Mother Nature Will Kill You

Haley shares with us her big exciting news and then Jillian dives on in to the worst buddy trip ever - filled with mayhem, missing people, improvised flame throwers, and forehead worms. This story follows Yossi Ghinsberg and his friends as they go on a treasure quest into the Bolivian Amazon. Sources: Jungle , Yossi Ghinsberg The real story behind the movie “Jungle” - heroic survival and mysteriou...

Haley and Jillian give new listeners an introduction to their madness with lots of fish and science talk, and then Jillian gets into the stories of three prehistoric humans who experienced survival throughout their everyday lives. Haley also talks about the White Sands Pupfish during Conservation Corner. Sources: ⁠ Fossilized Footprints ⁠ , White Sands National Park First Americans , Glenn Hodges,...

Jillian tells the tale of the "lost" Lykov Family and their decades of survival in the isolated Siberian wilderness with no outside human contact, and Jillian and Haley go on many tangents on subjects such as the cordyceps fungus, gun rights, shrimp disease, and bats in the attic. Sources: For 40 years, This Russian Family Was Cut Off From All Human Contact, Unaware of WWII , Mike Dash,...

Jillian and Haley dive deep, deep down into the heartbreaking and terrifying story of Deon Dreyer, Dave Shaw, and Don Shirley, and their dives in Bushman's Hole, the third deepest water filled cave in the world.   Sources:  Where No One Should Go , Don Shirley, Glynn Washington, and Julia Dewitt, NPR Raising the Dead , Tim Zimmerman, Outside Magazine Pickersgill’s Reed Frog, Hyperolius p...

Haley and Jillian welcome special guest Ethan Swinford, and the three talk all things Great Lakes with the tragedy of the SS Kamloops and the all-to-real ghost story of Old Whitey, the lone crewman left behind.  Sources:  Isle Royale , SS Kamloops , National Park Service Meet Old Whitey, the Preserved Corpse of The SS Kamloops, Lake Superior’s Most Haunted Shipwreck , Greg Newkirk, Week...

Welcome back to the meandering conversations of Haley and Jillian after their long hiatus.  Today, Jillian talks about the scandalous, salacious, and sordid tale of the Floreana Affair and Haley talks blue footed boobies. Sources:  The Galapagos Affair - The Unbelievable True Story Behind the Movie , Happy Gringo The Mysterious Murder That Rocked The Galapagos Islands , Nikki Vargas, Cul...

After meandering through topics such as holiday adventures and the big winter storm, Jillian and Haley get down to the roots of the podcast with a special story for episode 50.  Jillian tells the story of the Chilean Mine Disaster of 2010, and of the thirty three miners trapped in it's depths.  Also, Jillian's sleep paralysis makes a shocking comeback, tune in to find out how.  Sour...

Merry Xmas y'all and Happy Holidays! Jillian and Haley delve into the impossible survivor tale of mountaineers Joe Simpson and Simon Yates and their unbelievable adventure in the Andes. Then Haley talks about Andean Condors for conservation corner.  Sources:  Touching the Void , Joe Simpson Andean Condor , National Geographic 

Jillian and Haley delve into the unbelievable story of Jill Heinerth, a cave diver who became one of the first (and only) people do dive an ice cave in the interior of an iceberg.  Then Haley talks about emperor penguins and Jillian talks about her trip to Big Bend National Park and her potentially-extraterrestrial experience in Marfa. Sources: ‘The Cave Tried to Keep Us’: The First-Ever Dive...

Jillian and Haley bring a Happy Thanksgiving to you with the story of Ryan Osman's run-in with quicksand in Zion National Park.  Haley then talks about the conservation and ecology of the Mexican Spotted Owl in a new segment highlight the vulnerable and endangered species that live in the dangerous habitats we talk about - we are biologists after all.  Sources:  I Was Trapped in Qui...

Jillian concludes the gruesome tale of the Donner Party with their struggle to survive and ultimately be rescued from snowy Truckee Lake in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and Haley tells the story of "Tessie" the famous lake monster of Lake Tahoe.  Sources:  The Tragic Story of the Donner Party , Kathy Weiser, Legends of America   The Donner party , Encyclopedia Britannica Here’s What...

Its time to kick off spooky Halloween with part one of the Donner Party extravaganza, in which Jillian tells of the trials and tribulations that led the famous American wagon train to their horrific predicament.  Haley keeps up the spooky vibes with the story of the Bear Lake Monster of Utah.  Sources:  The Tragic Story of the Donner Party , Kathy Weiser, Legends of America.com&nbsp...

Welcome to the nearly 2 hour spooky season Appalachian Trail extravaganza!  After some brief talk of Haley's experience with the recent Hurricane Ian, we dive straight into the magical land that is Appalachia.  Part-time co-host Corey returns with some local lore, Jillian covers the tragedy as usual, and Haley talks about cryptids, specifically Mothman, for spooky season.  Sources:&...

While Haley is weathering Hurricane Ian, Corey fills in as the co-host for this episode.  First, Corey and Jillian talk about the struggles of a man who spent two days aloft on a hydrogen balloon, and then they dive into the mystery of the disappearance of Lisanne Froon and Kris Kremers into the Panamanian Jungle to kick off spooky season.  Sources:  Man in China trapped for two day...

Haley and Jillian talk newsworthy stories with a recent arrival of Cuban refugees to the Dry Tortugas and a morbid story about a human foot found in one of Yellowstone's hot springs. Then Jillian dives into the incredible unbelievable tale of Harrison Okene, the man who survived 60 hours underwater in a shipwreck.  Sources:  Part of Human Foot Found in Yellowstone Hot Spring May be Linke...

Jillian and Haley discuss veggie gardens and lawn landscaping before diving straight into Hurricane Katrina.  Haley tells the stories of Robert Green, who literally rode his house down a flooded street, and the nurses and doctors who kept Charity Hospital going under the worst conditions.  Jillian tells the stories of Poet Shelton Alexander and his experience at the Superdome, and Lawren...

Haley and Jillian discuss another story of people getting swallowed by whales--and this time it's a twofer.  Then Jillian gets into the very recent story of Stephanie Browitt and the vacation gone very, very wrong with the Whaakari/White Island Eruption.  Sources:  "It Was Crazy", says California kayaker who was engulfed in a whale's mouth , Sheena Goodyear, CBC Radio The Eruption o...

Jillian talks about a new discovery - a shipwreck on the Oregon coast from the 1600s.  Then Haley dives into the gruesome and nightmare-inducing story of the Byford Dolphin Accident.  Haley and Jillian then do some real-time research to answer some pressing questions.  Sources: Rare Timbers From 17th-Century Spanish Shipwreck Discovered Off Oregon Coast , Meilan Solly, Smithsonian M...

Haley links in a news story to last week's topic--a story about a man who goes after his cell phone...after it falls into the crater of Mount Vesuvius.  Then Jillian discusses the story of Ricky Megee, a man who survived 71 days in the Australian outback, but with a true crime twist.  Sources:  US Tourist injured falling into Mount Vesuvius crater after taking selfie , Angela Giuffr...

Haley and Jillian discuss the unprecedented flooding occurring at Yellowstone National Park and how it may yield environmental changes for the better. Then Jillian tells the tale of the oldest story on the podcast yet--the ancient destruction of Pompeii from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.  Sources: This Day in History: Mount Vesuvius erupts , History.com Editors, History.com Did Vesuvius vap...

Haley and Jillian are reunited after a long COVID driven hiatus and try something different--telling short survival stories about big wave surfing.  Jillian talks about the big wave accidents of Garrett McNamara, Maya Gabeira, and Shawn Dollar, and Haley talked about the harrowing experiences of Billy Kemper and Andrew Cotton.  Sources:  The Wave , Susan Casey  What's the talle...

Corey returns for a second time as a cohost while Haley continues recuperating, and regales us with his trials with Texas storm fronts and chest deep mud.  Then Jillian tells the tale of the horrifying nine month reign of the Tsavo Lions and the ultimate British Safari bro.   Sources:  Man-Eaters of Tsavo , Paul Raffaele, Smithsonian Magazine Tsavo Man Eaters , Annetta Black, Atlas...

Jillian drags a guest host on the show while Haley is out sick, and he has a lot to tell us about avoiding lightning while in a boat.  Then, Jillian and Corey discuss the ultimate astronaut LARP, HI-SEAS Mars.  Sources HI-SEAS When A Mars Simulation Goes Wrong , Marina Koren, The Atlantic The Habitat , Lisa Levy, Gimlet Media 

Haley and Jillian discuss a news story in which a polar bear climbed onto a woman's roof after hitching a ride from the Arctic on an Iceberg, and Jillian gets into some true crime/survival combo with the story of Terry Jo Dupperault and her harrowing experience on the open sea.   Sources 'I looked right into his face': St. Anthony woman recounts her too-close-for-comfort encounter with curiou...

Haley and Jillian discuss Ocean Fest, home décor, and triaging husbands, along with a news story about a dog getting rescued by sausage (again).  Then Jillian delves into what it must be like to be a teenage boy with the story of the Tongan Castaways, otherwise known as the Tongan "Lord of the Flies." Sources Missing dog presumed dead rescued from cliff - thanks to a sausage roll , Nia Dalton...