What Really Happened on Wager Island Will Leave You Speechless | David Grann

Julian Dorey Daily • October 19, 2025

Guests

Guest Role Confidence Extraction Method Actions
David Grann Guest 85% RULES Login to Follow

Description

FULL EPISODE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIO4A_Wqgco


In 1741, a British warship wrecked off the coast of South America — and what followed on Wager Island is one of the most horrifying survival stories in human history.

Starvation, mutiny, and madness tore through the stranded crew as desperation forced them into the unthinkable: cannibalism.


DAVID'S LINKS:

BUY "THE WAGER": https://www.amazon.com/Wager-Tale-Shipwreck-Mutiny-Murder/dp/0385534264/ref=sr_1_1?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Rb3PhH90mRH2YeRth5ANPtc85T8xJfFWfdQrF9Qa4yJjGmguFt_AvjcXUFATX68XkIJzyldTcdfqiB6MvgneDW60FEOhSRJ97scz1KbwAgOiDtnpuuBP6Ix9oVZXa88sVTKvc5oWsKxlTsyLfXH1l5xgbI0JEtio9PkcULfb5TVosuI1wx3j-f-Go5fE6iUgkoRGh-172mjOlZdPEm5dQGtas3yhPVDr1QOuL5J_dgc.rLmeUvfyTMHzEi2e-xBHao6JLWlMBTplBu1RBQOV_v8&dib_tag=se&keywords=the+wager&qid=1759763943&sr=8-1

BOOK/WEBSITE: https://www.davidgrann.com/books/

X: https://x.com/davidgrann


This wasn’t just a shipwreck… it was the collapse of morality itself.

The wreck of the HMS Wager reveals the brutal truth about empire, human nature, and what happens when civilization vanishes overnight.


Inside this documentary:


The shipwreck that destroyed a Royal Navy crew


How starvation drove men to kill and eat one another


The mutiny and chaos that followed


What historians still can’t explain about Wager Island


Why this story was buried by the British Empire


Watch until the end — the truth behind Wager Island will change how you see human survival forever.


***TIMESTAMPS***

00:00 - Leonardo DiCaprio & Martin Scorsese Bought “Killers of the Flower Moon”, Story of Lord of the Flies Ship Desolation, How David Writes a Story

10:55 - David’s Obsession on Topics (Living Out Books), Expedition to Wager Island, Gulf of Pain

22:34 - Patagonia Region & Ship Falling Apart/Hypothermia Weather, Cannibalism of Dead Bodies

30:15 - Coming in Contact with Indigenous Patagonia Tribe (Live in Canoes Pretty Much), Using Bodies as Sails, War Over the Truth (2 Sides to Mutiny vs Stranded), Captain’s Log (People are People)

39:37 - Writing Story for 5 Years & Planning Wager Island

53:32 - Process of Writing, David’s Wife is his Reader, Linguistic Dive (Phrases)


@JulianDoreyDaily ​

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Audio