Against The Odds

Latest Episodes:

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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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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