Manmade Catastrophes

When a ship smuggling more than 700 desperate migrants sank off the coast of Greece in 2023, it laid bare the routinely deadly consequences of hardline anti-refugee policies in Europe, cover-ups by authorities, and indifference—even disdain—that had developed toward some of the world’s most vulnerable people.
To see a full list of sources on this episode, the full transcript, or to sign up for email alerts or get in touch, visit: ⁠⁠https://manmadecatastrophes.com

As the American economy sours, demagogues, labor leaders and politicians intensify attacks on Chinese immigrants and enflame hatred that will precipitate mass expulsions and murder on a scale that can only be described as ethnic cleansing.
For sources, a transcript or to sign up for email alerts or see other places to find us, visit: ⁠https://manmadecatastrophes.com/2026/01/31/the-rock-springs-chinese-massacre-part-2/

As Chinese laborers poured into the 19th century American West, many Whites saw them as an economic – and even civilizational – threat. Racist animosity, dehumanization and scapegoating precipitated the Chinese Exclusion Act, but it didn’t end there. Grassroots ethnic cleansing campaigns would terrorize Chinese up and down the West Coast, resulting in mass expulsions, violence, and sometimes, mass murder.
For sources, a transcript or to sign up for email alerts or see other places to find us, visit: https://manmadecatastrophes.com/2026/01/31/the-rock-springs-chinese-massacre-part-1/

When more than 30 girls sought shelter in their school’s rotting outhouse building, a floor collapse sent them plunging into what can only be described as worse than the pits of hell. ‘The Cincinnati Privy Disaster’ would be a life and death struggle in 11 years of accumulated human waste that would prove too much for many of the girls to overcome.
For sources, photos and transcript, visit https://manmadecatastrophes.com/the-cincinnati-outhouse-disaster

What was supposed to be a festive party for the Russian working class to celebrate their new monarch became one of the deadliest human crushes in history. The Khodynka Tragedy of 1896 would kill thousands and come to be seen as the beginning of the end for Russia’s monarchy. For show notes, sources and transcript, go to:  ⁠https://manmadecatastrophes.com/