561. How to Succeed at Failing, Part 1: The Chain of Events

Freakonomics Radio

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4.6 • 32K Ratings

🗓️ 12 October 2023

⏱️ 55 minutes

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Summary

We tend to think of tragedies as a single terrible moment, rather than the result of multiple bad decisions. Can this pattern be reversed? We try — with stories about wildfires, school shootings, and love.

Transcript

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0:00.0	In early August this year, on a Monday morning, the National Weather Service issued a warning
0:09.3	of high winds in Maui County, Hawaii.
0:12.5	By the next morning, the wind was gusting over 70 miles an hour.
0:15.7	Here's how one resident described it.
0:18.4	Tiles are getting ripped off roofs, leaving exposed roof tops with bare wood everywhere.
0:24.8	Power lines are like spaghetti strings everywhere.
0:29.2	The island started to lose electricity, and near the town of Lahaina, there was a brush
0:34.1	fire.
0:35.6	Firefighters arrived, and it was soon declared contained, but later that day, the high
0:40.6	winds caused a flare-up.
0:43.3	We could see the smoke and all of a sudden, oh my gosh, the quickness with which it happened
0:48.4	was the craziest part.
0:49.7	It was just so fast.
0:52.0	What happened next, you have probably read about, or seen in horrifying videos and news
0:56.7	coverage, the town of Lahaina was swallowed by fire.
1:01.5	People tried to flee in their cars, but the roads were clogged.
1:05.1	Some people jumped in the ocean to escape.
1:07.7	Here is one survivor.
1:08.9	We're in the ocean probably like eight hours, fighting the wild outer, getting pulled out,
1:13.6	flames were hitting you still, things were falling from the palm tree on fire on you.
1:19.1	At least 97 people died.
1:21.4	About a dozen are still missing.
	...

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