American Scandal Titan Sub Disaster | No Risk, No Reward? | 5
Apr 21, 2026
Safi Bahcall, former biotech CEO and author, offers crisp takes on innovation and managing downside risk. Mark Harris, investigative journalist who reported on OceanGate, shares firsthand reporting on Titan’s design choices and safety red flags. They discuss charismatic founder myths, risky engineering decisions like carbon-fiber hulls, and how cultures that silence dissent can lead to disaster.
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Reporter’s Troubling Ride On Cyclops
- Mark Harris rode on OceanGate's Cyclops submersible and experienced multiple system failures during a dive.
- Thrusters and navigation failed at the seafloor, forcing Stockton Rush to have passengers use phone compasses to orient the sub.
Failure As Justification For Risk
- Stockton Rush framed equipment problems as data for improvement and embraced failure as part of innovation.
- He compared himself to iconic innovators and used that lore to justify iterative risk-taking rather than conservative safety rigor.
Carbon Fiber Hull That Showed Fatigue
- OceanGate built Titan with a carbon fiber hull, a material not previously used for deep-sea crewed subs.
- The original hull showed structural fatigue and by early 2021 needed replacement, yet the second hull reused the same materials and design.