Episode's summary
Zoya Phan was 14 when the Burmese army attacked her Karen village in Burma (Myanmar) and her family fled through the jungle towards Thailand. On What I Survived, Zoya Phan tells her story of surviving ethnic cleansing by Burma's military. We trace the roots of the Karen conflict, one of the longest-running civil wars in the world, from British rule to the military coup, and follow Zoya's family from Manerplaw to a refugee camp on the Thai-Burma border. Settle in, get comfortable, and let us tell you the story of Zoya Phan. SIGNAL AWARDS 2026 VOTE HERE Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Zoya Phan was 14 when the Burmese army attacked her Karen village in Burma (Myanmar) and her family fled through the jungle towards Thailand. On What I Survived, Zoya Phan tells her story of surviving ethnic cleansing by Burma's military. We trace the roots of the Karen conflict, one of the longest-running civil wars in the world, from British rule to the military coup, and follow Zoya's family from Manerplaw to a refugee camp on the Thai-Burma border. Settle in, get comfortable, and let us tell you the story of Zoya Phan. SIGNAL AWARDS 2026 VOTE HERE Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episodes
Zoya Phan: Surviving Ethnic Cleansing in Burma (Part 1)
ListenedZoya Phan was 14 when the Burmese army attacked her Karen village in Burma (Myanmar) and her family fled through the jungle towards Thailand. On What I Survived, Zoya Phan tells her story of surviving ethnic cleansing by Burma's military. We trace the roots of the Karen conflict, one of the longest-running civil wars in the world, from British rule to the military coup, and follow Zoya's family from Manerplaw to a refugee camp on the Thai-Burma border. Settle in, get comfortable, and let us tell you the story of Zoya Phan. SIGNAL AWARDS 2026 VOTE HERE Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Rob Langdon: Seven Years in an Afghan Prison P2
ListenedIn 2009, Australian security contractor Rob Langdon shot and killed an Afghan colleague during a confrontation in Afghanistan. Rob says the man pulled a pistol and that he fired first in self-defence. What happened next would cost Rob seven years of his life. In Part 2 of Rob's story, he takes Jack inside the moment that changed everything — the shooting, the chaotic hours that followed and his attempt to get out of Afghanistan. He made it as far as Kabul International Airport. With a flight to Dubai waiting, Rob was just minutes away from leaving the country when he was arrested. Rob was charged with murder. He maintained that he had acted in self-defence, but an Afghan court convicted him and sentenced him to death. His sentence was eventually commuted to 20 years imprisonment. He would spend the next seven years inside Kabul's notorious Pul-e-Charkhi prison, living among Taliban and Al-Qaeda prisoners in conditions his Australian lawyer described as extremely dangerous. Rob takes us inside those years —…
Rob Langdon: Sentenced to Death in Afghanistan P1
ListenedFormer Australian soldier Rob Langdon went to Afghanistan as a private security contractor. He would eventually be convicted of murder, sentenced to death and spend seven years inside one of Afghanistan's most notorious prisons. But before the prison, the death sentence and the fight to stay alive, Rob had spent much of his adult life as a soldier. In Part 1 of his story, Rob takes Jack back through his early life and the road that led him into the Australian Army. He talks about his years in the military, the experiences that shaped him and eventually his decision to leave and enter the rapidly growing world of private security contracting. His work would first take him to Iraq before eventually leading him into Afghanistan, where he worked protecting convoys and operating in an extraordinarily dangerous environment. In 2009, everything would change. A confrontation with an Afghan colleague would end with Rob shooting and killing the man. Rob says he acted in self-defence. The Afghan courts would ultimately…
Benedict Allen: Becoming a Crocodile Man P3
ListenedAfter surviving malaria, starvation and near death in the Amazon, Benedict Allen was left with a question he couldn't shake: why had he survived? His search for an answer would take him deep into Papua New Guinea and into a brutal initiation ceremony designed to transform young men into “crocodile men.” In Part 3 of Lost in the Amazon, Benedict explains why simply returning home wasn't enough. Surviving had changed him, and he felt compelled to understand what it meant to be tested, transformed and pushed to the limits of human endurance. That search took him to live among tribal people in Papua New Guinea, where he underwent the dangerous initiation ceremony traditionally undertaken by young men as part of their passage into manhood. Benedict also takes Jack through more extraordinary moments from a lifetime spent exploring some of the world's most hostile environments — including an Arctic expedition where he lost his dog team and once again found himself facing the possibility that he might not survive.…
Benedict Allen: He Ate His Dog to Survive P2
ListenedLost and alone in the Amazon, British explorer Benedict Allen contracted two forms of malaria, including a potentially deadly strain. Starving, feverish and running out of options, the 22-year-old faced a decision that would stay with him for decades. In Part 2 of Lost in the Amazon, Benedict takes us deeper into his fight for survival as his physical condition deteriorates and the reality of his situation begins to set in. With little food and his body being ravaged by malaria, Benedict was forced to confront an unimaginable choice: to survive, he would eat the dog that had become his companion during the journey. Benedict tells Jack about that decision, what it took to make it, and the desperate condition he was in as he continued trying to find his way out of the Amazon alive. What began as an ambitious expedition had become a battle against starvation, disease and isolation — with no guarantee that anyone even knew where to find him. This is Part 2 of Benedict Allen's story on What I Survived. SIGNAL…