About this episode

This episode explores the 1919 Boston molasses flood, its impact, and the lessons learned about corporate accountability.

On January 15, 1919, a massive steel tank in Boston's North End ruptured without warning, releasing 2.3 million gallons of molasses in a wave that reached 25 feet high and moved at 35 miles per hour. It crushed buildings, snapped elevated train tracks, and killed 21 people. The cleanup took weeks. The myths have lasted a century. In this episode, Andrea takes us through one of the strangest industrial disasters in American history. Why was that much molasses sitting in a residential neighborhood? What did rescuers face when the wave finally stopped? And how did a flood of sugar end up changing corporate accountability in America forever? Join Andrea and Crystal as they wade through the science of why this wave was anything but slow, and the medical realities of drowning in syrup.

People in this episode

Host: Andrea

Guest: Crystal

Topics covered

• industrial disaster
• molasses flood
• corporate accountability
• Boston history
• medical realities
• science of disasters

Keywords

• molasses flood
• Boston
• industrial disaster
• January 15, 1919
• corporate accountability
• drowning in syrup
• cleanup

Mentioned in this episode

Places: Boston

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