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From Wondery, I'm Mike Corey, and this is Against the Odds.

Over the last four episodes, we've told the story of 33 men trapped 2,000 feet underground in the depths of a Chilean mine.

The men face staggering heat and humidity, starvation, and uncertainty as they struggle to stay alive long enough for rescuers to find them.

69 days later, all 33 emerged to the surface. It's one of the most miraculous stories of survival in modern times, and one that made headlines across the world.

Today, we're speaking with Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and author, Hector Tobar, for his book Deep Down Dark, The Untold Stories of 33 men buried in a Chilean mine, and the miracle that set them free.

Hector interviewed all 33 miners and many of their family members. His writing has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The LA Times, and the best American short stories.

Hector Tobar, welcome to Against the Odds. Thanks so much for having me.

Before your book, you got to spend time with all 33 of these miners from Chile, and I'm sure they told you some amazing stories, but I'm curious, how did you first come across their story?

Yeah, I first heard about this from, well, the media, the way everybody else did. I was finishing another book in 2010 when the miners were trapped.

And several months later, I got a call from my agent telling me, Hector, did you hear about those men trapped in a mine in Chile, and would you be interested in writing their book?

And I asked him, well, do you have their rights? And he said, yes. And I said, how many of them? And he said all of them. And the reason he could say all of them was because when these guys were still trapped underground, you know, 680 meters, almost 2000 feet underground, they had made an agreement among themselves that they would share the proceeds of any book and or movie deal amongst all 33 of them.

And because it was clear to them when they were still trapped that there was a lot of interest in their story, and that they could very soon, you know, be become international media stars.

And so it was a possibility that maybe only four or five of them would make any money off of this. And the other, you know, 28 or so of them wouldn't get anything.

And since they had all really stuck together, there was also a lot of fighting, but they did sort of stick together and they all realized that it would be patently unfair if only a few of them benefited from it.

And so while they're still trapped in this horrible place where it's, you know, 100 degrees heat, you know, 80, 90% humidity, they made this agreement.

I'd flown to Santiago Chile to meet their attorneys first. And then with the attorneys, I flew up to this town of Copiapol, the town that's closest to the where the mine is.

And it was about 20 or so, 25 or so of them there in this restaurant where we met. And I said, Senyotus, your story is the great adventure story of our times.

This is like when, you know, the Greeks went off on the ships to fight and Troy and, you know, the, and then Homer wrote the Iliad or when Odysseus was trying to get back home, you know, and Homer wrote his Odyssey, Homer wrote these stories of these famous Greek men.

And so my job is to be your Homer. They were a little bit confused by that. But, but I think they sense that I was earnest and that I really wanted to tell their story and tell it, you know, in the most accurate way possible.

And also the capture the beauty of it.

And also the fact that you deeply dive into the most talked about cases like the Delphine murders. And also those you might never have heard of like the Nathari child sacrifices in Delhi.

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