Against The Odds

Latest Episodes:

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

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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

Show notes

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

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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

Show notes

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

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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

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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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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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