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Dark Winter Nights

by Robert W. Prince

True stories from Alaska told by the Alaskans who experienced them.

Publisher-supplied feed metadata · PodParley refreshed Oct 10, 2026 · Source feed

Episodes

  1. Awkward Car Rides

    Kenshiro Akehi’s rideshare client suddenly turns into a dramatic 20 minute therapy session, Terry Gates helps a stranger pump gas only to get pulled into a dangerous family breakup, Kevin Christopher hauls a friend off in the bed of a truck for an unconventional hygiene intervention, and Tom Bolt...

  2. Dreams

    Two Alaska storytellers dealing with frustrating mysteries are featured on this episode of Dark Winter Nights, True Stories from Alaska. Richard Mustain tries to stop his freight truck for a man on the side of the road one dark, blustery night. And Polly Napik Andrews pines for stability as she...

  3. Peculiar Proceedings

    Rachel Osborn is ready to fight to protect her family, and Karl Monetti converses with a wolf in the wilderness, then, years later, dines with a river rat who’s been away from other humans too long.

  4. Dick Griffith

    Life-long adventurer Dick Griffith was on the Dark Winter Nights stage twice. His recent death made us want to share these awe-inspiring and sometimes funny moments he shared with host Rob Prince.

  5. Extricated!

    Jamy May Wagner discovers a giant woolly mammoth tusk sticking out of a river bank and Matthew Sturm’s climbing companion insists he’s going to summit the mountain or die…or both.

  6. Season of Thanks

    One man tries to feed 60 people with frozen turkeys for Thanksgiving and a woman discovers you shouldn’t just burn wood for fun in Alaska.

  7. Earth Will Heal You

    Dave Runfola and his family and friends suffer an unthinkable tragedy and learn how to grieve that loss in an Alaskan way.

  8. Young Love

    Anne Lilley tries to sleep at night under an ant farm made of voles and Gwen Helms accidentally bearsprays her maid of honor.

  9. A Step Too Far

    Laura Reed gets rescued by the US Army and Melissa Shippey misses her exit while mushing in the backwoods of Alaska.

  10. Exceeding Expectations

    Dave Frey gets trapped in the wilderness with four boys from the Fairbanks Youth Facility medium security jail and David Bowen sees something in a reclusive student that no other teachers have seen.

  11. Frontier Justice

    Peggy Sullivan performs an exorcism so she can go to lunch and defense attorney Bill Satterberg ends up on the defense himself.

  12. (Repeat) Origin Story

    Ryan Peterson takes a DNA test to see if he’s predisposed to any health issues and ends up finding his birth family.

  13. Live from Nome!

    Burr Lemare, Patty Burchell, and Ken Hughes all share amazing stories from Nome, Alaska!

  14. Pay Your Taxes if you Want to Live!

    Jenny Brown gets a valuable lesson in wilderness survival and Dan Flodin learns where his tax dollars went.

  15. Man-Made Disasters

    Pat Levy tries to prevent the worst man-made disaster in Alaska and Chris Zwolinski almost starts one.

  16. The Ghost in the Garage

    Art Warbelow thinks he’s got a ghost in his garage, but his sister Cyndie knows better.

  17. Awkward Encounters

    Randi Carnahan discovers to her horror that she doesn’t know that much about beavers and Bruce Miller zips up more than he bargained for.

  18. Car Trouble

    Kaiti Ott turns her car into a fishbowl and Ashley Carrick breaks the cardinal rule of Alaska: Don’t Drive Naked.

  19. America's Farthest North Little Free Libraries

    Correspondent Ryan Peterson explores the little free libraries of Fairbanks and interviews their creators.

  20. Ladder Dude!

    David Rockney witnesses how a ladder truck can make a bad situation much worse and Jenn Jenkins’ friends think a ladder is going to literally eat her leg.

  21. Squirrel, Squirrel, Bigfoot

    Harper O’Brien’s grandfather gets scared by a squirrel in bear’s clothing, host Rob Prince discovers squirrels have an appetite for mushrooms and breaking and entering, and Glenner Anderson finds out why the Finding Bigfoot Reality TV show never finds Bigfoot.

  22. Happy Mother’s Day 2023

    Putt Clark’s mom makes her family to the most disgusting archaeological dig in history and Ryan Peterson tells the story of the Mother’s Day gift that refuses to quit giving.

  23. Lessons Learned

    Richard Dickman and his brother teach themselves how to fly WHILE FLYING, and Ryan learns how background checks work in Alaska.

  24. Don’t Let Go

    Jessica Thomas barely survives when her pickup truck goes through the ice, but it turns out to be just the start of her problems.

  25. Silver Linings

    Atileo Frizzera accidentally becomes the poster boy for chainsaw chaps and Karl Monetti takes advantage of a plane crash to recruit a rugby player.

  26. Awkward Situations

    Lorien Nettleton gets auctioned off in the Talkeetna Bachelor Auction Matthew Sturm decides the best way to make it through a tricky kayaking situation is to get naked.

  27. Close Encounters of the Fuzzy Kind

    Ray Smith runs with a pack of wolves and Jan Hanscomb finds it hard to rid her house of an uninvited bear.

  28. The Power of Ice

    Sean McGee tells the story of a police bust gone awry thanks to ice and Dick Griffith literally freezes his butt off.

  29. The Blowhole

    There’s a mysterious evil force that lives in Alaska and it’s called “The Blowhole.” Anyone who has ever seen it has learned why they always say, “Don’t stop in the blowhole.”

  30. The Power of Nature

    Josh Weiser tells the story of the most incredible experience he ever had as a tour bus driver in Denali National Park.

  31. Lost & Found

    Dawn Erbeck shares a story about the hazards of bringing jewelry into the wilderness and host Rob Prince shares his personal experience with a life threatening case of lost and found.

  32. Moms Improv

    Sarah Sullivan discovers as a little girl that her mother’s threat assessment radar isn’t as tuned in as she thought it was and Taryn Hughes delivers her own baby in her truck on the way to the hospital on a frigid Fairbanks night.

  33. Alaskan "Can Do!" Spirit

    Champion dogmusher Brent Sass shares the hilarious story of his first attempt at caribou hunting and Bill Schnabel tells the story of how not to raise pigs for bacon.

  34. Kindness of Strangers

    Matt Irinaga is saved by a mysterious stranger emerging from the ice fog and Phoebe Rohrbacher meets the nicest man in Alaska in the un-nicest of ways.

  35. Hitchhikers

    Deb Horner picks up a furry hitchhiker who refuses to leave her truck, Kat Betters picks up a dead hitchhiker who miraculously comes back to life, and host Rob Prince tells the bizarre story of the time he picked up a hitchhiker in his 1982 DeLorean sports car.

  36. Don’t Look Back

    Jabin Collins experiences a life-altering car accident that threatens his dream of playing high school football, but not all things that are “life-altering” alter life in a bad way.

  37. Up a Creek Without a Canoe

    A woman goes on a remote canoeing trip with a guy friend and gets stranded when they wrap their canoe around a huge rock.

  38. Walk for your Life

    Two men survive a fiery plane crash only to have to walk miles through snowy woods and a kid nearly surrenders to hypothermia.

  39. Alaskan Practical Jokes

    Alaskans prank each other with very mixed results.

  40. Bad Day at Work

    The cast of an Alaskan play decide the show doesn’t necessarily have to go on and a guy’s hat saves his life while on the job.

  41. Run for Your Life!

    Alaskans escape their problems in the most fundamental way you can–running like hell.

  42. Alaskan Rescues

    Alaskans manage to rescue each other from certain death in miraculous ways.

  43. My Alaskan Mother

    Alaskan mothers give their daughters a real run for their money.

  44. Alaskan MacGuyvers

    Alaskans try to solve their problems in MacGuyver ways but don’t get MacGuyver results.

  45. Bear Cub

    What Alaskan animal should you fear the most? A bear cub, because they don’t travel alone…

  46. Abdicating the Throne

    A woman moves to Alaska and finds the freedom to explore her understanding of the world, leading to huge and terrifying ideological shifts.

  47. Soaked Science

    Knute Keilland takes a prominent visiting scientist for an impromptu swim and Cody Dean steps out of his tent for a pee and makes a horrifying discovery.

  48. Scientists On Ice!

    Geoff Carrol fights off a polar bear with the wrong end of a shotgun and Mike Ruckhaus falls asleep behind the wheel of a Nodwell tracked vehicle while traversing frozen arctic tundra.

  49. Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

    Host Rob Prince meets his neighbor for the first time–three years after he passed away…

  50. Starving Around Denali Expedition

    Mike Speaks receives life-saving beers from the heavens on a poorly-executed winter hike around Denali.

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ABOUT THIS SHOW

True stories from Alaska told by the Alaskans who experienced them.

HOSTED BY

Robert W. Prince

CATEGORIES

Frequently Asked Questions

How many episodes does Dark Winter Nights have?

Dark Winter Nights currently has 60 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.

What is Dark Winter Nights about?

True stories from Alaska told by the Alaskans who experienced them.

How often does Dark Winter Nights release new episodes?

Dark Winter Nights has 60 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.

Where can I listen to Dark Winter Nights?

You can listen to Dark Winter Nights on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.

Who hosts Dark Winter Nights?

Dark Winter Nights is created and hosted by Robert W. Prince.
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