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. Listen early and ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Avail...
May 24, 2022•48 min•Season 15Ep. 1
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, economic and emotional legacy of the disaster. Evacuations have lifted – but many people still haven’t returned. And what does it mean to reopen a nuclear ghost town? That’s what NPR reporter Kat Lonsdorf wanted to discover when she visited Fukushima in early 2020. Kat joins host Mike Corey to discuss how locals are rebuilding their communities and...
May 17, 2022•38 min•Season 14Ep. 5
After a week of unrelenting disasters—and with Tokyo itself now under threat—the managers of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant are forced to evacuate all but the most essential staff. But the remaining few rally for one last battle to prevent the explosion of the reactor cores and avert a catastrophic meltdown. Listen early and ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App https://wondery.app.link/agai...
May 10, 2022•44 min•Season 14Ep. 4
Now contending with multiple damaged reactors, engineers at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan hatch a series of increasingly desperate plans to prevent a total meltdown. But several explosions and the loss of vital cooling pumps bring the entire plant to the brink of chaos. As the crisis worsens, it becomes clear that the very future of Japan is at stake. Listen early and ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available ...
May 03, 2022•45 min•Season 14Ep. 3
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 save it, workers must do the unthinkable: Vent radioactive steam into the atmosphere, to avoid a larger catastrophe as explosive gasses build up inside the reactor core. And they must risk exposing themselves to dangerous levels of radiation to do it. Listen early and ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad f...
Apr 26, 2022•46 min•Season 14Ep. 2
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 disaster—a total loss of power at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Employees at the plant found themselves scrambling to cool down the reactors, and avoid a deadly meltdown. Listen early and ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App https://wondery.a...
Apr 19, 2022•47 min•Season 14Ep. 1
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 his editor asked him to poke around, John discovered the human story of a community of skiers and the passion that brought them face to face with powerful forces of nature. John’s article, Snow Fall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek , won the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing in 2013. He joins host Mike Corey to discuss the events of that fatef...
Apr 12, 2022•42 min•Season 13Ep. 2
Lured by the promise of fresh powder, more and more skiers and snowboarders are heading onto backcountry slopes. But in the wrong conditions, these areas can turn from playgrounds to death traps in an instant. That's what happened to one group of elite athletes in the Tunnel Creek backcountry section near Stevens Pass Ski Resort in Washington State. There, without warning, five skiers found themselves caught in one of nature’s deadliest forces – an avalanche. Listen early and ad free with Wonder...
Apr 05, 2022•45 min•Season 13Ep. 1
After months in captivity, Jessica Buchanan is battling a kidney infection, and her body’s on the verge of collapse. The negotiations for her release aren’t going anywhere and the Crisis Management Team overseeing Jessica’s case has run out of options. It’s time for Seal Team Six to execute a daring rescue plan to bring Jessica home. Listen early and ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App https://wonder...
Mar 29, 2022•44 min•Season 12Ep. 3
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 Nairobi, her husband works with her NGO on a plan to get Jessica medicine she needs, but her kidnappers trust no one, not even the negotiators. Jessica’s family meets with an FBI agent who explains to them the possible outcomes of the situation. None of them make it easy to stay hopeful. Listen early and ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusiv...
Mar 22, 2022•46 min•Season 12Ep. 2
In the fall of 2011, humanitarian aid worker Jessica Buchanan is traveling through the Somali desert when she and a colleague are kidnapped by land pirates. Her organization quickly springs into action and brings in negotiators who wait for a ransom call. Meanwhile, three hundred miles away, Jessica’s husband Erik does whatever he can to bring her home, while Jessica fights to stay alive one day at a time. Listen early and ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access...
Mar 15, 2022•46 min•Season 12Ep. 1
Lorne Knight has died, and Ada Blackjack finds herself completely alone on Wrangel Island. She’s losing hope she’ll ever see her son Bennett again. But she’s determined to do whatever it takes to survive until the other members of her team return with a supply ship, even if it means confronting her biggest fear: polar bears. Listen early and ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App https://wondery.app.lin...
Mar 08, 2022•45 min•Season 11Ep. 3
After one year on Wrangel Island, the five members of the expedition are alarmed to realize that the supply ship that was scheduled to relieve them won’t be coming. Winter has arrived early, the ocean is freezing over, and the ship won’t be able to make it through the ice. With dwindling food supplies, the team has to make a last-ditch effort to go in search of help. Now, Ada Blackjack finds herself alone with the expedition’s dying leader, Lorne Knight – and she must learn new survival skills i...
Mar 01, 2022•45 min•Season 11Ep. 2
In 1921, an expedition set out from Alaska for a remote island high in the Arctic Circle. With them was a 23-year-old Inuit woman named Ada Blackjack, who had been hired by four white explorers to cook and sew. For Blackjack, it was her last chance to earn enough money to pay for her young son’s medical treatment. But she had never spent any time in the wilderness, and the harsh Arctic surroundings would push her to her limits. This is the story of how Ada Blackjack became the sole survivor of t...
Feb 22, 2022•45 min•Season 11Ep. 1
Sara Vladic was 13 when she first heard about USS Indianapolis while watching a World War II documentary with her dad. In just one sentence, the film described how the ship delivered the bomb that ended the war and then sank. For Sara, that moment would spark a decades-long journey to discover the untold story of Indy and its crew. Sara spent years interviewing the survivors for her own documentary Indianapolis: The Legacy , and the book Indianapolis: The True Story of the Worst Sea ...
Feb 15, 2022•40 min•Season 10Ep. 5
By sheer chance, an American bomber pilot on a routine test flight has spotted the survivors of U.S.S. Indianapolis, who have been floating in the middle of the Philippine Sea for over three days. But rescuing them will be easier said than done. The survivors are hundreds of miles from the nearest land, and the ocean waters are getting rough. To get the men out of the water as quickly as possible, some of the rescuers will have to put their own lives on the line. Listen early and ad free with Wo...
Feb 08, 2022•43 min•Season 10Ep. 4
It’s been two days since U.S.S. Indianapolis sank, and the number of survivors is dwindling. They’re being picked off by sharks, and driven insane by sleep deprivation, dehydration, and saltwater poisoning. As they hope and pray for a rescue, they will encounter a new enemy that none of them could have imagined, even in their worst nightmares. Listen early and ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App http...
Feb 01, 2022•42 min•Season 10Ep. 3
The nine hundred men who survived the torpedo attack on the U.S.S. Indianapolis are either drifting in the sea, fighting strong currents and swells, or clinging to rafts. They’re at the mercy of the ocean, hundreds of miles from land, with dwindling supplies and no drinking water. And soon, they’ll have to confront a terrifying new challenge – shark attacks. Listen early and ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery...
Jan 25, 2022•43 min•Season 10Ep. 2
In the final weeks of World War II, the Navy cruiser U.S.S. Indianapolis was attacked and sunk by a Japanese submarine in the middle of the Philippine Sea. The nine hundred survivors found themselves stranded in the middle of the open ocean, many without rafts or life vests, wondering when – or if – help was coming. This is the story of the greatest sea disaster in U.S. naval history, and the courageous men who survived it. Listen early and ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, bi...
Jan 18, 2022•42 min•Season 10Ep. 1
After being taken hostage by members of the Al Qaeda-linked Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, the lives of four American climbers were never the same. And just one year later, the attack on the World Trade Center made the threat of terrorism more real for everyone. Mountaineer and author Greg Child interviewed all four climbers to tell their story in his book, Over the Edge. On this episode, he joins host Cassie De Pecol to describe the effect 9/11 had on the climbers, his own experiences climbing...
Dec 28, 2021•36 min•Season 9Ep. 5
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 to civilization, will they be able to make it all the way back home to the US. And if they do will ...
Dec 21, 2021•44 min•Season 9Ep. 4
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 captor. But will they have the courage to act? Listen early and ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for ...
Dec 14, 2021•42 min•Season 9Ep. 3
After being kidnapped by rebel militants in a remote region of Kyrgyzstan, four American rock climbers are forced at gunpoint toward the Uzbekistan border. But their captors are being trailed by the Kygyz army. Soon, the unwitting climbers find themselves in the middle of a firefight of epic proportions and they have to hide to stay alive. As night falls, the climbers are forced on the move again and they begin to realize if they want to survive they must escape on their own. Listen early and ad...
Dec 07, 2021•45 min•Season 9Ep. 2
In August of the year 2000, four American rock climbers set out to explore the majesty of the Pamir Alai Mountain range in Kyrgyzstan. But only a week into their expedition, they’re taken captive by rebel militants. The group is forced to hike through brutal terrain under the cover of night to avoid detection by the Kyrgyz army. With little to no food or water provided by their captors, the young climbing team had to struggle through severe dehydration and hunger. Finally, they realized they wou...
Nov 30, 2021•45 min•Season 9Ep. 1
When the 33 miners emerged to surface after 69 days in the depths of the San José mine, they set the Guinness World Record for the longest time spent trapped underground. For his book Deep Down Dark, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Héctor Tobar got to know all 33 men and many of their family members. Today, Héctor joins host Mike Corey to discuss his experience visiting mines in Chile, his time with the miners, and the aftermath of the rescue. Listen early and ad free with Wondery+. Join Wonde...
Nov 23, 2021•43 min•Season 8Ep. 5
After sixty-nine days trapped underground, finally the drilling operations team has created a bore hole large enough to extract the 33 miners. But this will be the first operation of its kind. Will the 2,200 foot tunnel and extraction pod maintain its integrity amidst dynamite blasts and continually crumbling stone? On the surface, thousands of bystanders wait to see if everyone of The 33 will reach the surface alive. Listen early and ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, bin...
Nov 16, 2021•45 min•Season 8Ep. 4
Two weeks after the collapse of the San Jose mine in Chile, 33 trapped miners find themselves starving to death, doubting they’ll ever be rescued. Then, a glimmer of hope: Rescue workers drilling above finally reach the miners through a small borehole. It’s big enough to send down emergency supplies, but not big enough to pull the miners out. Now the question becomes: How much longer will the 33 men have to endure life 2,000 feet below the surface? Listen early and ad free with Wondery+. Join Wo...
Nov 09, 2021•45 min•Season 8Ep. 3
After exploring possible escape routes and finding them all blocked, the 33 miners must face the truth: They really are trapped, more than 2,000 feet underground. Now, they must stay disciplined and ration their emergency food and water supplies if they have any hope of survival. Meanwhile, on the surface, a rescue effort gets underway. Several drills begin working to tunnel down to the trapper miners. But the rescuers have no way of knowing exactly where in the mine the miners are -- or how man...
Nov 02, 2021•48 min•Season 8Ep. 2
In 2010, the San Jose copper mine in Chile suffers a catastrophic collapse, leaving 33 miners trapped over 2,000 feet underground. As they desperately search for a way out, a massive rescue effort begins on the surface. But with the trapped miners running out of food and succumbing to despair, it’s a race against the clock to reach them and get them out. This is the story of how mining experts, rescue specialists, Chilean politicians, and even NASA team up to reunite “Los Treinta y Tres” -- the ...
Oct 26, 2021•46 min•Season 8Ep. 1
Nando Parrado and Roberto Canessa braved 36 miles of brutal mountain terrain to escape the Andes and save their teammates. But this isn’t where the story of Flight 571 ends. While hiking near the crash site in 2005, mountaineer Ricardo Peña discovered a jacket belonging to one of the survivors and wreckage from the plane that had never been found. The following year Peña led a National Geographic expedition retracing the route Nando and Roberto took out of the Andes. On this episode, Peña joins ...
Oct 19, 2021•40 min•Season 7Ep. 5
