Stephanie Barczewski

There were 9,000 other ways that it could have hit the iceberg, and it wouldn't have had the incredibly catastrophic result that it had. It's just this complete, you know, kind of butterfly effect of, you know, eight million tiny little things happen from the moment they laid the keel in Belfast to the time that it hit the iceberg.

There were 9,000 other ways that it could have hit the iceberg, and it wouldn't have had the incredibly catastrophic result that it had. It's just this complete, you know, kind of butterfly effect of, you know, eight million tiny little things happen from the moment they laid the keel in Belfast to the time that it hit the iceberg.

And if one of those eight million things hadn't happened, then maybe it wouldn't have actually hit that iceberg. I think that bothers us. We don't like to believe that life is that random.

And if one of those eight million things hadn't happened, then maybe it wouldn't have actually hit that iceberg. I think that bothers us. We don't like to believe that life is that random.

The laws of ships had just simply not kept up with the expansion in size of ships over time.

The laws of ships had just simply not kept up with the expansion in size of ships over time.

The world is changing, right? When we talk about it being the kind of millionaire special, we are talking about American plutocrats more than we're talking about British aristocrats, although there are a handful. The Countess of Rothes and a few other kind of wealthy upper-class British people are on board the ship.

The world is changing, right? When we talk about it being the kind of millionaire special, we are talking about American plutocrats more than we're talking about British aristocrats, although there are a handful. The Countess of Rothes and a few other kind of wealthy upper-class British people are on board the ship.

But mostly when we talk about wealth on the Titanic, we're talking about American wealth.

But mostly when we talk about wealth on the Titanic, we're talking about American wealth.

So they're leaving Southampton, and the suction that the Titanic creates as it's sort of backing out of its berth starts to pull the ropes of all the other ships that are docked in Southampton. There's a lot of them docked there because there's a coal strike at the time, so a lot of ships are actually unable to sail.

So they're leaving Southampton, and the suction that the Titanic creates as it's sort of backing out of its berth starts to pull the ropes of all the other ships that are docked in Southampton. There's a lot of them docked there because there's a coal strike at the time, so a lot of ships are actually unable to sail.

They've had to cannibalize coal from other White Star ships so that the Titanic can actually go on its first voyage.

They've had to cannibalize coal from other White Star ships so that the Titanic can actually go on its first voyage.

People say the ropes went off like cannon shots, right? And the ropes snap. They're holding the stern of the New York to the dock, and the stern of it starts to swing out towards the Titanic.

People say the ropes went off like cannon shots, right? And the ropes snap. They're holding the stern of the New York to the dock, and the stern of it starts to swing out towards the Titanic.

Captain Smith performs really well. He knows what to do. He just gives a little burst on the propeller on one side of the Titanic and it actually pushes the New York back towards the dock and everything's okay. But it does actually delay the Titanic by like an hour and a half.

Captain Smith performs really well. He knows what to do. He just gives a little burst on the propeller on one side of the Titanic and it actually pushes the New York back towards the dock and everything's okay. But it does actually delay the Titanic by like an hour and a half.

You think, oh, that just hadn't have happened. That iceberg wouldn't have been right in that place, right? Right in exactly that way where it crossed the Titanic's path.

You think, oh, that just hadn't have happened. That iceberg wouldn't have been right in that place, right? Right in exactly that way where it crossed the Titanic's path.