Against The Odds

As crew members aboard Prinsendam work to contain the fire, passengers shiver on the decks in the cold night air. The mood is mostly festive; everyone expects that the fire will be extinguished soon. But when the blaze spreads to the dining room, the ship’s captain realizes he has no choice. He issues an SOS. If help doesn’t come soon, they’ll have to abandon ship — with a typhoon headed straight toward them.

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In October of 1980, the luxury cruise ship Prinsendam set sail from Vancouver with more than 300 passengers aboard, many of whom were elderly. But just after midnight on the cruise’s fourth day, in the Gulf of Alaska, a fire broke out in the ship’s engine room. The crew battled to contain the blaze, but with limited firefighting equipment, it was unclear if they could prevent the fire from spreading, and threatening the entire ship.
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Professional big wave surfer Andrew Cotton — “Cotty” — discovered he had a knack for riding waves that most other surfers wouldn’t dream of tackling. His journey took him around the globe, from California to Hawaii, Ireland and Australia. But when Cotty got an invite to join surf legend Garrett McNamara in a small seaside town in Portugal called Nazaré, he discovered swells bigger and wilder than he’d ever encountered before. Today, Andrew Cotton is here to tell the story of his quest to surf the world’s biggest breaks – and how he bounced back from the wipeout that nearly ended his surfing dreams.
Follow Cotty on YouTube @andrewcottonsurfer, and Instagram @andrew_cotty
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Journalist Holly Bailey returned to Moore, Oklahoma on May 21st, 2013, the day after an EF5 tornado ripped through the city. As a child, she attended school in Moore, but now, the place looked unrecognizable, with cars wrapped around trees and houses ripped from their foundations. Bailey spoke with residents, teachers, meteorologists and bereaved families. She wrote about the aftermath in her book, The Mercy of the Sky: The Story of a Tornado. She joins Cassie to share her memories and stories of how people coped after the storm.

In this episode, we discussed suicide and depression. If you or someone you know is struggling with their mental health, the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline can be reached by calling or texting 9-8-8.

For more on this story, we recommend:
The Mercy of the Sky by Holly Bailey
(also available as an audiobook on Audible).

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“I am not Nicholas Rossi!” gasps Arthur Knight through an oxygen mask in March 2022. Recently discharged from a Covid ward in Glasgow, he's in a wheelchair. The police say he’s Nicholas Rossi, suspected of faking his death and wanted for rape in Utah. The story makes headlines globally.
When journalist Jane MacSorley meets Arthur Knight and his wife Miranda, she thinks the police have made a mistake. She embarks on a yearlong investigation, making a unique discovery which changes everything.
Listen to I Am Not Nicholas Season 1 on Audible or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge all episodes early and ad-free by joining Audible on the Audible App or on Apple Podcasts.
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