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A
Fellow ridiculous historians, we return to you with this week's classic episode. This is a parable cautionary tale for all our fellow ridiculous historians who like to tipple a beer every now and then. There is such thing as too much.
B
There is indeed, on a personal level and at scale, which we really start to see in 1814, when a poor neighborhood in London fell victim to a bizarre and boozy disaster, dare we say, a calamity that actually resulted in some fatalities. What the heck was this thing that happened? And how did it involve way too much beer?
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Right, let's roll it.
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Pair that with a professional email that works for all your business needs, from daily communications to email marketing and everything in between. That's a little price for a lot of credibility.
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See terms on site GoDaddy.comGdNow ridiculous history is a production of iHeartRadio foreign. You know, I guess we should begin today's episode by pointing out that it is not, to our knowledge, sponsored by Miller Lite. Although we had a lot of fun.
B
With those guys, you had the best tagline of all time. I'm really surprised they haven't like purchased this from you.
A
You know, it was a gift we're just very giving people on this show.
B
And that is the gift that keeps on giving in social media form. And I don't know if they'll ever give us any more ads again. But what was it again?
A
Ben Miller Lite the beer is so good that you can drink it with your mouth. Yeah, and I think that we arrived at that on our earlier episode about ritual alcohol enemas or AKA you're not.
B
Gonna say it, are you? You're not gonna say it. I tried to make you say it last time. That was a sore spot. Butt chugging is the word. Butt chugging. That's Right, today we're talking about a different kind of chugging. Chugging. Chugging it to the streets.
A
Yes, yes, taking it to the streets. That's well put. And I'm Ben.
B
Oh, I'm Noel.
A
And we are of course joined with our super producer, Casey Pegram. Give it up for him. Fellow ridiculous historians, our journey today takes us to the early 1800s in foggy old London town October, specifically when a bizarre sequence of events threw the community of St Giles, London into a state of pandemonium and terror. What happened and how did this come to pass?
B
Okay, so let's set the scene. He already did. Foggy London town, 1814. There's a brewery, right? There's a brewery called the Horseshoe Brewery, which was located at the corner of Great Russell street and Tottenham Court Road. So the Horseshoe Brewery was the building, it was like this historic brewery. And the Mew & Co. Brewers, I guess had taken it over or they were the ones occupying it at this time. And they had a. They were all about being up to the latest technological brewing standards, which at the time were giant wooden vats secured with these iron rings. Like a giant barrel, basically. Right?
A
Yeah, yeah. These giant barrels girdled with heavy iron hoops. And this was sort of a fad or a trend for breweries at the time. The vats were meant to be displayed to visitors. Right. They were meant to be a show stopping spectacle and to impress potential customers. So there was this kind of a one upsmanship contest where in different breweries would try to build progressively larger vats and barrels. And you just said how, how big these were. To put it in another perspective, they're three stories tall and as you said, they're built of wood with just some hoops around them. Very heavy iron hoops for structural integrity.
B
Yeah. And let's not forget the type of beer that was being brewed here was something akin to a stout, like a dark porter ale, which was very popular at the time. And this vat would hold 3,500 barrels of this brown stuff.
A
And everything is fine for years, for like four years, everything is fine until it isn't. On October 17, 1814, in this area of St. Giles, which we should mention is a poor area of London, several things are happening. There is a woman named Ann Seville, who is mourning the tragic death of her two year old son John, who had just died the day earlier on October 16, and she is mourning in her cellar apartment. A lot of people live in basements in this area and then upstairs on the first floor of this tenement on New Street, a lady named Mary Banfield is sitting down for tea with her daughter Hannah, who is 4. And then across, across the way or Nearby, there's a 14 year old named Eleanor Cooper at the Tavistock Arms public house whose scouring pots.
B
Teenage barmaid.
A
Teenage barmaid, yeah, or scullery maid at the very least. She is by this outdoor water pump that's right next to a brick wall that's about 25ft high. And the brewery that you mentioned, Noel, that you described for us earlier, is directly on the other side of that barrier. They're famous for this porter that you mentioned and they produce more than 100,000 barrels of this each year. It was big business. And around 4:30pm that day, a storehouse clerk named George Crick looks at one of these huge wooden vats and he's looking at it from above, right? And as he's staring down, he notices something's off. One of those hoops, which weighs 700 pounds, has slipped off a cask. And the porter that's storing is 10 months old. Crick's been with the company for almost two decades and he knew that this kind of thing, this slippage of the hoop could happen maybe once to three times a year. And he didn't think too much of it. He was just like, sometimes things happen.
B
Were they not doing proper maintenance on this monstrosity?
A
It's hard to say, man. You know, they must have had to do some sort of regular maintenance just because it's wood.
B
Yeah. But I imagine that like safety and, you know, health inspections wasn't really much of a thing back in these days. So those probably like left their own devices a little bit. But yeah. So that one hoop pops off and you can imagine like what we're talking like maybe like eight of these hoops for this giant cask, Right?
A
Sure, yeah.
B
So that's significantly weakening it structurally. And then the other hoops start to kind of follow suit or at least the, I don't know, it starts to weaken the entire thing. It's like a domino effect almost, Right?
A
Yeah, that's a good way to put it. So George Crick goes ahead and fills up the vat all the way almost to the top, almost to the brim. I think four inches away from the top and this like more than 20ft high, wait.
B
He sees the thing pop off and then he's just like, ah, screw it, and still gonna.
A
He sees that it slipped.
B
I see.
A
At this point it slipped. And he told his boss about it and his boss said that quote, no harm whatever would ensue and sounds like.
B
A real villainous type.
A
I know. I can't help but picture him as such. And he told Crick he was just like, George, you should write a letter to another guy who works at the brewery and they can fix it later, but we'll be fine for now. Don't worry about it. And then Crick sits down and he's filled up the vat, he writes this letter and it's about 5:30 when he finishes writing the letter and. And then he hears a massive explosion.
B
Yeah, yeah, a massive explosion that set forth all of those thousands of barrels of this. It was hot actually, because it was mid ferment. Right. Just gushing. And it was so forceful that it actually took out a wall in the brewery that allowed it to continue to flood into the streets of that area we're describing earlier. And not to mention that as it went it took out the other casks that were around as well that may have not held the same volume total, but added up together made for a whole nother problem.
A
Right, exactly. So that large barrier we mentioned earlier, where the 14 year old Eleanor Cooper is working that wall collapses. It kills her instantly. The sheer force of this explosion sends bricks flying through the air across Great Russell street and a deluge of beer rushes through the neighborhood. And it's sweeping away like this is an actual flood. It's sweeping away everything in its path.
B
Well, this is like 320 plus thousand gallons of beer.
A
Yeah. And that one, that first vat alone held the equivalent of 1 million pints of beer.
B
Jesus.
A
And again, as we said just a moment ago, that wasn't the only vat that went and there was no drainage. We should mention that on these city streets there's not like a sewage system.
B
Have we talked about the great stink of London, Ben? I think we have, we have. Remember how nasty that city was pre sewage system? You know, it was just the streets were literally caked in human excrement. And so this beer is washing all that along with it. People are getting swept up in the flood. Can you imagine the smell?
A
It must have been disgusting.
B
I mean think about how it smells like downtown Atlanta or somewhere like little five points, like after like a weekend, you know, it just smells like pee and stale beer.
A
Or just outside of our building.
B
Just outside of our building. It's true. This must have been that like to the nth power.
A
And it happens so quickly. It's difficult for us to fully articulate how quickly this occurs. People who live in the neighborhood are losing their minds. They're screaming zoists and whatnot and they're hopping up on pieces of furniture. They're trying to save themselves from drowning, which was a real possibility because this flood was so strong and so forceful that some of the houses that were in disrepair crumbled themselves so your house could fall on you. This episode of Ridiculous History is brought to you by American Public University.
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All right, here's where it gets gross. Okay, it's already pretty gross at this point, but a lot of the folks were trying to, you know, make this see the silver lining in this situation. And you know, likely they were alcoholics because they were just like, hey, free beer. So they would get like whatever receptacle they get their hands on, a bucket or whatever and start scooping this stuff up and drinking it. And some people just lapped it up off the street. And again, lots of poop mixed in with this beer at this point, right?
A
Lots Lots of poop detritus, Road dirt, roadkill. Yeah. And let's also not forget that this beer was mid fermentation. So it wasn't even done. Yeah, it wasn't even like beer beer. Yeah.
B
So where are we at fatality wise at this point, Ben, as this deluge makes its way through St. Giles Rookery, another area where I believe some of the city's ports tourists were living. And this is another very sad detail here Ben. This happened during the day. So the men would have been away at work. So the folks that were at home that would have experienced the brunt of this beer nami would have been children and women, Right?
A
Exactly. Let's explore some of the fatalities. So we mentioned the unfortunate end of 14 year old barmaid Eleanor Cooper. She died pretty quickly, near instantly as far as we can tell. But let's also revisit some of the characters we introduced earlier in the story. Anne Seville, who was mourning again the death of her two year old son John, was holding a wake in their basement apartment when the beer flood hit. They had no time or no way to get out. So Seville along with the other three mourners were all killed by this beer. And then the couple that we had mentioned, the mom and daughter having tea on the first floor of their tenement, Mary Banfield and her four year old daughter Hannah, they both passed away. So this, this gets us up to, let's see, Eleanor, the four mourners, Mary and Hannah. This gets us up to seven fatalities in a matter of minutes. But that's not all. There was one more fatality, right Noel?
B
Yeah, this is probably as a direct result of these booze scoopers that we were talking about earlier that were just, you know, chugging the stuff from the streets, hence my opening phrase, chugging it to the streets. And apparently this last death was alcohol poisoning. And not to make light, but you know, it's sort of like you did it to yourself, buddy. You escaped the actual deluge that all of these innocents were subjected to and then you went and drank yourself to death like a jerk. Cause isn't like half fermented booze dangerous, isn't it? Like the ethanol really strong or something like that?
A
I don't know.
B
I thought so. I know, like moonshine, if you drink it before it's finished or something like that, it can be really, really dangerous. But I don't know if that applies. I'm just spitballing here, but do we.
A
Know, Noel, whether or not that was intentional alcohol poison, you know what I mean? Where they just try not to drown and they manage to not drown.
B
Interesting.
A
But they.
B
Unclear, Ben. Unclear, Unclear.
A
I don't know. I just want to just. Not that they need me to defend them, but possibly. I though. I don't want to sound too cynical about it. I'm tempted to think it's the first idea you proposed and that they just drank themselves to death. There could have been more deaths, more fatalities. It's pretty astonishing, in fact, that so few people died as a result of this flood. This. What'd you say earlier? Beer. Nami. I like.
B
Oh, yeah.
A
The worst damage does occur there on New street. And now this neighborhood is soaked in beer. Everything stinks. People are covered in hot malt liquor. Three brewery employees almost died, but they were luckily pulled from this temporary raging river and people rescuers arrived on the scene and they were trying with their bare hands to go through the rubble and find anyone who was trapped inside. And they had to. They were in a really weird situation because people are losing their minds, wailing and screaming, and they're like, you have to be quiet because we're trying to hear people in the rubble.
B
Yeah, yeah. It's a real scene, Ben. And surprise, surprise, this story, it doesn't have a happy ending on multiple levels. On the corporate level. Right. On the corporate greed and corruption level, there's some real palm grease and going on here and some shady backroom deals that caused the responsible parties, being the brewers, to kind of get away scot free. And remember, Ben, you mentioned houses were lost, foundations were wrecked, homes were crumbled because of this. This was that much beer. Can you believe it? It blows my mind that it would have kept that momentum going long enough to actually damage people's properties. I can't even picture the sheer volume of stinking brown hot booze.
A
And yeah, this does have a. Maybe sobering is not the right word.
B
For this episode, but it's funny, there.
A
Is a sobering aspect to this story, which is that this community was largely composed of Irish immigrants. And newspapers in the establishment at the time very much looked down on immigrants from Ireland. And the company that owned the brewery eventually did just fine. Cause you would think they would take a enormous financial hit right from losing literally all of their inventory, killing eight people and destroying a neighborhood and. But they initially thought they were gonna be in tough times because they had already paid the excise taxes on the booze, but somehow they got Parliament to give them a pass and they got their money back.
B
Yeah, not only that, they got Parliament or whatever governing body was overseeing this thing to rule the disaster. The collapse of this cask as an act of God, an unavoidable act of.
A
God, meaning no mortal entity could be.
B
Held responsible, and meaning no mortal got a dime right.
A
And this was only two days after the flood. A jury convened to investigate the accident. They visited the site of the tragedy. They viewed the corpses of the victims. They heard testimony from Crick, who we mentioned earlier, and as you said, Noel, they said this had been an act of God and that the victims had met their death casually, accidentally, and by misfortune.
B
I would agree with the last part.
A
I would.
B
It was definitely a serious case of.
A
Misfortune and there was a lot of speculation about the court being corrupt or bribed, but there was never an official statement made. And the brewery soldiered on for a long time, for more than a century. It wasn't until 1922 that it was demolished and they built something called the Dominion Theater on part of the site. In 2012, there was a pub in the area, the Holborn Whippet, that began marking the great beer flood of 1814 with a vat of porter brewed especially for the day, which to me feels like it's in poor taste. I'm just gonna go on the record.
B
And say that I would agree with you on the record.
A
This episode of Ridiculous History is brought to you by American Public University.
B
American Public University is the number one provider of education to our military and veterans in the country.
A
They offer something truly unique, special rates and grants for the entire family, making education affordable not just for those who serve, but also for their loved ones.
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The time of day, you can always look for new parts to upgrade your car. And if you are a serial ebay scroller, you know the rush when you finally spot the part you've been hunting for. Maybe you're restoring a classic and you track down the right seat covers but you're not sure the color will match. Or you find a steering wheel you love, but maybe it's a little too modern for the rest of your ride. Or you're just starting out swapping your wipers and you can't be sure which set is right. Here's where eBay's free returns change the game if it doesn't fit or it isn't what you expected. You can send it back. No stress. Just print a label, drop it off, and get your refund fast. So whether you're wrenching through a weekend project or just keeping your daily driver on the road, buy with confidence millions of parts free returns eBay things people love Eligible Items Only Exclusion supply.
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You can make a difference in someone's life, including your own, with a job in home care. These jobs offer flexible schedules, health care, retirement options, and free training. They also provide paid time off and opportunities for overtime. Visit oregonhomecarejobs.com to learn more and apply that's oregonhomecarejobs.com is moderate to severe plaque psoriasis keeping you covered up and feeling less confident. Clearer skin with Bimzelix can give you a chance to say, I'm back. Bimzelix bimakizumab bkzx Bembezil is a prescription medication taken by injection used to treat moderate to severe plaque psoriasis in adults who are candidates for systemic therapy or phototherapy. Bimzelix can deliver transformative relief Most people got 100% clear skin in combined clinical studies, nearly 9 in 10 people saw 90% clearer skin and more than 6 in 10 saw 100% clear skin at the end. 16 weeks. Start getting back to liking your reflection. Say so long to long sleeves. Love your skin again with Bimzelix only Bimzelics targets and blocks IL17A F to calm inflammation. Serious side effects like suicidal thoughts and behavior, infections and lowered ability to fight them. Liver problems and inflammatory bowel disease have occurred. Tell your doctor if these happen or worsen or fevers, chills, muscle aches or cough occur or you've had a vaccine or plan to before starting, get checked for infections, tuberculosis and liver problems. Get back to clearer skin. Ask your dermatologist about Bimzelix, the first approved treatment of its kind. Learn more@bimzeclx.com or call 1-833-UCB now one.
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Running a business online with GoDaddy instantly build trust with your customers and boost your credibility with an email that matches your domain so people know you mean business.
B
There's never been a better time. Just visit GoDaddy.com GDnow and choose from a wide variety of popular domains. To find the one that's right for you.
A
Pair that with a professional email that works for all your business needs, from daily communications to email marketing and everything in between. That's a little price for a lot of credibility.
B
For a limited time, get a domain and matching professional email for just 99 cents a month for one year.
A
Go to GoDaddy.comGdNow and look legit with GoDaddy.
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That's GoDaddy.comGdNow again, GoDaddy.comGdNow there's never been.
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A better time to choose the domain and email that's right for you.
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New customer purchases only products Auto renew separately.
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See terms on site godaddy.com gdnow so another strange aspect of this story is that this is not the only strange beverage flood, I think. Do we ever mention the Great Molasses Flood?
B
I don't know if we've done a full episode on it, but this is definitely a parallel. That's like the American equivalent of this because I don't know there's ever been another booze flood kind of like this because they switched after this. This did bring about some change in the brewing process. They change. Changed it to concrete casks as opposed to these shoddy, you know, rickety wooden casks. But what's the Great Molasses Flood? Is it great as well? We were talking off air about how it's funny when we have a date and then the great A thing implying there may have been lesser versions of that.
A
The Mediocre Beer flood. Yeah. So the Great Molasses Flood, also known as the Boston Molasses Disaster, occurred in January of 1919 when a huge storage tank of molasses burst, causing molasses to rush through the streets at like 35 miles an hour. 150 people were injured, 21 people died. And then there was the Honolulu Molasses spill, which happened in 2013. So this stuff isn't just ancient history. Luckily, no humans as far as we know, passed away in that molasses spill, but it did tremendous damage to the maritime environment. And then there's one other one. I just like the name. I don't know if you've heard this name. No, I want to see what you think about it. The Pepsi Fruit Juice Flood. That sounds like a drink.
B
That sounds like a really cool band. Hey, you guys going to see the Pepsi Fruit Juice Flood at Red Rocks?
A
I caught him in Bonnaroo. You know, I just. I love their live work. Yeah. They've taken a different direction on their new album. Yeah. The Pepsi Fruit Juice Flood, which I feel like they might put out as a beverage one day, was a flood of 28 million liters of fruit and vegetable juice into the streets of a town in Russia called Lebdian. And it was caused by a collapse of a PepsiCo warehouse. No deaths resulted from the spill, but there were two injuries. And the streets were awash with pineapple, apricot, tangerine, grape, mango, pomegranate, apple, cherry, orange, apple, grapefruit, and tomato juice. So if you're going to make a commemorative drink for that, those would be the ingredients, and I think that would taste pretty nasty, right?
B
It does seem so. That doesn't seem like a very good combination of flavors.
A
It's like, did you ever drink V8?
B
I like V8 Splash, but no, I do not like tomato juice, if that's what you're asking me. What am I supposed to drink Clamato next?
A
Like, what's the difference between V8 Splash and V8?
B
V8 Splash has, like, fruit juices in it. It has just a little bit. It hides the carrot juice in the tomato juice. It's veiled. Kids like to drink it. It's a taste bit. Juice, beverage.
A
Well, you know what? Maybe I'll give it a shot. Noel, I have never tried V8 nor V8 splash. Am I experiencing a life unlived?
B
No, man. It takes. I mean, you know, you've got your path, you've got your story. You know, it doesn't have to include V8.
A
Thanks, man. I really appreciate.
B
You drink other beverages that, you know. I don't drink. Like milk.
A
I don't drink milk.
B
You don't drink milk? No. Not even nut milk?
A
I feel like milk is an ingredient. We actually, we had this conversation before with one of our coworkers, a great guy, Paul Decent, who also has the nickname Mission Control. And he is definitely a fan of drinking milk. Wouldn't you say so, Casey?
D
Absolutely.
A
Have you guys had that conversation about milk as an ingredient versus a beverage?
D
I mean, I consume it as a.
A
Beverage, too, so I'm right there with him.
B
I like chocolate milk.
A
Yeah, same, same. I used to. Did you guys ever hear the story, this has nothing to do with the great beer flood of 1814, but did you guys ever hear this story of, I guess, the old urban legend that chocolate milk was originally created to hide blood clots and impurities?
B
Delicious way to hide it.
A
Okay, well, Casey on the case. And this ends our tale for today. Thank you so much for tuning in, ridiculous historians. Thank you, super producer Casey Pegram. Noel, my friend, as always, thank you for exploring this strange, disturbing tale.
B
Yeah, there's a lot going on here. It's sort of a tale of wealth and poverty and, you know, the rich running roughshod over the poor. We sort of didn't really see that aspect of it until the end, but it's definitely there. And it's gross. It's gross philosophically and also physically gross because it's hot beer rushing through the poop laden streets of London town. Right. Washing away children having tea parties.
A
I know. And no one got in trouble. No one went to jail. It's a shame. But at least it did lead to better safety standards.
B
That's true. Well, speaking of things leading to things, this is the part of the show where we lead to the end of the show.
A
Nice segue, Noel.
B
Dude, my Segway game is on fire.
A
It's great.
B
I'm really working on it. I've been saving that one you've been.
A
Putting in the work.
B
Thanks, Ben.
A
You can find us on Instagram, you can find us on Facebook, you can find us on Twitter, but more importantly, you can find us and your fellow ridiculous historians on our Facebook community page. Ridiculous historians?
B
Yeah, it's a lot of fun. There's some good conversation there. Some good memeries, some good history weirdness. Good conversation. I already said that. All of those things. You can find it right there. Go to ridiculous historians. All you have to do is name one of our names or something. And even if you just make up something clever, we'll let you in.
A
If it's funny, we'll let you in. Totally.
B
We'd like to thank our research associate, Gabe, who helped us out with this one. We'd also like to thank our buddy Alex Williams, who composed this theme.
A
Do you think he even knows that we include a thank you to him in every episode?
B
I told him.
A
Oh, you told him.
B
Yeah, he nodded. He's a very demure kind of dude.
A
Yeah. Oh, what's our comic book recommendation?
B
Comic book recommendation for today. This one might be a little on the nose, but I had a friend tell me how I got the movie version of Watchmen all wrong, how I need to go back and watch it again. I have not done that yet, but I really felt like it kind of missed the mark of what that comic was all about. So I really recommend going back and revisiting not the movie Watchmen, but the incredible seminal graphic novel Watchmen. By Alan Moore, Watchman.
A
I also, oddly enough, have an Alan Moore recommendation that I was thinking about.
B
Cool.
A
Providence. Providence is the. Is the story of a writer who explores the world of H.P. lovecraft. This guy who kind of who wants to meet H.P. lovecraft and has all these weird experiences that if you like HP Lovecraft and you like Alan Moore, you're going to love this. That's all I can say.
B
See you next time, folks. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows, folks.
A
Balancing work, family and education is not easy. However, American Public University makes it possible.
B
With online courses, monthly start dates and flexible schedules. APU is designed for busy professionals who need education that fits their lives and.
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Affordability matters as well. APU offers the opportunity grant, giving students 10% off undergraduate and master's level tuition, helping you reach your goals without breaking the bank.
B
Plus, they provide career services and 24. 7 mental health support at no extra cost. Visit Apu Apus Edu to learn more.
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That's Apu Apus Edu.
C
Let'S be real Life happens. Kids spill, pets shed and accidents are inevitable. Find a sofa that can keep up@washablesofas.com starting starting at just $699, our sofas are fully machine washable inside and out so you can say goodbye to stains and hello to worry free living. Made with liquid and stain resistant fabrics, they're kid proof, pet friendly and built for everyday life. Plus, changeable fabric covers let you refresh your sofa whenever you want. Need flexibility? Our modular design lets you rearrange your sofa any time to fit your space, whether it's a growing family room or a cozy apartment. Plus, they're earth friendly and trusted by over 200,000 happy customers. It's time to upgrade to a stress free, mess proof sofa. Visit washablesofas.com today and save that's washablesofas.com offers are subject to change and certain restrictions may apply.
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Hey, what's up? It's Mario Lopez. Back to school is an exciting time, but it can also be overwhelming and kids may feel isolated, a vulnerability that.
B
Human traffickers can exploit. Human trafficking doesn't always look like what you expect.
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Everyday moments can become opportunities for someone.
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With bad intentions, whether you're a parent.
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Teacher, coach or neighbor.
B
Check in, ask questions, stay connected. Blue Campaign is a national awareness initiative.
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That provides resources to help recognize suspected.
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Instances of human trafficking. Learn the signs and how to report@dhs.gov blue campaign the day begins at the.
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Chase Sapphire Lounge by the Club at Boston Logan Airport. You get the clam chowder in San Diego, it's Tostadas New York. Espresso martini.
D
It's 10am why not?
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It's the quiet before your next flight, the shower that resets your day, the menu that lets you know where you.
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Are this is access to over 1300.
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Airport lounges and every Sapphire lounge by the club. And one one card that gets you in Chase Sapphire Reserve the most rewarding card. Learn more@chase.com Sapphire Reserve cards issued by JP Morgan, Chase bank and a member.
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FDIC subject to credit approval.
C
Every business has an ambition. PayPal Open is the platform designed to help you grow into yours with business loans so you can expand and access to hundreds of millions of PayPal customers worldwide. And your customers can pay all the ways they want with PayPal, Venmo, pay later and and all major cards so you can focus on scaling up when it's time to get growing. There's one platform for all business PayPal open grow today at paypalopen. Com loans subject to approval in available locations.
B
This is an iHeart podcast.
Podcast: Ridiculous History
Hosts: Ben Bowlin (A), Noel Brown (B)
Episode Date: September 20, 2025
Main Theme:
A deep dive into the bizarre and tragic Great London Beer Flood of 1814, where an industrial accident at the Horseshoe Brewery caused a massive vat of beer to burst, flooding a poor London neighborhood with over a million pints of porter, resulting in deaths, destruction, and an enduringly ridiculous chapter in British history.
Ben and Noel revisit the infamous Great London Beer Flood, exploring its causes, impact, and the social injustices it highlighted. The episode weaves historical context, dark humor, and thoughtful commentary to bring the tragedy—and its aftermath—to life.
"These giant barrels girdled with heavy iron hoops... were meant to be a show stopping spectacle... there was this kind of one-upsmanship contest." – Ben (07:22)
Warning Signs:
"No harm whatever would ensue." – Ben quoting the supervisor (11:39)
The Explosion:
“It happens so quickly... a deluge of beer rushes through the neighborhood. It was sweeping away everything in its path.” – Ben (13:29)
Neighborhood Devastation:
Victims:
"They were alcoholics because they were just like, hey, free beer. So they would get like whatever receptacle they could get... and start scooping this stuff up and drinking it." – Noel (19:36)
"Lots of poop detritus, road dirt, roadkill... and let's not forget that this beer was mid fermentation, so it wasn't even done." – Ben (20:05)
"Not only that, they got Parliament... to rule the disaster... as an act of God, an unavoidable act... meaning no mortal entity could be held responsible." – Noel (25:46–26:06)
Victims’ Plight:
Systemic Change:
Ben and Noel maintain their signature mix of irreverent humor, macabre fascination, and genuine empathy. While the story is at times distressing, they use wit and banter to keep the storytelling engaging and informative, never losing sight of the suffering endured by the victims or the callousness of the powerful.
The Great London Beer Flood serves as both a cautionary tale of unchecked industrial ambition and a profile in social injustice—where the poor paid with their lives, and the responsible parties went unpunished. Ben and Noel’s narrative reveals how easily history can become absurd and tragic in equal measure.
Further Reading/Recommendations: