This episode we are going to do something a little different. At the suggestion of multiple listeners, Emily and I have both watched Armageddon and Deepwater Horizon! Armageddon because: Drilling and Space and we thought it was going to be a fun movie. Spoiler Alert it opened up some existential questions about women's portrayal in the media and what that means for our daughter! Then we watched Deepwater Horizon because we wanted to know what Marky Mark knows about Oil Rigs! It turns out he was the smartest person on the boat and Emily has a theory about a different Iconic film that we will discuss at length.

We will talk about how closely the movie seems to match real life events and then get into the actual explosion and what they think caused the disaster. Next episode we should be back to our normally scheduled programming but Let us know what you think about this format we may be mixing in some of these looser episodes in the future. Hope you enjoy our Movie Night!

“A Sea in Flames: The Deepwater Horizon Oil Blowout” By Carl Safina-2011

“Armageddon” Directed by Michael Bay (1998) Starring Bruce Willis, Liv Tyler, Ben Affleck, Steve Buscemi ect..

“Deepwater Horizon” Directed by Peter Berg (2016) Mark Wahlberg Kurt Russel Kate Hudson John Malkovich

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The BP Gulf Oil spill is the largest marine oil spill in the history of the Petroleum Industry. The spill lasted for 87 days resulting in a conservative estimate of 3.19 Million Barrels or 134 Million Gallons of petroleum into the gulf of Mexico. Leading to over 1300 miles of oiled shoreline and 43,000 mile oil slick on the oceans surface. Not to mention the millions of gallons of oil dispersed under the water.

The breakout began with the explosion of the Deepwater Horizons Oil Drilling Platform. Leading to the deaths of 11 crewmen and the injury of 17 serious injuries.

Because of the chaos of the disaster and the subsequent fumbled clean up effort. The exact circumstances of the explosion are a bit foggy but what we do know paints a picture of bad management, poor decision making, faulty equipment and materials, and a general sense of recklessness and need for cost cutting.

This will be a story of fingerpainting, ineffective fixes, and ham-fisted coverup attempts all while tens of thousands of barrels of toxic sludge get pumped into a marine ecosystem that is pivotal for hundreds of species that come from near and far to rest in the calm warm waters.

Sources:

“A Sea in Flames: The Deepwater Horizon Oil Blowout” By Carl Safina (2011)

“A Very Brief History of Offshore Drilling” Costalreview.org by Frank Tursi (2015) https://coastalreview.org/2015/06/a-very-brief-history-of-offshore-drilling/

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This week we wrap up the Spinach King! We get into the demise of the company and the sons trying to declare their father incompetent, while he tries to claim they've kidnapped him! It's a wild ride but we're going to button up all the loose ends and finish all our spinach.

Sources: The Spinach King The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty by John Seabrook

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