Against The Odds

Latest Episodes:

In Their Own Words: Slipped Off a Glacier | 1 May 19, 2026

Show notes

In July of 2025, climate reporter Alec Luhn was in his element hiking around a glacier in Norway’s Folgefonna National Park. But when Alec slipped off a boulder and broke his leg, he found himself unable to move and trapped in a remote area with no one expecting him home for days. On this episode of In Their Own Words, Alec recounts the story of his fall, being caught in a storm, and doing everything he could to give himself a chance to see his family again.

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WWII Nurses Turned Prisoners of War | The "Battling Belles" of Bataan | 6 May 12, 2026

Show notes

The capture of American nurses in the Philippines is often described as an “untold story” of WWII; Dr. Elizabeth Norman set out to change that. She conducted extensive interviews with 20 of the 77 nurses who were captured. Norman collected the nurses’ firsthand accounts, and pored over their diaries and letters, weaving these sources together in her book, We Band of Angels: The Untold Story of the American Women Trapped on Bataan. Norman joins Cassie to delve into what it was like to care for patients while trapped in an internment camp for three years.

https://www.amazon.com/We-Band-Angels-American-Trapped/dp/0812984846

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WW II Nurses Turned Prisoners of War | A Risky Plan | 5 May 05, 2026

Show notes

The rations at the Los Baños P.O.W. camp are now down to just 400 calories per day. Every day, the nurses tend to patients who die from starvation. They don’t know how much longer they can hold on. Unbeknownst to them, Lieutenant Colonel Henry Muller of the U.S. Army launches his plan to liberate the camp. But it’s complex and dangerous, with many moving pieces. It’s very likely it could fail, leading to the death of his soldiers and the prisoners of Los Baños.

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WW II Nurses Turned Prisoners of War | A Taste of Freedom | 4 Apr 28, 2026

Show notes

Conditions at the Los Baños camp are deteriorating. More and more prisoners have been transferred there, leading to overcrowding, and rations have been cut to under 1,000 calories per day. Prisoners are resorting to desperate acts to survive as they’re pushed to the physical and psychological brink. The nurses are also malnourished and struggling to care for their fellow prisoners. But the tide of the war has finally turned and an ambitious U.S. Army paratrooper named Henry Muller is developing a plan to liberate the camp. But first Muller has to get buy-in from his superiors for his risky plan. And if he doesn’t act fast, it may be too late to save anyone.

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WW II Nurses Turned Prisoners of War | The Devil You Know | 3 Apr 21, 2026

Show notes

Desperate to get away from the sadistic commandant in charge of their P.O.W. camp, the twelve Navy nurses, who call themselves the Twelve Anchors, agree to transfer to a new camp. It’s called Los Baños and it’s located deep in the jungle, 40 miles outside of Manilla. But when the nurses arrive, they realize this new camp has no medical supplies, not enough beds for prisoners to sleep on, not even running water. The nurses soon wonder if they made a grave mistake.

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WW II Nurses Turned Prisoners of War | Captured | 2 Apr 14, 2026

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After Japan invades the Philippines, the twelve Navy nurses find themselves imprisoned at a military hospital turned P.O.W. camp. They make the best of it, continuing to tend to their patients, confident that the American military will quickly defeat Japan and liberate them. But as the weeks drag into months, with no rescue in sight, the nurses are transferred to another camp. They soon discover that their new home is led by a sadistic commandant who likes nothing more than to make his prisoners miserable.

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WW II Nurses Turned Prisoners of War | An Act of War | 1 Apr 07, 2026

Show notes

It’s the Depression and twenty-three-year-old-Dorothy Still is desperate for a job. She joins the US Navy as a nurse, and by 1941, she’s given a dream posting at an American base in the Philippines. Dorothy lives in a beautiful location, with easy work, and a thriving night life. But after the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor, the Philippines becomes Japan’s next target. Dorothy and eleven other Navy nurses find themselves in an active war zone, with a conquering army bearing down.

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Lightning Strike on Half Dome | Survive the Night | 2 Mar 31, 2026

Show notes

As the hikers slowly regain consciousness, they realize the worst has happened: they’ve been struck by lightning. By chance, a pair of EMTs finds their way to the summit in time to help. But they soon realize that if they don’t get the men off Half Dome and airlifted to a hospital fast, they won’t make it till morning.

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Lightning Strike on Half Dome | The Storm | 1 Mar 24, 2026

Show notes

On the evening of July 27, 1985, a group of friends decided to ignore gathering storm clouds and warnings as they climbed to the top of Yosemite’s famous Half Dome. Climbers Adrian Esteban and Tom Rice reached the summit first, soon joined by three others as a thunderstorm raged. They decided to shelter in a small cave-like enclosure — a decision that would prove deadly.

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In Their Own Words: Chris Lemons – Deep Sea Diving Crisis | 1 Mar 17, 2026

Show notes

In 2012, Chris Lemons had a bright future ahead, with a fiancee and a good job fixing oil infrastructure on the ocean floor. One night in September, he went to work on a pipe about 300 feet beneath the North Sea. But, an accident left him alone and cut off from his lifeline – with only a small emergency supply of oxygen. On this episode of In Their Own Words, Chris shares the story of surviving for about half an hour with nothing to breathe.

Links:

chrislemons.co.uk

exploreyourdepths.com

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