Few disasters are as enduringly fascinating as the sinking of the Titanic. At the time of its release, in 1997, James Cameron’s Academy-Award-winning epic was the most expensive movie ever made; it also achieved unprecedented box-office success. More recently, in 2023, the lure of the sunken ship led to the ill-fated tourist voyage of OceanGate Titan—five more lives lost in the North Atlantic. In a new podcast, interspersed with first-person accounts from Titanic survivors and their family members, host Paul McGann reveals facets of the famous story you may not know, from the ornate decor of the first-class cabins (“We spent two hours deciding on the carpet,” said one architect, “and 15 minutes discussing life boats”) to a last-minute staffing shuffle that resulted in the lookout binoculars being left behind (a critical error). McGann also shares a family story—his great uncle, Jimmy McGann, worked in the engine room of the Titanic—bringing the tragic story to a personal level. —Paulina Prosnitz