I Was Lost at Sea for 438 Days. Here's How I Survived.

How To! with Mike Pesca

Peach Fish Projects

How To, Education

4.3 • 2K Ratings

🗓️ 13 April 2021

⏱️ 35 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Imagine you're floating in the middle of the Pacific Ocean on a boat the size of an SUV. You have no working electronics, no food or water, and only a styrofoam box to shade you from the sun. Your only companion is a 22-year-old who has little seafaring experience. How would you survive? On this episode of How To!, we bring on Jonathan Franklin, author of 438 Days, to tell us the incredible story of José Salvador Alvarenga, a shark fisherman who survived at sea for over 14 months. Jonathan says that Alvarenga was a pro at being resourceful—surviving on bird meat, shark livers, and sea turtle blood—but the real key to his survival was mental. For much of his journey, Alvarenga took care of his younger companion, Jonathan says, and it was this caregiving motivation more than anything else that kept Alvarenga alive.

If you liked this episode, check out the first episode in our two-part series: "How To Survive in the Wild Part 1."

Do you have a problem that needs solving? Send us a note at howto@slate.com or leave us a voicemail at 646-495-4001 and we might have you on the show.

Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	What's up guys, I am Ashley Gavin, and I am your father.
0:03.1	I'm Elena Joy, I am Mommy, and I'm Mackin from your hot teenage brother.
0:08.4	Baby, Mack is baby.
0:09.7	We are your chosen family, because you don't have a gay family, and you need a gay family.
0:14.3	Every week, we bring a topic to the family dinner table from gender dysphoria,
0:17.9	to monogamy, to how to figure out if someone is into you.
0:20.5	Listen to Chosen Family every Wednesday on your favorite podcast app,
0:24.0	or watch full episodes on YouTube to get the full family experience.
0:27.8	Chosen Family is a part of the Forever Dog podcast network.
0:33.0	Hey, Tom Sharpling here, the host of the Best Show, and if you've never heard of the
0:37.1	Best Show before, everything you need to know is right there in the title.
0:41.3	Each week, we put on the Best Live podcast you're ever going to hear,
0:44.9	featuring live callers, celebrity guests, music, plenty of surprises.
0:50.8	Who knows what's going to happen?
0:52.3	Last month alone, we were joined by Conan O'Brien, Patricia Arquette,
0:57.2	Jeff Tweety from Wilco, Nathan Field, or Sinan Archives, John Oliver.
1:01.5	The list goes on and on.
1:03.2	So what are you waiting for?
1:04.8	Join us live every Tuesday night on Twitch at 6 p.m. Pacific time,
1:09.3	and find us the next day on the Forever Dog podcast network,
1:12.5	and wherever you find podcasts.
1:21.2	What I was told is that two fishermen leave Mexico,
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Peach Fish Projects, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Peach Fish Projects and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.