From Cautionary Tales: Death on the Dance Floor

Here's a special preview of the new season of Cautionary Tales from Pushkin Industries. On Cautionary Tales, best-selling author Tim Harford shares stories of human error, natural disasters, and tragic catastrophes from history that contain important lessons for today. In this episode, you'll hear about the Hyatt Regency Hotel disaster. With its splendid modern architecture, The Hyatt Regency was the place to be seen in Kansas City in 1981. Beneath space-age walkways, guests drank, laughed, and danced... not realizing that 60 tons of glass, concrete, and steel hanging above their heads was about to come crashing down. One hundred fourteen people died. But why? Was it cheap materials? Shoddy construction? Or a tiny error that seemed so insignificant that no one paid attention? Hear more from Cautionary Tales wherever you get your podcasts.