Yesterday, a demolition team brought down the remaining structure of the collapsed Champlain Towers South building in Surfside, Florida. The death count is now at 27, with 118 people still unaccounted for. Since the devastating building collapse on June 26, engineers, scientists, and policy-makers have been trying to make sense of how this happened—and if […]
Texas Power Outages Reveal Cracks in the System
It’s been reported that a third of Texans are still dealing with disrupted water service and others are still without power after last week’s major winter storm. First up on today’s show, we learn what the crisis in Texas means about our energy grid with energy systems expert Line Roald. Then, emergency response researcher Laura […]
Disaster Capitalism and Lessons from Post-Katrina New Orleans
Disaster capitalism describes the process of private industries springing up to profit from large-scale crises, according to Naomi Klein, who popularized the term in her influential 2007 book The Shock Doctrine. Is this what we’re seeing now with the coronavirus pandemic? To explore this question, Ali spends the hour with Vincanne Adams, professor of medical […]
Rebroadcast: Wildfires and Disaster Response
Today’s episode is a rebroadcast from January 7, 2019. As wildfire season approaches again, we return to this conversation with guest Dave Lowe, who works for the US Forest Service and is one of two fireline archaeologists in the state of Wisconsin. Over the course of the hour, he and Patty discuss the particular hazards […]
The Nuclear History of Chernobyl with Kate Brown
Thirty-three years ago, on April 26, 1986, the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in northern Ukraine experienced two explosions and a fire that released deadly levels of radioactive gas and ash. This event is widely considered the most disastrous nuclear power plant accident in history. Historian Kate Brown says that “much of what we’re told about […]
Adult Swim: Apocalypse Wow!
This is an important announcement. The world as we know it will end shortly. All residents of the Madison area over the age of twenty one are advised to head for shelter at the Madison Children’s Museum, starting Friday, March 8th at 6:00 p.m. The Adult Swim program Apocalypse Wow could be your only hope. […]
