Tales of adventure, told by the fireplace. And all of them true.
Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or Audible.
— ‘Paradoxically cozy and thrilling at the same time.’
Sit down by the fireplace, uncork some expensive spirits, and listen to real-life adventure tales stranger than fiction.
The Stranger than Adventure Fiction Podcast is an in-depth documentary series about adventures which you’ve probably never heard of. Cosimo Greco brings you the real-life tales of intrepid man-hunter-hunters, suicidal nuclear-warhead-toting Special Forces, anarcho-aristocratic samurai-ninjas, drug-smuggling cowboys, and cross-dressing jewel thieves.
You’ll find Show Notes for every episode here.
Episode 1 – The Man-Eater of Rudraprayag
During the U.S. Civil War, a teenager from Ohio found more trouble than he had bargained for when he joined the Union Army. From that point on, his life would be filled with adventure, as well as fiction. And the former would often be stranger than the latter.
This episode is an homage to Ambrose Bierce, a writer who technically didn’t write adventure fiction, but whose works drew power from his own intrepid life, and whose stories often contain more thrills than those produced today.
Episode 3 – Lima Site 85
As the war in Vietnam raged for all the world to see, its shadowy cousin, known as ‘the secret war’, raged with equal intensity across the border to the west, in the country of Laos.
It was a war where none of the main participants were supposed to be officially there, and therefore fought by spies, mercenaries, and covert special forces units. It was also the stage for one of the strangest battles ever fought.
Episode 4 – Ninja
Throughout the centuries, the legends of the warriors and spies now known as ‘ninja’ have grown strong. Today, many organisations claim heritage and proficiency in the skills associated with these historical people. And the lore surrounding them is quite extensive. But the accuracy of some of these accounts is often brought into question.
In this episode, we travel back in time, to feudal and Imperial Japan, and with the help of new research, try to sort out fact from fiction. It is an adventurous journey across centuries, and a tale which is indeed stranger than fiction.
Episode 5 – The Pink Panthers
At the start of the 2000s, a new class of intrepid bandits rode in on the streets of Tokyo, Paris, Dubai and London. Sophisticated and highly elusive, these modern highwaymen quickly pulled off some of the biggest heists in history.
In this episode, we take a look at the mysterious criminal organisation known as ‘The Pink Panthers’.
Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or Audible. – Also available on a wide variety of other platforms which grab the RSS feed automatically.
On Ko-fi, you can buy us a research coffee (usually sorely needed, and always appreciated).
Cosimo Greco 