Advertise on podcast: Against The Odds

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 day, filling the lake behind the dam to capacity. And the dam’s owners, the South Fork Hunting and Fishing Club, have cut corners in repairing and maintaining it. It’s threatening to break, which would unleash 20 million tons of water on the people in the valley below, including everyone living in the steel city of Johnstown. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 rains. Parke knows these efforts are their only chance of preventing a terrible flood. He decides he has to warn the towns in the river valley of the imminent danger — but it’s a warning they’ve heard too many times in the past to take seriously.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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, trees, fragments of bridges and smashed-up houses. Residents in Johnstown, including Reverend H.L. Chapman and his family, have mere seconds to flee to higher ground as the floodwaters and debris crash into their homes. The lucky ones find themselves clinging to rooftops amid the raging waters, fighting to survive. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This episode comes out for free on 02/27, and is available early and ad-free for Wondery+ subscribers. Sign up on http://wondery.fm/applepodcasts and stay up-to-date on the latest new podcasts and more from Wondery. After the flood leaves many Johnstown residents trapped by debris and fighting for their lives, several oil slicks from leaking industrial equipment catch fire, igniting a deadly inferno. Sixteen-year-old Victor Heiser must rescue a young woman whose leg is pinned by rubble as the fire grows closer by the second. And as the floodwaters finally recede, and residents return to where their homes once stood, they reckon with all that they’ve lost and will have to rebuild.

This episode comes out for free on 03/05, and is available early and ad-free for Wondery+ subscribers. Sign up on http://wondery.fm/applepodcasts and stay up-to-date on the latest new podcasts and more from Wondery. 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 31, 1889, Pickerill worked as a telegraph operator down the valley from Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Before it was washed away by the flood, his telegraph office relayed warnings about the impending collapse of the South Fork Dam. Today, Ranger Bosley joins host Mike Corey to talk about how William Pickerill survived, and how the Johnstown Flood National Memorial remembers those who didn’t. Bosley also shares his own recollections of the Johnstown flood of 1977.

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 new life in New Zealand. But when their 30-foot yacht is struck by a whale, they’re left stranded in a small rubber life raft in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, hundreds of miles from the nearest land. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 sank into the Pacific, they managed to grab some food and supplies, but their provisions won’t last long. Now, their only hope is to be rescued by a passing ship, before it’s too late. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 turtle meat and fish they catch with a makeshift fishing hook, but they are in terrible physical condition. Now, their life raft is leaking, and they’re not sure how much longer they can stay afloat. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In the 1840s, thousands of Americans journeyed west to California to pursue better lives. One group of settlers became infamous: the Donner Party. After taking an unproven shortcut, their wagon train fell dangerously behind schedule. If they couldn’t cross the Sierra Nevada Mountains before winter came, they risked getting trapped in the snow and starving. But as pressure mounted for the wagons to move faster, tensions among the settlers would explode into violence. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 running out of food, they decided to send out a team of men and women on a rescue mission. But soon, the rescuers would find themselves lost and starving, and forced to face the ultimate taboo of the wilderness: whether to eat their fallen comrades to survive. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 finally arrived at the snowbound camps, they were unprepared for the scenes of horror and cannibalism they would find. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 the bitter Sierra Nevada winter, trekking roughly 100 miles in 33 days. The route the party took remained unknown for decades. Until 2020, when ultra-runners Bob Crowley and Tim Twietmeyer completed a seven-year odyssey. Together they mapped and retraced the path they think was taken by Forlorn Hope. Today, Tim and Bob join host Mike Corey to share how they managed this incredible feat of endurance. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.