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Doomsday: History's Most Dangerous Podcast

Doomsday: History's Most Dangerous Podcast

By: Brad Choma
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About this listen

 Doomsday is a history lesson that easily disguises itself as a horror story. We explore the most traumatic, bizarre and most awe-inspiring but largely unheard-of disasters from throughout human history and around the world including the science behind every disturbing detail. If you like shipwrecks, decapitations, things that melt, living blankets of insects and people screaming for their lives, Doomsday is the podcast for you.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/doomsday-history-s-most-dangerous-podcast--4866335/support.@ 2023 Doomsday Podcast Social Sciences World
Episodes
  • The Norwegian Cheese Fire Disaster of 2013 | Episode 103

    The Norwegian Cheese Fire Disaster of 2013 | Episode 103
    Feb 27 2026
    You might think the worst thing cheese can do is cause indigestion, or elevated cholesterol, or the need to punch more belt holes - maybe even the occasional fart sneaks out. But on today’s episode, you will learn, as it turns out, we’ve catastrophically underestimated it.On today’s episode: we’ll visit a postcard perfect country that’s ridiculously beautiful from top to bottom, but on a map looks vaguely testicular and chewed; you will walk through the history of cheese before sampling a platter of the world’s most nauseating varieties; and not to spoil anything, but today’s story is going to spiral into a kind of three-fer episode of flame-fueled claustrophobia.And if you were listening on Patreon… you would hear a short story of how a spiky Asian football turned my stomach inside out; you would learn how we’ve been preprogrammed by invisible senses that tell us everything from how many fingers we have to how much vomit you might need to project; and you would hear the story of the gigantic wheel of cheese that haunted the White House for years. We start this episode talking about some of the funkiest edibles to be found anywhere in the world, and recapping how many of them have killed people on this show. I’ll be the first to admit we use a pretty broad definition of “edible”, but the food product headlining today’s story is as traditional and straight-forward as food gets. We’re going to spend some time with a cheese called Brunost that is so sweet and giddyingly bad for you, many people think of it as more of a kid’s treat. You’ve probably never had the chance to try it yourself, but one of my best friends in public school was from Norway, and we regularly used to steal it from his dad, and I admit that this may have played a small part in his parent’s divorce, so for that, I am sorry. Now, I don’t know what your relationship with cheese is like, but I love the stuff. I don’t care if it’s from the UK or Scandinavia or India or where it comes from. As long as it came out of a cow and didn’t AIR BNB larva or age inside a skull or whatever separates “everyday cheeses” from “emotionally demanding cheeses”. I’m not saying I grew up with posters of cheese wheels all over my bedroom, I’m just not saying I didn’t is all. The worst thing I’ve ever seen it do is cause my old friend Larry to fart so hard he ended up in the hospital – he was fine, have no fear. I’m sure we’ve all burned our mouths on pizza cheese before, but the experience of today’s episode is something else.–––––THANK YOU. Most shows survive at the whim of production companies and corporate sponsors, built from the top down. Doomsday doesn’t exist because some network exec believes in it – it exists because actual people do. It's built from the bottom up, and it’s been my privilege to bring you these stories. Just you, me, and a microphone. I don’t do this for you, so much as I do this because of you. If you'd like to support the show at Buy Me A Coffee, or join the club over at Patreon for AD-FREE EPISODES, LONGER EPISODES, EXTRA CONTENT, all that good stuff (I’m truly sorry about those ads, they're not in my control)All older episodes can be found on any of your favorite channels Apple : https://tinyurl.com/5fnbumdwSpotify : https://tinyurl.com/73tb3uuwIHeartRadio : https://tinyurl.com/vwczpv5jPodchaser : https://tinyurl.com/263kda6wStitcher : https://tinyurl.com/mcyxt6vwGoogle : https://tinyurl.com/3fjfxattSpreaker : https://tinyurl.com/fm5y22suRadioPublic : https://tinyurl.com/w67b4kecPocketCasts. : https://pca.st/ef1165v3CastBox : https://tinyurl.com/4xjpptdrBreaker. : https://tinyurl.com/4cbpfaytDeezer. : https://tinyurl.com/5nmexvwt Follow us on the socials for more Facebook : www.facebook.com/doomsdaypodcastInstagram : www.instagram.com/doomsdaypodcastTwitter : www.twitter.com/doomsdaypodcastTikTok : https://www.tiktok.com/@doomsday.the.podcastSafety google off. We'll talk soon. And thanks for listening. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/doomsday-history-s-most-dangerous-podcast--4866335/support.
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    51 mins
  • The Kaprun Funicular Disaster of 2000 | Episode 102

    The Kaprun Funicular Disaster of 2000 | Episode 102
    Feb 11 2026
    If you think the worst thing that can happen while skiing is trying not to scream while the ski patrol figures out why your leg’s bending that way, we have a lot to teach you about skiing. Spoiler: mountains can cook and kill people. Don’t say this podcast doesn’t teach you things.

    On today’s episode: you will learn why Frankenstein was more graceful on stolen corpse feet than you are in snowboots; you’ll learn why diagonal tunnels basically act as nature’s secret logistical flamethrowers; and we’ll see how a $40 appliance permanently derailed a $30-million-a-year alpine operation and changed European history.

    And if you were listening on Patreon… you would hear about the industrial accident that unearthed the entire history of humanity in Western Europe; you would hear about all the terrible things that happened to the last King of England to die in battle before and after he actually died (spoiler: most of the injuries were after); and if you don’t know the story, we’ll tell you how Dionysus gave Damocles PTSD.

    This is one of those bad day at work/bad holiday episodes where everything that could have helped along the way was too expensive, and the one thing that was supposed to help someone was so cheap, it killed almost everybody. We’re going to learn a lot about just how weird and active fire can be. Most people picture fire like this: Flames burn, heat rises, you step back. That’s fine, if it’s burning in a free and open space. You have no chance of being suffocated by it, and it’s easy to play keep away with. In an open-air fire, heat rises and disperses, oxygen flows in from every which way, and the smoke just carries away on the breeze. In today’s fire, not so much. We will be facing less of a camp fire and more of a blow torch.

    This episode also marks our return to the European Alps, where we will discover an entirely different way of being afraid of mountains, so that’s fun! And as long as we’re learning to be afraid of new things, we’re also going to look at how everything around us, from the things we sit on to the clothes we wear, all break down into vaporized toxins that will absolutely make for not so good think before shutting you off for good. This is also an episode that extends our philosophy that any “vehicle” could double as a coffin, and funicular is a vehicle we’ve never explored before.

    Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/doomsday-history-s-most-dangerous-podcast--4866335/support.
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    54 mins
  • The Yukon Riverboat Disaster of 1906 | Episode 101

    The Yukon Riverboat Disaster of 1906 | Episode 101
    Jan 20 2026
    The Yukon River is famous for its remoteness and scenic vistas and history, where very little may seem to happen – but in 1906, one man’s lack of situational awareness and fine-motor skills created the greatest, cattle-based pyrotechnics display the world had ever seen. On today’s episode: you will see how miners and prostitutes used to travel in style in the far sub-Arctic North; you will hear about what may be the clumsiest bad-day-at-work episode we’ve ever discussed; and you will find out at what point an incinerating cow flips from piquing your appetite to inducing eye-watering vomit.And if you had been listening on Patreon… you would learn about the most unusual haunted home ever built in the history of human habitation; you would hear how today’s story could be considered more punishing than the Uruguayan Rugby Disaster, the Greeley Arctic Disaster and the Donner Party; and you would hear the debunked tale of a man in full diving gear who became part of a forest fire.I love getting to visit new and exotic places around the globe, but being chained to an office chair ten feet from where I sleep means these stories can be as close as I’ll ever get to visit it, in the theatre of my mind, and I’m unendingly appreciative to listeners who provide the suggestions that let me do that. The Yukon River sits about 4,400 km (about 2,735 miles) from my door, so it’s a little far, but this is our first trip to the Yukon, and I couldn’t have been more excited by it. This absolutely bug-nuts story came courtesy of listener, Jonny Wilkie, a resident, and he inspired me to want to incorporate more minisodes from story suggestions you’ve all supplied that didn’t have enough beef on them to inflate into a full episode, but are just too damn good not to want to share. Also, this came out about 30% shorter than a regular episode, so they’re not-so-minisodes. No matter.I was going to add a cooking segment to today’s story, but opted for the quick and benign details of an open-air BBQ that flambés metric tons of food a lot quicker and grosser than you’d think. I settled for the details of the worst nature hike anyone’s ever attempted on this show. And that includes the students of Wolf Creek and the Uruguayan Rugby Team. Gun safety will play an important role in our story too. I will make the point how a single bullet can cause a lot of harm, and then we’re going to back it up, mark my words.–––––THANK YOU. Most shows survive at the whim of production companies and corporate sponsors, built from the top down. Doomsday doesn’t exist because some network exec believes in it – it exists because actual people do. It's built from the bottom up, and it’s been my privilege to bring you these stories. Just you, me, and a microphone. I don’t do this for you, so much as I do this because of you. If you'd like to support the show at Buy Me A Coffee, or join the club over at Patreon for AD-FREE EPISODES, LONGER EPISODES, EXTRA CONTENT, all that good stuff (I’m truly sorry about those ads, they're not in my control)All older episodes can be found on any of your favorite channels Apple : https://tinyurl.com/5fnbumdwSpotify : https://tinyurl.com/73tb3uuwIHeartRadio : https://tinyurl.com/vwczpv5jPodchaser : https://tinyurl.com/263kda6wStitcher : https://tinyurl.com/mcyxt6vwGoogle : https://tinyurl.com/3fjfxattSpreaker : https://tinyurl.com/fm5y22suRadioPublic : https://tinyurl.com/w67b4kecPocketCasts. : https://pca.st/ef1165v3CastBox : https://tinyurl.com/4xjpptdrBreaker. : https://tinyurl.com/4cbpfaytDeezer. : https://tinyurl.com/5nmexvwt Follow us on the socials for more Facebook : www.facebook.com/doomsdaypodcastInstagram : www.instagram.com/doomsdaypodcastTwitter : www.twitter.com/doomsdaypodcastTikTok : https://www.tiktok.com/@doomsday.the.podcastSafety google off. We'll talk soon. And thanks for listening. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/doomsday-history-s-most-dangerous-podcast--4866335/support.
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    38 mins
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