This episode is more a summary, kicking off a deep dive into the infamous Lost Colony of Roanoke and peeling back the layers of myth to ask whether the colony was ever truly “lost” at all—or simply abandoned. Driven by imperial rivalry, dreams of gold, and the ever-elusive Northwest Passage, we'll cover the colony’s rocky beginnings, its fraught relationships with local Native nations, the political chaos that delayed White’s return, and the haunting clues left behind when the settlement was found empty. We also touch on the human experience: a father's separation from his family.

The two major sources for this series of episodes are:

• The Secret Token: Myth, Obsession, and the Search for the Lost Colony of Roanoke, by Andrew Lawler, published in 2018 by Anchor Books
• The Lost Colony and Hatteras Island, by Scott Dawson, published in 2020 by The History Press

To get updates and other content, follow me on Instagram and Threads @thecuriousalexjones.

To get updates and other content, follow @thecuriousalexjones on Instagram and Threads.