Colonialism and utopianism, as Thomas More coined the term, have been linked since the early sixteenth century when European explorers began taking stock of newly accessible lands that would later become colonies. Colonists had the expectation of achieving a much better life by settling in "new" lands, while producing a dystopia for the original inhabitants. Optimistic colonists didn’t always find what they expected, but for centuries they continued to emigrate and settle, driven by utopian projections of what their new lives would be like. Today we talk about one of the first colonies in the New World and how it all went wrong.

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Links & Resources

• Roanoke Colony World History Encyclopedia
• The Roanoke Colonies Encyclopedia Virginia
• The Roanoke Colonies James Horn, The First Colony Foundation
• Have We Found the Lost Colony of Roanoke Island?
• Archaeologists May Have Finally Solved the Mystery of the Disappearance of Roanoke’s Lost Colony
• Roanoke’s ‘Lost Colony’ Was Never Lost, New Book Says

Written and produced by Anna Roberts

Burning palm tree artwork by Perry Vasquez

Intro music by Elliot Middleton

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