The Exploding Whale (1970)

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It’s November 12th. This day in 1970, a small town in Oregon decides that the best way to get rid of a massive whale that has washed up on its shores is by… dynamiting it into oblivion.

Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss why the plan went so awry, pay tribute to the one local who was trying to warn everyone — and discuss how footage of the incident became one of the first viral videos.

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Our team: Jacob Feldman, Researcher/Producer; Brittani Brown, Producer; Khawla Nakua, Transcripts; music by Teen Daze and Blue Dot Sessions; Audrey Mardavich is our Executive Producer at Radiotopia