What It Was Like

Superreal

Wild stories unpacked.

  • 57 minutes 58 seconds
    Dig a Secret Hole on a Volcano and Don't Ask Questions. That Was the Job

    It's one of the weirdest mysteries we've encountered. On this week's episode, we speak to Brett Grimes, who was 19 when he a got a job digging a huge hole in the forested side of a volcano, with no explanation of what they were digging for. In this episode, Brett recounts the most dangerous job of his life and what they found at the bottom.


    We found this story via the independent documentary The Hole Story. Stay across screenings via their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/TheHoleStoryMovie/

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    28 March 2026, 6:54 am
  • 43 minutes 40 seconds
    Mutiny on the Sex Raft

    In 1973, a raft carrying five men and six women set off across the Atlantic to answer the age-old question: what causes human violence? The expedition’s leader, anthropologist Santiago Genovés, believed the answer lay in sexual tension, earning the mission the nickname "The Sex Raft." In this episode, crew member Fé Seymour looks back on a voyage marked by hurricanes, epiphanies, and one mutiny.

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    22 March 2026, 12:18 am
  • 41 minutes 18 seconds
    Whales Are Sinking Boats and No One Knows Why

    Since 2020, orcas have been attacking sailing boats off the coasts of Spain and Portugal. Experts initially thought the behaviour was a passing fad, but six years later, it shows no sign of stopping. In this episode, British yachtsman Robert Powell describes the day a pod of orcas methodically disabled and sank his boat — and the surprising thing the coast guard told him after the rescue.

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    13 March 2026, 10:27 pm
  • 51 minutes 14 seconds
    The Millionaires Who Went Mad in Their Jungle Fortress

    When American millionaire John Bender moved to Costa Rica with his wife Ann, they set out to build a dream life in the jungle. Instead, their relationship spiralled into madness. When Bender died from a gunshot wound in 2010, the question remained: was it suicide or murder? Journalist Carol Vaughn takes us inside one of Costa Rica’s strangest cases.

    Check out Carol's book on the case: Crazy Jungle Love: Murder, Madness, Money & Monkeys


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    7 March 2026, 3:34 am
  • 42 minutes 27 seconds
    Ted Bundy Tried to Kill Me

    In 1967, 14-year-old Connie Geldreich met a young man at a lake who called himself Ted. What began as a strange encounter escalated into something far more disturbing. In this episode, Connie recounts her memories of a man who would later become the world's most famous serial killer.

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    28 February 2026, 5:03 am
  • 57 minutes 43 seconds
    How I Ended Up Running a Happy Endings Parlour for Women

    Alice was in her late 30s when she reinvented her life. She left her marriage and started prioritising herself for the first time ever. That journey led her to open a happy ending massage parlour for women. This is the first episode of our new podcast: The Sex That Changed My Life. A show about the intimate moments that transform us.


    Find us on Instagram ⁠@changedmylifepod⁠

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    A ⁠Superreal⁠ Production

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    20 February 2026, 12:07 pm
  • 53 minutes 50 seconds
    Sunk by Killer Whales, Adrift for 38 Days

    Douglas Robertson was a teenager when his family set out to sail the world on a yacht. Seventeen months into the voyage, orcas sank the boat in the Pacific. In this ep, Douglas describes 38 days adrift in a small dinghy, surviving on turtle blood and rainwater.


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    14 February 2026, 5:34 am
  • 38 minutes 15 seconds
    I Made a Fortune Helping People Cheat Their Tax

    Rick Hogg was a Melbourne accountant who specialised in minimising tax by fabricating expenses. In 2018, it all imploded and Rick got five years in prison. In this episode, he explains how the scheme worked, why he crossed the line, and what the ordeal taught him about greed.


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    6 February 2026, 11:55 am
  • 45 minutes 55 seconds
    I Made $2M a Year as a Corporate Spy

    Robert Kerbeck was a broke actor when he stumbled into corporate espionage. His job was to trick low-level employees into divulging company secrets, which he sold for big money. In this episode, he explains what the work taught him about lying and the shortcomings of American capitalism.


    Check out Robert's book: Ruse

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    30 January 2026, 10:22 am
  • 1 hour 7 minutes
    I Bought a Haunted Witches' Prison (Classic)

    Vanessa Mitchell thought she was buying the home of her dreams. Sure, it was a medieval prison for English peasants accused of witchcraft, but it was cute and within her price range. But then her possessions started vanishing and she found a mysterious pool of blood on the floor and three years later she was out, fleeing with her son. This is Vanessa's story of what happened.


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    23 January 2026, 9:06 am
  • 53 minutes 3 seconds
    I Was Raised in a Cult Believing I'd be Dead by 12

    Flor Edwards grew up in the Children of God, an authoritarian sect that taught its followers that the world would end in 1993. In this episode, she reflects on how it felt growing up expecting to die, and how the group responded when the apocalypse never came.

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    17 January 2026, 5:45 am
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