As you can tell by the title of this episode this isn’t a normal episode of The Brady Heywood Podcast. In today’s episode we introduce you to a new show that we’ve been working on called Simplifying Complexity, a podcast all about complexity science. Simplifying Complexity is all about understanding the underlying principles that govern how systems work; systems as diverse as economies, ecologies, cities and countries. In each episode, we'll meet with the experts, and learn everything from...

In today's episode, we bring to a close our three-part series on the collapse of a pedestrian bridge in Miami, Florida, in 2018.  In part one, you heard about the cracks in the bridge and how nothing was done about them. And in part two, you heard about the serious errors that were made in the bridge's design. In this episode, we take a deep dive into two unanswered questions from this failure: just why did everyone ignore the cracks in the bridge, and why did a rigorous checking process...

Today's episode is the second of a three-part series on the 2018 collapse of the International University Pedestrian Bridge in Miami, Florida. In our last episode, you heard how a pedestrian bridge under construction at the Florida International University collapsed in 2018 and killed six people. While many things came together to cause the collapse of this structure, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) identified some serious errors in the design of the bridge. In this episode,...

Today's episode is the first of a three-part series about the 2018 collapse of the Florida International University pedestrian bridge in Miami, Florida. In this part, you'll hear how the signals which could have prevented the collapse of the bridge were ignored, leading to the deaths of six people. You'll also hear how the checks and balances put in place to identify these bad decisions failed. And how this bridge gave warning sign after warning sign that something was wrong, but the...

Today's episode is a little different. It explores 'The Brady Review', a report Brady Heywood undertook on the mining and quarrying industry in Queensland, Australia. From January 2000 until the end of July 2019, 47 people lost their lives in the mining and quarrying industry in Queensland, Australia. That's an average of 2.4 fatalities per year, or 12 fatalities in any five year period. What's causing these fatalities? Is it that the mining industry is inherently hazardous? Or is it bad...

CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains vivid descriptions of how the miners, who lost their lives in the disaster, died. Listener discretion is advised.   In this final episode of our three part series on the Pike River Mine disaster, we bring the story to a close. We examine what took place on the day of the disaster, 19 November, 2010.   Resources and links: Royal Commission on the Pike River Coal Mine Tragedy   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In part one of this three-part series on The Pike River Mine Disaster you heard what took place in the minutes, hours and days following the methane explosion at the mine. In this episode, we’ll step back and look at the history of the mine. You’ll hear how the factors that led to the explosion, instead of suddenly presenting themselves on November 19, 2010, had been building over the months and years earlier. Click here to view the Royal Commission into the disaster. See...

CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains vivid descriptions of the moments that the disaster occurred. Listener discretion is advised. On the 19th of November 2010, New Zealand experienced one of its worst mining disasters when there was an explosion deep within the Pike River coal mine. Today’s episode is the first of a two-part series about the disaster. In this part, you’ll hear about the immediate events that initiated the tragedy from the perspective of the people on the ground and in...

It's 1970, and the mayor of Montreal, Jean Drapeau, declares that the 1976 Montreal Games will be self-financing.  In his view, these games can no more have a deficit "...than a man can have a baby". In fact, he thinks the real problem will be in determining how to spend the surplus. But over the coming years, all this optimism will evaporate, and the games will become a financial disaster.  This project had everything: poor planning, fraudulent practice and corruption. And it shows what...

In this episode, we head to Boston. The 'Big Dig' was a road and tunnel construction project designed to solve Boston's congestion problems. With the final project cost exceeding $14 billion USD, this megaproject took 20 years to complete. It involved constructing 25 km of highway lanes, 8 km of tunnel, 16 interchanges and 200 bridges. But on the 10th of July 2006, at 11:01 pm, a section of the I-90 tunnel collapsed unexpectedly, with tragic results. So what happened? Why did it take six...

In this short podcast we discuss the re-release of our Apollo 13 Series as Saving Apollo 13. We also talk about the subject of the next more 'traditional' Brady Heywood Podcast Episode. Saving Apollo 13 is available on iTunes via the link below or by searching 'Saving Apollo 13' wherever you find good podcasts: Apple Podcasts: Saving Apollo 13 👨‍🚀 Follow the show on social media: Twitter: @SavingApollo_13 Instagram:  savingapollo13 Facebook: @savingapollo13 Contact Wavelength...

Want to take a deep dive behind the scenes of our Apollo 13 podcast series? Want to know the cause of the failure? Then this podcast is for you. We’ll talk about each episode, cover the technical material we left out, discuss the cause, and even chat about Ron Howard’s excellent movie, Apollo 13. We’ll even throw in a clue about our next long-form series… Twitter...

Apollo 13 is about to undertake one of the most improvised and dangerous re-entries ever attempted by NASA. Will John Aaron and the Tiger Team figure out how to power back up the Command Module in time? Has the heat shield been damaged? Are their parachute's frozen?    This is the final episode of Apollo 13. But be sure to subscribe to the podcast because we will be releasing an Addendum episode in late January 2019. In this episode we'll take a behind the scenes look at Apollo 13. We'll...

The crew of Apollo 13 begin their long fall to earth. In this entire episode we stay with the crew as they go around the moon, fight to keep their LEM functioning and their trajectory correct - all while their spacecraft begins to freeze around them. The final episode will be released next Thursday. The series is accompanied by bonus material, in the form of photographs and graphics, which will be posted on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Twitter...

"I don’t give a damn about the odds and I don’t give a damn that we’ve never done anything like this before. You’ve got to believe, your people have got to believe, that this crew is coming home." Gene Kranz to the Tiger Team, Room 210, April 1970. The Tiger Team and Mission Control work through the long range problems of getting Apollo 13 home. Meanwhile, the astronauts attempt to confirm their position and trajectory as the moon continues to grow larger in their windows.  A new episode...

Following the explosion, the three astronauts and Mission Control fight to save the dying spacecraft. And Gene Kranz assembles a team to tackle an impossible rescue.  A new episode will be released every Thursday. The series is accompanied by bonus material, in the form of photographs and graphics, which will be posted on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Twitter...

Apollo 13 is 200,000 miles from earth when it’s crippled by an explosion. On board are astronauts Jack Swigert, Fred Haise, and Commander Jim Lovell. In this five-part series we follow the story of the three astronauts, as well as the scores of people in Mission Control, who scramble to bring Apollo 13 home. We take a deep dive into both the human and technical challenges they face.  A new episode will be released every Thursday for the next five weeks. The series will also be accompanied...

Listen to our Apollo 13 teaser, with actual audio from its launch on 11 April 1970. In the New Year we will tackle the story of Apollo 13. In this episode we chat about the podcast journey so far and we discuss the new episodes currently in the planning stages. Follow on Twitter at @BradyHeywoodPod Follow on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/bradyheywoodpod/ Follow on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/bradyheywoodpod/ Email [email protected] See omnystudio.com/listener for...

The collapse of the I-40 bridge in 2002 was a tragedy, but its aftermath was a story you simply couldn't make up. It begins with a barge, a bridge, and an impostor, and it ends with a prison sentence, Vladimir Putin, and cheque fraud in Alaska. Follow on Twitter at @BradyHeywoodPod Email [email protected] A photograph of the collapse is available at http://www.wkbw.com/news/photos-historic-bridge-collapses-in-the-us#id18 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Can ego knock a bridge down? How one man's decisions caused the collapse of the Quebec Bridge. Follow the podcast on twitter @BradyHeywoodPod The Royal Commission Report into the collapse can be found at http://publications.gc.ca/site/archivee-archived.html?url=http://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2016/bcp-pco/Z1-1907-5-1-1-eng.pdf See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why do the really big catastrophes happen? The earthquakes, the financial crashes, and even the outbreak of the First World War. In this episode we dive into the weird world of complexity theory. Follow the podcast on twitter @BradyHeywoodPod Mark Buchanan's Ubiquity can be found at https://www.amazon.com/Ubiquity-Catastrophes-Happen-Mark-Buchanan/dp/0609809989 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The aircraft crashes that changed the world of aviation. And the reason aircraft windows aren't square. Follow the podcast on twitter @BradyHeywoodPod A number of books cover the crash of the aircraft, but Henry Petroski's To Engineer is Human is one of the best: https://www.amazon.com/Engineer-Human-Failure-Successful-Design/dp/0679734163 There are a number of documentaries on YouTube, including: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68XH9r4FyNs See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy...

On 1 August 2007 at 6:05 pm, during rush hour traffic, the I35-W Highway Bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota collapsed into the Mississippi River. We’ll look at how a bridge could suddenly collapse after 40 years of service. And we’ll ask was there an issue with design, or was there abnormal bridge loading at the time of the failure? Or was there both? Follow the podcast on twitter @BradyHeywoodPod The National Transportation Safety Board's report can be found at...

Did the Hanging Garden of Babylon actually exist or was it myth? And why bother talking about it in this podcast? Because apart from whether or not the Garden existed, or more importantly where it was located, the story of its history is fascinating. But even more fascinating is the extraordinary engineering achievement that may have underpinned its very existence.  Follow the podcast on twitter @BradyHeywoodPod A sketch of the Garden, as well as the bas relief depicting the garden at...