries, death, and betrayal.
John R. Brinkley (https://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/john-r-brinkley/11988)
John R. Brinkley - Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_R._Brinkley)
11 Apr 2023
Free Town, NH and Salomon August Andrée
In 2001, The Free State Project was founded with the intention of recruiting Libertarians to New Hampshire, in an attempt to create a sort of Libertarian utopia. Not too surprisingly, things didn't exactly go as planned.
Salomon August Andrée was a Swedish engineer, physicist, aeronaut, and polar explorer lead an attempt to reach the North Pole by hydrogen balloon in 1897. Andrée had very little experience piloting balloons, and the expedition immediately went off the rails.
Free State Project (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_State_Project)
The Town That Went Feral (https://newrepublic.com/article/159662/libertarian-walks-into-bear-book-review-free-town-project)
Salomon August Andrée (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salomon_August_Andr%C3%A9e)
31 Jan 2023
Peshtigo Fire and Norwegian Black Metal
The most devastating wildfire in U.S. history was not in the western states, or even a recent event. Instead it was in Wisconsin, on October 8th, 1871. The fire burned around 1.5 million acres, and claimed more than 1,500 lives.
In the 1990s, a new genre of music emerged, know as Norwegian black metal. Some of the most influential members of extreme metal came from this period. Its members from were also responsible for two murders, a suicide, and the burning of old Norwegian churches.
The Norwegian black metal segment may be disturbing for sensitive listeners, and includes references to suicide and murder.
The Peshtigo Fire - National Weather Service (https://www.weather.gov/grb/peshtigofire)
The Peshtigo Fire - Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peshtigo_fire)
The Great Midwest Wildfires of 1871 (https://www.weather.gov/grb/peshtigofire2)
The Wisconsin magazine of history: Volume 11, number 1, September 1927 (https://content.wisconsinhistory.org/digital/collection/wmh/id/6167)
Why America's Deadliest Wildfire Was Largely Forgotten (https://www.history.com/news/peshtigo-fire-america-deadliest-wildfire)
Norwegian Black Metal (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_Norwegian_black_metal_scene)
6 Dec 2022
Jimmy Hoffa and the Collyer Brothers
Jimmy Hoffa, former president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters - a powerful union with ties to organized crime, disappears in 1975. Hoffa is eventually declared dead in 1982, though his body has never been found despite years of investigations, rumors, and leads.
Brothers, Homer and Langley Collyer, became infamous for their hoarding and bizarre behavior. The brothers lived in seclusion, in a Harlem Brownstone in the 1920s, and eventually are found to have been living with 120 tons of belongings, tunnels, and booby traps.
18 Oct 2022
Ergotism and Howard Hughes
In 857 A.D., in the Rhine Valley, an outbreak of a disease causing hallucinations, gangrene, and death occurred. Because the symptoms included a severe burning sensation, and it was believed to be a punishment from God, it came to be known as Holy Fire. Though a doctor in 1670 figured out the cause, outbreaks would occur for another 170 years before the cause of the disease was finally proven.
Howard Hughes was an eccentric billionaire, record-setting pilot, engineer, film producer, and philanthropist. He was one of the wealthiest and most influential person in the world. Eventually his eccentricity gave way to extreme reclusiveness, obsessive compulsive disorder, and chronic pain.
9 Aug 2022
Lake Peigneur drilling disaster and the Darien Scheme
In 1980, while Texaco was drilling in Lake Peigneur, a sinkhole opened up and drained the lake, swallowing the drilling platform, and several boats and barges in the process.
In the 1690s, the Scottish Darien Company attempted to establish a colony, on what is now Panama. Scotland was behind in the race to exploit new worlds, and hoped to establish a trade route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, for power and riches.
28 Jun 2022
Flight 980 and the Yugo
In 1985, Eastern Airlines Flight 980, crashed at 21,000 feet, on route to La Paz, Bolivia. Decades of searches turned up little, sparking a variety of conspiracy theories. In 2016, a trio from the U.S., decides to revisit the crash site, and attempt to find the crash recorders.
The Yugo has been described as "the worst car in history". Introduced to the U.S. in 1985, the Yugo went on to peak success in 1987, followed by a few years of precipitous declines in sales, ending in 1992.
4 Jan 2022
Cults and Nautical Failures
After a long break due to Covid, travel, and technical difficulties, Mark and Kevin return with an episode that covers cults, and a couple of entertaining stories of nautical failures.
13 Jul 2021
Jean-Paul Marat and Pietro Querini
Jean-Paul Marat was a French political theorist, physician and scientist, and, during the French Revolution, a journalist and politician. He was assassinated while taking a medicinal bath, as depicted in the painting The Death of Marat.
Pietro Querini was the captain of a merchant ship bound for Bruges, when forced to abandon ship during a storm in 1431. After drifting for weeks in winter weather, the survivors find themselves stranded on an island off of Norway in January of 1432.
6 Jul 2021
California Water Wars and the Johnstown Flood
Starting in the late 19th century, Los Angeles was outgrowing it's water supply, and by the early 20th century, the fight for water, known as the California Water Wars had begun.
On May 31st, 1889, the failure of the South Fork Dam sent 14.55 million cubic meters of water towards Johnstown, Pennsylvania, killing 2,209 people.
29 Jun 2021
Germ Theory and Mutiny on the Bounty
Until the 1850s, the leading theory for disease was Miasma, or "bad air", was the cause of disease. Though basic germ theory was written about around 400 B.C., it wouldn't be until the 1800s, that the idea of germs as the cause of disease would be widely accepted.
In 1789, in the South Pacific, crewman, led by Fletcher Christian, seized control of the Bounty from Captain William Bligh. While many know of the basic story, what happened to the mutineers is less well known, but maybe more interesting. And help, for them, was definitely not on the way.
1 Jun 2021
The Dutch girls who hunted Nazis and the Byford Dolphin Explosive Decompression Accident
When Germany invaded the Netherlands, the Dutch Resistance formed, and three women joined the Haarlem Council of Resistance. Their jobs were to lure and kill Nazis. The Byford Dolphin was a semi-submersible, column-stabilised, deep sea, drilling rig that suffered multiple accidents, including the Explosive Decompression Accident.
25 May 2021
The Great Molasses Flood and Bon Scott of AC/DC
On January 15, 1919 a tank of Molasses collapsed in Boston, sending a 20 foot tall wave of molasses through town. Bon Scott, lead singer of AC/DC was found dead in a car, in February of 1980.
11 Mar 2021
Dean Cummings and the Münster Rebellion
A big mountain skier, heli ski owner and guide, and former U.S. freestyle skier, suffering from mental illness, falls from the pinnacle of his career and is charged with murder. In 1534 Anabaptists seize the city Münster, Germany, in an attempt to create a communal sectarian government.
22 Jan 2021
Neerja Bhanot and Lenin Peak Climbing Tragedy
Flight attendant Neerja Bhanot, saves the lives of passengers during a hijacking attempt. A ferocious storm traps climbers on Lenin Peak in Russia.
14 Dec 2020
Kaspar Hauser and the Atafu Boys
Kaspar Hauser appears in Nuremberg, Germany on May 26th, 1828, under strange circumstances. Three boys from Atafu find themselves adrift on a small boat for 50 days.
12 Dec 2020
Henry Johnson and the Burke Wills Expedition
William Henry Johnson single-handedly fought off dozens of German soldiers in hand-to-hand combat. In 1860 Robert O’Hara Burke and William Wills led Australia’s most famous, expensive, and tragic, expedition.
18 Nov 2020
Olive Oatman and Juliane Koepcke
In 1850, fourteen year old Olive Oatman was taken captive by Native Americans and spent 4 years with the Mohave. On Christmas Eve 1971 Julia Koepcke survived a plane crash, but had to contend with the jungle.
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