If you've heard Blair Braverman telling Sarah Marshall riveting real-life adventure stories as a guest on You're Wrong About over the last few years, you may have wondered why she didn't have her own podcast already. Well, it's finally happened – and What to Carry, What to Burn is indeed a dream show for anyone who enjoys fascinating tales thrillingly told.
So far, these tales have included those of Ada Blackjack, an Iñupiaq woman who survived a doomed expedition to claim a remote island for Canada (a mission the Canadian government never fully backed); Lauren Elder, the sole survivor of a small plane crash who battled mirages while making her way down an over 12,000-foot mountain in heels; the castaways of two separate ships marooned on the same island, at the same time, who never met; and Lucy Irvine, who after answering an intriguing advert, found herself trapped on a desert island married to an abusive man nearly twice her age.
In a pleasing touch of circularity, the first two episodes of What to Carry, What to Burn feature Sarah Marshall as a guest. Since then, the podcast has been Braverman telling the stories, though she has mentioned the possibility of further guests in the future. Both formats work just as well; even when Braverman is alone in front of the microphone, her endearingly conversational delivery makes it feel as if we are sitting across the campfire from her, gasping, laughing, and tearing up in all the right places.
There are several other factors that make Braverman such a superlative storyteller. For one thing, as an adventurer and former professional dogsledder, she really knows what she's talking about. Her ability to add background information about aspects of the adventure life, such as what it feels like to get frostbite, the taste of seal blubber (not good), and the ecstasy of the first sunrise in Alaska after two months of winter darkness, gives What to Carry, What to Burn a beautiful, visceral texture. That extra dimension really helps these audio stories feel like movies playing out in front of you.
The cinematic nature of Braverman's podcast is aided by her understanding of the importance of character. Her primary sources for episodes are often the journals of the adventurers, and she is excellent at picking out a few details to help bring the people she's talking about quickly and vividly to life, like the young sailor in the opening episode who bought 26 boxes of candy on his expedition, or the hyper-talkative man who'd lost his nose to leprosy in "The Wreck of the Grafton." Although these explorers and castaways face an array of terrifying challenges from the world around them, it tends to be the way they relate to each other, often pulling together in the face of unimaginable hardships, that makes these stories so moving.
As well as the balm of camaraderie, the focus on the inner work of survival is another key to why What to Carry, What to Burn is so deeply compelling. Few people listening to the podcast will have any inkling as to what it's like to survive such brutal situations. Everyone, though, will have been at a point in their own lives when they weren't sure how they could go on… and then they went on anyway. A large part of Braverman's show is interrogating and celebrating the psychology of resilience, and the inner tools that help us when we're facing dire circumstances. The idea is neatly summed up by the "fancy parka" Ada Blackjack made herself when she was stuck alone on Wrangel Island. After suffering so much trauma and loneliness, the beauty of the garment she produced with her own two hands proved a genuine solace in her darkest days.
And while What to Carry, What to Burn is full of gnarly physical turmoil and horrifying situations, there's beauty in every instalment. The podcast is just a couple of months old, but has already proven a must-hear for anyone who values empathetic, captivating storytelling. The two-week wait between each new episode cannot pass quickly enough.
