To Build a Fire

What Was That Like - True Stories. Real People.

Scott Johnson & Glassbox Media

True Crime, Documentary, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.6 • 1.7K Ratings

🗓️ 26 September 2025

⏱️ 65 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

When I started this podcast more than seven years ago, the primary factor was based on just one fundamental concept: the impact of a good story. For each What Was That Like main episode, you hear a story. The guest is telling the story of what happened. Many of the stories are traumatic, many include loss and grief, and there are those that are happy as well. Even the heavy stories often end on a positive note. But the common factor is that they are all things that actually happened. The guest is talking about an actual thing that they experienced. The story you’re about to hear in this episode would fall into the category of fiction. In a recent episode, my guest was David, and he was talking about being in the extremely cold north, and not being able to find a cabin that he knew was nearby. That one is episode 225, called “David couldn’t find the cabin”. In that episode, I opened with the first few lines from one of my favorite short stories – To Build A Fire, by Jack London. Reading just that short section made me want to read the full story again. And that’s what I’m doing in today’s episode. Jack London is my favorite author, and I love this story because he really puts us in the mind of this man, and his thought process, and his range of emotions. So we’ll first have a quick break for a couple of sponsors who make the show possible, and then we’ll get into this story. Please enjoy this amazing work by Jack London… To Build A Fire. Want to discuss this episode and other things with thousands of other WWTL listeners? Join our podcast Facebook group at WhatWasThatLike.com/facebook (many of the podcast guests are there as well) Get every episode ad-free, AND get all the Raw Audio exclusive episodes to binge, by joining the other listeners at What Was That Like PLUS. Try What Was That Like PLUS free: iPhone: at the top of the What Was That Like podcast feed, click on “Try free” Android: on your phone, go to WhatWasThatLike.com/PLUS and click to try it free on any app Sponsor deals: If you’re 21 or older, get 25% OFF your first order + free shipping @IndaCloud with code [WHATWAS] at https://inda.shop/[WHATWAS]! #indacloudpod Go to ThriveMarket.com/WHATWAS to get 30% off your first order, plus a FREE $60 gift just for signing up. Go to Quince.com/whatwas for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns! Get 15% off OneSkin with the code [WHATWAS] at https://www.oneskin.co/ #oneskinpod Try Mint Mobile for 3 months, for just 15 bucks a month - MintMobile.com/WHAT Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	When I started this podcast more than seven years ago, the primary factor was based on just one
0:06.5	fundamental concept, the impact of a good story.
0:13.5	For each what was that like main episode, you hear a story. The guest is telling the story of what
0:20.2	happened. Many of the stories are
0:22.5	traumatic. Many include loss and grief. And there are those that are happy as well. Even the
0:31.0	heavy stories often end on a positive note. But the common factor is that they are all things that actually happened. The guest is
0:40.5	talking about an actual thing that they experienced. The story you're about to hear in this episode
0:47.3	would fall into the category of fiction. In a recent episode, my guest was David, and he was talking about being in the extremely cold north
0:59.0	and not being able to find a cabin that he knew was nearby.
1:03.5	That one is episode 225 called David Couldn't Find the Cabin.
1:10.4	In that episode, I opened with the first few lines from one of my favorite short stories
1:16.1	to build a fire by Jack London.
1:19.9	Reading just that short section made me want to read the full story again.
1:27.3	And that's what I'm doing in today's episode.
1:31.1	Jack London is my favorite author, and I love this story because he really puts us in the
1:36.4	mind of this man and his thought process and his range of emotions.
1:43.6	So we'll first have a quick break for a couple of sponsors who make the show possible,
1:48.3	and then we'll get into this story.
1:51.4	Please enjoy this amazing work by Jack London,
1:55.4	to build a fire.
2:01.7	Real people in unreal situations.
2:06.5	The eerie silence when I walked in, and he's just staring at me.
	...

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