Against The Odds
Episodes
Buried Alive | The Chase | 4
02 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It’s been days since Barbara Mackle has been buried alive in the cold Georgia clay. She has no idea how long the battery that keeps fresh air circul...
Buried Alive | The Drop | 3
26 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Barbara’s father, Robert Mackle, has gathered $500,000 in 20-dollar bills into a suitcase. Then, following the kidnappers’ instructions, he goes b...
Buried Alive | The Box | 2
19 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Drugged and sick with flu, Barbara Mackle begs her kidnappers not to bury her underground. But soon she’s sealed inside a cramped wooden box, and ca...
Buried Alive | Taken | 1
12 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It’s December, 1968, and 20-year-old Emory University student Barbara Mackle is taken at gunpoint from the Atlanta motel room she’s sharing with h...
Johnstown Flood | Prepare for the Worst | 5
05 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
National Park Ranger Doug Bosley’s existence hinges on a few dangerous seconds in the life of his great-great grandfather, William Pickerill. On May...
Johnstown Flood | Fire on the Water | 4
27 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
After the flood leaves many Johnstown residents trapped by debris and fighting for their lives, several oil slicks from leaking industrial equipment c...
Johnstown Flood | Cascade | 3
20 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Despite the efforts of engineer John Parke, the South Fork Dam does break. The ensuing flash flood sweeps up a vast, moving wall of debris: mud, rocks...
Johnstown Flood | Overflow | 2
13 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Engineer John Parke and a team of workers furiously shovel dirt, trying to shore up the South Fork Dam as it threatens to overflow, amid torrential ra...
Johnstown Flood | The Dam | 1
06 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It’s May, 30th 1889, and the South Fork Dam in Western Pennsylvania is in danger. After nearly a month of hard rain, eight inches have fallen in one...
Adrift in the Pacific | Creatures of the Sea | 3
30 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Over 100 days have passed since the Baileys’ yacht sank, leaving them adrift on a life raft in the Pacific ocean. They’ve managed to survive on tu...
Adrift in the Pacific | Distress Signals | 2
23 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It’s March 1973, and Maurice and Maralyn Bailey are floating on a small life raft in the middle of the world’s largest ocean. Before their yacht s...
Adrift in the Pacific | The Sinking | 1
16 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In the summer of 1972, Marilyn and Maurice Bailey decide to leave their quiet lives in suburban England behind, to sail across the world and start a n...
Encore: Donner Party | In Their Footsteps | 4
09 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In December of 1846, a small group split off from the Donner Party in a desperate attempt to find help. The party, known as the Forlorn Hope, endured ...
Encore: Donner Party | Consumed | 3
02 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In the winter of 1847, a series of rescue parties fought their way through record snowfall to try to reach the stranded Donner Party. But when they fi...
Encore: Donner Party | Snow and Blood | 2
26 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 runn...
Encore: Donner Party | The Shortcut | 1
19 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In the 1840s, thousands of Americans journeyed west to California to pursue better lives. One group of settlers became infamous: the Donner Party. Aft...
Alone in the Alaska Wilderness | Lone Survivor | 4
12 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 cra...
Alone in the Alaska Wilderness | The Long Walk | 3
05 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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’...
Alone in the Alaska Wilderness | Cabin Fever | 2
28 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Alone in the Alaska Wilderness | Survival Mode | 1
21 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Lost in the Rainforest | A Conversation with Yossi Ghinsberg | 4
14 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 lesso...
Lost in the Rainforest | Man of Action | 3
07 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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, Kevi...
Lost in the Rainforest | Swept Away | 2
31 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
After splitting off from their group, Yossi Ghinsberg and Kevin Gale hope to complete their journey through the Bolivian rainforest by rafting down th...
Lost in the Rainforest | Into the Jungle | 1
24 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 ol...
Granite Mountain Hotshots Disaster | One Foot in the Black | 5
17 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Kyle Dickman remembers the exact moment he learned about the fate of the Granite Mountain Hotshots. As a former firefighter and hotshot himself, the n...
Granite Mountain Hotshots Disaster | Radio Silence | 4
10 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Fueled by 50-mile-an-hour winds, the Yarnell Hill Fire rages out of control. Fire officials have no choice but to evacuate all residents and firefight...
Granite Mountain Hotshots Disaster | Shifting Winds | 3
03 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When the Yarnell Hill Fire abruptly changes direction, hotshot Brendan McDonough has to abandon his lookout post and run for his life. Meanwhile, the ...
Granite Mountain Hotshots Disaster | Into the Breach | 2
26 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Granite Mountain Hotshots arrive in Yarnell to help fight what is now the number-one fire priority in all of Arizona. But crew chief Eric Marsh is...
Granite Mountain Hotshots Disaster | The Spark | 1
19 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On June 28th, 2013, lightning sparks a wildfire near the town of Yarnell in central Arizona. Fueled by dry conditions, the fire quickly spreads. To co...
Hurricane Katrina | Katrina Babies with Filmmaker Edward Buckles Jr. | 5
12 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
As Hurricane Katrina approached New Orleans, 13-year-old Edward Buckles, Jr. piled into a car with his family and evacuated. They drove for hours on c...
Hurricane Katrina | We Were Here | 4
05 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
At long last, the government’s rescue effort kicks into high gear and buses arrive to evacuate people from New Orleans. But it’s too late for many...
Hurricane Katrina | Beyond Critical | 3
29 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Days after Hurricane Katrina floods their city, residents of New Orleans become increasingly desperate, as the government bungles the rescue effort. U...
Hurricane Katrina | Stranded | 2
22 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Officials learn that the storm surge from Katrina has breached New Orleans’s levees, allowing water to pour into the city. Soon, 80 percent of New O...
Hurricane Katrina | Code Gray | 1
15 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It’s late August 2005, and the city of New Orleans makes preparations for the arrival of Hurricane Katrina. But after decades of hurricanes missing ...
Apollo 13 | A Flight Director Remembers | 6
08 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Jim Lovell, Fred Haise and Jack Swigert went through the ordeal of their lives on the Apollo 13 Mission. But the people manning Houston’s Mission Co...
Apollo 13 | Splashdown | 5
01 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Six days into their mission, the Apollo 13 astronauts have been working under immense pressure and on very little sleep. Tempers grow short as they ba...
Apollo 13 | 43 Amps | 4
25 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The three astronauts on the crippled Apollo 13 spacecraft round the Moon and finally begin the return leg of their journey toward Earth. But their tro...
Apollo 13 | Tiger Team | 3
18 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The three astronauts aboard the Apollo 13 spacecraft have retreated into the cramped lunarmodule, the only part of the spacecraft that’s still fully...
Apollo 13 | Slingshot | 2
11 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
After an explosion cripples the Apollo 13 spacecraft, NASA’s Mission Control in Houston scrambles to come up with a plan to save the crew. Step one ...
Apollo 13 | "Houston, We’ve Had a Problem." | 1
04 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On April 11th, 1970, NASA launched Apollo 13, its third manned mission to the Moon. But two days into its journey, an explosion wiped out a major sour...
In Their Own Words: Stranded in Joshua Tree | 1
27 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On May 22, 2018, Claire Nelson set out on what she thought would be a four-hour hike in Southern California’s Joshua Tree National Park. An experien...
Encore: Plane Crash in the Andes | The Climb | 4
20 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In a final attempt to escape the Andes, Nando and Roberto have headed east to pursue safety. The men face a difficult journey as the weather takes a t...
Encore: Plane Crash in the Andes | The Choice | 3
13 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
After escaping an avalanche that killed eight more passengers, the survivors of the Fairchild are starting to lose all hope. Many in the group are on ...
Encore: Plane Crash in the Andes | The Cutting | 2
06 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The remaining survivors of the Fairchild crash are starting to lose hope that rescuers will arrive after ten days of inactivity. Nando Parrado and Rob...
Encore: Plane Crash in the Andes | The Crash | 1
30 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In October 1972, an Uruguayan rugby team traveling to their next match in Santiago, Chile, crashes into the Andes Mountains after their plane strikes ...
Fire at Sea: Cruise Ship Rescue | "When the Going Gets Tough..." | 5
23 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Of the more than 500 Prinsendam passengers and crew, every one of them was eventually rescued and brought to safety. Today, two of those survivors, Jo...
Fire at Sea: Cruise Ship Rescue | The Last Lifeboat | 4
16 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Rescue workers begin the painstakingly slow process of airlifting cruise ship evacuees one by one from their lifeboats. But a typhoon has turned the G...
Fire at Sea: Cruise Ship Rescue | Adrift | 3
09 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
With the fire aboard Prinsendam now burning out of control, the captain gives the order to abandon ship. Passengers, some dressed only in pajamas and ...
Fire at Sea: Cruise Ship Rescue | Dead in the Water | 2
02 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
As crew members aboard Prinsendam work to contain the fire, passengers shiver on the decks in the cold night air. The mood is mostly festive; everyone...
Fire at Sea: Cruise Ship Rescue | The Blaze | 1
25 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In October of 1980, the luxury cruise ship Prinsendam set sail from Vancouver with more than 300 passengers aboard, many of whom were elderly. But&nbs...
Amelia Earhart: Across the Atlantic | 100th Episode, Amelia’s Final Flight | 3
18 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It’s officially Against the Odds’ 100th episode! To celebrate the milestone, hosts Cassie De Pecol and Mike Corey sit down to reminisce about thei...
Amelia Earhart: Across the Atlantic | Solo | 2
11 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
By 1929, Amelia Earhart was famous for her groundbreaking flight across the Atlantic, with pilot Bill Stultz and mechanic Slim Gordon. Now, she s...
Amelia Earhart: Across the Atlantic | The Race | 1
04 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In April 1928, a social worker named Amelia Earhart received a phone call that would alter the course of her life. She was offered the chance to becom...
Alaska Bear Attack | Into The Wilds with Caroline Van Hemert | 3
28 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Bear. Running. Toward me. Writer and wildlife biologist Caroline Van Hemert encountered only one dangerous bear on her four-thousand-mile trip from Wa...
Alaska Bear Attack | Three Long Hours | 2
21 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
After Bart Pieciul is mauled by a bear in the Alaska wilderness, his friends have to use all of their outdoor knowledge to keep him alive. The th...
Alaska Bear Attack | In Defense of Life and Property | 1
13 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The residents of Haines, Alaska are used to living alongside bears. The region surrounding their small town has one of the densest bear populations in...
Himalayan Spy Mission | Back to the Mountains with Pete Takeda | 4
07 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When outdoor writer Pete Takeda first heard the story of a covert CIA operation in the Himalayas, he couldn’t believe it. So he decided to investiga...
Himalayan Spy Mission | The Dome | 3
28 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Two years have passed since the team of Indian and American elite climbers lost a nuclear-powered spying device in the Himalayas. Now, as China contin...
Himalayan Spy Mission | Retrieval | 2
21 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Winter storms arrived early on the Himalayan peak Nanda Devi, forcing the team of American and Indian climbers to retreat down the mountain and abando...
Himalayan Spy Mission | The Device | 1
14 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In 1965, with Cold War tensions escalating, the CIA and India’s Intelligence Bureau joined forces to spy on China’s budding nuclear program. Satel...
Uncharted: Teddy Roosevelt's Amazon Expedition | Lost Cities with Mike Heckenberger | 5
07 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Searching for lost cities in the Amazon sounds like something out of a Hollywood script – unless you’re University of Florida anthropologist Mike ...
Uncharted: Teddy Roosevelt's Amazon Expedition | River's End | 4
31 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
After weeks on the River of Doubt, Theodore Roosevelt’s expedition is on the verge of collapse. But hope emerges when they find clues that Brazilian...
Uncharted: Teddy Roosevelt's Amazon Expedition | A Killer In Their Midst | 3
24 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Uncharted: Teddy Roosevelt's Amazon Expedition | River of Doubt | 2
17 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 fo...
Uncharted: Teddy Roosevelt's Amazon Expedition | Headwaters | 1
10 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In 1913, former President Theodore Roosevelt embarked on a perilous expedition to explore one of the last unmapped rivers in the Amazon. Roosevelt was...
Chowchilla School Bus Kidnapping | One Survivor’s Story | 3
13 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
On the afternoon of July 15, 1976, nine-year-old Jennifer Brown Hyde and her older brother Jeff were returning home from a summer school trip to a loc...
Chowchilla School Bus Kidnapping | Buried Alive | 2
06 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The kidnapped children and their bus driver are trapped underground in the back of a moving truck, and they’re running out of food and water. They d...
Chowchilla School Bus Kidnapping | Vanished | 1
29 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In the summer of 1976, three masked gunmen hijack a school bus full of children in rural Chowchilla, California. The twenty-six kids and their bus dri...
Submarine Rescue: The Race to Save Squalus | The Final Dive | 3
22 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Swede Momsen’s diving bell finally makes contact with the sailors trapped inside the USS Squalus. But bad weather makes for a harrowing mission. And...
Submarine Rescue: The Race to Save Squalus | Trapped | 2
15 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
With the USS Squalus trapped at the bottom of the ocean, the Navy mounted an all-out rescue effort to save its crew before they ran out of breathable ...
Submarine Rescue: The Race to Save Squalus | Into the Deep | 1
08 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
On the morning of May 23, 1939, a state-of-the-art U.S. Navy’s submarine, the USS Squalus, was doing a routine test dive when something went terribl...
Wildfire in Paradise | Evacuating Paradise with Beth Bowersox and Daniel Swain | 6
01 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
CalFire dispatcher Beth Bowersox was on duty the morning the Camp Fire ignited. She joins Host Cassie De Pecol to share what it was like behind the sc...
Wildfire in Paradise | Paradise Lost with Lizzie Johnson | 5
25 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
By the time it was contained in late November 2018, the Camp Fire had become the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history. Journa...
Wildfire in Paradise | Containment | 4
18 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
By mid-afternoon of November 8, 2018, the Camp Fire has largely moved through Paradise. Families separated by the fire are desperate to find each othe...
Wildfire in Paradise | Engulfed | 3
11 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
As the fire rages and traffic on the main roads out of Paradise comes to a standstill, firefighters realize evacuation is no longer a viable option. F...
Wildfire in Paradise | Bottleneck | 2
04 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
As a fast-moving wildfire closes in on their town, Paradise residents move to evacuate as quickly as possible. But not everyone knows about the seriou...
Wildfire in Paradise | Ignition | 1
27 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In the early morning of November 8, 2018, a faulty electrical line sparked a fire in the woods of Butte County, California. Spurred on by high winds a...
Crash in a Volcano | Thank You, Madam Pele with Chris Duddy | 3
20 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In 1992, Christopher Duddy was a young Hollywood cameraman assigned to shoot footage of an active volcano on Hawaii’s Big Island. Then his helicopte...
Crash in a Volcano | Climbing Out | 2
13 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Rescue workers search for the camera crew trapped inside Kilauea’s Pu’u O’o crater, but they’re forced to abandon their efforts when an incomi...
Crash in a Volcano | Into the Crater | 1
06 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In November 1992, a Hollywood camera crew soars above Hawaii’s Kīlauea, one of the world’s most dangerous volcanoes, to capture footage for a maj...
Encore: Thai Cave Rescue | On the Set of Thirteen Lives with Rick Stanton | 5
30 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The story of the Thai cave rescue captivated the world – spawning numerous books, documentaries, and most recently, the Hollywood film, Thirtee...
Encore: Thai Cave Rescue | Chamber Nine | 4
23 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Rescuers locate the 12 boys and their soccer coach deep inside the Tham Luang, but now they have another problem. How will they get them all out? An i...
Encore: Thai Cave Rescue | Risk | 3
16 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Rescuers locate the 12 boys and their soccer coach deep inside the Tham Luang, but now they have another problem. How will they get them all out? An i...
Encore: Thai Cave Rescue | Chaos | 2
09 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The boys on the soccer team struggle to stay alive inside the cave. Expert divers from around the world arrive in Thailand to find a media circus and ...
Encore: Thai Cave Rescue | Lost | 1
02 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In 2018, twelve young soccer players and their coach are exploring a six-mile caving system in Thailand when they are trapped inside by heavy rains. L...
Trapped on Mount Hood | Close Calls and Epic Adventures with Peter Stark | 6
28 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
On this special episode, survival writer Peter Stark joins host Mike Corey for a wide-spanning conversation about adventure – why we’re drawn to i...
Trapped on Mount Hood | Aftermath with Ric Conrad | 5
21 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Mount Hood tragedy remains the second deadliest mountaineering accident in North American history. Growing up in Oregon, Ric Conrad remembers foll...
Trapped on Mount Hood | Discovery | 4
14 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
As the search for the missing climbers enters its second day, rescuers redouble their efforts to find the lost students and their adult guides. But th...
Trapped on Mount Hood | Search and Rescue | 3
07 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Morning provides no relief for the Oregon Episcopal School climbers trapped without food or water high on Mount Hood. The storm that forced them to ta...
Trapped on Mount Hood | Considered Lost | 2
31 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
With night falling, the student climbers and their adult chaperones must take refuge in a cramped, frigid, and hastily dug snow cave. Their leader, Fa...
Trapped on Mount Hood | Whiteout | 1
24 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Meltdown at Fukushima | Ghost Towns with NPR’s Kat Lonsdorf | 5
17 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It’s been more than decade since the meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. But the region is still grappling with the environmental...
Meltdown at Fukushima | The Devil's Chain Reaction | 4
10 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
After a week of unrelenting disasters—and with Tokyo itself now under threat—the managers of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant are forced ...
Meltdown at Fukushima | Collapse | 3
03 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Now contending with multiple damaged reactors, engineers at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan hatch a series of increasingly desperat...
Meltdown at Fukushima | Pressure | 2
26 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Crippled by a tsunami of unprecedented scale, one of the reactors at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is in danger of melting down. To ...
Meltdown at Fukushima | Triple Disaster | 1
19 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In March 2011, one of the largest earthquakes in history struck eastern Japan, followed by a massive tsunami. This one-two punch then caused a third d...
Avalanche at Tunnel Creek | ‘Snow Fall’ with Adventure Journalist John Branch | 2
12 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
When New York Times reporter John Branch first heard reports of an avalanche in Washington State, he didn’t think much about it. But when ...
Avalanche at Tunnel Creek | Into the Backcountry | 1
05 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Lured by the promise of fresh powder, more and more skiers and snowboarders are heading onto backcountry slopes. But in the wrong conditions, these ar...
Encore: Kidnapped in the Desert | Zero Hour | 3
29 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
After months in captivity, Jessica Buchanan is battling a kidney infection, and her body’s on the verge of collapse. The negotiations for her releas...
Encore: Kidnapped in the Desert | Big Money | 2
22 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
As days and then weeks go by, Jessica tries to adjust to life as a hostage in the Somali desert, but she’s sick and her body is failing. Back in Nai...