Fiasco

Here's a preview of a podcast we think you'll enjoy. It's from the new season of Malcolm Gladwell's Revisionist History podcast, The Alabama Murders. Florence, Alabama. 1988. A preacher has an affair. A woman is murdered. One death cascades into more, stretching across decades and leaving no one untouched — victims, bystanders, perpetrators, and those just trying to help. Eventually, the consequences lead to the center of a hot national debate on who should be allowed to live, who should die, and how the state should kill them. On The Alabama Murders, Malcolm asks: why, in our efforts to alleviate suffering, do we so often make it worse?

Hi FIASCO fans! We’re excited to share a special episode from one of our favorite history podcasts: SNAFU with Ed Helms.

The show tackles history’s greatest screw-ups, and on the newest season, Ed has roped in some of a cavalcade of smart, hilarious guests to help unpack what these blunders, fiascos and faceplants say about who we are (spoiler: we’re basically just toddlers with nukes). Think of it as part history lesson, part hangout pod, and part group therapy for humanity.

On this episode, we’ve got Shackleton’s Expedition and Nick Kroll — who is not so great in a crisis, especially a family fishing trip. So naturally, Ed wanted to bring Nick back to the sea for the harrowing story of Ernie Shackleton's failed expedition to Antarctica, complete with dogloos, stowaway cats, and a chance to celebrate the explorers who push humanity forward.

You can also go back and listen to SNAFU’s previous three season, which tackle more in-depth stories like :S1: Able Archer 83, the NATO war game that almost started an actual nuclear war, and S2: MEDBURG, the 1971 burglary of an FBI office in Media, Pennsylvania. There’s something for every kind of listener.