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Doomed to Fail

by Taylor Pineiro, Farz Sokhansanj

We bring you stories of history's most notorious disasters and epic failures. Join us as we analyze the red flags and ask the important questions. How did things go so wrong? Could these disasters have been avoided?Join us as we laugh, learn, and explore the most epic failures of all time.

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Episodes

  1. Ep 263: The Beast of Gévaudan

    Let's get spooky!!! Here's a time in France where a wolf was killing people - did it walk on its hind legs?? Did it die and come back to life??? Find out more! Join our Founders Club on Patreon to get ad-free episodes for life! patreon.com/DoomedtoFailPod We would love to hear from you! Please...

  2. Re-release: Eligible Receiver 97 - War Games Part 2

    In War Games Part 2, we talk about the 1997 Game 'Eligible Receiver' where "Government Hackers" were able to disable civilian power grids, get into top-secret government networks, and take command of a ship. We chat about how the internet is really young, and how we are really old, and how...

  3. Re-Release: War Games Pt 1: Able Archer 83

    It's a re-release week! We're tired. Join us this week as we explore the intense geopolitical tensions of the Cold War era through the lens of military exercises and simulations. Today, we unravel the significance of "war games" during Ronald Reagan's presidency, including the pivotal Able Archer...

  4. Ep 262: AI Apocalypse - We've been here before

    Everyone, calm down! Let's talk about more end times! We'll chat NORAD (which is not an acronym) and the Cold War - we'll tell you about some of the possibly hundreds of times that we almost went to war, again. Like when Stanislav Petrov made the decision not to alert people when he thought that...

  5. Re-Release - the SR-71 Blackbird (the plane in the Ryan Reynolds movie 'Mayday!')

    New on Netflix is this Ryan Reynolds movie where we can only assume he's playing 'Ryan Reynolds in a plane' but it's a COOL plane at least!! Here's a re-release of the dish! Join our Founders Club on Patreon to get ad-free episodes for life! patreon.com/DoomedtoFailPod We would love to hear from...

  6. Ep 261: Timur - He was a fan of skulls

    Today in 'things could be worse' at least the early 15th century warrior king Timur (aka Tamerlane) isn't knocking on your city walls demanding piles of heads. Because for real that happened, Timur's empire spanned Central Asia and was characterized by wall-to-wall bone-chilling terror (including...

  7. Ep 260: Hurricane Katrina - 21 years later

    Let's talk about one of the worst disasters in American history - Hurricane Katrina in 2005. We'll learn what a hurricane IS, how it affected the New Orleans area, and how massive oversight and poor planning caused thousands of deaths. Join our Founders Club on Patreon to get ad-free episodes for...

  8. Ep 259: Malaysia Airlines Flight 370: MH370

    We're back with another plane crash! This one is a doozy and a mystery, did the captain plan this? Where was the plane for 6 hours, and where is it now? We'll talk about mental health, flying over the ocean, and how scary the ocean is in general! Join our Founders Club on Patreon to get ad-free...

  9. Ep 258: The Dulles Brothers - John Foster & Allen

    You've heard their names, but what did the Dulles brothers actually do? Today we will ;tldr their extraordinary resume that spans from World War I to Vietnam. Both the Secretary of State and the Director of the CIA at the same time, the Dulles brothers, John Foster and Allen, shaped the United...

  10. Re-Release: Morgan's Wonderland - A Happy Story!

    Let's do a quickie re-release & learn about an inclusive amusement park for all - Morgan's Wonderland! It's a happy story about a father who built something magical for his daughter and shared it with the world! Join our Founders Club on Patreon to get ad-free episodes for life!...

  11. Re-Release - The Hindenburg Disaster

    Let's bring it back to one of the most notorious disasters in history - the crash of The Hindenburg! We learned SO many things in this one from 2024 - as it crashed at the end of a journey that took it from Europe and over NYC -- there are pictures of The Hindenburg Blimp flying over New York…

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  12. Ep 257: A Tragedy on the Ground - The Collapse of Terminal 2E at Charles de Gaulle Airport

    We checked, and the bars at Charles de Gaulle open around 7am - which means the people who were killed in the collapse of Terminal 2E on May 23, 2004, were probably just annoyed to be there. Today, we'll dig into what brought on the collapse, from the French government to a history of concrete;...

  13. Ep 256: Don't Breathe - The Great Smog of London

    In the not-so-distant past, 1952 to be exact, London experienced several days of pea-soup colored, deadly fog. The combination of coal, diesel engines, cold weather, and an anticyclone (which is a new word for us) ended up causing 12,000 deaths. Dig out your kn95 masks and join us for The Great...

  14. Ep 255: A week in hell - Memorial Medical

    Post the initial storm of Hurricane Katrina the power went out at Memorial Medical Hospital. Doctors faced the near impossible question of - do we leave these people here in the heat and humidity, or do we help them pass on? Learn the story of Dr. Anna Pou and what she decided to do. Join our...

  15. Ep 254: We absolutely want this to succeed - The Women's Pro Baseball League

    Wooo sports! The Women's Pro Baseball League starts up on Aug 1 - and the four official teams are named after four incredible women! Let's learn about them! The San Francisco Firebells are named for - Firebell Lil - aka Lillie Hitchcock Colt - a firefighting volunteer & patron The New York…

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  16. Ep 253: Don't trust anyone - Dr. Christopher Duntsch

    Seriously - some doctors got C's and they still get to be doctors! Today, we'll talk about Dr. Christopher Duntsch, who is a liar and a fraud and hurt A LOT of people doing surgery that he was not qualified to do. Join our Founders Club on Patreon to get ad-free episodes for life!...

  17. Ep 252: Things Could Be Worse! - 536 CE

    Let's talk about the 'worst year to be alive,' it's not this one - it's 536 CE! Of course, that's just a guess, but it's an educated guess because we know that there was a volcano that blotted out the sun - and THAT was the beginning of a mini-ice age that ushered in famine, mass migration, wars,...

  18. Ep 251: They're Out There - Lost Cosmonauts

    How far do you think humanity went during the Space Race? Do you think that we (and really, we mean humanity) let people go out to space and just left them there??? It's possible! Join our Founders Club on Patreon to get ad-free episodes for life! patreon.com/DoomedtoFailPod We would love to hear...

  19. Ep 250: Taylor's Goriest Episode - The Halifax Explosion

    Let's talk about the 3rd biggest man-made explosion ever (only eclipsed by the nuclear bombs). In 1917, ships were zooming back and forth between North America and Europe - bringing men (boys), supplies, ammunition, you name it, to the efforts of WWI. In December, a French ship called the SS...

  20. Ep 249: An Almost Disaster - The Citigroup Center

    Let's talk about the almost-disaster of The Citigroup Center - 601 Lexington Ave in NYC. This building was built on a lot that wasn't empty when they got there, and they made an objectively weird deal with a church on the corner: they would build their building over the church's footprint. This...

  21. Ep 248: MOVE - The Bombing of Philadelphia

    So! It's 1985, and we're in Philadelphia, PA. A group called MOVE has moved into the neighborhood - and they are a little annoying. They have a bullhorn where they talk about human rights very loudly, their kids don't go to school, and they might have guns (but they probably don't work). The city...

  22. Ep 247: Contaminated - The Goiânia Accident

    Let's talk about a real accidental nuclear accident - it's economic collapse, tied to poor security, that leads to deaths. In Brazil, while the economy collapsed in the 1980s, people tended to find scrap metal in buildings, including those that used to be hospitals, and those hospitals, in this...

  23. Ep 246: Wings of Doom! - The Mothman & The Silver Bridge

    Buckle up for an engineering disaster! In 1967, the Silver Bridge collapsed, killing 46 people in the freezing Ohio River. Were there warning signs? The bridge itself passed inspections, but it was a tiny crack that was its doom... BUT people around the area had spent the past year reporting...

  24. Ep 245: The Texas Killing Fields - Part 2

    Join us for part 2 of the Texas Killing Fields! Join our Founders Club on Patreon to get ad-free episodes for life! patreon.com/DoomedtoFailPod We would love to hear from you! Please follow along! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doomedtofailpod/ Facebook:...

  25. Ep 244: Arsenic Obsession - The Valentine Meat-Juice Incident

    Today let's talk about the 'murder' of James Maybrick - a businessman in Liverpool in the 1880s who loved to medicate with poisions. A good, what-doesn't-kill-me-makes-me-stronger kind of guy. James's young American wife, Florence, will be accused and tried of murder. It's a story of unmet...

  26. Ep 243: The Stars at Night are Big and Bright - The Texas Killing Fields

    True Crime Tuesday (it's Monday) - let's explore the Texas Killing Fields - an expanse of land near Galveston (which is near the ocean) that has been used for decades to drop bodies. Mostly young women who were vulnerable, the stories are tragic. The murderers are terrifying in their ability to...

  27. Ep 242: Don't Stop Believin' - glee

    I feel like glee is one of the most 'you had to be there' shows on TV? It's FULL of 2010s pop songs, remixes, and awkwardly improbable teenager shenanigans. Today we'll talk about the premise of the show (really, just kids forced to be in a glee club) and some of the early deaths of three of…

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  28. Ep 241: A Ship of Dreams (and Gold) - The SS Central America

    Picture it - it's 1857, and you are on a ship filled with gold from San Francisco to the East Coast of the USA! There are so many things that could go wrong crossing Panama, heading up the Caribbean, pirates, probably? Then the boat DOES sink along with a crap-ton of gold. Fast forward to the…

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  29. Ep 240: Fighting for Education for all - Malala Yousafzai

    Today we have the not-doomed story of Malala Yousafzai - who campaigned for girls to go to school in Pakistan when the Taliban was invading her area and demanding that women and girls stay inside and stop their education. Today, Malala's voice is a global cry for reform. Join our Founders Club on...

  30. Ep 239: Parasocial murder - Grant Amato

    Today, we learn about Grant Amato - a former nurse (dishonorably discharged) and dude in love with a 'cam girl' - so in love that he stole a TON of money from his family and also murdered them. I worry about the people who are in love with their Chat GPT. Join our Founders Club on Patreon to get...

  31. Ep 238: Olympic retro - Tonya Harding & Nancy Kerrigan

    We're back! Happy Women's History Month! We think this counts - well, specifically, Taylor thinks this counts. The main characters are women, and the men in this story are SUCH IDIOTS that it's a + for women. It's 1994, and the rivalry between Tonya Harding & Nancy Kerrigan is heating up (I know…

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  32. Women's History Month! Yay! (Sad noisemaker sound followed by popping balloons and probably some crying)

    Join me as I ramble through our Women's History episodes! Find them anywhere you listen to podcasts! Learn some stuff! Cry with me! Ep 1 - Part 1: Catherine the Great & Peter III Ep 4 - Part 2: A World of Love to You - Eleanor Roosevelt & Lorena Hickok Ep 23 - Part 1: Our Lady of the Night - Mary...

  33. Re-Release: The Atlanta Olypmic Bombing

    We're travelling this week so one more Olympics Episode for you! This one is wild - it's 1996, and the Atlanta Olympic Centennial Park is open late. Security guard Richard Jewel is on the lookout for shenanigans and finds himself the first responder to a horrible attack that leaves one dead and...

  34. Re-Release: Terror in Munich - Olympics 1972

    Part 3 of our Olympics Episodes is here for re-release! We're back in Germany (well, West Germany now) for the 1972 Summer Olympics. A team from Israel is held hostage by the Palestinian group "Black September." It ended in deaths, heartbreak, and a forever changed Global Stage. Join our Founders...

  35. Ep 237: Real Life Super-Villain? - Carlos the Jackal

    When does someone turn into a super villain? Let's talk about Carlos the Jackal - part serial killer, part terrorist, full guy who just wants to make a mess. We'll walk through his childhood in South America and his adulthood in literally any organization that needed a murderer. Join our Founders...

  36. Re-Release: Lucy Letby - Who would harm a baby?

    Netflix just released 'The Investigation of Lucy Letby' so let's re-relase our episode on this horrible story! Join our Founders Club on Patreon to get ad-free episodes for life! patreon.com/DoomedtoFailPod We would love to hear from you! Please follow along! Instagram:...

  37. Re-Release: Berlin 1936 - The Olympics under the Third Reich

    In 1936, the Olympics were hosted in Berlin, Germany. You guessed it - things were not great. We'll talk about the wonderfully talented American Jesse Owens, the invention of Basketball, and the propaganda of Leni Riefenstahl. It was a scary time to be in Europe - Hitler thought that every…

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  38. Ep 236: A Stolen Ship to Freedom - Robert Smalls

    It's Black History Month! Today, we're talking about Robert Smalls. Smalls was born enslaved, worked on ships for the confederacy whilst enslaved, and then took it upon himself to steal a steam ship, save his family & others, sail past Ft Sumter in the middle of the night, and provide the Union...

  39. Re-Release: The Ancient History of the Modern Olympics

    Here we go! Happy Olympics 2026! Let's re-visit our episode where we went over how it started in Ancient Greece, & how it got to be a modern event! Greece still gets special bonus treatment in the Olympics! They get to go out first & they get special access for tickets. Good for them. Join our...

  40. Ep 235: Fallacies of logic - Second Order Thinking with Juan Carlos Pineiro

    Today we have a guest!! Juan Carlos Pineiro - the creator of the Re:Mind Mental Model set (and also Taylor's husband) is here to walk us through three examples of doomed scenarios that used 'Second Order Thinking' to the detriment of many! Second Order Thinking is only thinking about immediate...

  41. Ep 234: 911 - From Switchboards to Text Messages, what's your emergency?

    Let's talk the invention of 911 (that's 999 or 0118 999 881 999 119 725 3 if you're British). Did you know it wasn't full adopted in the US until the 2000s?? We'll go over AT&T, telephone lines, and switchboards! You'll also hear Taylor list every time she's called 911 - feel free to share your…

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  42. Ep 233: FBI files - Crypto scams, family annihilators, and Olympic cartels

    Today (amongst Heated rivalry chatter), we're talking the FBI's most wanted! The list, which is more publicity than anything, was started by who else but J. Edgar Hoover! We highlight three current fugatives who go in and out of the top ten. Crypto Queen Ruja Ignatova ran a scam called OneCoin -...

  43. Ep 232: We remember you! - Pluto (formerly the planet)

    Let's talk about space!! We do have small panic attacks thinking about how Jupiter is huge and always raining. But, we're focusing on the little guy - Pluto! We'll talk about when he was discovered, who he was named after, and how he got demoted. "Pluto is a planet" - Jerry Smith Join our…

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  44. Ep 231: Wash your hands! - Typhoid Mary

    Hello and welcome to 2026! Let's start it out with the story of Mary Mallon, who spread Typhoid Fever around NYC in the early 1900s. For a while, Mary didn't know that she was a 'healthy carrier' of the disease. But something started happening - every place Mary worked, people got sick. She was...

  45. Re-Release - Ep 90 - Echoes of the Sky: Amelia Earhart's Enduring Influence

    Let's end the year with a re-release of our girl Amelia! Be brave. Join our Founders Club on Patreon to get ad-free episodes for life! patreon.com/DoomedtoFailPod We would love to hear from you! Please follow along! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doomedtofailpod/ Facebook:...

  46. Ep 230: Turn the music up, or else! - The Axeman of New Orleans

    What was the funnest day in American history?? For your consideration - here's the story of the Axeman of New Orelnes - maybe more than one person, maybe just one? But, one very well written person wrote a letter asking everyone in NOLA to have a Jazz band playing one March night in 1919... it...

  47. Ep 229: The downfall of society - Black Friday

    We love stuff, but the idea of going to a store for that stuff sounds insane. Today, Farz will talk through the history of Black Friday - why do we do Thanksgiving when we do? Why do we like sales so much? Would you murder someone for a PlayStation (say no)? Happy Franksgiving & Merry Christmas!...

  48. Ep 228: Pull a comb through your coal black hair - Zoot Suit Riots

    Hey Pachuco! It's 1943, and we're in Downtown Los Angeles! LA's population has just grown exponentially - partly with people from Mexico brought into the US specifically to address the labor shortage after all the Japanese Americans were taken into internment camps (not good!) - and partly…

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  49. 227: Don't try the punch - Sidney Gottlieb & MKUltra

    Let's do some highlights of MKUltra because it is a can of worms! We'll talk Sidney Gottlieb America's 'poisoner in chief' who used LSD (and other drugs) to try to reprogram minds. Spoiler - you cannot do that. Source...

  50. Ep 226: Deadliest Mutiny Ever - Batavia

    Man we love a good mutiny! This, however, is a bad one. The deadliest one in history! It's 1628, and the Dutch East India Company is up to no good... We'll talk about the syphilis-addled brain of Jeronimus Cornelisz, who staged a mutiny, killed a TON of people, and ultimately was executed for all...

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ABOUT THIS SHOW

We bring you stories of history's most notorious disasters and epic failures. Join us as we analyze the red flags and ask the important questions. How did things go so wrong? Could these disasters have been avoided?Join us as we laugh, learn, and explore the most epic failures of all time.

HOSTED BY

Taylor Pineiro, Farz Sokhansanj

Produced by Farz Sokhansanj

Frequently Asked Questions

How many episodes does Doomed to Fail have?

Doomed to Fail currently has 362 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.

What is Doomed to Fail about?

We bring you stories of history's most notorious disasters and epic failures. Join us as we analyze the red flags and ask the important questions. How did things go so wrong? Could these disasters have been avoided?Join us as we laugh, learn, and explore the most epic failures of all time.

How often does Doomed to Fail release new episodes?

Doomed to Fail publishes regularly with 362 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.

Where can I listen to Doomed to Fail?

You can listen to Doomed to Fail on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.

Who hosts Doomed to Fail?

Doomed to Fail is created and hosted by Taylor Pineiro, Farz Sokhansanj.
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