Podcast
What I survived
Hosted by Jack Laurence · EN
What I Survived explores the extraordinary true stories of people who survived the unthinkable. Each story takes you back to who these people were before everything changed, then inside the moment their lives were pushed to the edge, shipwrecked at sea for weeks, held captive by terrorists, falling 15,000 feet from a plane after a parachute failure, and other extreme, life-or-death situations.
Through first-hand accounts, we follow the ordeal as it happened, the decisions made under unimaginable pressure, and the will it took to survive.
Then what came after, the physical and psychological recovery, and the process of rebuilding a life forever altered.
From the creator of award winning shows One Minute Remaining, Wanted and more.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
60episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Wild Bill - The Cartel Hitman - P3
Mar 3100:26:42Summary readyOnce one of America's most wanted men, Wild Bill, as he's been called by authorities, was arrested as he attempted to make his way into Nicaragua via Costa Rica on July 26, 2010.Bill was accused of the murders of 5 people, murders that he would later confess to. Bill says he worked in Panama as a gun for hire, a hitman, for a cartel of sorts. He says he was driven by greed and a severe lack of any morals.Bill says he's not the man he once was, he does not speak of the murders that he has committed or even so much as mention their names, he says he is haunted by his crimes and he focuses on doing good in the world in which he now finds himself.Once arrested and convicted he was sentenced to over 40 years inside a Panamanian prison where he remains today. While incarcerated Bill has become the prisons Chaplin and holds regular services for the other incarcerated men. He's also written a book about his experiences inside one of the worlds worst and most violent prisons, the link to which is below. Not only has he written a book but he also does a daily audio diary which he posts on youtube and has a Facebook page 'Friends of Brother Bill' that he uses to stay in touch with people on the outside.But how did Bill become a killer, what happened in his life that would send him down this path? Bill tells me his story from his prison cell in Panama. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Summary
Wild Bill - The Cartel Hitman - P2
Mar 3100:25:34Summary readyOnce one of America's most wanted men, Wild Bill, as he's been called by authorities, was arrested as he attempted to make his way into Nicaragua via Costa Rica on July 26, 2010.Bill was accused of the murders of 5 people, murders that he would later confess to. Bill says he worked in Panama as a gun for hire, a hitman, for a cartel of sorts. He says he was driven by greed and a severe lack of any morals.Bill says he's not the man he once was, he does not speak of the murders that he has committed or even so much as mention their names, he says he is haunted by his crimes and he focuses on doing good in the world in which he now finds himself.Once arrested and convicted he was sentenced to over 40 years inside a Panamanian prison where he remains today. While incarcerated Bill has become the prisons Chaplin and holds regular services for the other incarcerated men. He's also written a book about his experiences inside one of the worlds worst and most violent prisons, the link to which is below. Not only has he written a book but he also does a daily audio diary which he posts on youtube and has a Facebook page 'Friends of Brother Bill' that he uses to stay in touch with people on the outside.But how did Bill become a killer, what happened in his life that would send him down this path? Bill tells me his story from his prison cell in Panama.Bills Bookhttps://www.amazon.com.au/Long-Live-King-Wild-Bill-ebook/dp/B09P8WNZXPLife inside Hellhttps://www.youtube.com/@lifeinsidehell Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Summary
Wild Bill - The Cartel Hitman - P1
Mar 3100:26:09Summary readyOnce one of America's most wanted men, Wild Bill, as he's been called by authorities, was arrested as he attempted to make his way into Nicaragua via Costa Rica on July 26, 2010.Bill was accused of the murders of 5 people, murders that he would later confess to. Bill says he worked in Panama as a gun for hire, a hitman, for a cartel of sorts. He says he was driven by greed and a severe lack of any morals.Bill says he's not the man he once was, he does not speak of the murders that he has committed or even so much as mention their names, he says he is haunted by his crimes and he focuses on doing good in the world in which he now finds himself.Once arrested and convicted he was sentenced to over 40 years inside a Panamanian prison where he remains today. While incarcerated Bill has become the prisons Chaplin and holds regular services for the other incarcerated men. He's also written a book about his experiences inside one of the worlds worst and most violent prisons, the link to which is below. Not only has he written a book but he also does a daily audio diary which he posts on youtube and has a Facebook page 'Friends of Brother Bill' that he uses to stay in touch with people on the outside.But how did Bill become a killer, what happened in his life that would send him down this path? Bill tells me his story from his prison cell in Panama. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Summary
The tiktok Fugitive Part 3
Mar 3100:29:22Summary readyThis is part three of the TikTok fugitive.I was alerted to Chad's story when I was tagged in his TikTok, the TikTok fugitive. I was intrigued by his story and just had to know more, so after getting InTouch we arranged to sit down for an interview.Chad is a former high level Microsoft employee and a WANTED man, wanted by the FBI for apparent international kidnapping. He's accused of kidnapping his son and taking him overseas, this was a custody battle like no other. Chad and his former wife separated in early 2000's and so began a lengthy and strained legal battle that would go on for years, until eventually things would take an incredible turn. So out of control would it become that in 2009 Chad would be arrested in Bulgaria by agents acting on an Interpol red noticed sparked by the FBI and placed in a Bulgarian prison where he would have to fight against a US extradition order.Millions of dollars and countless government resources would be put into trying to get Chad back in to the Us, three failed extraditions and an apparent kidnap attempt but why?Chad's son, now 27, has always said he was never kidnapped, in fact he's been on many TV shows, as an adult to explain as much, yet Chad is STILL wanted. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Summary
The tiktok Fugitive Part 2
Mar 3100:21:39Summary readyThis is part two of the TikTok fugitive.I was alerted to Chad's story when I was tagged in his TikTok, the TikTok fugitive. I was intrigued by his story and just had to know more, so after getting InTouch we arranged to sit down for an interview.Chad is a former high level Microsoft employee and a WANTED man, wanted by the FBI for apparent international kidnapping. He's accused of kidnapping his son and taking him overseas, this was a custody battle like no other. Chad and his former wife separated in early 2000's and so began a lengthy and strained legal battle that would go on for years, until eventually things would take an incredible turn. So out of control would it become that in 2009 Chad would be arrested in Bulgaria by agents acting on an Interpol red noticed sparked by the FBI and placed in a Bulgarian prison where he would have to fight against a US extradition order.Millions of dollars and countless government resources would be put into trying to get Chad back in to the Us, three failed extraditions and an apparent kidnap attempt but why?Chad's son, now 27, has always said he was never kidnapped, in fact he's been on many TV shows, as an adult to explain as much, yet Chad is STILL wanted. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Summary
The tiktok Fugitive Part 1
Mar 3100:26:17Summary readyFirst of all, thank you so much for the incredible support of the new series What I Survived. I'm currently working hard on Season 2 with some incredible survival stories on the way.For those of you who are new to my work, I thought I'd introduce you to another series I created a few years ago. 'Wanted' tells the stories of men and women who are, or who have been, wanted by authorities. From international kidnapping and FBI and Interpol watch lists, to cartel hitmen, MI5 and even a prison escape.Welcome to wanted!-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------This is part one of the TikTok fugitive.I was alerted to Chad's story when I was tagged in his TikTok, the TikTok fugitive. I was intrigued by his story and just had to know more, so after getting InTouch we arranged to sit down for an interview.Chad is a former high level Microsoft employee and a WANTED man, wanted by the FBI for apparent international kidnapping. He's accused of kidnapping his son and taking him overseas, this was a custody battle like no other. Chad and his former wife separated in early 2000's and so began a lengthy and strained legal battle that would go on for years, until eventually things would take an incredible turn. So out of control would it become that in 2009 Chad would be arrested in Bulgaria by agents acting on an Interpol red noticed sparked by the FBI and placed in a Bulgarian prison where he would have to fight against a US extradition order.Millions of dollars and countless government resources would be put into trying to get Chad back in to the Us, three failed extraditions and an apparent kidnap attempt but why?Chad's son, now 27, has always said he was never kidnapped, in fact he's been on many TV shows, as an adult to explain as much, yet Chad is STILL wanted. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Summary
Sean Langan: Kidnapped by the Taliban | P4: The Release
Mar 2400:49:41Summary ready"Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane."After 12 weeks in Taliban captivity, Sean Langan had learned to manage hope. Ransom negotiations were happening—somewhere, with someone—but he had no control over them. Every day brought the possibility of release. Every day also brought the possibility of execution.This is the final chapter of Sean Langan's survival story: the chaotic last weeks of captivity when negotiations intensified, the psychological toll of not knowing how or when it would end, and the moment he was finally released after three months as a hostage of the Haqqani Network.But survival doesn't end when you walk free. We explore what happened after: the PTSD, the struggle to reintegrate into normal life, the haunting memories that don't fade. And remarkably, Sean's decision to return to war zones—this time covering the Russian invasion of Ukraine.Why would someone who survived Taliban captivity go back to conflict? What does captivity teach you about yourself? And can you ever truly leave it behind? Sean Langan answers all of this. From his darkest days in a Taliban prison to the frontlines of Ukraine, this is the complete story of what he survived—and what it cost him. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Summary
Sean Langan: Kidnapped by the Taliban | P3 Surviving Captivity
Mar 2400:28:29Summary ready”Sean were dead!”Sean Langan and his fixer are no longer documentary subjects gathering footage. They're captives. Accused of espionage. Held by the Haqqani Network in Pakistan's tribal regions with no guarantee they'll make it out alive.This is where survival becomes psychological warfare. How do you prove you're not a spy when your captors are already convinced you are? How do you stay sane when every day could be your last? How do you create routine, find humanity, and hold onto hope in a situation designed to break you?In this episode, Sean describes what captivity does to the brain—how the prefrontal cortex shuts down, how your mind floods with random survival information, how you cling to small rituals just to maintain a sense of control. And most critically, how he learned to bond with the family his captors placed him with—the strange, complicated relationships that form when your survival depends on your ability to connect with the people holding you prisoner.This is the neuroscience of captivity. The psychology of hope. The brutal reality of spending weeks in the hands of terrorists, never knowing if the next knock on the door is freedom or execution.This is Part 3 of Sean Langan's survival story: how he endured. How he adapted. How he stayed alive. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Summary
Sean Langan: Kidnapped by the Taliban | P2: The Capture
Mar 1700:31:25Summary readyHe Went Back to Meet the Taliban. This Time, He Wouldn't Leave.It's 2008. The War on Terror is in full swing. Pakistan's tribal regions—the lawless frontier between Pakistan and Afghanistan—have become one of the most dangerous places on earth for Westerners. And Sean Langan is heading straight into them.He'd met the Taliban before, years earlier, and walked away. But this time was different. Post-9/11, the stakes were higher. The risks were greater. And the Haqqani Network—one of the most sophisticated and deadly terrorist organizations in the region—was operating with impunity in the very areas Sean wanted to film.This episode chronicles Sean's return to northern Pakistan and the tribal areas along the Afghanistan border. We follow his journey as he arranges meetings with Taliban contacts, gets picked up by his fixer, and begins to notice something is off. The atmosphere is different. The questions are more pointed. The looks are harder.He doesn't realize it yet, but he's already being assessed. Already being watched. Already in the initial stages of his kidnapping.This is Part 2: the moments before everything falls apart. When a documentary filmmaker walks knowingly into danger—and the door closes behind him. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Summary
Sean Langan: Kidnapped by the Taliban | P1: meeting the Taliban
Mar 1700:29:44Summary readyKidnapped by the Taliban: How Documentary Filmmaker Sean Langan Was Taken Hostage in PakistanBritish documentary filmmaker Sean Langan had covered war zones for years—Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria. He was no stranger to danger. But in 2008, when he set out to make contact with the Haqqani Network in Pakistan's tribal regions, he was walking into something far more dangerous than he realized.This is the story of how Sean Langan was kidnapped by Taliban militants while trying to film a documentary about one of the world's most feared terrorist organizations. We explore his journey into Pakistan's lawless frontier, the role of fixers in war journalism, the deadly landscape for Western journalists between 2001 and 2008, and the moment everything went wrong.From Daniel Pearl to Nick Berg to Margaret Hassan—Western journalists, aid workers, and contractors were being kidnapped and executed at an alarming rate. Sean knew the risks. He'd seen the headlines. He'd reported on the stories. And he went anyway.This is Part 1 of Sean Langan's survival story: his life before his capture, how he became a war journalist and the psychology of taking risks in war zones. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Summary