Survival was his only option. Marooned in 1704, Alexander Selkirk endured four years alone on a Pacific island — a true story that would later inspire Robinson Crusoe.This is the harrowing tale of what it means to survive not just nature... but time, silence, and solitude. From chasing goats by hand to befriending feral cats for protection, Selkirk didn’t just endure the island — he was transformed by it.Watch as we uncover one of the most incredible real-life survival stories in history.🔔 Subscribe for more survival history and true shipwreck stories.

In 1741, HMS Wager wrecked off the remote coast of Patagonia. Stranded and starving, the crew faced not just the elements—but each other. When leadership collapsed, a mutiny split the survivors. Some followed Captain David Cheap. Others followed gunner John Bulkeley. What happened next would challenge the laws of command, loyalty, and survival.

This episode unpacks one of the most brutal and overlooked naval disasters in British history—where the greatest threat came after the shipwreck.

In 1513, an Ottoman admiral drew a map that shouldn’t exist.

The Piri Reis Map charts parts of South America, Africa—and possibly even Antarctica—centuries before they were officially discovered. Based on lost sources and ancient knowledge, the map has baffled historians, geographers, and conspiracy theorists alike. How could a 16th-century sailor map lands no one had explored? Was it guesswork, ancient science... or something deliberately erased from history?

In this episode of Mysteries and Backstories, we unravel one of the strangest cartographic enigmas ever found. Dive into the story of a map that defies explanation—and the secrets that may have died with it.

When the USS Jeannette was crushed by Arctic ice, her crew didn’t just face shipwreck—they faced a frozen death sentence. Trapped in the polar sea for nearly two years, the men set out on foot across hundreds of miles of ice and Siberian wilderness, dragging their boats and dwindling supplies behind them. What began as a bold expedition ended in hunger, madness, and a desperate fight to survive.

In this episode of Mysteries and Backstories, we follow the tragic voyage of the USS Jeannette—a tale of endurance, leadership, and loss in one of the most brutal environments on Earth. From the moment the ship was locked in ice to the final, fatal march across the tundra, every step was a battle against impossible odds.

If you thought Shackleton had it bad… you haven’t heard this story.

In 1860, Robert O’Hara Burke and William John Wills set out to lead the first expedition across the Australian continent — from Melbourne to the Gulf of Carpentaria. Backed by public funding and national attention, their journey was supposed to be historic.

Instead, it became a slow-motion disaster.

This episode tells the true story of how miscommunication, bad decisions, and cruel timing turned a moment of promise into one of the most tragic chapters in exploration history. From missed rescue by just hours to buried journals no one found in time, this is the heartbreaking fate of the Burke and Wills expedition — and the one man who made it out alive.

New episodes every week. Subscribe to hear more stories of survival, history, and mystery.

In 1913, the Karluk set sail on a bold Arctic expedition. Within months, the ship was locked in ice and abandoned — left to drift helplessly across the Chukchi Sea. This is the true story of survival, leadership, and betrayal in one of the coldest and most brutal environments on Earth.Led by Captain Robert Bartlett, the crew fought to survive frostbite, starvation, and the madness of isolation, while their expedition leader, Vilhjalmur Stefansson, walked away — not once, but twice.From the freezing deck of a ship crushed by ice to the desolate shore of Wrangel Island, this is a survival story few have heard… and one history nearly forgot.

This special compilation brings together four of the darkest and most intense shipwreck stories we’ve ever covered — curated and remastered for our podcast audience.

From the eerie disappearance of the Mary Celeste, to the mutiny and murder aboard the Batavia, to the whale attack that inspired Moby-Dick, and finally the horror of the Méduse raft — each story reveals what happens when survival pushes people beyond the limits of humanity.

These aren’t just shipwrecks. They’re what happens when help never comes.

🎧 Follow for more gripping true stories.