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What to Carry, What to Burn: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Blair Braverman
Edge-of-your-seat survival stories, as told by adventurer and dogsledder Blair Braverman.How did Ada Blackjack endure a brutal Arctic winter alone? Why did one shipwreck crew work together to survive, while another crew–on the same island–hunted each other for food? What can we learn from survivors about getting through the impossible–in the wilderness, and in our own lives?New stories every other week! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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- 2 weeks ago43 min
Ep 14: Redemption in the Yukon
Two strangers--who couldn't be more different from each other--are trapped together in the frozen wilderness.Sources include:- Hey, I'm Alive! by Helen Klaben and Beth Day- Helen Klaben on To Tell the Truth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZQzB-gvp_I- How One Church Member Survived a Plane Crash and 49 Days in the Yukon Wilderness "by the Grace of God," by Lindsey Miller in LDS Living: https://www.ldsliving.com/how-one-church-member-survived-a-plane-crash-and-49-days-in-the-yukon-wilderness-by-the-grace-of-god/s/89838- Bond Still Strong Between 1963 Crash Survivors in the Tampa Bay Times: https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1993/11/10/bond-still-strong-between-1963-crash-survivors/Blair's story in the NYT: He Went Out on an Epic Wilderness Adventure. Only His Dogs Came Back.https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/10/10/magazine/steffen-skjottelvik-canada-journey-death.html?unlocked_article_code=1.H1E.JP3C.h8fCWrcN1-Oo&smid=url-share Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
- Oct 13, 202644 min
Ep 13: The Lost Boy
When twelve-year-old Donn Fendler loses the trail on a family hike, he has to survive in the Maine wilderness all alone.Sources for this episode include the documentary Finding Donn Fendler; the book Lost on a Mountain in Maine, by Donn Fendler, as told to Joseph B. Egan; “Fendler Remembered as a True American Hero,” by John Holyoke in the Bangor Daily News; “Fendler Boy Found Alive in Woods Eight Days After Becoming Lost,” in the New York Times; “70 Years Ago a Mountain in Maine Challenged a Boy’s Will to Survive,” by Nok-Noi Ricker, in the Bangor Daily News; and “Remembering Donn Fendler,” by John Thurlow, in Down East. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
- Sep 29, 202648 min
Ep 12: The Raft
When honeymooners Holly and Fitz miss their boat ride out of a Peruvian village, they think they'll be stuck for weeks--until a stranger offers a bold alternative.Sources:Ruthless River by Holly FitzgeraldHolly Fitzgerald: Lost in the Jungle Againhttps://www.guernicamag.com/holly-fitzgerald-lost-jungle/TEDx: What the Jungle Taught Me About Inner Strengthhttps://www.ted.com/talks/holly_fitzgerald_what_the_jungle_taught_me_about_inner_strength Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
- Sep 15, 202642 min
Ep 11: The Second Shipwreck
21-year-old Violet Jessup goes to sea to support her family--and ends up caught in two major maritime disasters.(Spoilers below, in the source list.)Sources for this episode include the book Titanic Survivor: The Newly Discovered Memoirs of Violet Jessup who Survived Both the Titanic and Brittanic Disasters, by Violet Jessup, introduced, edited, and annotated by John Maxtone Graham. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
- Sep 1, 202644 min
Ep 10: Jan Baalsrud
In 1943, Jan Baalsrud and his friends sneak into northern Norway on a fishing boat to blow up a Nazi air base—but when the Nazis catch them first, Jan ends up barefoot in the snow on an arctic island, trapped and alone.Sources:We Die Alone: A WWII Epic of Escape and Endurance, by David HowarthDefiant Courage: Norway’s Longest WWII Escape, by Astrid Karlsen Scott and Dr. Tore HaugThe Fugitive, published in The New York Times, by Robert KolkerWelcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube by Blair BravermanIrene by Sofia Jannok: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tU-np8zS4HQ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
- Aug 18, 202631 min
Ep 9: Juliane Koepcke
Juliane Koepcke had an unusual childhood, helping her biologist parents with fieldwork in the Amazon. At seventeen, after surviving a two-mile free fall from a broken plane, she has to lean on everything she learned from her family to survive the jungle.Sources for this episode include the book When I Fell From the Sky by Juliane Koepcke, the film Wings of Hope by Werner Herzog, and the New York Times story “She Fell Nearly 2 Miles, and Walked Away,” by Franz Lidz. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
- Aug 4, 20261h 0m
Ep 8: Valerian Albanov
Navigator Valerian Albanov escapes an icebound ship--and ends up the reluctant leader of a desperate trek across the frozen sea. Sources for this book include the book In the Land of the White Death by Valerian Albanov, translated from Russian to English by Alison Anderson, and the book The Riddle of Navigator Albanov, by Mikhail Andreyevich Chvanov. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
- Jul 21, 202656 min
Ep 7: The Painted Ocean
When shark fisherman José Salvador Alvarenga gets caught in a storm at sea, he thinks he'll be able to ride it out. But the motor breaks in his little boat, and he starts to drift across the Pacific...Sources for this episode include the book 438 Days by Jonathan Franklin (highly recommended!), as well as the Guardian article "Pacific Castaway Recounts his 13 Month Odyssey" by Leila Haddou and the Time article "A Castaway who Survived 14 Months at Sea is Being Sued for Cannibalism" by Tiare Dunlap.Other works mentioned are the book A Marriage at Sea by Sophie Elmhirst (also highly recommended!) and the poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, from which this episode gets its name. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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About What to Carry, What to Burn
Edge-of-your-seat survival stories, as told by adventurer and dogsledder Blair Braverman.How did Ada Blackjack endure a brutal Arctic winter alone? Why did one shipwreck crew work together to survive, while another crew–on the same island–hunted each other for food? What can we learn from survivors about getting through the impossible–in the wilderness, and in our own lives?New stories every other week! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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