CLASSIC: The Port Chicago Disaster
Stuff They Don't Want You To Know
iHeartPodcasts
4.2 • 11K Ratings
🗓️ 5 May 2026
⏱️ 50 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On July 17, 1944, over 300 people died in a massive explosion. These weren't soldiers fighting overseas -- they were sailors and civilians near the pier, where hurried loading operations inevitably went wrong. To this day, no one knows what triggered the explosion -- but, in a terrible way, this was only the beginning of the story.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Fellow conspiracy realist, we are returning to you with one of our favorite classic episodes from 2020. |
| 0:07.9 | I'm not alone and like in Chicago, right? |
| 0:10.5 | You guys dig Chicago? |
| 0:11.8 | When I go back to Chicago, I feel it. |
| 0:16.4 | Love Chicago. |
| 0:17.4 | Some of my favorite music bands of all time, The Smashing Pumpkins, Tortoise, Jim O'Rourke, incredible stuff out of Chicago, an amazing place to visit the, what is it, the Art Institute Museum in Chicago, Portillo's, deep dish pizza, sandwiches, wet, meat, beef. That's not what they're called, the bear. We love Chicago's amazing. |
| 0:39.0 | One bad day to be in Chicago was July 17th, 1944, though. Oh, well done. Yes, over 300 people died |
| 0:47.2 | in a massive explosion. This was not necessarily a military operation. These definitely weren't |
| 0:53.7 | soldiers fighting overseas. |
| 0:56.3 | These are people who happen to be around the pier at the wrong time. |
| 1:00.0 | This is the story of the Port Chicago disaster. |
| 1:03.4 | This is an I-Heart podcast. |
| 1:06.3 | Guaranteed Human. |
| 1:08.5 | From UFOs to psychic powers and government conspiracies, history is riddled with unexplained events. |
| 1:15.0 | You can turn back now or learn the stuff they don't want you to know. |
| 1:20.6 | A production of IHeart Radio. Hello, welcome back to the show. My name is Matt. |
| 1:35.6 | My name is Noah. |
| 1:36.8 | They call me, Ben. We're joined as always with our super producer, all mission control |
| 1:41.8 | Deccant. Most importantly, you are you, you are here, and that makes |
| 1:46.0 | this stuff they don't want you to know. Our story today takes place a little bit more than 76 years ago. |
| 1:55.9 | It's about 30 miles north of San Francisco in the Bay. It's a story that includes a number of proposed |
| 2:03.4 | conspiracies and a number of proven conspiracies. And while you may not have heard of this |
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