This, Again

When the world is burning, the most powerful people often have one job: show up. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it’s too little, too late. And sometimes, they don’t bother at all.
In this episode of This, Again, we’re looking at three centuries of leaders who vanished when their people needed them most - and what that absence cost them. From Marie Antoinette’s balcony gamble during the French Revolution, to Tsar Nicholas II’s abdication and brutal end, to Emperor Hirohito’s eerie silence and single broadcast, to the British Royal Family’s quiet misstep at the start of COVID - these are cautionary tales about the optics of leadership.
Along the way, we dig into the history of symbolic leadership, why monarchs morphed from rulers to figureheads, and how public expectations have shifted from balcony waves to livestreams.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
Why Marie Antoinette’s forced balcony moment briefly flipped mob rage into cheers.
How Nicholas II’s absence, and a fumbling abdication telegram, doomed the Romanovs.
The eerie impact of Hirohito’s Jewel Voice Broadcast, the first time the Japanese public heard their emperor speak.
Why the British Royals’ initial silence during COVID created a vacuum louder than words.
The psychology of symbolic leadership, and why absence reads as abandonment.
How public expectations of leaders have accelerated in the social media era.
Why It Matters:Because history keeps proving that in politics, the performance is the power. The moment you disappear from the stage, you risk losing the role entirely.
This, Again? is written, produced, and hosted by Mallory Faust.
 
For a full list of sources, visit https://thisagain.podbean.com/
 
Every effort was made to cross-check primary sources and modern research. Where paraphrasing is used, it’s drawn from the cited texts with narrative license for clarity and flow.
If you spot an error or have a source to suggest, DM @thisagainshow
 
*** Follow This, Again on Instagram: @thisagainshow ***
 
Marie Antoinette & the French Revolution
Tackett, Timothy. When the King Took Flight. Harvard University Press, 2003.
Schama, Simon. Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution. Vintage, 1989.
Fraser, Antonia. Marie Antoinette: The Journey. Anchor Books, 2002.
Price, Munro. The Road from Versailles: Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, and the Fall of the French Monarchy. St. Martin’s Press, 2013.
The Public Domain Review. “The Women’s March on Versailles, October 5–6, 1789.” Accessed 2024.
Nicholas II & the Romanovs
Massie, Robert K. Nicholas and Alexandra. Ballantine Books, 1967.
Figes, Orlando. A People’s Tragedy: The Russian Revolution 1891–1924. Penguin, 1997.
Smith, Douglas. Former People: The Final Days of the Russian Aristocracy. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2012.
Lieven, Dominic. Nicholas II: Emperor of All the Russias. St. Martin’s Press, 1993.
The Russian State Archive of Social and Political History (RGASPI). “Abdication Telegram of Nicholas II,” March 15, 1917.
Rappaport, Helen. The Romanov Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas and Alexandra. St. Martin’s Press, 2014.
King, Greg & Wilson, Penny. The Fate of the Romanovs. John Wiley & Sons, 2003.
Emperor Hirohito & WWII
Bix, Herbert P. Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan. HarperCollins, 2000.
Dower, John W. Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II. W. W. Norton & Company, 1999.
Large, Stephen S. Emperor Hirohito and Shōwa Japan: A Political Biography. Routledge, 1991.
Hata, Ikuhiko. “The Gyokuon-hōsō: The Emperor’s Broadcast of Surrender.” Japan Quarterly 42, no. 3 (1995).
Frank, Richard B. Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire. Random House, 1999.
The British Royal Family & COVID-19
The Guardian. “Queen’s coronavirus speech: ‘We will meet again’.” April 5, 2020.
BBC News. “Prince Charles tests positive for coronavirus.” March 25, 2020.
The Guardian. “UK lockdown: children’s rainbows in windows raise spirits.” March 30, 2020.
Toronto Star. “The Queen’s silence is a missed opportunity to connect.” March 2020.
YouGov. “Reactions to the Queen’s coronavirus address.” April 2020.
Townsend, Mark. The Monarchy and the Pandemic: How Britain’s Royal Family Responded to COVID-19. Guardian Feature, 2021.

A luxurious nightclub filled with palm fronds and politicians. A festival stage surrounded by screams. In this episode, we revisit two events separated by 80 years - but united by a chilling truth: when crowds gather, things can turn deadly fast.
We start with the Cocoanut Grove fire of 1942, a catastrophe that claimed 492 lives in just ten minutes. Locked exits. Flammable ceilings. One of Hollywood’s biggest cowboy stars. Then, we jump forward to Astroworld 2021 - another event where the warnings were there, but not the will to stop the show.
 
We explore:
What happens when design and denial collide
Why people freeze in disasters (normalcy bias)
How history keeps repeating, and how little accountability follows
The gut-punch stories of those who didn’t make it out
Why Travis Scott is still headlining festivals, and what that says about the industry
It’s about more than panic. It’s about power, perception, and the illusion of safety.
 
Attribution Notes:
Every effort was made to cross-check primary sources and modern research. Where paraphrasing is used, it’s drawn from the texts below with narrative license for clarity and flow.
If you spot an error or have a source to suggest, DM @thisagainshow
*** Follow This, Again on Instagram: @thisagainshow ***
This, Again is written, produced, and hosted by Mallory Faust. 
Sources: 
Cocoanut Grove Fire (1942)
Esposito, John C. *Fire in the Grove: The Cocoanut Grove Tragedy and Its Aftermath*. New York: Da Capo Press, 2006.
United States Fire Administration. *Cocoanut Grove Fire*. U.S. Fire Administration/Technical Report Series. Emmitsburg, MD: FEMA, 1983. https://apps.usfa.fema.gov/pdf/efop/efo47056.pdf.
"Cocoanut Grove Fire." *Boston Fire Historical Society*. Accessed September 2025. https://bostonfirehistory.org/the-story-of-the-cocoanut-grove-fire/.
"The Cocoanut Grove Fire, 1942." *Massachusetts Moments / Mass.gov*. Accessed September 2025. https://www.mass.gov/guides/the-cocoanut-grove-fire.
Astroworld Tragedy (2021–2024)
Queen, Jack, and Mike Spector. "Rapper Travis Scott Avoids Charges over Texas Crowd Crush." *Reuters*, June 29, 2023. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/rapper-travis-scott-faces-possible-criminal-charges-texas-crowd-crush-2023-06-29.
Serrano, Alejandro. "Travis Scott Won’t Be Indicted for Astroworld Concert Tragedy, Grand Jury Decides." *The Texas Tribune*, June 29, 2023. https://www.texastribune.org/2023/06/29/harris-county-astroworld-travis-scott/.
Doyle, Céilí, Matt Sledge, and Angelica Perez. "New Evidence Emerges in Travis Scott Astroworld Tragedy." *Houston Landing / The Texas Tribune*, July 28, 2023. https://www.texastribune.org/2023/07/28/travis-scott-houston-concert-police-report/.
"Houston Police Release Full Investigative Report into 2021 Astroworld Tragedy." *Pitchfork*, July 28, 2023. https://pitchfork.com/news/houston-police-release-full-investigative-report-into-2021-astroworld-tragedy/.
"9 of 10 Wrongful Death Suits over Astroworld Concert Crowd Surge Have Been Settled, Lawyer Says." *AP News*, May 8, 2024. https://apnews.com/article/astroworld-concert-wrongful-deaths-settlement-0a31947b59bc86f5423bf9ec05272557.
"Remaining Wrongful Death Lawsuit Filed after Deadly Astroworld Concert Has Been Settled, Lawyer Says." *AP News*, May 23, 2024. https://apnews.com/article/1cda1e925527de38ad2a37e71ebd99af.
"Judge Declines to Dismiss Lawsuits Filed against Rapper Travis Scott over Deadly Astroworld Concert." *AP News*, April 24, 2024. https://apnews.com/article/travis-scott-astroworld-concert-lawsuits-deaths-36b504c7d03483e7960fd31636cccecc.
"Criminal Probe Opened into Stampede at Rap Concert in Texas." *Reuters*, November 6, 2021. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/least-8-dead-many-injured-texas-music-festival-media-2021-11-06/.
"Travis Scott Headlines Rolling Loud California 2023." *Pitchfork*, January 18, 2023. https://pitchfork.com/news/travis-scott-headlines-rolling-loud-california-2023-lineup/.
"Astroworld Video Shows Fan Climb on Camera Platform Begging to Stop the Show." *The Independent*, November 7, 2021. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/astroworld-video-travis-scott-latest-b1953263.html.
"ICU Nurse Recounts Horror at Astroworld Festival." *KHOU News*, November 8, 2021. https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/icu-nurse-astroworld-fest/285-b0f1a92f-d7ea-4aa1-b6cb-dac96227cba0.
Psychology & Disaster Behavior
"Normalcy Bias: The Brain’s Inability to Process the Unthinkable." *Yale School of Medicine*. Accessed September 2025. https://medicine.yale.edu/news-article/normalcy-bias/.
"Normalcy Bias." *The Decision Lab*. Accessed September 2025. https://thedecisionlab.com/biases/normalcy-bias.
Gurton, Amanda. "Cognitive Biases Within Decision Making During Fire Evacuations." *ResearchGate*, 2018. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323556184_Cognitive_Biases_Within_Decision_Making_During_Fire_Evacuations.
Historical Echoes – The Who, Station, Hillsborough
"Crowd Surge at a Who Concert Killed 11 People in 1979." *Washington Post*, November 9, 2021. https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2021/11/09/the-who-concert-tragedy/.
"45 Years Later: Reflecting on Deadly Crowd Crush at The Who Concert." *Fox19*, December 3, 2024. https://www.fox19.com/2024/12/03/45-years-later-reflecting-cincinnatis-deadly-crowd-crush-stampede/.
"Eleven People Killed in a Stampede outside Who Concert in Cincinnati, Ohio." *History.com*. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/december-3/eleven-people-killed-in-a-stampede-outside-who-concert-in-cincinnati-ohio.
National Institute of Standards and Technology. *Report of the Technical Investigation of The Station Nightclub Fire*. NIST NCSTAR 2. Gaithersburg, MD: U.S. Department of Commerce, 2005. https://www.nist.gov/publications/report-technical-investigation-station-nightclub-fire-nist-ncstar-2-volume-1.
"The Station Nightclub Fire." *Encyclopaedia Britannica*. Accessed 2025. https://www.britannica.com/event/The-Station-nightclub-fire.
"Injuries Sustained and Lessons Learned from the 2003 Station Nightclub Fire." *ASPR TRACIE*, January 9, 2025. https://files.asprtracie.hhs.gov/documents/injuries-sustained-and-lessons-learned-from-the-2003-station-nightclub-fire.pdf.
Hillsborough Independent Panel. *The Report of the Hillsborough Independent Panel*. London: HMSO, 2012. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/229019/0581.pdf.
 

On January 28, 1986, millions watched as the Space Shuttle Challenger lifted off with a teacher on board - only to explode 73 seconds later. Thirty-seven years later, five passengers dove toward the Titanic wreck in OceanGate’s Titan submersible - never to return.
 
What connects these two tragedies? Not just technology or risk, but human psychology: normalcy bias, diffusion of responsibility, and the seductive power of a good story. In this episode of This, Again, Mallory Faust takes you through the eerie echoes between Challenger and Titan, revealing how warnings were ignored, why accountability gets blurred, and why we still keep making the same mistakes.
 
Featuring vivid storytelling, historical context, and Mallory’s signature dark humor and empathy, this episode asks: when the evidence is right in front of us, why do we look away? And what does it take to finally listen?
 
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
The behind-the-scenes warnings before Challenger’s launch.
Why engineers begged for a delay, and why no one listened.
How Stockton Rush framed safety as “waste” before Titan’s last dive.
The psychology of normalcy bias, ego, and diffusion of responsibility.
Why good narratives often silence bad news.
What Challenger and Titan reveal about us, not just our machines.
📚 Resources & Sources
Rogers Commission Report: Report of the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident (Vols. I–V) NASA SMA+2GovInfo+2
Hearing – Investigation of the Challenger Accident (Volume 1, Senate Hearings) GovInfo
Rogers Commission Summary / Britannica: overview of commission findings and NASA’s fault Encyclopedia Britannica
“Titan implosion: Highlights from the Coast Guard's … hearing” (ABC News) — hearing summary, witness input on Titan ABC News
“Titan submersible implosion final report critical of CEO’s inadequate oversight” (ABC News):  latest on Coast Guard’s report and criticism of Stockton Rush ABC News
“All good here’: Last messages revealed from Titan submersible” (ABC News):  on the final messaging from Titan before loss of contact ABC News
“Witness gets emotional recounting doomed Titan dive” (ABC News): testimony from a former volunteer during the Titan expedition hearings ABC News
“Chilling audio before sub imploded” (KATV / ABC affiliate): audio captured matching Titan implosion timing during tracking KATV
Attribution Notes:
Every effort was made to cross-check primary sources and modern research. Where paraphrasing is used, it’s drawn from the texts above with narrative license for clarity and flow.
If you spot an error or have a source to suggest, DM @thisagainshow
*** Follow This, Again on Instagram: @thisagainshow ***
This, Again is written, produced, and hosted by Mallory Faust. 

We all know the story of Salem: young girls pointing fingers, women dragged to the gallows, and a community unraveling. But the real terror? It wasn’t the witches. It was the certainty.
In this episode of This, Again?, we dig into the Salem witch trials, not just what happened, but why it happened, and why it keeps happening. We explore the deep-rooted fear that gave rise to the Malleus Maleficarum, the mass hysteria of 1692, and the frightening parallels in our own era, from viral accusations to the Central Park Five.
We’ll look at what happens when belief spreads faster than truth, when institutions stop asking questions, and when no one wants to be the one to say: what if we’re wrong?
Because witch trials didn’t end.They just changed platforms.
Sources & Further Reading
Primary Books & Academic Works:
Broedel, Hans Peter. The Malleus Maleficarum and the Construction of Witchcraft: Theology and Popular Belief. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2003.
Levack, Brian P. The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe. 3rd ed. London: Routledge, 2006.
Norton, Mary Beth. In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692. New York: Vintage Books, 2002.
Federici, Silvia. Caliban and the Witch: Women, the Body and Primitive Accumulation. Brooklyn, NY: Autonomedia, 2004.
Loftus, Elizabeth F. “Planting misinformation in the human mind: A 30-year investigation of the malleability of memory.” Learning & Memory 12, no. 4 (2005): 361–366.
Historical Archives & Primary Sources:
“Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive.” University of Virginia. https://salem.lib.virginia.edu
Putnam Jr., Ann. “Deposition Against Bridget Bishop.” 1692. [Link to document if available]
Modern Reporting & Analysis:
Innocence Project. https://innocenceproject.org
PBS. “A Timeline of the Central Park Five Case.” https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/centralparkfive/timeline
NPR. “How Reddit Got the Boston Bombing Suspect Wrong.” https://www.npr.org
Attribution Notes:
Every effort was made to cross-check primary sources and modern research. Where paraphrasing is used, it’s drawn from the texts above with narrative license for clarity and flow.
If you spot an error or have a source to suggest, DM me @thisagainshow
*** Follow This, Again on Instagram: @thisagainshow ***
This, Again is written, produced, and hosted by Mallory Faust.

History doesn’t just echo — it screams. This, Again is a podcast about the disasters, delusions, downfalls, and bizarre evolutions that prove humans don’t really change…we just change outfits.
I’m Mallory Faust, and in every episode, I dig into the psychology behind the moments when people got it wrong — from witch trials to cult devotion, space shuttles to parties gone fatally wrong. Why do we keep falling for the same tricks, ignoring the same warnings, repeating the same mistakes? 
You may think you know these stories, but not like this.
New episodes drop every other Thursday. Subscribe now so you don’t miss the first release — because if history has taught us anything, it’s that we’re doomed to repeat it.