The Happy Pod: Escaping death on a glacier
Global News Podcast
BBC
4.3 • 8.2K Ratings
🗓️ 13 September 2025
⏱️ 27 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
A man who survived alone on a glacier for six days after a near death fall says it's made him appreciate what really matters. Alec Luhn slipped during a solo hike after deciding to mend his broken shoe with tape, rather than turn back. He says his only regret would have been not spending more time with his family, and urges others to understand how fragile life is. Also: a rare discovery of a huge store of fresh drinking water, deep under the Atlantic Ocean, that could help tackle the mounting global shortages. The vaccine being rolled out to protect Australia's much loved koalas from a disease that's threatening their survival. How a new farming method can boost food production in Malawi -- with help from a solar-powered tractor. Why thousands of single people have put down their dating apps and flocked to the small Irish town of Lisdoonvarna in the hope of finding love the old-fashioned way. Plus, the female iguana who's had eight babies - despite never having been in contact with a male. The process, known as parthenogenesis, is extremely rare. Our weekly collection of inspiring, uplifting and happy news from around the world.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is the Happy Pod from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:06.5 | I'm Ankara Desai and in this edition, |
| 0:08.9 | learning what really matters the hard way. |
| 0:11.6 | I thought my only regret, really, if I die up here, |
| 0:15.4 | is that I didn't spend more time with my wife and my family. |
| 0:19.3 | Life is so fragile and you've really got to appreciate the |
| 0:22.6 | small things. A hiker who nearly died in a fall on a glacier urges others not to repeat his |
| 0:28.3 | mistakes. Also, a surprising new source of fresh drinking water and a vaccine to protect one of |
| 0:34.6 | Australia's best-loved animals against a disease that's threatening |
| 0:38.3 | their survival. Most of those populations have around 50% infection and disease rate. It causes |
| 0:43.8 | eye disease that can lead to blindness, but of course the most important thing is in females |
| 0:48.0 | where it makes them infertile. And? And I'm off to Listern-Varne at the end of the year. |
| 0:56.9 | I'm off for the bit of crack now the girls and the beer. |
| 1:01.5 | I'm fairly shifty for a man of six. |
| 1:05.0 | The man helping couples find love at Europe's largest matchmaking festival. |
| 1:20.8 | We start with an amazing story of survival against the odds. Just over a month ago, |
| 1:27.0 | Alec Loon was in Bergen in Norway when he decided to set off on a solo trek on a glacier in the Folgafona National Park. |
| 1:30.1 | Four days later, Alec, who's an award-winning American journalist and an experienced hiker, |
| 1:35.3 | failed to turn up for his flight home. |
| 1:37.5 | He'd fallen and seriously injured himself, losing his phone, food and water. |
| 1:42.8 | Even after the alarm was raised, |
| 1:44.8 | the storm meant it took two more days to find him. |
... |
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