SYMHC Classics: Year Without a Summer

Heat waves don’t get as much attention as blizzards, floods, and hurricanes, but extreme heat is one of the deadliest weather events on average. Research: National Weather Service. “Weather Related Fatality and Injury Statistics.” https://www.weather.gov/hazstat Last, John. “This ... Show More

This 2018 episode covers Libertalia, which, in truth, may be completely fictional. It's called a pirate settlement, though the man who spearheaded it claimed he wasn't actually a pirate.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 

Tracy shares the topics she considered for the recording in the Bahamas but decided against. Holly talks about her admiration for Thomas Huxley.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the impact of the eruption of Mt Tambora, in 1815, on the Indonesian island of Sambawa. This was the largest volcanic eruption in recorded history and it had the highest death toll, devastating people living in the immediate area. Tambora has been ... Show More

On April 10, 1815 the most powerful volcanic eruption in human history was recorded on an island in Indonesia. The ash cloud that formed by its explosion was as large and the entire United States and hovered 12 miles above the earth, reaching the stratosphere. The results were ca ... Show More

After the first eruption of Krakatoa on August 26th, 1883, the citizens of the Sunda Strait may have assumed the worst was over. But they were about to experience a tsunami that would be the first of many over the next 24 hours. On top of this, pyroclastic flows were on their way ... Show More

When Mount Tambora erupted it spewed ash across the globe; blotting out the sun; poisoning crops; and bringing starvation, illness and death to millions. It may also have helped inspire great scientific and cultural advances - including the horror masterpiece Frankenstein. How we ... Show More

In 1883 between the south-Asian islands of Java and Sumatra, a deadly force was brewing. The volcano Krakatoa had been waiting to erupt for over a thousand years. Dutch colonizers ignored the warning signs, and Islanders had little mobility. It was a recipe for disaster. Soon, th ... Show More

The story behind one of the most deadly volcanic events in recorded history. 

CIA agents in Havana complaining of mental fog, dizziness and ear pain in 2016. Children in Miami in 1974, hyperventilating and wracked with abdominal pain. A medieval outbreak of the “dancing plague”. A chorus of meowing nuns. These mysterious and seemingly disparate events may ... Show More

What must be one of the most famous natural disasters in history took place when Mt Vesuvius buried Pompeii in 79 CE. But when the town was resurrected 1700 years later, a new chapter in its history was written. Learn all about it in this classic episode.See omnystudio.com/listen ... Show More

What happens when teenagers are shipwrecked on a deserted island? Can you find the fingerprint of God in warzones? Why was the concept of zero so revolutionary for humanity? A year into a pandemic that has completely upended the lives of people around the world, we look at how we ... Show More

Steam and fire put history under a lot of pressure today on our tour through the Cabinet.Join our Patreon for ad-free episodes!: https://www.patreon.com/grimandmildSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.