Dark Legacy of the Grand Coulee Dam

A river is the most powerful force in nature—and blocking one is the boldest act a human can attempt. In this episode of Rainy Day Rabbit Holes, we dive into the colossal story of the Grand Coulee Dam: a project born in the desperation of the Great Depression, built with sweat and sacrifice, and shadowed by broken promises.

From Hoovervilles to hydroelectric power, boomtown brothels to Woody Guthrie ballads, and even the secret connection between the dam and the atomic bomb, this is history at its most epic and unsettling. We’ll explore the triumphs, tragedies, and the question that lingers today: who really paid the price for progress?

✨ And don’t miss the end of the episode—we’ve got a brand new piece of Patreon fan fiction, starring one of our amazing supporters!

💡 If you like your history wild, weird, and a little unhinged, you’re in the right place.

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Special thanks to Leetha, our Mistress of Marketing, and to our amazing Patreon supporters for keeping us powered up and rabbit-hole ready.

Chapters

00:00 – Intro: Blocking a river is the boldest act of man
00:35 – The Great Depression & Washington’s economic collapse
04:30 – The New Deal & the Columbia Basin Project
08:15 – The pumpers vs. the ditchers: epic dam debates
16:30 – Breaking ground & boomtown chaos on B Street
20:15 – Sex work, taxi dancers, and wild nights at the work camps
24:30 – Engineering feats: freezing dirt, cooling concrete, and sheer scale
28:47 – Powering wartime industry and postwar agriculture
31:22 – The dark side: lost salmon, flooded villages, and broken treaties
39:00 – From Grand Coulee to Hanford: fueling the atomic bomb
40:50 – The monument scandal and a stolen statue
43:30 – Reflections: who pays for progress?
44:10 – Patreon fan fiction: Matt Pearson and ghostly encounters