Come gather around the campfire and let me tell you about a small group of Russian scientists who gave everything to protect the future of humanity's food supply during the brutal 900-day Siege of Leningrad. Hear about the life of their fearless leader, world-famous botanist and geneticist Nikolai Vavilov who established the first seed bank in history and dedicated his life to ending famine. It took the fall of Imperial Russia, the rise of Stalin and the Soviet Union, and two world wars to finally separate Vavilov from his work. This man really loved his plants. And if you ate something today, Vavilov's work probably had a hand in it. Let's talk about why.

**This episode includes sensitive content (CW: war, starvation, torture). Listener discretion is advised.**

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Check out our links here to support the show, follow our social media, and see photos from the case: https://linktr.ee/CampfireStoriesPodcast

You can contact me at [email protected].
Also check out our YouTube channel Campfire Stories: Astonishing History.

Sources for every episode are available in the episode transcript on Buzzsprout.
Music by: Zoliborz

A LOT of the information for this episode came from the book "Cosmos, Possible Worlds" by Ann Dryuyan. Give it a read if you can! Also I apologize once again to the Russian people for butchering every Russian name in this story. 

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Come gather around the campfire and hear about the freezing race to the South Pole.
The Heroic Age of Arctic Exploration was in full swing, and British explorer Robert Falcon Scott led two voyages to the largely unexplored continent of Antarctica with the Royal Geographical Society. His first expedition was called the Discovery, but it was his second expedition, the Terra Nova, that would become infamous for its achievement, its intense competition with the Norwegian team led by Roald Amundsen, and its tragic end. It sparked decades of historical debate, multiple books, and a feature film Scott of the Antarctic. One of his crew members might also have been murdered. It's a mess. 

**Includes sensitive content (CW: animal abuse, death). Listener discretion is advised.**

Make sure to subscribe so you don't miss an episode!

Check out our links here to support the show, follow our social media, and see photos from the case: https://linktr.ee/CampfireStoriesPodcast

You can contact me at [email protected]. Also check out our YouTube channel Campfire Stories: Astonishing History.

Sources for every episode are available in the episode transcript on Buzzsprout. 
Music by: Zoliborz

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Come gather around the campfire and let me take you to the tragic and brutal end of the Russian Empire. Tsar Nicholas II, Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna, and their children Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia, and Alexei had no idea that they would be the last royal family before the brutal civil war led by Lenin and the Bolshevik revolutionaries that would lead to the formation of the first communist state, the Soviet Union. Learn about their lives, the influence of mystical faith-healer Rasputin, and their tragic fate at the hands of the Red Army. This is the story that inspired numerous royal imposers, as well as the 1997 animated film "Anastasia" and the Broadway musical based on the movie.

**This episode includes sensitive content (death, murder, child abuse, war). Listener discretion is advised.**

Make sure to subscribe so you don't miss an episode!

Check out our links here to support the show, follow our social media, and see photos from the case: https://linktr.ee/CampfireStoriesPodcast

You can contact me at [email protected]. Also check out our YouTube channel Campfire Stories: Astonishing History.

Sources for every episode are available in the episode transcript on Buzzsprout.

Music by: Zoliborz

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Come gather around the campfire and let me tell you about the radioactive secrets of Los Alamos and the town's shocking accidents. During and directly after World War II, scientists worked on secret nuclear projects across the United States as part of the Manhattan Project. Dr. Louis Slotin and Harry Daghlian were two such nuclear scientists working at Los Alamos National Laboratory on atomic experiments. Both of them would suffer terrifying radioactive accidents while using the same core of plutonium that would earn a notorious nickname: The Demon Core. Louis Slotin would later be fictionalized in the 1989 movie "Fat Man and Little Boy" as the character Michael Merriman, played by John Cusack. Come gather around the campfire, and let me tell you their story.

**This episode includes sensitive content (war, death). Listener discretion is advised.**

Make sure to subscribe so you don't miss an episode!
Check out our links here to support the show, follow our social media, and see photos from the case: https://linktr.ee/CampfireStoriesPodcast

You can contact me at [email protected].
Also check out our YouTube channel Campfire Stories: Astonishing History.

Sources for every episode are available in the episode transcript on Buzzsprout.

Royalty free music from https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

Support the show