On this special episode of Against the Odds, wildlife biologist and host of the podcast Tooth & Claw: True Stories of Animal Attacks, Wes Larson, joins Mike Corey to share some of the wildest animal encounters he’s come across, and give tips on what to do if you come across these creatures in the wild. From grizzly bears to great whites, rattlers, cougars and…LEECHES, Wes has it covered. Plus, Mike and Wes swap stories of their own run-ins with black bears. See Privacy Policy at...

Atlanta-based journalist Steve Fennessy began researching Gary Steven Krist’s past for an article he was writing for Atlanta Magazine back in 2006. The assignment took him on a deep dive into Krist’s life, from his upbringing through the aftermath of one of the most notorious crimes of the 1960s: kidnapping and burying Barbara Jane Mackle alive. Today, Fennessy joins host Cassie De Pecol to share what he uncovered about Krist and what it was like writing our series, Buried Alive. See Privacy...

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 circulating into her wooden capsule will last. She's beginning to despair that she'll ever be rescued.  Meanwhile, in Florida, after the first ransom drop is bungled, kidnapper Gary Steven Krist makes one last-ditch effort to get the ransom money and arrange a getaway. But the police dragnet around him is tightening with every hour. See Privacy Policy...

Barbara’s father, Robert Mackle, has gathered $500,000 in 20-dollar bills into a suitcase. Then, following the kidnappers’ instructions, he goes by himself to the drop site – an abandoned causeway in Miami. But when he gets lost on the way to the site, he begins to worry that the kidnappers will flee before he can deliver the money, leaving his daughter to die. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 can hear dirt being shoveled onto the lid. Meanwhile, a mysterious caller to her family’s home outside Miami directs them to a note buried beneath a rock in their front yard. The note confirms their worst fears – Barbara has been kidnapped and will never be found if they don’t pay the ransom. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and...

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 her mother. Her two kidnappers drug her and then drive her to a remote spot in the woods outside the city. Their plan? To bury her alive in a coffin-like box while they wait for a half-million dollar ransom from her father, a wealthy real estate developer. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at...

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...

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. See Privacy Policy at...

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...

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...

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...

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.

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.

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.

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...

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 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...

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...

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 crashed in Alaska in 1943. At the end of the release, he found mention of a “lone survivor,” who walked out of the frozen Yukon over the course of three months. Today, Brian Murphy joins host Mike Corey to talk about how he pieced together Crane’s epic journey for his book, 81 Days Below Zero: The Incredible Survival Story of a World War II Pilot in...

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’s following has begun to crack, making for a perilous journey. And the closer Crane gets to safety, the more the Alaska winter seems determined to bring him to his knees. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 “missing in action” by the army, with no rescue coming. His only option is to keep walking along a frozen river. But a stroke of luck buoys his spirits and gives him just enough fuel to keep searching for signs of civilization. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at...