Against The Odds

Alone in Antarctica | The Windiest Place on Earth | 1 Jul 08, 2025

It’s 1912, the golden age of Antarctic exploration, and teams from the Australasian Antarctic Expedition are preparing to journey into the wilderness. One trio, led by the Australian geologist Douglas Mawson, will venture the farthest — traversing 700 miles roundtrip of uncharted territory. But when his journey takes a disastrous turn, Mawson will have to endure what the mountaineer Sir Edmund Hillary called, “The greatest survival story in the history of exploration.

Order your copy of the new Against the Odds book, How to Survive Against the Odds: Tales & Tips for Animal Attacks and Natural Disasters, for stories of everyday people confronted by life-or-death situations, showing you how they survived—and how you can too. Learn more at SurvivalGuidebook.com.

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Oceanos: Rescue off the Wild Coast | Into the Waves | 4 Jul 01, 2025

In August 1991, Lorraine Betts set sail aboard the Oceanos as cruise director, overseeing passenger entertainment and well-being. But when the lights went out and the ship began taking on water, it wasn’t the captain who led the evacuation—it was Lorraine and a small group of entertainers who sprang into action. Today, she joins host Cassie De Pecol to share her firsthand account of the night the Oceanos sank.

Later, author Sean Evans joins Cassie to discuss the new Against the Odds book, How to Survive Against the Odds, available now wherever you get your books. Learn more at SurvivalGuidebook.com.

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Oceanos: Rescue off the Wild Coast | Sink or Swim | 3 Jun 24, 2025

With all the lifeboats launched, the remaining passengers aboard the Oceanos cling to railings as the ship lists hard to one side. When helicopters arrive, the entertainment crew springs into action again—coordinating a high-stakes airlift as rescuers lower cables from the sky. But as dawn breaks, the ship edges ever closer to capsizing. Out at sea, mothers aboard lifeboats hand over their babies in buckets hoisted to the decks of towering cargo ships.

Order your copy of the new Against the Odds book, How to Survive Against the Odds: Tales & Tips for Animal Attacks and Natural Disasters, for stories of everyday people confronted by life-or-death situations, showing you how they survived—and how you can too. Learn more at SurvivalGuidebook.com.

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Listen Now: Liberty Lost Jun 23, 2025

In Evangelical homes across the United States, sex outside of marriage is a sin against God. So, when Abbi becomes pregnant at 16, her devout parents hide her away at the Liberty Godparent Home, a little-known facility for pregnant teens on the campus of Liberty University. The Home says it helps girls decide what comes next – whether that’s parenting their babies or placing them for adoption. But inside the facility, the girls hear a different message: God wants their babies to go to more “deserving” Christian couples. Some girls will find the strength to fight back. Others will have no choice but to give in. And some, like Abbi, will turn their grief into resistance – and take a stand against the system before more mothers lose their children to adoptions they never wanted.

From Wondery, host and reporter T. J. Raphael tells a startling true story of young love, coercion, and defiance – and the dangerous resurgence of maternity homes in post-Roe America.

Listen to Liberty Lost: Wondery.fm/LibertyLost_

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Oceanos: Rescue off the Wild Coast | Abandon Ship | 2 Jun 17, 2025

As a hellish storm batters the Oceanos off the South African coast, senior crew members flee aboard a lifeboat, leaving passengers behind. With no leadership in sight, the entertainers step up, guiding women and children into the last remaining lifeboats as the ship begins to list dangerously in the churning sea. Out on the water, mothers clutch their infants as waves batter the tiny boats, tossing them mercilessly through the darkness.

Order your copy of the new Against the Odds book, How to Survive Against the Odds: Tales & Tips for Animal Attacks and Natural Disasters, for stories of everyday people confronted by life-or-death situations, showing you how they survived—and how you can too. Learn more at SurvivalGuidebook.com.

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Oceanos: Rescue off the Wild Coast | “Just A Precaution” | 1 Jun 10, 2025

On the night of August 3, 1991, the cruise ship Oceanos sets sail from South Africa’s eastern cape with 571 people aboard—despite a massive storm barreling up the coast. Soon, a breach in the hull knocks out power, and the ship begins taking on water. As senior officers abandon ship, the fate of everyone on board falls to the ship’s entertainers, who must lead a mass evacuation before the Oceanos vanishes beneath the waves.

Order your copy of the new Against the Odds book, How to Survive Against the Odds: Tales & Tips for Animal Attacks and Natural Disasters, for stories of everyday people confronted by life-or-death situations, showing you how they survived—and how you can too. Learn more at SurvivalGuidebook.com.

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Listen to Against The Odds on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. Experience all episodes ad-free and be the first to binge the newest season. Unlock exclusive early access by joining Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial today by visiting http://wondery.com/links/against-the-odds/ now.

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An Exclusive Excerpt From Our New Book | 1 Jun 03, 2025

We’ve got a new book! How to Survive Against the Odds: Tales & Tips for Animal Attacks and Natural Disasters is out today from Wondery and HarperCollins. Go inside life-or-death situations where everyday people survived nature’s most extreme scenarios—and learn how you can, too, with expert insights and survival tips.

In this episode, we’re sharing an exclusive sample chapter from the audiobook. How to Survive Against the Odds is available now in digital, print and audiobook editions from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or wherever you get your books. Learn more at SurvivalGuidebook.com.

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Listen to Against The Odds on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. Experience all episodes ad-free and be the first to binge the newest season. Unlock exclusive early access by joining Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial today by visiting http://wondery.com/links/against-the-odds/ now.

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Mount St. Helens | Still Alive | 4 May 27, 2025

Rescue helicopters finally reach the campers, Sue and Bruce, as well as other stranded survivors like TV reporter David Crockett and logger Jim Scymanky. But with nightfall approaching, Sue worries that rescuers won’t be able to find her injured friends, Dan Balch and Brian Thomas, in time. With the roads onto the mountain impassible, blocked by trees and debris, rescuers' only chance of reaching survivors quickly is by helicopter. But the thick ash blanketing the landscape makes landing the copters a major challenge — if ash gets caught in the rotors, they risk crashing. Meanwhile, the logging team and the campers who suffered severe burns are in desperate need of medical attention. As their chance of surviving dwindles, camper Sue Ruff faces the repercussions of deciding to leave her friends behind.

Pre-order your copy of the new Against the Odds book, How to Survive Against the Odds: Tales & Tips for Animal Attacks and Natural Disasters, for stories of everyday people confronted by life-or-death situations, showing you how they survived—and how you can too.

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Listen to Against The Odds on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. Experience all episodes ad-free and be the first to binge the newest season. Unlock exclusive early access by joining Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial today by visiting http://wondery.com/links/against-the-odds/ now.

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Mount St. Helens | Blast Zone | 3 May 20, 2025

The survivors of the Mount St. Helens eruption find themselves in an alien world, with toppled trees, mudslides, and thick, hot ash covering everything. Unsure when or if rescue is coming, campers Sue Ruff and Bruce Nelson must make a difficult decision: whether to stay with their injured friends, or leave them behind, in order to get help faster.

Pre-order your copy of the new Against the Odds book, How to Survive Against the Odds: Tales & Tips for Animal Attacks and Natural Disasters, for stories of everyday people confronted by life-or-death situations, showing you how they survived—and how you can too.

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Listen to Against The Odds on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. Experience all episodes ad-free and be the first to binge the newest season. Unlock exclusive early access by joining Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial today by visiting http://wondery.com/links/against-the-odds/ now.

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Mount St. Helens | Hell on Earth | 2 May 13, 2025

When Mount St. Helens erupts, Sue Ruff and her boyfriend Bruce Nelson are camping with four friends about 14 miles north of the volcano. They were told this was well out of range of any eruption, but soon they find themselves caught in a searing-hot cloud of ash and debris, fighting for their lives.

Pre-order your copy of the new Against the Odds book, How to Survive Against the Odds: Tales & Tips for Animal Attacks and Natural Disasters, for stories of everyday people confronted by life-or-death situations, showing you how they survived—and how you can too.

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Listen to Against The Odds on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. Experience all episodes ad-free and be the first to binge the newest season. Unlock exclusive early access by joining Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial today by visiting http://wondery.com/links/against-the-odds/ now.

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Mount St. Helens | Awakening | 1 May 06, 2025

In March 1980, after 120 years of dormancy, the volcano Mount St. Helens in Washington State begins showing signs of life. Scientists warn that a major eruption is coming, but they’re unable to completely block off access to the mountain. Some locals, like lodge owner Harry Truman, refuse to leave. And on May 18, when the volcano finally explodes, 150 people are caught in the deadly path of destruction. Pre-order your copy of the new Against the Odds book, How to Survive Against the Odds: Tales & Tips for Animal Attacks and Natural Disasters, for stories of everyday people confronted by life-or-death situations, showing you how they survived—and how you can too.

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Listen to Against The Odds on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. Experience all episodes ad-free and be the first to binge the newest season. Unlock exclusive early access by joining Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial today by visiting http://wondery.com/links/against-the-odds/ now.

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Family Shipwrecked in Alaska | Keg Point | 4 Apr 29, 2025

It's March 10, 1979—24 days since their sailboat sank and 15 days since Elmo and Randy arrived at a remote cabin, trapped, powerless to save Cindy and Jena, and consumed by guilt and grief. Once they regain their strength and the snow begins to melt, they discover an old skiff on the beach. At last, Elmo and Randy set out to find the girls, and their way to safety.

Pre-order your copy of the new Against the Odds book, How to Survive Against the Odds: Tales & Tips for Animal Attacks and Natural Disasters, for stories of everyday people confronted by life-or-death situations, showing you how they survived—and how you can too.

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Listen to Against The Odds on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. Experience all episodes ad-free and be the first to binge the newest season. Unlock exclusive early access by joining Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial today by visiting http://wondery.com/links/against-the-odds/ now.

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Family Shipwrecked in Alaska | The Cabin | 3 Apr 22, 2025

Elmo and his son Randy leave the girls behind, paddling ahead in their Sport-Yak to find help—but trouble continues to follow. Though they eventually reach the cabin, the CB radio doesn’t work, and as their frostbitten feet thaw, they can barely stand. Helpless, they spend days struggling to recover while miles away, Cindy and Jena remain alone on the freezing beach, without food or fire.

Pre-order your copy of the new Against the Odds book, How to Survive Against the Odds: Tales & Tips for Animal Attacks and Natural Disasters, for stories of everyday people confronted by life-or-death situations, showing you how they survived—and how you can too.

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Listen to Against The Odds on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. Experience all episodes ad-free and be the first to binge the newest season. Unlock exclusive early access by joining Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial today by visiting http://wondery.com/links/against-the-odds/ now.

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Family Shipwrecked in Alaska | The Raft | 2 Apr 15, 2025

After a powerful storm destroys their sailboat and leaves them stranded on a remote Alaskan island, Elmo Wortman and his children build a raft, determined to reach a friend’s cabin 25 miles north. Elmo expects southeastern winds to carry them there in a day or two, but the journey is far harsher than he imagined. After several grueling days inching northward, he makes a difficult decision to spare his daughters Cindy and Jena from further suffering.

Pre-order your copy of the new Against the Odds book, How to Survive Against the Odds: Tales & Tips for Animal Attacks and Natural Disasters, for stories of everyday people confronted by life-or-death situations, showing you how they survived—and how you can too.

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Family Shipwrecked in Alaska | Home | 1 Apr 08, 2025

It’s February 13, 1979. Elmo Wortman and his three children are sailing home to Alaska across the frigid North Pacific after a routine orthodontist visit in Canada. But this time, they get caught in a freak storm—80-mile-per-hour winds and towering 20-foot swells rip their homemade sailboat apart, leaving them stranded on a remote island in the dead of winter.

Pre-order your copy of the new Against the Odds book, How to Survive Against the Odds: Tales & Tips for Animal Attacks and Natural Disasters, for stories of everyday people confronted by life-or-death situations, showing you how they survived—and how you can too.

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In Their Own Words: Fallen on Mount Whitney | 1 Apr 01, 2025

In April of 1982, Jean Muenchrath and her boyfriend had nearly completed a 230-mile cross-country ski trip through California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains. On the final day of their journey, they planned to hike the highest peak in the lower 48 states: Mount Whitney. But on the summit, the pair was engulfed in a blizzard and lightning storm. On this special episode of Against the Odds, Jean Muenchrath narrates the story of the fall that nearly claimed her life and her epic battle for survival.

To learn more about this story, check out Jean's book: If I Live Until Morning: A True Story of Adventure, Tragedy, and Transformation

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ENCORE: Rock Climbers Abducted | Breaking Free | 4 Mar 25, 2025

When the Americans finally act out and decide to fight for their lives, they’re left alone in an inhospitable mountain rage full of rebel militants and a trigger happy army. Far more than just a rescue mission, the climbers have to cross miles of treacherous terrain in the black of night with hopes that they won’t be mistaken for an insurgent militia by the Kyrgyz army. And if they do make it back to civilization, will they be able to make it all the way back home to the US. And if they do will anyone believe their story?

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ENCORE: Rock Climbers Abducted | Fight or Flight | 3 Mar 18, 2025

Days without food or water start to weaken the young climbers as their captors push them further into the mountains and further from civilization. But their captors are starting to lose steam too. On a cold dark evening the Americans are left alone with only one of their kidnappers and it dawns on them: there won’t be many more moments where they might be able to overtake their heavily armed captor. But will they have the courage to act?

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ENCORE: Rock Climbers Abducted | Hostage Situation | 2 Mar 11, 2025

After being kidnapped by rebel militants in a remote region of Kyrgyzstan, four American rock climbers are forced at gunpoint toward the Uzbekistan border. But their captors are being trailed by the Kygyz army. Soon, the unwitting climbers find themselves in the middle of a firefight of epic proportions and they have to hide to stay alive. As night falls, the climbers are forced on the move again and they begin to realize if they want to survive they must escape on their own.

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ENCORE: Rock Climbers Abducted | Welcome to Paradise | 1 Mar 04, 2025

In August of the year 2000, four American rock climbers set out to explore the majesty of the Pamir Alai Mountain range in Kyrgyzstan. But only a week into their expedition, they’re taken captive by rebel militants. The group is forced to hike through brutal terrain under the cover of night to avoid detection by the Kyrgyz army. With little to no food or water provided by their captors, the young climbing team had to struggle through severe dehydration and hunger. Finally, they realized they would have to fight for their lives to escape. It's a thrilling story of survival in the face of violence and terror, and doing whatever it takes to make it home alive.

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ENCORE - In Their Own Words: Stranded in Joshua Tree | 1 Feb 25, 2025

On May 22, 2018, Claire Nelson set out on what she thought would be a four-hour hike in Southern California’s Joshua Tree National Park. An experienced hiker, Claire packed plenty of water and followed an established trail in a park visited by millions of people each year. But after taking a wrong turn, she slipped off a boulder and shattered her pelvis. Injured and exposed to the elements, she found herself alone in the desert in a fight for her life. On this special episode, Claire Nelson joins the show to narrate her four-day odyssey of survival.

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Nome Serum Run: Race Against Death | Togo’s Descendants | 4 Feb 18, 2025

In honor of the 100-year anniversary of the Nome Serum Run, Maine musher Jonathan Nathaniel Hayes is recreating the run. And he’s doing it with a team descended directly from Leonhard Seppala’s original dogs. Today, Hayes joins host Mike Corey to talk about the inspiration and preparations to travel hundreds of frozen miles across Alaska. Hayes is the author of The True Tails of Togo the Sled Dog!

Dive deeper into thrilling stories of survival with curated book recommendations from the Amazon Books Editors at www.amazon.com/ATObooks

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Nome Serum Run: Race Against Death | The Final Miles | 3 Feb 11, 2025

With a blizzard gaining force, the Mayor of Nome decides the safest choice is to halt the relay, rather than risk losing lives and the serum itself. But the storm makes it hard to spread the news of the Mayor’s order. Musher Gunnar Kaasen and his unlikely lead dog Balto decide to push ahead, battling whiteout conditions and 80-mile-an-hour gusts in their quest to make it to Nome.

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Nome Serum Run: Race Against Death | The Ice Factory | 2 Feb 04, 2025

The diphtheria outbreak in Nome is spreading fast as a relay of dogsled teams races across Alaska, carrying the only available medicine. Leonard Seppala knows that if he and his lead dog Togo take a shortcut across the frozen Norton Sound, they can shave off precious time and make it to Nome faster. But Seppala also knows he risks getting blown out to sea or falling through a crack in the ice, losing his team and the precious medicine he’s carrying.

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Nome Serum Run: Race Against Death | Outbreak | 1 Jan 28, 2025

It’s the winter of 1925 and in the remote town of Nome, Alaska, children are dying from a diphtheria outbreak that’s spreading fast. But in the dead of winter, the town is nearly impossible to reach and its supply of medicine is dwindling. The only option is to send the medicine by dogsled, in a relay led by one of Alaska’s best mushers, Leonhard Seppala. The teams will have to cross nearly 700 snow-covered miles at breakneck speed, but an epic blizzard is on its way.

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Crashed in the Canadian Wilderness | The Bonds Forged by Wapiti 402 | 4 Jan 21, 2025

In 1984, Carol Shaben was just 22-years-old when her father, politician Larry Shaben, narrowly survived the Wapiti 402 crash. Nearly 30 years later, she chronicled the crash and the unlikely friendships it forged in her book, Into the Abyss. Today, Carol joins host Cassie De Pecol to discuss how the experience shaped the lives of the four survivors, especially her father.

Follow Against the Odds wherever you get your podcasts, and dive deeper into thrilling stories of resilience and survival with curated book recommendations from the Amazon Books Editors at www.amazon.com/ATObooks

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Crashed in the Canadian Wilderness | Search and Rescue | 3 Jan 14, 2025

As the freezing night drags on, the four survivors of a plane crash in the remote Canadian wilderness are running out of things to burn. As hypothermia sets in and their injuries worsen, their spirits begin to falter. Meanwhile, rescuers battle brutal weather conditions in a desperate race to find them before it’s too late.

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Crashed in the Canadian Wilderness | Stranded | 2 Jan 07, 2025

The survivors of a plane crash in the remote Canadian wilderness free themselves from the wreckage and must rely on the only uninjured passenger among them—a prisoner who was being escorted to face charges—to survive the frigid conditions. Meanwhile, rescue teams scramble to locate the downed plane, but their search is hampered by the dense cloud cover.

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Crashed in the Canadian Wilderness | Ice | 1 Dec 31, 2024

On an icy October night in 1984, a young, overworked pilot took off from Edmonton, Alberta, in a small commuter plane with nine passengers aboard, including a politician, a cop and his prisoner. Battling thick cloud cover and the accumulation of ice on the aircraft, the pilot misjudged his descent. Moments later, the plane collided with a hillside in the remote Canadian wilderness.

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Nine Days in the Desert | Return to the Marabout | 4 Dec 24, 2024

In his Netflix sports docuseries Losers, director Mickey Duzyj explores how people respond to failure in a culture where “winning is everything” – and how failure can sometimes lead to greater success. It’s not surprising then that Duzyj tackles Mauro Prosperi’s survival story, and the ripple effects his journey had on Mauro and his loved ones. Today, Duzyj joins host Mike Corey to discuss the series, and his journey with Mauro back to the Sahara to find the marabout that was crucial to Mauro’s survival.

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Nine Days in the Desert I The Finish Line | 3 Dec 17, 2024

Mauro Prosperi has lost count of how many days he’s been lost. In despair, he attempts to take his own life. But when he wakes up still alive, he decides he has to keep going – even if that means climbing over a mountain range — and praying that on the other side, he’ll finally find help.

In this episode, we discuss suicide and depression. If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, the National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline can be reached at 988. The National Alliance on Mental Illness is available at 1-800-950-6264.

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Nine Days in the Desert I Delirium | 2 Dec 10, 2024

Mauro Prosperi wakes up alone and lost in the middle of the Sahara Desert. He’s forced to drink his own urine, and tries and fails to attract the attention of a rescue plane by burning his belongings. Finally, he takes shelter in an abandoned Islamic burial shrine, where he eats bats and drinks their blood.

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Nine Days in the Desert I The Race | 1 Dec 03, 2024

It’s April 14, 1994, and an Italian policeman and ultramarathoner named Mauro Prosperi is running the world’s most challenging footrace: the Marathon des Sables, across the Sahara Desert in Morocco. But when a sandstorm kicks up, Mauro finds himself hopelessly lost.

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Whakaari: Eruption on White Island | Dad and Daughter Remember | 4 Nov 26, 2024

On December 9, 2019, Pastor Geoff Hopkins and his 22-year-old daughter, Lillani, visited Whakaari/White Island to celebrate Geoff’s 50th birthday—a long-held dream. But as their boat began its return to the mainland, the volcano suddenly erupted, leaving 47 people on the island to endure its blast. Geoff and Lillani quickly found themselves swept up in a rescue operation. Now, they join host Cassie De Pecol to share the unforgettable story of that day.

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Whakaari: Eruption on White Island | A Long Way Home | 3 Nov 19, 2024

Aboard the Phoenix, the boat carrying many of the survivors back to the mainland, passengers tend to the wounded, who are suffering now from shock in the wake of their terrible burns. Back on White Island, Mark Law and his colleagues come face to face with the awful impact of the eruption. With limited space on their helicopters, they're confronted with a dilemma -- who to evacuate, and who to leave behind.

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Whakaari: Eruption on White Island | Hell on Earth | 2 Nov 12, 2024

As a wave of burning steam, ash and debris rolls down toward the shore, 47 tourists and guides sprint for cover, but there is no avoiding the blast. Meanwhile, a boat full of tourists that just left White Island returns to help. And back on the mainland, a local helicopter pilot named Mark Law sees the eruption and makes a fateful decision to fly out to look for survivors.

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Whakaari: Eruption on White Island | A Perfect Day | 1 Nov 05, 2024

On December 9, 2019, 47 tourists and guides set off to visit New Zealand’s most active volcano — Whakaari / White Island — located 30 miles off the country’s north coast. Visitors are amazed as they hike up to the edge of the blue lake at its center, and peer down into the steaming mouth of the crater. But on their way back down, awe turns to horror when the volcano suddenly erupts and blasts a wave of super-heated ash and steam right at them.

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Encore: K2 - The Savage Mountain I The Final Descent | 3 Oct 29, 2024

Unforeseen conditions have put the world's strongest climbers to the test as they battle their way down the mountain. Before it’s over, the savage mountain will bring on more avalanches and below-zero temperatures. It’s a race against the clock for the remaining climbers to get off the mountain before it’s too late.

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Encore: K2 - The Savage Mountain I The Death Zone | 2 Oct 22, 2024

An international group of climbers are close to summiting one of the world’s tallest, and most dangerous, mountains. Their goal was to reach the peak by mid-afternoon and get down before dark when temperatures drop to 40 below and the thin air and darkness can leave climbers confused and lost. But problems with the rope line have put them behind and they are using all of their strength to push past the traverse. The summit is so close… but so is nightfall, and not all of them will make it back.

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Encore: K2 - The Savage Mountain | Summit Fever | 1 Oct 15, 2024

In the summer of 2008, mountaineers from eight different countries gather at the foot of the world’s second tallest mountain, K2. All of them have a single goal: reach the summit. But to do that they will need to undertake one most difficult, and dangerous, climbs on earth. Sunny mornings can suddenly transform into white out conditions. Avalanches drop from overhead without warning. The technical challenge is so great, one in four who attempt it won’t come down. But in early August, this doesn’t stop more than two dozen climbers from attempting the feat.

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Encore: USS Indianapolis: Disaster at Sea I Rescued | 4 Oct 08, 2024

By sheer chance, an American bomber pilot on a routine test flight has spotted the survivors of U.S.S. Indianapolis, who have been floating in the middle of the Philippine Sea for over three days. But rescuing them will be easier said than done. The survivors are hundreds of miles from the nearest land, and the ocean waters are getting rough. To get the men out of the water as quickly as possible, some of the rescuers will have to put their own lives on the line.

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Encore: USS Indianapolis: Disaster at Sea I Holding On | 3 Oct 01, 2024

It’s been two days since U.S.S. Indianapolis sank, and the number of survivors is dwindling. They’re being picked off by sharks, and driven insane by sleep deprivation, dehydration, and saltwater poisoning. As they hope and pray for a rescue, they will encounter a new enemy that none of them could have imagined, even in their worst nightmares.

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Encore: USS Indianapolis: Disaster at Sea I Troubled Waters | 2 Sep 24, 2024

The nine hundred men who survived the torpedo attack on the U.S.S. Indianapolis are either drifting in the sea, fighting strong currents and swells, or clinging to rafts. They’re at the mercy of the ocean, hundreds of miles from land, with dwindling supplies and no drinking water. And soon, they’ll have to confront a terrifying new challenge – shark attacks.

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Encore: USS Indianapolis: Disaster at Sea I Abandon Ship | 1 Sep 17, 2024

In the final weeks of World War II, the Navy cruiser U.S.S. Indianapolis was attacked and sunk by a Japanese submarine in the middle of the Philippine Sea. The nine hundred survivors found themselves stranded in the middle of the open ocean, many without rafts or life vests, wondering when – or if – help was coming.

This is the story of the greatest sea disaster in U.S. naval history, and the courageous men who survived it.

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Piper Alpha: Oil Rig Disaster | A Survivor Remembers | 5 Sep 10, 2024

Diver Ed Punchard loved his job and the people on Piper Alpha, even if it meant working on a noisy rig for weeks at a time, far out in the North Sea. Being part of a dive team meant everyone trained hard and relied on each other to stay alive. But nothing could have prepared Ed and his colleagues for what happened on July 6th, 1988. Today, Ed joins host Mike Corey to share his experience of the Piper Alpha disaster and its aftermath. Ed is author of Piper Alpha: A Survivor’s Story. He also made the documentary Paying For The Piper.

In this episode, we discuss suicide and depression. If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline can be reached at 1-800-273-8255. The National Alliance on Mental Illness is available at 1-800-950-6264.

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Piper Alpha: Oil Rig Disaster | Collapse | 4 Sep 03, 2024

At 10:52pm, Piper Alpha is hit by the biggest explosion yet. Soon, the rig begins to break apart and tumble into the ocean, dooming the men still trapped inside. Meanwhile, rescuers like Z-boat commander James McNeill risk their lives to pull men from the debris-strewn water beneath the burning rig.

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Piper Alpha: Oil Rig Disaster | Explosions | 3 Aug 27, 2024

As the fire continues to rage on Piper Alpha, rescuers in small motorboats race to get workers off the burning oil rig. Diver Ed Punchard has his men climb down a rope to safety, while electrician Bob Ballantyne tries to lead his friends down a series of smoke-filled stairways. Then, when another huge explosion rocks the rig, some men are forced to leap into the ocean, or risk being burned to death.

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Piper Alpha: Oil Rig Disaster | Inferno | 2 Aug 20, 2024

After an explosion rocks the Piper Alpha oil rig, a huge, smoky fire begins to spread, taking down the rig’s power supply and communications equipment. Workers hurry to their evacuation stations, and a state-of-the-art rescue ship, the Tharos, moves into position to battle the blaze and get men off the platform. But soon, it becomes clear that this is no ordinary fire.

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Piper Alpha: Oil Rig Disaster | The Leak | 1 Aug 13, 2024

On July 6th, 1988, workers clock in to a typical night shift aboard Piper Alpha, the world’s largest offshore oil rig, in the North Sea off the coast of Scotland. Then, around 10 p.m., a series of mistakes leads to a gas leak and explosion. Soon, 226 men find themselves trapped on the burning platform, in what will become one of the deadliest man-made disasters in history.

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In Their Own Words: Bitten by a Rattlesnake | 1 Aug 06, 2024

On a warm day in April 2017, Outside Magazine writer Kyle Dickman was hiking near Yosemite National Park with his family and infant son. But in an instant, the idyllic day turned south. Kyle felt a quick whap above his ankle, looked down and saw a diamond pattern in the grass. He'd been bitten by a rattlesnake. On this special episode of Against the Odds, Kyle shares the story of the race against time to save his life, and what his brush with death taught him about life, risk, and the meaning of family.

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Everest '96: Trapped in the Death Zone | Big Business | 5 Jul 30, 2024

When Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay summited Mount Everest in 1953, high-altitude climbing was only done by the most elite mountaineers. But that changed in the early 1990s, when veteran climbers began leading amateur clients up the world’s tallest mountain for a hefty fee. Today, journalist Will Cockrell joins Host Cassie De Pecol to talk about the history of the Everest guiding industry – from the early Western-led companies to the Nepali-owned ventures today. Cockrell is the author of Everest, Inc.: The Renegades and Rogues who Built an Industry at the Top of the World.

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Everest '96: Trapped in the Death Zone | Frozen | 4 Jul 23, 2024

After a severe blizzard engulfs Mount Everest on May 10th, fifteen people are left stranded on the mountain, unable to find their way back to camp, or too weak to even try. In the early hours of May 11th, rescue efforts are launched to save people before they succumb to altitude sickness or hypothermia. Climbers, and friends down below, must face the sad reality that the odds of them surviving are slim. But, due to heroic acts, not all is lost.

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Everest '96: Trapped in the Death Zone | Descent Into Darkness | 3 Jul 16, 2024

As the climbers descend from the summit, it becomes a race against time to get back to camp before dark. But a severe blizzard slows their progress to a crawl, and altitude sickness starts to take hold. Some climbers get stuck in the upper reaches of the mountain, while others get lost not far from camp. As darkness falls, the stranded face the terrifying reality of spending the night outside, where oxygen deprivation and hypothermia could easily take their lives.

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Everest '96: Trapped in the Death Zone | Top of the World | 2 Jul 09, 2024

As the climbers make their final push for the summit, time is of the essence. They must make it to the top before 2 p.m. to ensure they get back to camp before dark. But due to delays, most of them don’t reach the summit until late in the afternoon, and by then, everyone is exhausted and oxygen is running low. Worst of all, a severe storm is moving in fast. As daylight fades, climbers must hurry or they’ll be trapped in the Death Zone.

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Everest '96: Trapped in the Death Zone | Mountain Madness | 1 Jul 02, 2024

In May 1996, two expert mountaineers and their clients set off to climb the world’s tallest peak — Mount Everest. Many of the clients have no high altitude experience and have paid upwards of $65,000 to be guided up the mountain by competing companies: Adventure Consultants and Mountain Madness. As the two expeditions prepare to make their summit attempt, hurricane-force winds threaten to end their climb. Leaders, Rob Hall and Scott Fisher, must make a decision: turn around, or keep pushing for the top?

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Voyage to the North Pole | Finding USS Jeannette | 6 Jun 25, 2024

When author and historian Hampton Sides was deep into researching another polar expedition, he stumbled upon the tragic journey of USS Jeannette. He couldn’t believe Captain De Long’s voyage wasn’t common knowledge. The 33-man crew endured extreme hardship, and only 13 survived what Sides calls “the American Shackleton story.” Hampton Sides joins host Mike Corey to share his own story of tracing the forgotten voyage for his bookIn the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette.

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Voyage to the North Pole | Siberia | 5 Jun 18, 2024

After months of trekking across the polar ice, the crew of USS Jeannette finally reach open water. Now, they must endure a harrowing ocean crossing in three small, leaky boats to reach Siberia, where they hope to make contact with the native residents, and beg for food and shelter. But finding help in the frozen, maze-like swamps of Siberia’s Lena Delta is easier said than done – and another punishing winter is closing in.

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Voyage to the North Pole | The Skeleton Pack | 4 Jun 11, 2024

It’s June 1881, and USS Jeannette has been crushed between ice floes and sunk to the bottom of the Arctic Sea. The crew now find themselves stranded on the ice, a thousand miles from Siberia, the nearest inhabited land. If they’re ever going to reach it, they’ll have to endure a brutal march over an inhospitable icescape.

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Voyage to the North Pole | Crushed | 3 Jun 04, 2024

Trapped in polar pack ice, the crew of USS Jeannette settle in for a long, dark winter. As the temperature drops and the ice floes press against her sides, the ship risks suffering grave damage. Morale drops, as the sailors begin to wonder if they’ll ever return safely from the endless expanse of ice.

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Voyage to the North Pole | Icebound | 2 May 28, 2024

It’s September 1879 and the crew of USS Jeannette encounters pack ice that’s thicker than they expected, due to unseasonably cold weather. Captain George De Long is at a loss for how to push through it until the ship’s engineer George Melville proposes an ingenuous solution. But as the arctic winter looms, De Long isn’t sure how long Melville’s plan will work. Their expedition risks getting trapped in one of the harshest environments on Earth.

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Voyage to the North Pole | Arctic Dreams | 1 May 21, 2024

In July 1879, 33 men set sail aboard USS Jeannette on a two-year mission to become the first humans to reach the North Pole. Though many other expeditions have failed, Captain George De Long is confident that a warm northbound current will give them enough momentum to escape getting stuck in the treacherous arctic pack ice. But not long after the journey begins, De Long and his crew realize their journey will be far more daunting than they could have ever imagined.

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Encore: Meltdown at Fukushima | The Devil's Chain Reaction | 4 May 14, 2024

After a week of unrelenting disasters—and with Tokyo itself now under threat—the managers of the Fukushima nuclear power plant are forced to evacuate all but the most essential staff. But with the help of an elite firefighting force called the Hyper Rescue Squad, the remaining few rally for one last battle to avert a catastrophic meltdown.

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Encore: Meltdown at Fukushima | Collapse | 3 May 07, 2024

Now contending with multiple damaged reactors, engineers at the Fukushima nuclear power plant hatch a series of increasingly desperate plans to prevent a total meltdown. But several explosions and the loss of vital cooling pumps bring the entire plant to the brink of chaos. As the crisis worsens, it becomes clear that the very future of Japan is at stake.

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Encore: Meltdown at Fukushima | Pressure | 2 Apr 30, 2024

Crippled by a tsunami of unprecedented scale, one of the reactors at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is in danger of melting down. To save it, workers must do the unthinkable: Vent radioactive steam into the atmosphere, to avoid a larger catastrophe as explosive gasses build up inside the reactor core. And they must risk exposing themselves to dangerous levels of radiation to do it.

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Encore: Meltdown at Fukushima | Triple Disaster | 1 Apr 23, 2024

In March 2011, one of the largest earthquakes in history struck eastern Japan, followed by a massive tsunami. This one-two punch then caused a third disaster—a total loss of power at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Employees at the plant found themselves scrambling to cool down the reactors, and avoid a deadly meltdown.

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BONUS: When Animals Attack with Tooth & Claw | 6 Apr 16, 2024

On this special episode of Against the Odds, wildlife biologist and host of the podcast Tooth & Claw: True Stories of Animal Attacks, Wes Larson, joins Mike Corey to share some of the wildest animal encounters he’s come across, and give tips on what to do if you come across these creatures in the wild. From grizzly bears to great whites, rattlers, cougars and…LEECHES, Wes has it covered. Plus, Mike and Wes swap stories of their own run-ins with black bears.

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Buried Alive | The Elusive Gary Krist | 5 Apr 09, 2024

Atlanta-based journalist Steve Fennessy began researching Gary Steven Krist’s past for an article he was writing for Atlanta Magazine back in 2006. The assignment took him on a deep dive into Krist’s life, from his upbringing through the aftermath of one of the most notorious crimes of the 1960s: kidnapping and burying Barbara Jane Mackle alive. Today, Fennessy joins host Cassie De Pecol to share what he uncovered about Krist and what it was like writing our series, Buried Alive.

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Buried Alive | The Chase | 4 Apr 02, 2024

It’s been days since Barbara Mackle has been buried alive in the cold Georgia clay. She has no idea how long the battery that keeps fresh air circulating into her wooden capsule will last. She's beginning to despair that she'll ever be rescued. Meanwhile, in Florida, after the first ransom drop is bungled, kidnapper Gary Steven Krist makes one last-ditch effort to get the ransom money and arrange a getaway. But the police dragnet around him is tightening with every hour.

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Buried Alive | The Drop | 3 Mar 26, 2024

Barbara’s father, Robert Mackle, has gathered $500,000 in 20-dollar bills into a suitcase. Then, following the kidnappers’ instructions, he goes by himself to the drop site – an abandoned causeway in Miami. But when he gets lost on the way to the site, he begins to worry that the kidnappers will flee before he can deliver the money, leaving his daughter to die.

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Buried Alive | The Box | 2 Mar 19, 2024

Drugged and sick with flu, Barbara Mackle begs her kidnappers not to bury her underground. But soon she’s sealed inside a cramped wooden box, and can hear dirt being shoveled onto the lid. Meanwhile, a mysterious caller to her family’s home outside Miami directs them to a note buried beneath a rock in their front yard. The note confirms their worst fears – Barbara has been kidnapped and will never be found if they don’t pay the ransom.

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Buried Alive | Taken | 1 Mar 12, 2024

It’s December, 1968, and 20-year-old Emory University student Barbara Mackle is taken at gunpoint from the Atlanta motel room she’s sharing with her mother. Her two kidnappers drug her and then drive her to a remote spot in the woods outside the city. Their plan? To bury her alive in a coffin-like box while they wait for a half-million dollar ransom from her father, a wealthy real estate developer.

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Johnstown Flood | Prepare for the Worst | 5 Mar 05, 2024

National Park Ranger Doug Bosley’s existence hinges on a few dangerous seconds in the life of his great-great grandfather, William Pickerill. On May 31, 1889, Pickerill worked as a telegraph operator down the valley from Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Before it was washed away by the flood, his telegraph office relayed warnings about the impending collapse of the South Fork Dam. Today, Ranger Bosley joins host Mike Corey to talk about how William Pickerillsurvived, and how the Johnstown Flood National Memorial remembers those who didn’t. Bosley also shares his own recollections of the Johnstown flood of 1977.

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Johnstown Flood | Fire on the Water | 4 Feb 27, 2024

After the flood leaves many Johnstown residents trapped by debris and fighting for their lives, several oil slicks from leaking industrial equipment catch fire, igniting a deadly inferno. Sixteen-year-old Victor Heiser must rescue a young woman whose leg is pinned by rubble as the fire grows closer by the second. And as the floodwaters finally recede, and residents return to where their homes once stood, they reckon with all that they’ve lost and will have to rebuild.

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Johnstown Flood | Cascade | 3 Feb 20, 2024

Despite the efforts of engineer John Parke, the South Fork Dam does break. The ensuing flash flood sweeps up a vast, moving wall of debris: mud, rocks, trees, fragments of bridges and smashed-up houses. Residents in Johnstown, including Reverend H.L. Chapman and his family, have mere seconds to flee to higher ground as the floodwaters and debris crash into their homes. The lucky ones find themselves clinging to rooftops amid the raging waters, fighting to survive.

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Johnstown Flood | Overflow | 2 Feb 13, 2024

Engineer John Parke and a team of workers furiously shovel dirt, trying to shore up the South Fork Dam as it threatens to overflow, amid torrential rains. Parke knows these efforts are their only chance of preventing a terrible flood. He decides he has to warn the towns in the river valley of the imminent danger — but it’s a warning they’ve heard too many times in the past to take seriously.

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Johnstown Flood | The Dam | 1 Feb 06, 2024

It’s May, 30th 1889, and the South Fork Dam in Western Pennsylvania is in danger. After nearly a month of hard rain, eight inches have fallen in one day, filling the lake behind the dam to capacity. And the dam’s owners, the South Fork Hunting and Fishing Club, have cut corners in repairing and maintaining it. It’s threatening to break, which would unleash 20 million tons of water on the people in the valley below, including everyone living in the steel city of Johnstown.

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Adrift in the Pacific | Creatures of the Sea | 3 Jan 30, 2024

Over 100 days have passed since the Baileys’ yacht sank, leaving them adrift on a life raft in the Pacific ocean. They’ve managed to survive on turtle meat and fish they catch with a makeshift fishing hook, but they are in terrible physical condition. Now, their life raft is leaking, and they’re not sure how much longer they can stay afloat.

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Adrift in the Pacific | Distress Signals | 2 Jan 23, 2024

It’s March 1973, and Maurice and Maralyn Bailey are floating on a small life raft in the middle of the world’s largest ocean. Before their yacht sank into the Pacific, they managed to grab some food and supplies, but their provisions won’t last long. Now, their only hope is to be rescued by a passing ship, before it’s too late.

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Adrift in the Pacific | The Sinking | 1 Jan 16, 2024

In the summer of 1972, Marilyn and Maurice Bailey decide to leave their quiet lives in suburban England behind, to sail across the world and start a new life in New Zealand. But when their 30-foot yacht is struck by a whale, they’re left stranded in a small rubber life raft in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, hundreds of miles from the nearest land.

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Encore: Donner Party | In Their Footsteps | 4 Jan 09, 2024

In December of 1846, a small group split off from the Donner Party in a desperate attempt to find help. The party, known as the Forlorn Hope, endured the bitter Sierra Nevada winter, trekking roughly 100 miles in 33 days. The route the party took remained unknown for decades. Until 2020, when ultra-runners Bob Crowley and Tim Twietmeyer completed a seven-year odyssey. Together they mapped and retraced the path they think was taken by Forlorn Hope. Today, Tim and Bob join host Mike Corey to share how they managed this incredible feat of endurance.

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Encore: Donner Party | Consumed | 3 Jan 02, 2024

In the winter of 1847, a series of rescue parties fought their way through record snowfall to try to reach the stranded Donner Party. But when they finally arrived at the snowbound camps, they were unprepared for the scenes of horror and cannibalism they would find.

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Encore: Donner Party | Snow and Blood | 2 Dec 26, 2023

In November of 1846, an early snowstorm left the Donner Party’s 87 men, women and children trapped in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Freezing and running out of food, they decided to send out a team of men and women on a rescue mission. But soon, the rescuers would find themselves lost and starving, and forced to face the ultimate taboo of the wilderness: whether to eat their fallen comrades to survive.

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Encore: Donner Party | The Shortcut | 1 Dec 19, 2023

In the 1840s, thousands of Americans journeyed west to California to pursue better lives. One group of settlers became infamous: the Donner Party. After taking an unproven shortcut, their wagon train fell dangerously behind schedule. If they couldn’t cross the Sierra Nevada Mountains before winter came, they risked getting trapped in the snow and starving. But as pressure mounted for the wagons to move faster, tensions among the settlers would explode into violence.

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Alone in the Alaska Wilderness | Lone Survivor | 4 Dec 12, 2023

Journalist Brian Murphy first discovered Leon Crane’s story buried in a press release about a fellow airman, who had died when their B-24 bomber crashed in Alaska in 1943. At the end of the release, he found mention of a “lone survivor,” who walked out of the frozen Yukon over the course of three months. Today, Brian Murphy joins host Mike Corey to talk about how he pieced together Crane’s epic journey for his book, 81 Days Below Zero: The Incredible Survival Story of a World War II Pilot in Alaska's Frozen Wilderness.

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Alone in the Alaska Wilderness | The Long Walk | 3 Dec 05, 2023

Leon Crane abandons the safety of an old hunter’s cabin to make a final push towards what he hopes is a small village. But the ice in the river he’s following has begun to crack, making for a perilous journey. And the closer Crane gets to safety, the more the Alaska winter seems determined to bring him to his knees.

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Alone in the Alaska Wilderness | Cabin Fever | 2 Nov 28, 2023

Pilot Leon Crane has spent a week stranded in the Alaska backcountry after his plane crashed, and is in desperate need of food. He’s now considered “missing in action” by the army, with no rescue coming. His only option is to keep walking along a frozen river. But a stroke of luck buoys his spirits and gives him just enough fuel to keep searching for signs of civilization.

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Alone in the Alaska Wilderness | Survival Mode | 1 Nov 21, 2023

It’s December 1943 and First Lieutenant Leon Crane and his crewmates board the Iceberg Inez, a B-24 bomber, for a test run. But when the plane runs into trouble and crashes, Crane finds himself alone in a remote stretch of Alaskan backcountry, far from the army base, Ladd Airfield. With no gear or supplies to protect himself from the harsh winter conditions, he must rely on his own ingenuity in his quest to find help.

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Lost in the Rainforest | A Conversation with Yossi Ghinsberg | 4 Nov 14, 2023

Today, Yossi Ghinsberg joins host Cassie De Pecol to discuss how he survived for three weeks alone in the Bolivian Amazon. Yossi reflects on the lessons he learned from the experience, and shares the story of his return to the Amazon a decade later. His book Jungle: A Harrowing True Story of Survival in the Amazon was the basis for the film Jungle, starring Daniel Radcliffe.

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Lost in the Rainforest | Man of Action | 3 Nov 07, 2023

Kevin Gale desperately tries to organize a search party for Yossi Ghinsberg, who is still lost in the Bolivian rainforest. As days turn to weeks, Kevin worries he'll never see his friend alive again. Meanwhile, malnourished and injured, Yossi is growing increasingly disoriented as he treks through the forbidding jungle. He begins to lose all hope of ever being rescued.

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Lost in the Rainforest | Swept Away | 2 Oct 31, 2023

After splitting off from their group, Yossi Ghinsberg and Kevin Gale hope to complete their journey through the Bolivian rainforest by rafting down the Tuichi River. But they quickly discover they're no match for the dangerous rapids. Soon they get separated, and when Yossi makes it to shore, Kevin is nowhere to be found. Yossi finds himself alone in the jungle, with barely any food, and no survival skills.

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Lost in the Rainforest | Into the Jungle | 1 Oct 24, 2023

It’s 1981 and 22-year-old Yossi Ghinsberg is wrapping up a backpacking trip through South America. In La Paz, Bolivia, he and two friends meet an older Austrian expat, who entices them to join him on a trek into an uncharted corner of the Amazon rainforest. Yossi and his companions set out looking for adventure, but quickly discover they are ill-equipped for the harsh jungle environment, and their guide may not be as capable as they thought.

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Granite Mountain Hotshots Disaster | One Foot in the Black | 5 Oct 17, 2023

Kyle Dickman remembers the exact moment he learned about the fate of the Granite Mountain Hotshots. As a former firefighter and hotshot himself, the news hit him hard. He reported on the tragedy for Outside magazine, then spent the next two years researching and writing his book, On the Burning Edge: A Fateful Fire and the Men Who Fought It. Today, Kyle joins host Mike Corey to talk about the disaster and raise some tough questions about how wildland fires are fought.

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Granite Mountain Hotshots Disaster | Radio Silence | 4 Oct 10, 2023

Fueled by 50-mile-an-hour winds, the Yarnell Hill Fire rages out of control. Fire officials have no choice but to evacuate all residents and firefighting crews in its path. But there’s still one crew out there: the Granite Mountain Hotshots. They think they’ve found a shortcut to a safety zone, but unbeknownst to them, the fire is heading right for them.

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Granite Mountain Hotshots Disaster | Shifting Winds | 3 Oct 03, 2023

When the Yarnell Hill Fire abruptly changes direction, hotshot Brendan McDonough has to abandon his lookout post and run for his life. Meanwhile, the rest of his crew, the Granite Mountain Hotshots, are safe on a ridge, in what firefighters call “the black” – an already-burned area. But when the winds change direction, and push the fire towards the town of Yarnell, crew chief Eric Marsh makes a fateful decision: to lead his men out of their safe area, so they can help fight the fire.

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Granite Mountain Hotshots Disaster | Into the Breach | 2 Sep 26, 2023

The Granite Mountain Hotshots arrive in Yarnell to help fight what is now the number-one fire priority in all of Arizona. But crew chief Eric Marsh is frustrated when his guys are assigned to create fire breaks at the back of the fire. He wants his team to be on the front lines, where the action is. Meanwhile, driven by high winds, the fire begins to threaten the town of Peeples Valley, forcing the evacuation of the fire command center and throwing the entire firefighting effort into chaos.

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Granite Mountain Hotshots Disaster | The Spark | 1 Sep 19, 2023

On June 28th, 2013, lightning sparks a wildfire near the town of Yarnell in central Arizona. Fueled by dry conditions, the fire quickly spreads. To contain the blaze, local officials call in elite crews of firefighters known as hotshots. One team, the Granite Mountain Hotshots, from the nearby town of Prescott, are especially eager to prove themselves. But they’ve never faced anything like the Yarnell Hill blaze.

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Hurricane Katrina | Katrina Babies with Filmmaker Edward Buckles Jr. | 5 Sep 12, 2023

As Hurricane Katrina approached New Orleans, 13-year-old Edward Buckles, Jr. piled into a car with his family and evacuated. They drove for hours on clogged roads, and slept on a shelter floor that night. When Edward woke up the next morning and saw news reports of his city under water, he began to realize that the life he had known was gone. Today, Edward joins Host Cassie De Pecol to discuss his HBO documentary, Katrina Babies, which looks at the toll the hurricane took on the youth of New Orleans.

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Hurricane Katrina | We Were Here | 4 Sep 05, 2023

At long last, the government’s rescue effort kicks into high gear and buses arrive to evacuate people from New Orleans. But it’s too late for many residents, who died in their homes waiting to be rescued. Thousands of people’s lives are shattered, and the damage to the city is extensive, particularly in predominantly Black neighborhoods like the Lower Ninth Ward.

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Hurricane Katrina | Beyond Critical | 3 Aug 29, 2023

Days after Hurricane Katrina floods their city, residents of New Orleans become increasingly desperate, as the government bungles the rescue effort. Using doors and other items to make improvised rafts, people make their way from their flooded homes to the Superdome and the Convention Center, which the city has set up as emergency shelters, only to find both venues lacking in food and resources. Meanwhile, the city’s largest public hospital, Charity, remains unevacuated, as its staff struggles to keep critical patients alive.

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Hurricane Katrina | Stranded | 2 Aug 22, 2023

Officials learn that the storm surge from Katrina has breached New Orleans’s levees, allowing water to pour into the city. Soon, 80 percent of New Orleans is underwater. Many residents become trapped in their homes, and are forced to climb into their attics and onto rooftops, as their neighborhoods flood. With the power out and phone service down, the local and federal government struggle to mount relief efforts, leaving thousands of people to fend for themselves without food, drinking water, or adequate medical care.

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Hurricane Katrina | Code Gray | 1 Aug 15, 2023

It’s late August 2005, and the city of New Orleans makes preparations for the arrival of Hurricane Katrina. But after decades of hurricanes missing the city, many residents are confident they can ride out the storm. By the time Mayor Ray Nagin orders the first mandatory evacuation in New Orleans history, it’s too late for some to leave.

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Apollo 13 | A Flight Director Remembers | 6 Aug 08, 2023

Jim Lovell, Fred Haise and Jack Swigert went through the ordeal of their lives on the Apollo 13 Mission. But the people manning Houston’s Mission Control faced their own challenges as they figured out how to bring the astronauts home safe. Former NASA Flight Director Gerry Griffin was in that room, more than 50 years ago. He joins Host Mike Corey to share his experiences steering the mission from the ground, and what it was like to advise director Ron Howard on the movie, Apollo 13.

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Apollo 13 | Splashdown | 5 Aug 01, 2023

Six days into their mission, the Apollo 13 astronauts have been working under immense pressure and on very little sleep. Tempers grow short as they battle with Mission Control in Houston over what steps to take for their biggest challenge yet: reentry into Earth’s atmosphere.

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Apollo 13 | 43 Amps | 4 Jul 25, 2023

The three astronauts on the crippled Apollo 13 spacecraft round the Moon and finally begin the return leg of their journey toward Earth. But their troubles are far from over. They still have to strictly ration the amount of power they’re using, so they have enough remaining for the all-important reentry procedure. They also must execute a series of precise “burns”—firing their rockets at just the right instant to get them back on a trajectory to Earth. One small mistake could send them hurtling into deep space, never to return.

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Apollo 13 | Tiger Team | 3 Jul 18, 2023

The three astronauts aboard the Apollo 13 spacecraft have retreated into the cramped lunar

module, the only part of the spacecraft that’s still fully functioning. Back on Earth, NASA’s Mission Control sets up an elite team of engineers—the Tiger Team—to figure out how to stretch the spacecraft’s dwindling water, heat, and power over the perilous, days-long journey back to Earth.

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Apollo 13 | Slingshot | 2 Jul 11, 2023

After an explosion cripples the Apollo 13 spacecraft, NASA’s Mission Control in Houston scrambles to come up with a plan to save the crew. Step one involves stabilizing Apollo 13 to preserve as much precious air, water, and power as possible. Step two involves figuring out a flight plan to get the three astronauts back home as soon as possible.

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Apollo 13 | "Houston, We’ve Had a Problem." | 1 Jul 04, 2023

On April 11th, 1970, NASA launched Apollo 13, its third manned mission to the Moon. But two days into its journey, an explosion wiped out a major source of oxygen, limiting the ship’s water and power supplies. The three astronauts onboard found themselves stranded in a crippled spacecraft 200,000 miles from Earth, while their families—and the entire nation—watched helplessly from the ground.

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In Their Own Words: Stranded in Joshua Tree | 1 Jun 27, 2023

On May 22, 2018, Claire Nelson set out on what she thought would be a four-hour hike in Southern California’s Joshua Tree National Park. An experienced hiker, Claire packed plenty of water and followed an established trail in a park visited by millions of people each year. But after taking a wrong turn, she slipped off a boulder and shattered her pelvis. Injured and exposed to the elements, she found herself alone in the desert in a fight for her life. On this special episode, Claire Nelson joins the show to narrate her four-day odyssey of survival.

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Encore: Plane Crash in the Andes | The Climb | 4 Jun 20, 2023

In a final attempt to escape the Andes, Nando and Roberto have headed east to pursue safety. The men face a difficult journey as the weather takes a turn for the worst, and their food supply dwindles. Back at the fuselage, their teammates wait for rescuers to arrive. The remaining survivors have accepted their fate: they're all doomed if the two men don't find civilization. There is only one option left. Roberto and Nando must survive their hike out through one of the largest mountain ranges in the world.

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Encore: Plane Crash in the Andes | The Choice | 3 Jun 13, 2023

After escaping an avalanche that killed eight more passengers, the survivors of the Fairchild are starting to lose all hope. Many in the group are on death’s door. Time is running out. They can’t wait any longer for rescue. They must seek it out on their own. The expedition to find help and get off the mountain is more urgent than ever. Nando and Roberto will have to debate the best path to safety, but the men can take only one route.

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Encore: Plane Crash in the Andes | The Cutting | 2 Jun 06, 2023

The remaining survivors of the Fairchild crash are starting to lose hope that rescuers will arrive after ten days of inactivity. Nando Parrado and Roberto Canessa understand their only chance at survival is to send a small team through the Andes mountains and down into Chile for help. Unfortunately, they remain stranded, and their food supply has just run out. If they’re going to climb through the Andes successfully, they’ll need to build up their strength and make some tough decisions.

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Encore: Plane Crash in the Andes | The Crash | 1 May 30, 2023

In October 1972, an Uruguayan rugby team traveling to their next match in Santiago, Chile, crashes into the Andes Mountains after their plane strikes a glacier. Stranded on the snow-covered side of a mountain, they will have to do the unthinkable to survive.

Initially, 29 passengers survive the collision but they must endure freezing temperatures with no winter clothes and only a few light snacks for food. The landscape is barren, and as night falls, the temperature drops below zero. The remaining survivors have no idea if help is coming. They will have to battle starvation, hypothermia, blizzards, and avalanches for more than two months before finally finding the strength to try and save themselves.

It's the incredible true story of survival in the elements and two young men's attempt to hike to civilization and get them all out.

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Fire at Sea: Cruise Ship Rescue | "When the Going Gets Tough..." | 5 May 23, 2023

Of the more than 500 Prinsendam passengers and crew, every one of them was eventually rescued and brought to safety. Today, two of those survivors, John and Malory Graham, join host Mike Corey to share their experience of the fire and rescue. Malory was just 13-years old when she boarded the ship for an adventure with her dad, John. We’ll also hear from retired Coast Guard Captain Stephen Corcoran about getting the call Prinsendam was in trouble, and what it was like arriving on the scene.

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Fire at Sea: Cruise Ship Rescue | The Last Lifeboat | 4 May 16, 2023

Rescue workers begin the painstakingly slow process of airlifting cruise ship evacuees one by one from their lifeboats. But a typhoon has turned the Gulf of Alaska into a raging sea, and as they await rescue, many of the passengers fear they’ll either drown or die of hypothermia. Just when rescuers think they’ve saved everyone, they realize they’ve overlooked one lifeboat. Amid rain and massive waves, and with darkness approaching, they worry they might never find it.

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Fire at Sea: Cruise Ship Rescue | Adrift | 3 May 09, 2023

With the fire aboard Prinsendam now burning out of control, the captain gives the order to abandon ship. Passengers, some dressed only in pajamas and nightgowns, scramble into wooden lifeboats, which are lowered into the dark and frigid waters of the Gulf of Alaska. Meanwhile, rescue vessels – both military and private – rush to the scene. But with over 500 passengers and crew in need of saving, and a typhoon closing in, they’re in a race against time.

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Fire at Sea: Cruise Ship Rescue | Dead in the Water | 2 May 02, 2023

As crew members aboard Prinsendam work to contain the fire, passengers shiver on the decks in the cold night air. The mood is mostly festive; everyone expects that the fire will be extinguished soon. But when the blaze spreads to the dining room, the ship’s captain realizes he has no choice. He issues an SOS. If help doesn’t come soon, they’ll have to abandon ship — with a typhoon headed straight toward them.

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Fire at Sea: Cruise Ship Rescue | The Blaze | 1 Apr 25, 2023

In October of 1980, the luxury cruise ship Prinsendam set sail from Vancouver with more than 300 passengers aboard, many of whom were elderly. But just after midnight on the cruise’s fourth day, in the Gulf of Alaska, a fire broke out in the ship’s engine room. The crew battled to contain the blaze, but with limited firefighting equipment, it was unclear if they could prevent the fire from spreading, and threatening the entire ship.

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Amelia Earhart: Across the Atlantic | 100th Episode, Amelia’s Final Flight | 3 Apr 18, 2023

It’s officially Against the Odds’ 100th episode! To celebrate the milestone, hosts Cassie De Pecol and Mike Corey sit down to reminisce about their favorite seasons, swap stories of their own adventures, and discuss the pioneers who inspire them. Later, author and podcaster Chris Williamson joins Cassie to dive into Amelia Earhart’s final flight and the mystery of her disappearance.

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Amelia Earhart: Across the Atlantic | Solo | 2 Apr 11, 2023

By 1929, Amelia Earhart was famous for her groundbreaking flight across the Atlantic, with pilot Bill Stultz and mechanic Slim Gordon. Now, she seemed to be living the perfect life: she was a rich and famous celebrity and could fly whenever she liked. But all that attention made her uncomfortable. After all, Amelia wasn’t the pilot of her transatlantic flight. So she decided to make herself into the aviator she always wanted to be. Only another death-defying adventure would prove to Amelia – and to the world – that she finally had earned her wings.

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Amelia Earhart: Across the Atlantic | The Race | 1 Apr 04, 2023

In April 1928, a social worker named Amelia Earhart received a phone call that would alter the course of her life. She was offered the chance to become the first woman to fly across the Atlantic. Charles Lindbergh had completed his famous solo flight the year before, but many others had died trying. Amelia would be joined by only a pilot and a mechanic, for a long flight that was sure to be fraught with danger. But it was an adventure she couldn’t turn down, an undertaking that changed the future of aviation.

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Alaska Bear Attack | Into The Wilds with Caroline Van Hemert | 3 Mar 28, 2023

Bear. Running. Toward me. Writer and wildlife biologist Caroline Van Hemert encountered only one dangerous bear on her four-thousand-mile trip from Washington to Alaska. She survived to write about it in The Sun is A Compass: My 4,000-Mile Journey into the Alaskan Wilds. Caroline joins host Mike Corey to talk about her own experiences with bears, and what drew her to the story of snowboarder Bart Pieciul’s violent bear encounter, which she wrote about for Outside Magazine.

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Alaska Bear Attack | Three Long Hours | 2 Mar 21, 2023

After Bart Pieciul is mauled by a bear in the Alaska wilderness, his friends have to use all of their outdoor knowledge to keep him alive. The three men are stranded in the mountains for hours, waiting for a Coast Guard helicopter to airlift Bart to the nearest hospital. As the temperature drops, they’re desperate to prevent their friend from succumbing to blood loss and hypothermia. And they have no idea if the bear that attacked him will return.

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Alaska Bear Attack | In Defense of Life and Property | 1 Mar 13, 2023

The residents of Haines, Alaska are used to living alongside bears. The region surrounding their small town has one of the densest bear populations in the world. But as climate change curtails the bears’ natural food sources, encounters between bears and humans are becoming more common, putting everyone on edge.

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Himalayan Spy Mission | Back to the Mountains with Pete Takeda | 4 Mar 07, 2023

When outdoor writer Pete Takeda first heard the story of a covert CIA operation in the Himalayas, he couldn’t believe it. So he decided to investigate. His curiosity led him on an adventure to the Himalayas in search of answers. Today, Pete joins host Cassie De Pecol to share how he ascended some of the planet’s most challenging peaks to research his book, An Eye At The Top of the World: The Terrifying Legacy of the Cold War’s Most Daring C.I.A. Operation.

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Himalayan Spy Mission | The Dome | 3 Feb 28, 2023

Two years have passed since the team of Indian and American elite climbers lost a nuclear-powered spying device in the Himalayas. Now, as China continues to test its nuclear weapons, the climbing team is given one last chance to complete their mission. This time they have to bring a new spying device up a different mountain. But as they summit the 22,000 foot peak called Nanda Kot, they’ll face avalanches, severe weather, and a shocking last-minute setback.

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Himalayan Spy Mission | Retrieval | 2 Feb 21, 2023

Winter storms arrived early on the Himalayan peak Nanda Devi, forcing the team of American and Indian climbers to retreat down the mountain and abandon the nuclear-powered spying device. Now in the spring of 1966, the team has to go back up to retrieve it. But they are unprepared for what they will discover when they get there.

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Himalayan Spy Mission | The Device | 1 Feb 14, 2023

In 1965, with Cold War tensions escalating, the CIA and India’s Intelligence Bureau joined forces to spy on China’s budding nuclear program. Satellites and spy planes at the time were unreliable, so the agencies hatched an unusual plan: place a nuclear-powered spying device atop Nanda Devi, the tallest mountain located entirely within India. The world’s best climbers from both America and India must scale the treacherous peak while carrying the dangerous device up to over 23,000 feet.

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Uncharted: Teddy Roosevelt's Amazon Expedition | Lost Cities with Mike Heckenberger | 5 Feb 07, 2023

Searching for lost cities in the Amazon sounds like something out of a Hollywood script – unless you’re University of Florida anthropologist Mike Heckenberger. He’s been visiting the Amazon for three decades, working with local tribes and uncovering a network of ancient cities in the jungle. On this episode, Mike joins host Cassie De Pecol to discuss what it’s like to explore the region today, more than a century since Roosevelt’s expedition, and what we can learn from the indigenous people of the Amazon about preserving it.

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Uncharted: Teddy Roosevelt's Amazon Expedition | River's End | 4 Jan 31, 2023

After weeks on the River of Doubt, Theodore Roosevelt’s expedition is on the verge of collapse. But hope emerges when they find clues that Brazilian frontiersmen may be living and working in the wilderness nearby. As Roosevelt’s health deteriorates, drastic measures must be taken to fight the infection in his leg. The men must race to return the former president to civilization before illness and starvation claim his life.

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Uncharted: Teddy Roosevelt's Amazon Expedition | A Killer In Their Midst | 3 Jan 24, 2023

Challenges mount as the expedition travels farther down the river. With the end of their journey nowhere in sight, hunger and disease take their toll on the men. Colonel Rondon wonders if members of an indigenous tribe are following them … and waiting to attack. Tensions between the men simmer, until they explode in violence. In the midst of this turmoil, Theodore Roosevelt suffers an injury that initially seems small, but could bring him to the brink of death.

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Uncharted: Teddy Roosevelt's Amazon Expedition | River of Doubt | 2 Jan 17, 2023

As Theodore Roosevelt’s expedition sets off down the River of Doubt, it doesn’t take long for the going to get rough. Their canoes are no match for the boiling rapids, forcing them to trek through an unforgiving jungle rife with insects, predators and disease. As their movement slows, their food supplies dwindle. Roosevelt’s son Kermit takes a bold risk to speed their progress . . . but the turbulent waters deliver more peril than he bargained for.

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Uncharted: Teddy Roosevelt's Amazon Expedition | Headwaters | 1 Jan 10, 2023

In 1913, former President Theodore Roosevelt embarked on a perilous expedition to explore one of the last unmapped rivers in the Amazon. Roosevelt was joined by his son Kermit, famed Brazilian explorer Candido Rondon, and a team of naturalists and porters. But as the party sets off on a 400 mile trek across the highlands to reach the headwaters, they discover they are woefully unprepared for the dangers that await them in the wild.

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Chowchilla School Bus Kidnapping | One Survivor’s Story | 3 Dec 13, 2022

On the afternoon of July 15, 1976, nine-year-old Jennifer Brown Hyde and her older brother Jeff were returning home from a summer school trip to a local pool. On their way home, masked men with guns boarded their school bus, and her life was changed in an instant. In this special interview, Jennifer joins host Mike Corey to discuss the kidnapping, its aftermath, and how sharing her story has helped her heal from the trauma.

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Chowchilla School Bus Kidnapping | Buried Alive | 2 Dec 06, 2022

The kidnapped children and their bus driver are trapped underground in the back of a moving truck, and they’re running out of food and water. They decide the only way out is to dig their way to the surface. Meanwhile, the amateur criminals who hijacked the school bus are trying to deliver a five million dollar ransom demand to the California government. Soon, the tables are turned, and the kidnappers are the ones trying to escape an international manhunt.

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Chowchilla School Bus Kidnapping | Vanished | 1 Nov 29, 2022

In the summer of 1976, three masked gunmen hijack a school bus full of children in rural Chowchilla, California. The twenty-six kids and their bus driver are driven to a quarry and buried alive. Back in town, no one has any idea where the children went, who took them, or why. The local sheriff and the FBI launch a massive manhunt to track down the kidnappers and locate the children, but the trail quickly runs cold.

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Submarine Rescue: The Race to Save Squalus | The Final Dive | 3 Nov 22, 2022

Swede Momsen’s diving bell finally makes contact with the sailors trapped inside the USS Squalus. But bad weather makes for a harrowing mission. And just when rescuers are about to bring the last of the crew to safety, the bell hits an unexpected snag, leaving a group of sailors and the sub’s captain trapped in even worse circumstances than before, with their chances of survival literally hanging by a thread.

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Submarine Rescue: The Race to Save Squalus | Trapped | 2 Nov 15, 2022

With the USS Squalus trapped at the bottom of the ocean, the Navy mounted an all-out rescue effort to save its crew before they ran out of breathable air. They called upon Charles “Swede” Momsen, an engineer who’d been pushing the Navy for years to develop new technology to rescue sunken submarines. While top brass considered Momsen a “rebel in uniform,” his ingenious invention — a rescue diving bell — soon became the Navy’s only hope.

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Submarine Rescue: The Race to Save Squalus | Into the Deep | 1 Nov 08, 2022

On the morning of May 23, 1939, a state-of-the-art U.S. Navy’s submarine, the USS Squalus, was doing a routine test dive when something went terribly wrong. The sub began flooding, and plunged 240 feet down to the bottom of the ocean, trapping the dozens of sailors aboard. The ship’s captain knew he had to act fast if he had any hope of saving his crew from a horrible death.

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Wildfire in Paradise | Evacuating Paradise with Beth Bowersox and Daniel Swain | 6 Nov 01, 2022

CalFire dispatcher Beth Bowersox was on duty the morning the Camp Fire ignited. She joins Host Cassie De Pecol to share what it was like behind the scenes as a first responder, and her decision to evacuate all of her hometown of Paradise. Later, UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain discusses whether there could be another Camp Fire.

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Wildfire in Paradise | Paradise Lost with Lizzie Johnson | 5 Oct 25, 2022

By the time it was contained in late November 2018, the Camp Fire had become the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history. Journalist Lizzie Johnson spent two years reporting on the fire and its aftermath for The San Francisco Chronicle and her book, Paradise: One Town’s Struggle to Survive An American Wildfire. Lizzie joins host Cassie De Pecol to discuss the stories she heard from local residents, firefighters and rescue crews in Paradise, and shares her own experiences reporting from the fire zone.

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Wildfire in Paradise | Containment | 4 Oct 18, 2022

By mid-afternoon of November 8, 2018, the Camp Fire has largely moved through Paradise. Families separated by the fire are desperate to find each other and know who survived — and if they’ll be able to return to their homes. The town of 27,000 people has largely been destroyed, leaving residents to reckon with the aftermath of the devastation.

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Wildfire in Paradise | Engulfed | 3 Oct 11, 2022

As the fire rages and traffic on the main roads out of Paradise comes to a standstill, firefighters realize evacuation is no longer a viable option. First responders race to locate places of refuge within the town, where trapped civilians and other firefighters can wait out the fire as safely as possible. Meanwhile, other residents and firefighters find themselves stuck in gridlock, with nowhere to go as the flames close in.

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Wildfire in Paradise | Bottleneck | 2 Oct 04, 2022

As a fast-moving wildfire closes in on their town, Paradise residents move to evacuate as quickly as possible. But not everyone knows about the seriousness of the fire. Electronic evacuation alerts from Cal Fire aren’t getting through to the whole town. And others are stubbornly committed to staying put to defend their properties. Meanwhile, hundreds of drivers, including a school bus full of children, are getting trapped on the clogged roads leading out of town.

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Wildfire in Paradise | Ignition | 1 Sep 27, 2022

In the early morning of November 8, 2018, a faulty electrical line sparked a fire in the woods of Butte County, California. Spurred on by high winds and dry brush from extreme drought, the fire spread faster than anyone had ever seen before. In a little over an hour, it arrived in the town of Paradise, California, forcing 27,000 residents to flee for their lives.

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Crash in a Volcano | Thank You, Madam Pele with Chris Duddy | 3 Sep 20, 2022

In 1992, Christopher Duddy was a young Hollywood cameraman assigned to shoot footage of an active volcano on Hawaii’s Big Island. Then his helicopter crashed inside the volcano near a pool of molten lava, and his life would never be the same. Host Mike Corey hears how Chris can still remember the sights, smells and sounds on his epic climb out…nearly 30 years later.

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Crash in a Volcano | Climbing Out | 2 Sep 13, 2022

Rescue workers search for the camera crew trapped inside Kilauea’s Pu’u O’o crater, but they’re forced to abandon their efforts when an incoming storm makes conditions too hazardous. Cameramen Chris Duddy and Mike Benson struggle to survive a night inside the volcano. When daylight comes and there’s still no sign of rescue, Chris makes a fateful decision — to try to save his own life and bring back help for his friend.

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Crash in a Volcano | Into the Crater | 1 Sep 06, 2022

In November 1992, a Hollywood camera crew soars above Hawaii’s Kīlauea, one of the world’s most dangerous volcanoes, to capture footage for a major feature film. But suddenly their helicopter’s engine cuts out, and they plunge into an active crater. Trapped and inhaling toxic fumes, the men will have to battle for survival — even for every breath — if they’re going to escape the volcano and see their loved ones again.

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Encore: Thai Cave Rescue | On the Set of Thirteen Lives with Rick Stanton | 5 Aug 30, 2022

The story of the Thai cave rescue captivated the world – spawning numerous books, documentaries, and most recently, the Hollywood film, Thirteen Lives, directed by Ron Howard. On today’s episode, British rescue diver Rick Stanton returns to discuss his time consulting on the movie. He’ll share what it was like working with Viggo Mortensen, the actor who plays Rick, and how the dives were meticulously recreated for the film.

Later, we’ll go inside the rescue with an excerpt from our 2021 interview with Rick. You can hear that full interview here.

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Encore: Thai Cave Rescue | Chamber Nine | 4 Aug 23, 2022

Rescuers locate the 12 boys and their soccer coach deep inside the Tham Luang, but now they have another problem. How will they get them all out? An international team frantically looks for solutions, but no one can agree on a plan. Meanwhile, monsoon rains are coming and the clock is ticking down.

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Encore: Thai Cave Rescue | Risk | 3 Aug 16, 2022

Rescuers locate the 12 boys and their soccer coach deep inside the Tham Luang, but now they have another problem. How will they get them all out? An international team frantically looks for solutions, but no one can agree on a plan. Meanwhile, monsoon rains are coming and the clock is ticking down.

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Encore: Thai Cave Rescue | Chaos | 2 Aug 09, 2022

The boys on the soccer team struggle to stay alive inside the cave. Expert divers from around the world arrive in Thailand to find a media circus and a slow-moving bureaucracy. All of them must work against harrowing conditions and disappearing oxygen levels to get to the boys before it’s too late.

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Encore: Thai Cave Rescue | Lost | 1 Aug 02, 2022

In 2018, twelve young soccer players and their coach are exploring a six-mile caving system in Thailand when they are trapped inside by heavy rains. Local authorities attempt to rescue them. But it’s going to take an international effort by some of the world’s most expert divers, if they want to have a prayer of succeeding in this daring and dangerous mission.

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Trapped on Mount Hood | Close Calls and Epic Adventures with Peter Stark | 6 Jun 28, 2022

On this special episode, survival writer Peter Stark joins host Mike Corey for a wide-spanning conversation about adventure – why we’re drawn to it and how it can push us to the edge. They’ll discuss Stark’s Outside Magazine article Frozen Alive, about what it feels like to succumb to hypothermia, as well as how to deal with risk in the wilderness, and exploring the blank spots on the map. They’ll also swap stories about encounters with deadly mamba snakes in Africa.

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Trapped on Mount Hood | Aftermath with Ric Conrad | 5 Jun 21, 2022

The Mount Hood tragedy remains the second deadliest mountaineering accident in North American history. Growing up in Oregon, Ric Conrad remembers following the developments on the six o’clock news when he was just a few years older than some of the teenage climbers. But it wasn’t until he had his own experience tackling Mount Hood that he decided to investigate more.

Ric is the author of Code 1244: The 1986 Mount Hood Tragedy. He joins host Cassie de Pecol to discuss what went wrong on the mountain, the rescue efforts, and his time with the survivors and the families of those who were lost.

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Trapped on Mount Hood | Discovery | 4 Jun 14, 2022

As the search for the missing climbers enters its second day, rescuers redouble their efforts to find the lost students and their adult guides. But the vastness of the search area presents major challenges. Rescue workers and parents face the awful reality that the missing climbers' chances for survival are dwindling rapidly. But then, a crucial discovery gives them hope, and profoundly alters the nature of the search.

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Trapped on Mount Hood | Search and Rescue | 3 Jun 07, 2022

Morning provides no relief for the Oregon Episcopal School climbers trapped without food or water high on Mount Hood. The storm that forced them to take shelter in a snow cave shows no signs of letting up. Two of the climbers embark on a perilous journey to find help, while elite rescuers battle the elements, and confront the terrifying possibility that they could wind up stranded on the mountain as well.

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Trapped on Mount Hood | Considered Lost | 2 May 31, 2022

With night falling, the student climbers and their adult chaperones must take refuge in a cramped, frigid, and hastily dug snow cave. Their leader, Father Tom Goman, begins to succumb to hypothermia. Meanwhile, search and rescue teams prepare to deploy. But as the storm that first trapped the climbers on Mount Hood rages on, the dire nature of their predicament becomes increasingly apparent.

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Trapped on Mount Hood | Whiteout | 1 May 24, 2022

In May 1986, a group of high school students and faculty embarked on a journey to the top of Mount Hood, Oregon's tallest mountain. The climb was part of an annual wilderness program, and was usually uneventful. But during this climb, a brutal and massive storm engulfed the mountain, stranding the climbers near the summit, and forcing them into a harrowing battle for survival.

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Meltdown at Fukushima | Ghost Towns with NPR’s Kat Lonsdorf | 5 May 17, 2022

It’s been more than decade since the meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. But the region is still grappling with the environmental, economic and emotional legacy of the disaster. Evacuations have lifted – but many people still haven’t returned. And what does it mean to reopen a nuclear ghost town? That’s what NPR reporter Kat Lonsdorf wanted to discover when she visited Fukushima in early 2020. Kat joins host Mike Corey to discuss how locals are rebuilding their communities and the future of nuclear power in Japan.

For more on the aftermath of the disaster, listen to Kat Lonsdorf’s NPR series, Recovering Fukushima.

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Meltdown at Fukushima | The Devil's Chain Reaction | 4 May 10, 2022

After a week of unrelenting disasters—and with Tokyo itself now under threat—the managers of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant are forced to evacuate all but the most essential staff. But the remaining few rally for one last battle to prevent the explosion of the reactor cores and avert a catastrophic meltdown.

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Meltdown at Fukushima | Collapse | 3 May 03, 2022

Now contending with multiple damaged reactors, engineers at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan hatch a series of increasingly desperate plans to prevent a total meltdown. But several explosions and the loss of vital cooling pumps bring the entire plant to the brink of chaos. As the crisis worsens, it becomes clear that the very future of Japan is at stake.

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Meltdown at Fukushima | Pressure | 2 Apr 26, 2022

Crippled by a tsunami of unprecedented scale, one of the reactors at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is in danger of melting down. To save it, workers must do the unthinkable: Vent radioactive steam into the atmosphere, to avoid a larger catastrophe as explosive gasses build up inside the reactor core. And they must risk exposing themselves to dangerous levels of radiation to do it.

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Meltdown at Fukushima | Triple Disaster | 1 Apr 19, 2022

In March 2011, one of the largest earthquakes in history struck eastern Japan, followed by a massive tsunami. This one-two punch then caused a third disaster—a total loss of power at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Employees at the plant found themselves scrambling to cool down the reactors, and avoid a deadly meltdown.

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Avalanche at Tunnel Creek | ‘Snow Fall’ with Adventure Journalist John Branch | 2 Apr 12, 2022

When New York Times reporter John Branch first heard reports of an avalanche in Washington State, he didn’t think much about it. But when his editor asked him to poke around, John discovered the human story of a community of skiers and the passion that brought them face to face with powerful forces of nature. John’s article, Snow Fall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek, won the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing in 2013. He joins host Mike Corey to discuss the events of that fateful morning in February of 2012, the science of avalanches, and what drives extreme athletes to push themselves to the limit.

Check out Snow Fall and John’s other work in his latest book,Sidecountry: Tales of Death and Life From the Back Roads of Sports.

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Avalanche at Tunnel Creek | Into the Backcountry | 1 Apr 05, 2022

Lured by the promise of fresh powder, more and more skiers and snowboarders are heading onto backcountry slopes. But in the wrong conditions, these areas can turn from playgrounds to death traps in an instant. That's what happened to one group of elite athletes in the Tunnel Creek backcountry section near Stevens Pass Ski Resort in Washington State. There, without warning, five skiers found themselves caught in one of nature’s deadliest forces – an avalanche.

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Encore: Kidnapped in the Desert | Zero Hour | 3 Mar 29, 2022

After months in captivity, Jessica Buchanan is battling a kidney infection, and her body’s on the verge of collapse. The negotiations for her release aren’t going anywhere and the Crisis Management Team overseeing Jessica’s case has run out of options. It’s time for Seal Team Six to execute a daring rescue plan to bring Jessica home.

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Encore: Kidnapped in the Desert | Big Money | 2 Mar 22, 2022

As days and then weeks go by, Jessica tries to adjust to life as a hostage in the Somali desert, but she’s sick and her body is failing. Back in Nairobi, her husband works with her NGO on a plan to get Jessica medicine she needs, but her kidnappers trust no one, not even the negotiators. Jessica’s family meets with an FBI agent who explains to them the possible outcomes of the situation. None of them make it easy to stay hopeful.

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Encore: Kidnapped in the Desert | Beyond the Green Line | 1 Mar 15, 2022

In the fall of 2011, humanitarian aid worker Jessica Buchanan is traveling through the Somali desert when she and a colleague are kidnapped by land pirates. Her organization quickly springs into action and brings in negotiators who wait for a ransom call. Meanwhile, three hundred miles away, Jessica’s husband Erik does whatever he can to bring her home, while Jessica fights to stay alive one day at a time.

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Ada Blackjack: Stranded in the Arctic | The Female Robinson Crusoe | 3 Mar 08, 2022

Lorne Knight has died, and Ada Blackjack finds herself completely alone on Wrangel Island. She’s losing hope she’ll ever see her son Bennett again. But she’s determined to do whatever it takes to survive until the other members of her team return with a supply ship, even if it means confronting her biggest fear: polar bears.

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Ada Blackjack: Stranded in the Arctic | Marooned | 2 Mar 01, 2022

After one year on Wrangel Island, the five members of the expedition are alarmed to realize that the supply ship that was scheduled to relieve them won’t be coming. Winter has arrived early, the ocean is freezing over, and the ship won’t be able to make it through the ice. With dwindling food supplies, the team has to make a last-ditch effort to go in search of help. Now, Ada Blackjack finds herself alone with the expedition’s dying leader, Lorne Knight – and she must learn new survival skills if she has any hope of keeping him alive.

This is the story of how Ada Blackjack became the sole survivor of the Wrangel Island expedition.

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Ada Blackjack: Stranded in the Arctic | A Desolate Land | 1 Feb 22, 2022

In 1921, an expedition set out from Alaska for a remote island high in the Arctic Circle. With them was a 23-year-old Inuit woman named Ada Blackjack, who had been hired by four white explorers to cook and sew. For Blackjack, it was her last chance to earn enough money to pay for her young son’s medical treatment. But she had never spent any time in the wilderness, and the harsh Arctic surroundings would push her to her limits.

This is the story of how Ada Blackjack became the sole survivor of the Wrangel Island expedition.

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USS Indianapolis: Disaster at Sea | Rediscovering Indy with Filmmaker Sara Vladic | 5 Feb 15, 2022

Sara Vladic was 13 when she first heard about USS Indianapolis while watching a World War II documentary with her dad. In just one sentence, the film described how the ship delivered the bomb that ended the war and then sank. For Sara, that moment would spark a decades-long journey to discover the untold story of Indy and its crew.

Sara spent years interviewing the survivors for her own documentary Indianapolis: The Legacy, and the book Indianapolis: The True Story of the Worst Sea Disaster in U.S. Naval History and the Fifty-Year Fight to Exonerate an Innocent Man. Today, she joins host Mike Corey to discuss Captain McVay’s trial, the ship’s recovery and the role Jaws played in reviving interest in Indy’s story.

This is the story of the greatest sea disaster in U.S. naval history, and the courageous men who survived it.

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USS Indianapolis: Disaster at Sea | Rescued | 4 Feb 08, 2022

By sheer chance, an American bomber pilot on a routine test flight has spotted the survivors of U.S.S. Indianapolis, who have been floating in the middle of the Philippine Sea for over three days. But rescuing them will be easier said than done. The survivors are hundreds of miles from the nearest land, and the ocean waters are getting rough. To get the men out of the water as quickly as possible, some of the rescuers will have to put their own lives on the line.

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USS Indianapolis: Disaster at Sea | Holding On | 3 Feb 01, 2022

It’s been two days since U.S.S. Indianapolis sank, and the number of survivors is dwindling. They’re being picked off by sharks, and driven insane by sleep deprivation, dehydration, and saltwater poisoning. As they hope and pray for a rescue, they will encounter a new enemy that none of them could have imagined, even in their worst nightmares.

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USS Indianapolis: Disaster at Sea | Troubled Waters | 2 Jan 25, 2022

The nine hundred men who survived the torpedo attack on the U.S.S. Indianapolis are either drifting in the sea, fighting strong currents and swells, or clinging to rafts. They’re at the mercy of the ocean, hundreds of miles from land, with dwindling supplies and no drinking water. And soon, they’ll have to confront a terrifying new challenge – shark attacks.

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USS Indianapolis: Disaster at Sea | Abandon Ship | 1 Jan 18, 2022

In the final weeks of World War II, the Navy cruiser U.S.S. Indianapolis was attacked and sunk by a Japanese submarine in the middle of the Philippine Sea. The nine hundred survivors found themselves stranded in the middle of the open ocean, many without rafts or life vests, wondering when – or if – help was coming.

This is the story of the greatest sea disaster in U.S. naval history, and the courageous men who survived it.

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Rock Climbers Abducted | Over the Edge with Climber and Author Greg Child | 5 Dec 28, 2021

After being taken hostage by members of the Al Qaeda-linked Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, the lives of four American climbers were never the same. And just one year later, the attack on the World Trade Center made the threat of terrorism more real for everyone. Mountaineer and author Greg Child interviewed all four climbers to tell their story in his book, Over the Edge. On this episode, he joins host Cassie De Pecol to describe the effect 9/11 had on the climbers, his own experiences climbing in Kyrgyzstan, and returning to the region with John Dickey and Jason Smith to face one of the men that had held them captive.

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Rock Climbers Abducted | Breaking Free | 4 Dec 21, 2021

When the Americans finally act out and decide to fight for their lives, they’re left alone in an inhospitable mountain rage full of rebel militants and a trigger happy army. Far more than just a rescue mission, the climbers have to cross miles of treacherous terrain in the black of night with hopes that they won’t be mistaken for an insurgent militia by the Kyrgyz army. And if they do make it back to civilization, will they be able to make it all the way back home to the US. And if they do will anyone believe their story?

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Rock Climbers Abducted | Fight or Flight | 3 Dec 14, 2021

Days without food or water start to weaken the young climbers as their captors push them further into the mountains and further from civilization. But their captors are starting to lose steam too. On a cold dark evening the Americans are left alone with only one of their kidnappers and it dawns on them: there won’t be many more moments where they might be able to overtake their heavily armed captor. But will they have the courage to act?

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Rock Climbers Abducted | Hostage Situation | 2 Dec 07, 2021

After being kidnapped by rebel militants in a remote region of Kyrgyzstan, four American rock climbers are forced at gunpoint toward the Uzbekistan border. But their captors are being trailed by the Kygyz army. Soon, the unwitting climbers find themselves in the middle of a firefight of epic proportions and they have to hide to stay alive. As night falls, the climbers are forced on the move again and they begin to realize if they want to survive they must escape on their own.

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Rock Climbers Abducted | Welcome to Paradise | 1 Nov 30, 2021

In August of the year 2000, four American rock climbers set out to explore the majesty of the Pamir Alai Mountain range in Kyrgyzstan. But only a week into their expedition, they’re taken captive by rebel militants. The group is forced to hike through brutal terrain under the cover of night to avoid detection by the Kyrgyz army. With little to no food or water provided by their captors, the young climbing team had to struggle through severe dehydration and hunger. Finally, they realized they would have to fight for their lives to escape. It's a thrilling story of survival in the face of violence and terror, and doing whatever it takes to make it home alive.

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Chilean Mine Collapse | Into the Dark with Héctor Tobar | 5 Nov 23, 2021

When the 33 miners emerged to surface after 69 days in the depths of the San José mine, they set the Guinness World Record for the longest time spent trapped underground. For his book Deep Down Dark, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalistHéctor Tobar got to know all 33 men and many of their family members. Today, Héctor joins host Mike Corey to discuss his experience visiting mines in Chile, his time with the miners, and the aftermath of the rescue.

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Chilean Mine Collapse | The Phoenix | 4 Nov 16, 2021

After sixty-nine days trapped underground, finally the drilling operations team has created a bore hole large enough to extract the 33 miners. But this will be the first operation of its kind. Will the 2,200 foot tunnel and extraction pod maintain its integrity amidst dynamite blasts and continually crumbling stone? On the surface, thousands of bystanders wait to see if everyone of The 33 will reach the surface alive.

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Chilean Mine Collapse | The Breakthrough | 3 Nov 09, 2021

Two weeks after the collapse of the San Jose mine in Chile, 33 trapped miners find themselves starving to death, doubting they’ll ever be rescued. Then, a glimmer of hope: Rescue workers drilling above finally reach the miners through a small borehole. It’s big enough to send down emergency supplies, but not big enough to pull the miners out. Now the question becomes: How much longer will the 33 men have to endure life 2,000 feet below the surface?

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Chilean Mine Collapse | No Escape | 2 Nov 02, 2021

After exploring possible escape routes and finding them all blocked, the 33 miners must face the truth: They really are trapped, more than 2,000 feet underground. Now, they must stay disciplined and ration their emergency food and water supplies if they have any hope of survival.

Meanwhile, on the surface, a rescue effort gets underway. Several drills begin working to tunnel down to the trapper miners. But the rescuers have no way of knowing exactly where in the mine the miners are -- or how many of them are alive, or dead.

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Chilean Mine Collapse | The Mountain Weeps | 1 Oct 26, 2021

In 2010, the San Jose copper mine in Chile suffers a catastrophic collapse, leaving 33 miners trapped over 2,000 feet underground. As they desperately search for a way out, a massive rescue effort begins on the surface. But with the trapped miners running out of food and succumbing to despair, it’s a race against the clock to reach them and get them out.

This is the story of how mining experts, rescue specialists, Chilean politicians, and even NASA team up to reunite “Los Treinta y Tres” -- the 33 -- with their families aboveground.

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Plane Crash in the Andes | Returning to the Andes with Mountaineer Ricardo Peña | 5 Oct 19, 2021

Nando Parrado and Roberto Canessa braved 36 miles of brutal mountain terrain to escape the Andes and save their teammates. But this isn’t where the story of Flight 571 ends. While hiking near the crash site in 2005, mountaineer Ricardo Peña discovered a jacket belonging to one of the survivors and wreckage from the plane that had never been found. The following year Peña led a National Geographic expedition retracing the route Nando and Roberto took out of the Andes.

On this episode, Peña joins host Cassie de Pecol to discuss how his discovery led to new insights about the crash and what it was like to walk in the survivors’ footsteps.

To learn more about Ricardo’s expeditions in the Andes, visit https://www.alpineexpeditions.net/andes-survivors.html

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Plane Crash in the Andes | The Climb | 4 Oct 12, 2021

In a final attempt to escape the Andes, Nando and Roberto have headed east to pursue safety. The men face a difficult journey as the weather takes a turn for the worst, and their food supply dwindles. Back at the fuselage, their teammates wait for rescuers to arrive. The remaining survivors have accepted their fate: they're all doomed if the two men don't find civilization. There is only one option left. Roberto and Nando must survive their hike out through one of the largest mountain ranges in the world.

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Plane Crash in the Andes | The Choice | 3 Oct 05, 2021

After escaping an avalanche that killed eight more passengers, the survivors of the Fairchild are starting to lose all hope. Many in the group are on death’s door. Time is running out. They can’t wait any longer for rescue. They must seek it out on their own. The expedition to find help and get off the mountain is more urgent than ever. Nando and Roberto will have to debate the best path to safety, but the men can take only one route.

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Plane Crash in the Andes | The Cutting | 2 Sep 28, 2021

The remaining survivors of the Fairchild crash are starting to lose hope that rescuers will arrive after ten days of inactivity. Nando Parrado and Roberto Canessa understand their only chance at survival is to send a small team through the Andes mountains and down into Chile for help. Unfortunately, they remain stranded, and their food supply has just run out. If they’re going to climb through the Andes successfully, they’ll need to build up their strength and make some tough decisions.

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Plane Crash in the Andes | The Crash | 1 Sep 21, 2021

In October 1972, an Uruguayan rugby team traveling to their next match in Santiago, Chile, crashes into the Andes Mountains after their plane strikes a glacier. Stranded on the snow-covered side of a mountain, they will have to do the unthinkable to survive.

Initially, 29 passengers survive the collision but they must endure freezing temperatures with no winter clothes and only a few light snacks for food. The landscape is barren, and as night falls, the temperature drops below zero. The remaining survivors have no idea if help is coming. They will have to battle starvation, hypothermia, blizzards, and avalanches for more than two months before finally finding the strength to try and save themselves.

It's the incredible true story of survival in the elements and two young men's attempt to hike to civilization and get them all out.

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Endurance: Surviving Antarctica | Interview with Chris Turney | 6 Sep 14, 2021

Chris Turney is an Earth scientist studying the causes and impacts of environmental and climate change with a focus on the Antarctic. Turney shares tales from his own ambitious expeditions to Antarctica and the greatest challenges Shackelton and his crew faced on the ice.

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Endurance: Surviving Antarctica | Hope | 5 Sep 07, 2021

In a final attempt to get his men home, Ernest Shackleton and his crew have to get through the Drake Passage, the most dangerous stretch of ocean in the world. And that’s just the beginning. When they reach their goal of South Georgia island, they realize the only way to reach civilization is to cross 29 miles of impassable ice and snow on foot - something no one has ever done before.

Nearly a century later, Henry Worsley and his team push themselves to complete the final 97 miles to the South Pole to finish what their relatives started.

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Endurance: Surviving Antarctica | Perseverance | 4 Aug 31, 2021

Ernest Shackleton and his crew of twenty-seven men were finally able to set sail for Elephant Island, but now the boats have been separated. They’ll have to endure the sea’s wrath. Shackleton’s crew must win the battle against the arctic’s unruly, icy waters if they ever plan to reach safety.

Meanwhile, Henry Worsley’s body is breaking down. His team is exhausted and cold but determined to keep pushing on to realize Shackleton’s unfinished dream.

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Endurance: Surviving Antarctica | Determination | 3 Aug 24, 2021

Ernest Shackleton and his men are trapped on an ice floe off the coast of Antarctica. Tensions are running high, and rations are dwindling quickly. Shackleton is unsure how they are going to survive. Escaping the ice seems nearly impossible. The crew must remain determined if they plan to set sail for Elephant Island and regain their freedom.

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Endurance: Surviving Antarctica | Patience | 2 Aug 17, 2021

Sir Ernest Shackleton and his crew of twenty-seven men witness their ship, the Endurance, take a devastating blow against the unforgiving ice off the coast of Antarctica. The men will have to build camp and spend the winter on an ice floe. They’re unsure of how or when they’ll get home, but they’ll need to learn how to survive on desolate terrain.

Meanwhile, a hundred years later, Henry Worsley, and two other descendants of the Endurance crew, begin their own journey to re-create another Shackleton expedition. Henry thought their greatest obstacle was going to be the weather or the rough terrain, but he soon learns his crew must overcome an unrelenting mental battle.

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Endurance: Surviving Antarctica | Obsession | 1 Aug 10, 2021

In March 1914, Sir Ernest Shackleton works to put together a crew of twenty-eight men to sail from England to Antarctica. It was a new continent untouched by humanity that only the most adventurous men dared to explore—men who yearned to be the first to see what no other person had.

Shackleton wants to be a part of the first group of men to cross the entirety of the frozen continent. He’s already reached the icy continent before, but now, he plans to conquer it.

Exactly 100 years later - three descendants of the crew will attempt a feat Shackleton could not achieve… reach the South Pole. The only problem is that they’re unprepared for the challenges that Shackleton's Antarctica will throw them.

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Shipwreck on the Sahara | Interview with Dean King | 5 Aug 03, 2021

Author Dean King traveled across the world to retrace Captain Riley’s footsteps through the Sahara Desert. His book, Skeletons on the Zahara: A True Story of Survival, recounts Riley’s story and King’s own experiences in the desert. King shares his memories of discovering Riley’s forgotten memoir and what his journey taught him about friendship and survival.

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Shipwreck on the Sahara | The Letter | 4 Jul 27, 2021

Sidi Hamet’s family is hundreds of miles away, far across the Sahara. Hamet yearns for his wife but must pay off his debts to his father-in-law before they are reconnected. Meanwhile, Captain James Riley searches for his freedom in the city of Swearah. But, if Riley is going to find his way back across the sea, he must find someone to pay ransom for an American crew. The two men must rely on one another in order to succeed, but only one will live to tell the tale.

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Shipwreck on the Sahara | Honor Among Thieves | 3 Jul 20, 2021

When Captain Riley and his crew are divided amongst warring nomadic tribes, Riley needs to devise a plan to find all of his men. Only then can he convince Sidi Hamet to take them to the city of Swearah where he can make a bid for their freedom. But to get there they’ll have to pass through 800 miles of unforgiving sun and sand. It’s a gamble that might cost him and his men their lives.

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Shipwreck on the Sahara | Thirst | 2 Jul 13, 2021

Captain James Riley’s ship is marooned off the coast of Northwest Africa, where the Sahara meets the sea. The vessel is useless, and his crew’s only chance to make it home is by crossing the largest hot desert in the world. Aside from the sun and lack of food and water, the men also have to avoid being taken captive by desert tribes. But after a chance encounter with a trader named Sidi Hamet, Riley learns there might be a way out - but the price will be very high.

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Shipwreck on the Sahara | The Storm | 1 Jul 06, 2021

In August 1815, a ship called The Commerce runs aground off the coast of Northwest Africa. Onboard are eleven crew members who are merchant traders who have no choice but to row to shore. They will soon find themselves at the edge of the Sahara, one of the most inhospitable places on earth where oasis settlements are controlled by tribes who also run the trans-Saharan slave trade. With no way to escape and dwindling supplies, they will need to cross the largest hot desert in the world. If captured by desert tribes, they face enslavement or death, but without help from locals, they will die of hunger and thirst.

This is the true story of the men who survived the journey based on the journals they wrote. It’s about sacrifice and human endurance and the fight to get home. But their odyssey will have a much greater impact than on just their own lives – it will influence a future president and impact a nation in ways that are still felt even today.

We recommend Skeletons on the Zahara: A True Story of Survival by Dean King for more reading.

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K2: The Savage Mountain | Fredrik Sträng, Pt. 2: On Surviving K2 | 5 Jun 29, 2021

On August 1, 2008 Mountaineer Fredrik Sträng was on K2, the second highest mountain on Earth. He’d reached Camp 4 at 26,000 feet and was ready for the final push up to the summit. But Sträng and another member of his team decided to call off their summit bid when they saw climbers backed up on the rope line. It wasn’t an easy decision, but one that may have saved their lives. In Part 2 of our interview, Sträng shares his memories of climbing K2 in 2008 and those harrowing days when disaster struck in the Death Zone.

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K2: The Savage Mountain |Fredrik Sträng, Pt. 1: On Climbing the World’s Highest Peaks | 4 Jun 22, 2021

Mountaineer Fredrik Sträng survived the deadly turn of events on K2 in 2008. In part 1 of this 2-part interview, Sträng talks about the challenges of climbing the world’s highest peaks and what it's like to train for these incredible feats.

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K2: The Savage Mountain | The Final Descent | 3 Jun 15, 2021

Unforeseen conditions have put the world's strongest climbers to the test as they battle their way down the mountain. Before it’s over, the savage mountain will bring on more avalanches and below-zero temperatures. It’s a race against the clock for the remaining climbers to get off the mountain before it’s too late.

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K2: The Savage Mountain | The Death Zone | 2 Jun 08, 2021

An international group of climbers are close to summiting one of the world’s tallest, and most dangerous, mountains. Their goal was to reach the peak by mid-afternoon and get down before dark when temperatures drop to 40 below and the thin air and darkness can leave climbers confused and lost. But problems with the rope line have put them behind and they are using all of their strength to push past the traverse. The summit is so close… but so is nightfall, and not all of them will make it back.

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K2: The Savage Mountain | Summit Fever | 1 May 25, 2021

In the summer of 2008, mountaineers from eight different countries gather at the foot of the world’s second tallest mountain, K2. All of them have a single goal: reach the summit. But to do that they will need to undertake one most difficult, and dangerous, climbs on earth. Sunny mornings can suddenly transform into white out conditions. Avalanches drop from overhead without warning. The technical challenge is so great, one in four who attempt it won’t come down. But in early August, this doesn’t stop more than two dozen climbers from attempting the feat.

Through a series of unpredictable events, it will become one of the worst climbing disasters in modern times. It will also lead to extraordinary acts of bravery and an epic journey of the human will to survive.

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John McCain: Prisoner of War | Greater than Himself | 4 May 18, 2021

After five years in captivity, John McCain and his fellow POWs try to keep their spirits up by finding new ways to hold on. When news comes that the war will soon be over, he must figure out what learnings he wants to bring back to his future life.

For more reading, we recommend Lessons from the Hanoi Hilton: Six Characteristics of High-Performance Teamsby Taylor Baldwin Kiland.

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John McCain: Prisoner of War | Interview with Doug McCain and Everett Alvarez | 5 May 18, 2021

John McCain was a prisoner of war in North Vietnam for five and a half years. John's son, Doug McCain, and the longest-held prisoner of war in Hanoi Hilton, Everett Alvarez, discuss the Vietnam War's effects on their lives and those they loved.

For more reading, we recommend Lessons from the Hanoi Hilton: Six Characteristics of High-Performance Teamsby Taylor Baldwin Kiland.

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John McCain: Prisoner of War | Regrets | 3 May 11, 2021

John McCain’s body and mind are starting to deteriorate after months of imprisonment. To survive, he’ll need to make a tough choice. Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, a crisis threatens to destroy John's family.

For more reading, we recommend Lessons from the Hanoi Hilton: Six Characteristics of High-Performance Teamsby Taylor Baldwin Kiland.

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John McCain: Prisoner of War | The Crown Prince | 2 May 04, 2021

Lieutenant Commander John McCain’s plane was shot down on a bombing mission and he survived the crash. He was taken in as a prisoner of war and housed at the infamous Hanoi Hilton. Now, John must face the ultimate test of will when his captors torture him, and then make him an offer that seems too good to be true…

For more reading, we recommend Lessons from the Hanoi Hilton: Six Characteristics of High-Performance Teamsby Taylor Baldwin Kiland.

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John McCain: Prisoner of War | When Your Luck Runs Out | 1 Apr 27, 2021

It's 1967, and American Naval Pilot John McCain is on a bombing mission in the midst of the Vietnam War when he’s shot down by the enemy. After surviving the crash, he’s taken in as a prisoner of war and housed at the infamous Hanoi Hilton. This is the epic story of his journey to survive five and half years in captivity.

For more reading, we recommend Lessons from the Hanoi Hilton: Six Characteristics of High-Performance Teamsby Taylor Baldwin Kiland.

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Kidnapped in the Desert | Interview with Jessica Buchanan | 4 Apr 20, 2021

Jessica Buchanan was kidnapped by Somali land pirates, and spent 93 days in captivity before her daring rescue by SEAL team six. Jessica talks to Against the Odds host, Cassie De Pecol, about her experience and how it’s informed the rest of her life.

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Kidnapped in the Desert | Zero Hour | 3 Apr 13, 2021

After months in captivity, Jessica Buchanan is battling a kidney infection, and her body’s on the verge of collapse. The negotiations for her release aren’t going anywhere and the Crisis Management Team overseeing Jessica’s case has run out of options. It’s time for Seal Team Six to execute a daring rescue plan to bring Jessica home.

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Kidnapped in the Desert | Big Money | 2 Apr 06, 2021

As days and then weeks go by, Jessica tries to adjust to life as a hostage in the Somali desert, but she’s sick and her body is failing. Back in Nairobi, her husband works with her NGO on a plan to get Jessica medicine she needs, but her kidnappers trust no one, not even the negotiators. Jessica’s family meets with an FBI agent who explains to them the possible outcomes of the situation. None of them make it easy to stay hopeful.

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Kidnapped in the Desert | Beyond the Green Line | 1 Mar 30, 2021

In the fall of 2011, humanitarian aid worker Jessica Buchanan is traveling through the Somali desert when she and a colleague are kidnapped by land pirates. Her organization quickly springs into action and brings in negotiators who wait for a ransom call. Meanwhile, three hundred miles away, Jessica’s husband Erik does whatever he can to bring her home, while Jessica fights to stay alive one day at a time.

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Thai Cave Rescue | Meet the Hosts | 6 Mar 23, 2021

The two hosts of Against the Odds, Mike Corey and Cassie De Pecol, interview each other on their lives as adventurers in this special episode. They discuss what drives them to explore, why they’re drawn to the subject of survival, and what stories they’ll be diving into on Against the Odds.

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Thai Cave Rescue | Interview with Rick Stanton | 5 Mar 16, 2021

Rick Stanton was one of the lead divers on the mission to rescue 12 boys and their soccer coach from an underwater cave in Thailand. Rick talks to Mike Corey, about his lifelong passion to explore underwater caves. He discusses how he got into the world of cave rescue, what it was like to participate in this harrowing mission, and how the experience changed his life.

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Thai Cave Rescue | Chamber Nine | 4 Mar 09, 2021

It’s been fourteen days since 12 boys and their coach went missing inside the Tham Luang. The Thai government gives the greenlight to a highly complex mission to dive the boys out. Estimates for them all making them out alive is low. One of the most dangerous rescue missions in history is about to begin.

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Thai Cave Rescue | Risk | 3 Mar 02, 2021

Rescuers locate the 12 boys and their soccer coach deep inside the Tham Luang, but now they have another problem. How will they get them all out? An international team frantically looks for solutions, but no one can agree on a plan. Meanwhile, monsoon rains are coming and the clock is ticking down.

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Thai Cave Rescue | Chaos | 2 Feb 23, 2021

The boys on the soccer team struggle to stay alive inside the cave. Expert divers from around the world arrive in Thailand to find a media circus and a slow-moving bureaucracy. All of them must work against harrowing conditions and disappearing oxygen levels to get to the boys before it’s too late.

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Thai Cave Rescue | Lost | 1 Feb 22, 2021

In 2018, twelve young soccer players and their coach are exploring a six-mile caving system in Thailand when they are trapped inside by heavy rains. Local authorities attempt to rescue them. But it’s going to take an international effort by some of the world’s most expert divers, if they want to have a prayer of succeeding in this daring and dangerous mission.

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Introducing Against The Odds Feb 11, 2021

Humans are resilient. In our toughest moments, we will fight, we will struggle, and we will triumph...often against the odds.

In this immersive series from Wondery, host-adventurers Mike Corey and Cassie De Pecol will share thrilling stories of survival. From the daring rescue of a soccer team trapped in an underwater cave in Thailand, to a woman taken hostage by Somali pirates, these stories made headlines around the world. AGAINST THE ODDS will make you feel as though you’re living these experiences with our heroes as they push themselves to their limits.

New episodes come out every Tuesday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers. Listen ad-free on Wondery+ or on Amazon Music with a Prime membership or Amazon Music Unlimited subscription. Join Wondery+ here: https://wondery.app.link/againsttheodds

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