The 15 Million People Living in Overseas Territories

Most people assume dozens of countries still hold overseas dependencies, but the real number is barely a dozen — and the story of how those territories survived decolonization is stranger and darker than you'd expect. From British coaling stations to American naval bases built on depopulated islands, this episode traces the common thread running through every overseas territory on Earth. We break down who owns what, why those territories weren't granted independence, and how legal doctrines from the 1900s still shape the lives of 15 million people today.