At the end of the 16th century, 115 English colonists set out to settle Queen Elizabeth I's claim to the mid-Atlantic coast of North America, and were promptly marooned by pirates on the Outer Banks. Only a few weeks into the project, and faced with bad luck, drought, and a murder, the colonists decided to send their leader back home for supplies and assistance. When he returned three years later, however, every single one of the colonists had disappeared.

On this episode, we're discussing diplomacy, pirates, Schrodinger's Colonists, and John White's years-long (and incredibly frustrating) effort to get back to his friends and family.

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Sources for this episode include: 

"The Head in Edward Nugent's Hand" by M. L. Oberg, 2000

"What Happened to the Lost Colony of Roanoke?'" by staff writer for History, 2012

"The Mystery of Roanoke Endures Yet Another Cruel Twist", by A. Lawlor for Smithsonian Magazine, 2017