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 the Wrangel Island expedition.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/againsttheodds.Support us by supporting our sponsors!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 Disaster in U.S. Naval History and the Fifty-Year Fight to Exonerate an Innocent Man. Today, she joins host Mike Corey to discuss Captain McVay’s trial, the ship’s recovery and the role Jaws played in reviving interest in Indy’s story.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, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App https://wondery.app.link/againsttheodds.Support us by supporting our sponsors!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App https://wondery.app.link/againsttheodds.Support us by supporting our sponsors!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 https://wondery.app.link/againsttheodds.Support us by supporting our sponsors!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 App https://wondery.app.link/againsttheodds.Support us by supporting our sponsors!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App https://wondery.app.link/againsttheodds.Support us by supporting our sponsors!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 in Kyrgyzstan, and returning to the region with John Dickey and Jason Smith to face one of the men that had held them captive.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/againsttheodds.Support us by supporting our sponsors!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 anyone believe their story?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/againsttheodds.Support us by supporting our sponsors!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App https://wondery.app.link/againsttheodds.Support us by supporting our sponsors!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App https://wondery.app.link/againsttheodds.Support us by supporting our sponsors!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.