THE

PODCAST

Tales of Mystery and Misadventure

Join hosts Ana Rosa and Luca as we explore the long and epic history of expedition catastrophes, maritime mysteries, and the preventable yet the inevitable results of humanity’s hubris.

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“Wittily explained historical oddities are a joy to the ear.”

- Jim, via Apple Podcasts

Spotify: 4.9 stars. Apple Podcasts: 5 stars. Last updated: 10 August 2023 (54 reviews)

“I love this podcast! I’m learning so much and am so impressed by the extent of Ana and Luca’s knowledge, and it’s incredibly engaging - I often laugh and cry within the same episode! I can’t wait to hear more.” 

— A Wicked Voice, via Apple Podcasts

A dog listening to a gramaphone in the snow, taken during the Terra Nova Expedition.

“I've spent the last few weeks listening to mayday and I am seriously obsessed with it. Love the banter, the research and listening to the topics you have chosen has been such a delight.”

— Enea (via Instagram)

Governor Bligh being dragged from his hiding place under a bed.

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Today we’ve dropped our 15th episode, the finale of season 1! Our topic this week is crimes in the Poles. How does law operate in the Arctic and Antarctica? What happens if you commit a crime? Who has jurisdiction on icebergs? As an extra trea
The disastrous launch and crash of Andrée’s Balloon Expedition. In the first picture, we can see the ropes dragging the balloon down, forcing those on board to offload over 200kg of ballast and loosing a further 500kg unintentionally. Y
In 1896, Sweden had fallen far behind in the race for the North Pole. Out of the fray emerged Salomon August Andrée, who put forward a proposal so cutting edge it was immediately funded and flooded with national support. He would fly a balloon
On December 7th 1951, a shocking photograph hit newspapers. Taken high on a glacier in the Himalayas, the image showed a footprint that defied belief. This footprint would propel the mysterious Yeti from mountaineering folklore into potential scienti
Western climbers have been trekking the Himalayas for over 100 years, and their expedition accounts are full of stories about a mysterious creature called the Abominable Snowman, or the Yeti. In today’s episode, part 1 of our 2 Yeti episodes,
On 4th of June, 1629, the Dutch ship Batavia struck a reef off the coast of a then unknown land (now Western Australia). It took a week for the Batavia to sink, but the real tragedy had not even begun. You can listen to 'The Batavia, or: A Bad Time
As a treat for the 10th episode, we’ve put together some wholesome (and hilarious) stories about interesting animals in history. We meet epidemic-fighting sled dogs, unsinkable cats, war hero pigeons, beer-drinking bears, catstronauts (cat as
A fun surprise at the Treasures of the Natural World exhibit at the Melbourne Museum for polar history fanatics (like our host Ana) was their collection of specimens picked up on Robert Falcon Scott’s expeditions! Including the Antarctic fossil
A map of the path of the Great Mortality between 1346 and 1353. Sea routes and trade enabled the disease to spread further than the Plague of Justinian 8 centuries before. The second image is from later in the second plague pandemic. It shows a wood
This painting from 1349, showing the burial of plague victims in Tournai (in present-day Beligium), is one of the earliest depictions of the Great Mortality in art. It comes from a book titled ‘The Chronicles of Gilles Li Muisis’, by an a

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