THE DONNER PARTY with 'You're Wrong About'

In 1859, a powerful solar storm known as the Carrington Event hit the world, disrupting early technology in a shocking way. Our guest today is Ben Bradford, host of the podcast Are We Doomed? A show that investigates the greatest risks facing our society, our planet, and our spec ...  Show more

At the height of their popularity, the 1920s era Ku Klux Klux counted millions of Americans as part of their secret society, and as we covered in part one, became a kind of pop culture phenomenon using a PR team, family-friendly events, and region-based prejudices while the leade ...  Show more

In the winter of 1847, a series of rescue parties fought their way through record snowfall to try to reach the stranded Donner Party. But when they finally arrived at the snowbound camps, they were unprepared for the scenes of horror and cannibalism they would find.Listen to Agai ...  Show more

Here’s one of our listeners’ most requested episodes of 2019: On May 12, 1846, a wagon train set out toward the West Coast of North America. The trip should have taken four months. In the end, it dragged on for a year, exacerbated by bad weather and rapidly dwindling food stores. ...  Show more

In the 1840s, thousands of Americans journeyed west to California to pursue better lives. One group of settlers became infamous: the Donner Party. After taking an unproven shortcut, their wagon train fell dangerously behind schedule. If they couldn’t cross the Sierra Nevada Mount ...  Show more

August 4, 1846. A few months into their journey from Illinois to California, a group of pioneers encounters trouble. They’ve just found a note from their guide. It essentially says, “That shortcut I told you to take through the Wasatch Mountains – don’t.” The setback disastrously ...  Show more