Introducing... The Walkers: The real Salt Path
The Walkers: The real Salt Path | Tortoise Investigates
The Observer
4.6 • 5.8K Ratings
🗓️ 7 January 2026
⏱️ 3 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Raynor Winn’s memoir The Salt Path was a bestseller and literary phenomenon with millions of people captivated by this true story of financial ruin, terminal illness, and healing through nature. Raynor Winn has since published two more books and The Salt Path has been adapted for the big screen, starring Jason Isaacs and Gillian Anderson.
At its heart it is a simple tale, of a couple embarking on a 630 mile trek in the face of stark adversity. When faced with nothing, they chose to walk.
But when reporter Chloe Hadjimatheou received a tip-off that the memoir may not be the "unflinchingly honest" account it claimed to be, suddenly things began to unravel. And the questions, about what is and isn't true, began mounting.
How far can you bend the truth before it begins to break?
Episode 1 will be available to listen on Tuesday 13th January.
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Reporter - Chloe Hadjimatheou
Producer - Matt Russell
Music supervision and sound design - Karla Patella
Sound design - Rowan Bishop
Podcast artwork - Lola Williams
Executive producer - Jasper Corbett
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | In early 2025, a member of the public sent me a tip-off that the best-selling author of the |
| 0:08.1 | Salt Path, Raina Wyn, wasn't exactly who she said she was. Her memoirs about her and her |
| 0:15.3 | husband Moth told the life-affirming story of walking to wellness. And the books were a literary phenomenon. |
| 0:22.3 | They sold millions worldwide. |
| 0:24.8 | Can I welcome to the stage, Rainer Wyn? |
| 0:26.9 | So please, everyone, give another warm welcome to Rainer Wyn. |
| 0:31.3 | Year after year, the saltpast's success has grown. |
| 0:34.8 | The couple have become national treasures, |
| 0:37.3 | and Rainer Wyn's written two sequels. |
| 0:39.8 | It is a proper phenomenon. I mean, one of the big sort of ten books over the last five years or so. |
| 0:44.5 | Spent more than 90 weeks in the Sunday Times bestseller lists. |
| 0:48.3 | The thing that had made so many people around the world fall in love with this story |
| 0:52.3 | was that this couple, battered by bad luck, |
| 0:55.8 | had survived so much through their own grit and determination. |
| 0:59.8 | You know, anybody who's read the book, I mean, you can't fail to be touched by it. |
| 1:03.5 | I think you've helped a lot of people in terms of having hope, but the real gift is this book. |
| 1:08.4 | It would change your life. |
| 1:10.9 | Then, last year, the book was turned into a Hollywood film. |
| 1:15.2 | You're walking the path? |
| 1:16.5 | Yes, we are. |
| 1:19.2 | That's a long old hike. |
| 1:20.5 | Yeah. |
... |
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