Against The Odds

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...

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. Order your copy of t...

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 turbul...

Think business is boring? What about when your streaming bill goes up, or your favorite restaurant files for bankruptcy? Do you ever wonder what’s going on behind the scenes? Business Wars gives you a front row seat to the biggest moments in business, to explain how they shape our world. In the latest season, they explore the AOL Time Warner merger, a deal that became one of the most expensive and...

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 d...

In May of 2023, competitive swimmer Ali Truwit had just graduated from Yale, completed her first marathon, and had a job lined up in New York City. But a few days after graduation, Ali was snorkeling with a friend in the Caribbean when, out of nowhere, she was attacked by a shark. Today, Ali Truwit https://strongerthanyouthink.org/ shares her fight for survival, and how her journey to reclaim her...

The Far Eastern Party’s two surviving members, Douglas Mawson and Xavier Mertz, must take drastic measures if they’re going to make it back to their base alive. They’ve lost almost all of their food and supplies. And if they can’t get back to base camp before their supply ship leaves, they’ll be forced to endure another Antarctic winter.  Order your copy of the new Against the Odds book, How...

Douglas Mawson and his companions Belgrave Ninnis and Xavier Mertz are losing precious time on their journey across uncharted territory in Antarctica. Severe storms have pinned them down for days, and they’ve had to backtrack to avoid hidden crevasses in the Antarctic ice, so deep that falling into one would mean almost certain death. Then, more than 300 miles from base camp, a shocking tragedy le...

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 Hil...

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...

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...

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, tossin...

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...

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...

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...

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.   Order your copy of the new Against the...

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.  Order your copy of the new Against the Odds book,  How to Survive Against the Odds: Tale...

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 destru...

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 A...

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-orde...

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...

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...

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 Muenchrat...

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...

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 capto...