Dan Becker Podcast

On September 11, 2001, Brian Clark was working on the 84th floor of the South Tower of the World Trade Center when a hijacked plane struck the building just below him. Hundreds of people were trapped above the impact zone. Only four made it out alive. Brian was one of them. What followed was an almost impossible escape. With smoke filling the stairwells, conflicting instructions about where to go, and no way of knowing if the building would survive, Brian made a series of split-second decisions that would ultimately save his life and the life of a complete stranger. But it's the extraordinary chain of events that led to his survival that makes his story so remarkable. Events Brian himself believes were far more than just coincidence.

Kelsey Vandermyde was born in a hand-built cabin deep in the Montana wilderness—far from civilization, with no electricity and very little contact with the outside world. Her dad was a doomsday prepper who believed the world was ending. He had three wives at one point and 20 children in the family. Kelsey grew up surrounded by fear, survival, isolation, and stories most people would have a hard time believing—including a SWAT raid at their remote property, coming face-to-face with a mountain lion at nine years old, and the fact that serial killer Israel Keyes stayed at their cabin after committing crimes. Kelsey also shares what it was like trying to enter public school after growing up isolated, the dark path her life took afterward, and how she eventually found hope, healing, and faith.

Paul Traub was asleep in his home when two teenagers broke in. After waking him, they told him he would not survive. What followed was a cruel, deliberate attempt to reenact their own twisted version of the movie Saw. They made Paul answer disturbing questions as part of a game, stabbed him 20 times—including in the face and head, where part of a knife broke off in his skull—and then left him for dead. But they weren’t done. The teens started fires throughout the house, disabled the smoke detectors, turned on the gas burners, stole Paul’s car, and left him trapped inside as the home filled with flames. Somehow, Paul got to his feet, ran through the fire, and escaped to a neighbor’s house. In this episode, he tells the full story of that night, the unimaginable fight to survive, and what happened after.

Gene Odom was Ronnie Van Zant’s close friend, bodyguard, and head of security for Lynyrd Skynyrd. In 1977, he survived the plane crash that killed Ronnie Van Zant and five others—and changed the band forever. But this conversation is about much more than that night. Gene takes us inside his lifelong friendship with Ronnie, the early days of Lynyrd Skynyrd, life on the road, the people and politics surrounding the band, and what happened before and after the crash. He doesn’t hold back as he shares the memories, conflicts, loss, and fallout he witnessed firsthand. This is Gene Odom’s story—in his own words. The views, memories, and opinions shared in this interview are Gene’s own.Footage Notice: All footage was provided directly by Craig Reed and is used in this video with his express permission.

Jere Van Dyk is an American journalist and author who has spent decades covering Afghanistan and Pakistan for The New York Times and CBS News. In the early 1980s, he lived alongside Afghan fighters while reporting on their war against the Soviet Union. In 2008, while researching a book on the Taliban, he was captured near the Afghanistan–Pakistan border and held prisoner for 45 days. He later told that story in his book, Captive: My Time as a Prisoner of the Taliban.

Craig Reed spent years on the road with Lynyrd Skynyrd as a guitar technician during one of the most important eras in Southern rock history. He worked closely with the band behind the scenes, helping keep the shows moving while witnessing the personalities, chaos, friendship, and incredible success that came with being part of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s world. On October 20, 1977, Craig was aboard the Convair CV-240 carrying the band when it crashed in Mississippi—killing Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, Cassie Gaines, and others. Craig survived, but the crash permanently changed his life and the legacy of one of America’s most beloved rock bands. In this podcast, Craig takes us inside the real Lynyrd Skynyrd: what the band was like offstage, his role on the road, the final days before the crash, and what happened when the plane went down. He also shares rare, never-before-seen footage he captured with the band roughly two years before the crash. This is Craig Reed’s story.. a firsthand account from someone who lived through one of the most devastating moments in rock-and-roll history.

In February of 2005, brothers Jim and Dave Metza set out for a day of snowmobiling on Wisconsin’s Chippewa River. While attempting to cross the 300-yard-wide river, Dave’s snowmobile suddenly broke through the ice, plunging him into the freezing water approximately 75 yards from safety. Jim watched from the riverbank, knowing that rushing onto the unstable ice could kill them both. A former Coast Guard helicopter rescue crew member, he understood exactly how quickly a rescuer could become another victim. Desperate to reach Dave, Jim rode downstream searching for a safer place to cross. Then the ice collapsed beneath his snowmobile too. Separated by hundreds of yards, both brothers were now fighting for their lives. Jim spent approximately 30 minutes in the water before finally pulling himself onto the ice. Dave remained trapped for more than an hour, breaking ice with his arms as the current carried him downstream and hypothermia began shutting down his body. After reaching a nearby house and calling for help, Jim returned to the river. Believing Dave might still be alive, he crawled back across the unstable ice and somehow pulled his brother from the water. Both brothers survived, but the experience never truly left them. In this deeply emotional conversation, Jim and Dave recount what happened on the river, the impossible decisions Jim was forced to make and the trauma he had never fully processed until now.

In 2005, 16-year-old Craig Hutto was on vacation in Florida with his family, wading out to fish with his older brother Brian, when something bumped his leg. Seconds later, a bull shark latched onto him and pulled him under. Brian swam straight into the attack, grabbed his brother, and fought to drag him back toward shore while the shark refused to let go. Craig tried to pry the shark’s mouth open with his hands. Brian punched it again and again until it finally released him. Craig survived, but the attack cost him his leg. Today, I’m sitting down with both brothers to hear what really happened in the water that day.

Kennedy Bingham was just 16 years old when one ordinary drive home turned into an unbelievable fight to survive. After losing control of her vehicle, Kennedy was ejected from the car, thrown nearly 30 feet into the air, and ended up hanging from a live power line by her broken leg. For over an hour, she hung there fully conscious, badly injured, bleeding, and waiting for rescuers to figure out how to get her down safely. The crash nearly killed her. Kennedy lost her leg, suffered a devastating injury to her arm, and faced a long road of surgeries, pain, and recovery. But what makes her story so powerful isn’t just what happened on that power line. It’s what happened after. In this episode, Kennedy shares the terrifying details of the accident, the moment she realized how badly she was hurt, the emotional weight of losing a limb, and how she found the strength to keep going when life looked completely different than she ever imagined.

Jordan Hatmaker survived what almost no one should survive. During a skydiving jump from 13,500 feet, Jordan’s parachute malfunctioned. Her chute became tangled around her leg, her reserve deployed, and the two parachutes sent her into a violent spin toward the ground. Seconds later, she hit the earth — conscious — with devastating injuries to her back, leg, and ankle. In this interview, Jordan walks me through exactly what happened in the sky, what she remembers from the impact, the fear of possibly being paralyzed, the long road through surgery and recovery, and how she found the strength to walk again.This is a story about survival, faith, fear, recovery, and what happens when the thing you love most almost takes your life.

Brady Lowry was attacked by a grizzly bear while he and his friend Kendell Cummings were out in the Wyoming backcountry. When Kendell saw the bear on Brady, he didn’t run, he jumped in and tried to pull the bear off his friend. The grizzly then turned on Kendell and mauled him too. Then it buried him alive.

Loren Schauers was an 18 year old construction worker whose life changed forever after a horrific forklift accident nearly killed him. But behind the headlines is a story far deeper than most people realize. In this episode, Loren and his wife Sabia sit down with me to tell the full story in their own words. From the moments before the accident… to waking up in the hospital… to the impossible decision doctors gave him… to what life actually looks like now. This isn’t just a survival story. It’s a story about resilience, love, identity, faith, pain, and choosing to keep living when everything changes in an instant.

Nicole Johnson set out for what should have been a normal kayaking trip near Ashland, Missouri — but when a flash flood hit, everything changed in an instant. Her kayak was ripped away, and Nicole was swept miles downriver, slammed into rocks, pulled under the water, and pushed to the edge of drowning. Somehow, a massive wave finally threw her out of the river… but surviving the flood was only the beginning. Injured, soaked, exhausted, and freezing, Nicole hiked until she found shelter inside a barn, where she spent hours battling hypothermia, hoping someone would find her before it was too late. This is her incredible story of survival, endurance, and the rescue that happened almost by chance.

*This episode contains discussion of rape and sexual abuse. Viewer discretion is advised*Elizabeth Smart joins me to share the story that shocked the country. At just 14 years old, she was taken from her bedroom in the middle of the night and held captive for nine months before being found alive. In this conversation, Elizabeth talks about what happened, what those months were like, how she survived, and what life looked like after the headlines faded. We also talk about trauma, healing, resilience, and the reality of moving forward after something unimaginable. This is a heavy episode, but an incredibly important one. I’m grateful to Elizabeth for her honesty, courage, and willingness to tell her story in her own words.

On a crisp January afternoon in 2004, avid mountain biker Anne Hjelle set out for a quick ride on familiar trails in Southern California’s Whiting Ranch Wilderness. What began as an ordinary ride turned into a life-and-death struggle when a 100-plus-pound mountain lion burst from the brush and tackled her off her bike, attacking her neck and face with overwhelming force.Anne’s friend Debi Nicholls wasn’t going to let her go without a fight — throwing herself into the struggle, grabbing Anne’s legs, and screaming for help. Other riders soon arrived and began hurling rocks, eventually driving the predator off. Anne survived, but barely — her injuries were catastrophic, and surgeons had to rebuild the left side of her face in hours of reconstructive surgery.In this deeply human conversation, Anne shares what it was like inside the attack, how she managed fear and survival in the moment, her long recovery, and how that day changed her view of life, resilience, and getting back on the trail — forever transformed but stronger for it.This is a story of survival, friendship, and the raw realities of facing nature’s wildest moments.

Savannah Barney was leading a group of teenagers on what should have been a routine canyoneering trip in Utah — until the unthinkable happened. While anchored to a massive boulder at the canyon’s edge, the rock suddenly tore loose and pivoted upward, ripping her off the rim and sending her plunging nearly 30 feet into the slot below.

She landed face-first on solid rock.

The impact snapped her body backward so violently it shattered her spine, instantly paralyzing her before anyone in her group had even entered the canyon.

In a single second, the experienced outdoor leader became the one fighting for survival — trapped, unable to move, deep in a remote canyon with a group of teens depending on her.

This is the story of the fall, the rescue, and what it takes to rebuild a life when everything changes in an instant.

Right before her senior year of high school, Emily Brough went bouldering with friends and found herself stranded 40 feet above the ground with no way down except to jump. When her friend barely made it to the water below after a full running start, Emily tried to follow—but hesitated. That moment sent her crashing onto lava rock, shattering her pelvis and breaking her arm and foot. Surgeons later rebuilt her pelvis using 68 metal pins. Emily spent her entire senior year in a wheelchair, semi-paralyzed, facing a future that suddenly looked nothing like the one she had planned. In this episode, Emily describes what went through her mind during the fall, what recovery demanded physically and mentally, and how she rebuilt her life after surviving an accident that should have killed her. Ten years later, she reflects on how a few seconds in the air changed everything—and what it really means to survive.

Tyler Johnson was hunting black bear with his father when, without warning, a grizzly charged out of nowhere and began to maul him. With seconds to react, Tyler managed to draw his pistol and fire multiple rounds into the bear as it attacked. His father—an experienced game warden who raised Tyler in Alaska’s wilderness—also fired, ultimately killing the bear. Tyler survived, badly wounded.What happened next is what most people recognize: Tyler pulled out his phone and filmed the aftermath. That raw footage went viral, spreading across the internet as one of the most intense bear attack videos ever recorded. In this episode, Tyler tells the full story—what led up to the attack, what it felt like in the moment, the decisions that saved his life, and what people don’t see in the viral clip. This is a firsthand account of survival, training, instinct, and the reality of bear country.

Rudy Noorlander spent his life in bear country. Then a grizzly bear attack took his jaw and nearly his life. In this episode, Rudy tells the full story of the attack, the aftermath, and what it’s like living after a grizzly bear mauling. This is a raw, honest conversation about survival, recovery, and respect for the wilderness. Viewer discretion advised.

My Grand Canyon Rescue Story https://youtu.be/FRSGGUUtN9Y

Four survivors. Four stories that defy logic. In this marathon episode, we revisit some of the most intense and unbelievable interviews we’ve ever recorded.

You’ll hear from Courtney Henderson, who fell nearly 50 feet down a mountainside with her friend Gavin Caruso — a fall Gavin didn’t survive. Courtney’s 911 call still stands as one of the most chilling ever recorded.

Then, we sit down with Jeremy Evans, who survived what many call one of the worst grizzly bear attacks in history. Mauled three times by the same bear, Jeremy’s fight to stay alive in the Canadian wilderness feels almost impossible.

Next, we revisit the story of Karen Klein, who became stranded in the Grand Canyon with her husband and young son. With no food, no shelter, and no way out, she made a desperate decision: leave her family behind and set out alone to find help.

And finally, you’ll hear from Minko Nikolov, who was struck by lightning while hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park — and somehow lived to tell the story.

If you only listen to one episode today… make it this one.