The Texas City Disaster of 1947 | Episode 107

No one shows up to work expecting to make history, but today’s story shows how one small, irreversible decision created the one of the worst days at work in US History. If that “fork in the road” moment had played out in any other way, today’s episode would mostly just be me chatting up Texans and offering up some gardening tips.

On today’s episode: you will find out why parts of Texas smell like money, and why that money smells unbreathably pungent and caustic; we will explore how there can come a point where calling something loud loses all meaning, and then your skin blows off; and we will learn about a disaster so catastrophic, that people who said “well, I’m glad that’s all over with” were treated to an encore.

And because you are listening on Patreon… you will hear about a river or two that defied convention by bursting into flames; you will learn about the time a German industrial site tried to fly into space because it’s standard operating procedures director was actually a potted plant wearing a tie; and you will find out how British Petroleum basically became the Beatles of oil and gas disasters.

They say everything’s bigger in Texas, and I believe it. You will too, after you understand the scale of today’s event and the resulting death toll. We’ll spend our time in Texas City, and I do make a point in the episode that Texas is a fine place, but if you had to pick a part of visit, Texas City might not be it. It’s certainly not for the faint of heart. Who would have thunk that the densest petrochemical infrastructure on Earth would make for a not-so-great picnic spot, but a great place to watch 4,000 pound ship anchors arc across the sky.

It is my genuine pleasure to return here (hey Texas). We have a lot of listeners there, and I look forward to returning again in the future. In fact, if you’re from the Lone Star State and have a favourite disaster in mind, please chime in. I’m sorry if I’m a little under the weather in this episode. I’m was a little under the weather while making it, so I apologize if I any ennui got in the pudding.

If it helps, the next episode will be bloodless and cheerier, but bloodless in a way that might actually make you wish for blood. You’ll just have to wait and see.

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