EP. 39: Pour Some Sugar on Me

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.