The Wreck of the Batavia

Viola Roseboro’ isn’t well-known today, but she played a big behind-the-scenes role in the careers of a lot of American writers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, shaping what’s thought of as the American literary canon. Research: “4 New Features.” Washington D.C. Evening ...  Show more

This 2016 episode covers the May 30, 1948 flood that destroyed Vanport, Oregon. What really makes the story more than a historical footnote is how it ties into the racial makeup of both Portland and Oregon at the time.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 

In 1628, a Dutch East India flagship called Batavia set sail from the Netherlands, never to reach her destination. Eight months into the voyage, the ship was wrecked on coral reef off the western coast of Australia. What then befell her surviving crew a ...

In the last episode, we discussed talked mostly about the history of the Andaman islands in general, and not North Sentinel Island specifically. In Part Two, Robert is joined again by Andrew Ti (Yo Is This Racist) to discuss the Sentinel Island in detail.  

Once upon a time the Mary Celeste was just a ship like any other, ferrying goods to and fro across the oceans -- at least, that is, until December 1872, when the Canadian brigantine Dei Gratia found the Mary Celeste adrift and abandoned. The ship showed no signs of a struggle. Th ...  Show more

The ship Batavia was sailing to Indonesia, filled with the worst kind of sailors, horrid conditions, but loaded with treasure. However, one member on board had dreams of stealing the treasure and creating his own pirate kingdom. He began a mutiny, which led to a shipwreck. What f ...  Show more