Wreckage & Ruins

CC and Kitty

Welcome to Wreckage & Ruins! Each week we investigate disasters: man-made and natural, legendary last stands, medical mishaps, and everything in between. Each of the ruins unfold into a story, and we're here to understand why it happened and what came after.

  1. 1d ago

    Episode 24: The Great Fire of London

    The Great Fire of London began in 1666 inside a bakery on Pudding Lane and tore through a city built like a tinderbox. CC & Kitty trace the dry weather, wooden streets, firehooks, panic, scapegoating, and rebuilding rules that changed London after the flames. Official records list six deaths, but the aftermath was much bigger than that. This is not just a story about a bakery fire. It is a story about panic, blame, survival, and the disaster that helped reshape London. Subscribe for weekly disaster investigations from Wreckage & Ruins. SOURCES: https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/The-Great-Fire-of-London/ https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/PUDD1.htm https://www.london-fire.gov.uk/museum/london-fire-brigade-history-and-stories/fires-and-incidents-that-changed-history/the-great-fire-of-london/ https://www.themonument.org.uk/great-fire-london-faqs#:~:text=How%20did%20the%20Great%20Fire,the%20fire%20began%20to%20spread. https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/class-clips-video/articles/zph4g7h https://www.littlefox.com/tw/supplement/org/C0003751 https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/great-fire-london-was-blamed-religious-terrorism-180960332/ https://www.london.gov.uk/city-hall-blog/great-fire-london-350-years?ac-69654=69651 https://digventures.com/2016/09/the-aftermath-of-the-great-fire-of-london-was-worse-than-you-think/#:~:text=What's%20more%2C%20few%20people%20are,the%20fire%20was%20put%20out. https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/inspire-me/5-things-the-real-story-of-bonfire-night/ https://www.fireoflondon.org.uk/story/society-politics/ https://dantesisofo.com/the-great-fire-of-londons-influence-on-philadelphia/ https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/London-After-The-Great-Fire/

    55 min

  2. Jun 3

    Episode 23: Bubonic Plague

    The bubonic plague was more than swollen lymph nodes and medieval panic. CC and Kitty trace Yersinia pestis, the Black Death, Caffa, Florence, quarantine, plague myths, and the social collapse that reshaped Europe. Plus: cats, bad folklore, and why “Ring-a-Ring-a-Rosie” probably is not about plague.Subscribe for weekly disaster investigations. SOURCES: https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2014/07/ring-around-the-rosie-metafolklore-rhyme-and-reason/#:~:text=The%20rhyme%20is%20about%20the%20Great%20Plague%2C,doesn't%20fit%20well%20with%20the%20plague%20interpretation https://www.genome.gov/27546229/dissecting-the-cause-of-the-black-death https://www.britannica.com/place/Byzantine-Empire https://www.britannica.com/event/plague-of-Justinian https://origins.osu.edu/connecting-history/covid-justinianic-plague-lessons https://www.cdc.gov/one-health/about/about-zoonotic-diseases.html https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/Origins-Hundred-Years-War/ https://www.visualdx.com/visualdx/diagnosis/septicemic+plague?diagnosisId=53824&moduleId=101 https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/plague

    1h 18m

  3. May 27

    Episode 22: Strange Historical Deaths

    Strange historical deaths have a way of becoming bigger than the facts. This week, CC and Kitty look at Rasputin’s death myth, Edward II’s infamous rumor, and Edgar Allan Poe’s unresolved final days. Poison, politics, medieval gossip, cooping theories, and broken records all collide in an episode about how history remembers the dead. Subscribe for weekly disaster investigations, historical wreckage, and the aftermath that follows.Sources: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/what-really-happened-during-murder-rasputin-russia-mad-monk-180961572/ https://allthatsinteresting.com/rasputin-penis https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38386172/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_II https://www.nps.gov/edal/learn/historyculture/people-poefamily.htm https://www.nps.gov/articles/poe-death.htm https://catalystmag.umaryland.edu/rooted-in-history-175-years-later-mystery-still-shrouds-poes-death/ https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/brochures-and-fact-sheets/wernicke-korsakoff-syndrome https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laudanum

    1h 3m

  4. May 20

    Episode 21: Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

    The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire killed 146 workers in 1911 and became a turning point in labor history. CC and Kitty cover the factory conditions, the Uprising of the 20,000, Clara Lemlich, the locked-exit legacy, the trial, and the workplace safety reforms that followed. Subscribe for weekly disaster investigations from Wreckage & Ruins. SOURCES: https://fashionhistory.fitnyc.edu/shirtwaist/ https://lithub.com/a-brief-history-of-mass-manufactured-clothing/ https://aflcio.org/about/history/labor-history-events/triangle-shirtwaist-fire https://www.history.com/articles/triangle-shirtwaist-fire https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/shirtwaist-kings/ https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/biography-clara-lemlich/ https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/uprising-of-20000-1909#:~:text=Throughout%20the%20uprising%2C%20arrests%20and,named%20%E2%80%9Cindustrial%20feminism%E2%80%9D). https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/triangle/#transcript https://trianglefire.ilr.cornell.edu/slides/182.html#screen https://shc.stanford.edu/arcade/publications/occasion/fire-stories/raining-blood-and-money-remembering-triangle-shirtwaist https://trianglefire.ilr.cornell.edu/victimsWitnesses/unidentifiedVictims.html#:~:text=Michael%20Hirsch%20is%20an%20independent%20researcher%20who,Age%2022%2C%20lived%20at%2018%20Cornelia%20Street https://www.famous-trials.com/trianglefire/964-home https://trianglefire.ilr.cornell.edu/legacy/legislativeReform.html#:~:text=During%20its%20second%20year%20of,code%20after%20the%20Triangle%20Fire. https://www.dol.gov/general/aboutdol/history/mono-regsafepart07#:~:text=The%20main%20purpose%20of%20the,had%20stressed%20the%20health%20problem. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Tammany-Hall Triangle: Remembering the Fire on HBO

    1h 1m

  5. May 13

    Episode 20: Air Florida Flight 90

    On January 13, 1982, Air Florida Flight 90 took off from Washington National Airport in a snowstorm and crashed into the 14th Street Bridge before falling into the icy Potomac River. CC and Kitty walk through the deicing delay, the NTSB findings, the cockpit decisions, and the rescue that saved five people from the water. Subscribe to Wreckage & Ruins for weekly disaster investigations, aftermaths, and the decisions that shaped what came next. SOURCES:https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/626875246/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Florida https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/accidentreports/reports/aar8208.pdf https://arlingtonhistorical.com/items/show/164 https://people.com/trained-pilot-survived-1982-potomac-plane-crash-tragedy-exclusive-8783981

    56 min

  6. May 6

    Episode 19: SS Eastland

    Episode 19: SS Eastland CC and Kitty discuss the tragic story of the SS Eastland. The disaster on July 24, 1915, which claimed the lives of 844 people exposed critical failings in maritime safety regulations, inspection procedures, and the greed that prioritized profit over human life. While true accountability remained elusive for the victims' families, the memory of the Eastland disaster finally forced lasting, necessary changes to maritime law, ensuring that stability, not just lifeboat capacity, became the focus of safety. The legacy of the Eastland is cemented in the lives lost, the extraordinary community response that followed, and the silent promise of safer waters for all who sail today. SOURCES: https://www.dco.uscg.mil/Portals/9/DCO%20Documents/5p/CG-5PC/CG-CVC/MIR/Readings/Trident-History-1915-EASTLAND.pdf?ver=2020-06-30-195529-750 https://eastlanddisaster.org/history/timeline http://www.deepbluesea.training/nautical-terms.html https://www.nprillinois.org/illinois/2015-07-19/looking-back-at-the-s-s-eastland-disaster https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/july-24/hundreds-drown-in-eastland-disaster https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/eastland-disaster-killed-more-passengers-titanic-and-lusitania-why-has-it-been-forgotten-180953146/ https://www.pbs.org/video/the-eastland-disaster-04xrn4/ https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/1998/december/why-we-call-ship-she https://www.iwm.org.uk/ https://chicagology.com/notorious-chicago/eastland/

    1h 8m

  7. Apr 29

    Episode 18: The Jungle

    Episode 18: The Jungle This week, CC and Kitty look at the meatpacking scandal behind one of the most famous reform novels in American history. Sinclair wanted readers to care about exploited immigrant workers in Chicago, but the public became fixated on Chapter 14: spoiled meat, rejected sausage, contamination, and the fear that everyday food could be unsafe. This episode also covers Sinclair’s complicated legacy, including criticism of racist portrayals in The Jungle and his short-lived Colony in New Jersey. Subscribe to Wreckage & Ruins for weekly investigations into disasters, aftermaths, and the systems that failed. References: The Jungle by Upton Sinclair https://library.georgetown.edu/banned-books-week/2013 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upton_Sinclair https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jungle

    43 min

  8. Apr 22

    Episode 17: Hawks Nest Tunnel Disaster

    The Hawks Nest Tunnel disaster turned a West Virginia hydro project into one of the worst industrial tragedies in U.S. history. CC and Kitty trace how silica-rich rock, dry drilling, and brutal labor conditions led to a wave of acute silicosis among mostly Black migrant workers, and why the true death toll is still disputed. SOURCES: https://www.nps.gov/neri/planyourvisit/the-hawks-nest-tunnel-disaster-summersville-wv.htm https://bridgestunnels.com/location/hawks-nest-dam/ https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/hawks-nest-tunnel-construction-leads-disaster https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237452642_Summary_of_NIOSH_research_completed_on_dust_control_methods_for_surface_and_underground_drilling#pf2 https://www.assp.org/docs/default-source/psj-articles/vpspencer_0223.pdf https://www.nber.org/system/files/chapters/c2256/c2256.pdf https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-10-05-mn-4579-story.html https://mapwv.gov/shpo/docs/PDFs/ArchitecturalSurveys/RFA-25.pdf https://www.swl.usace.army.mil/Portals/50/docs/regulatory/Navigable%20Waters%20of%20the%20US.pd

    1h 2m
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
9 Ratings

About

Welcome to Wreckage & Ruins! Each week we investigate disasters: man-made and natural, legendary last stands, medical mishaps, and everything in between. Each of the ruins unfold into a story, and we're here to understand why it happened and what came after.

Information

  • Creator
    CC and Kitty
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    24
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © CC and Kitty
  • Show Website
    Wreckage & Ruins

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