A Tragic Tower Block Fire Exposes the World's...

To hear stories three days earlier, listen on The Big Story: ⁠⁠⁠⁠ http://swap.fm/l/wi-bigstorypod-feeddrop Earth is teeming with unknown species, and they’re dying off faster than ever. Now biologists are battling over an old question: how to catalog life? Written by Brooke Jarvis ...  Show more

To hear stories three days earlier, listen on The Big Story: ⁠⁠⁠⁠ http://swap.fm/l/wi-bigstorypod-feeddrop Sneaking six Americans out of Iran in 1979 would take an audacious plan, false identities, and an epic Hollywood cover story. Written by Joshuah Bearman. Originally published ...  Show more

How a fire in Scotland in 1999 foretold the fire at Grenfell Tower.In 1999, a dropped cigarette started a tower block fire in a small town on the west coast of Scotland. The building, which had been recently clad in flammable materials, is said to have caught fire like matchwood. ...  Show more

How manufacturers sold combustible claddingWhen Marcio Gomes found out that Grenfell Tower, where he lived, was going to be covered in cladding, he assumed it must be safe. Today we know this material was the main cause of the spread of the fire at Grenfell Tower.The cladding ins ...  Show more

In the early hours of the 14th of June 2017, a fire broke out in a tower block in West London. This fire was both a personal tragedy and a national scandal.It began in Flat 16 of Grenfell Tower. Before long, the flames reached combustible cladding and insulation, which had been i ...  Show more