The Terror with Rich Napolitano

The Terror with Rich Napolitano

June 18, 2026 · 2h 2m · Episode 386

About this episode

The episode explores the historical events of Sir John Franklin's Arctic expedition and compares them to the AMC series The Terror with guest Rich Napolitano.

What really happened to Sir John Franklin’s doomed Arctic expedition, and how much of AMC’s The Terror is grounded in the historical record? Today we're joined by Rich Napolitano, host of Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs , to compare the TV series with the real story of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror , from the search for the Northwest Passage to the evidence historians have uncovered about the crew’s fate. Links Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs Lost Franklin Expedition w/NEW UPDATES Dr. John Rae The Terror (TV Series) Chapters 0:00 Intro to The Terror 2:12 Two Truths and a Lie 4:08 Meet Rich Napolitano 7:22 The Real Franklin Expedition 20:06 Stuck in the Arctic Ice 33:42 Food, Disease, and Survival 47:41 The Terror’s Supernatural Twist 59:18 How the Expedition Ended Support My Work Support my sponsors Become a BOATS Producer (name in credits + ad-free episodes) Join the BOATS Discord Get the BOATS email newsletter Email me: dan@basedonatruestorypodcast.com See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

People in this episode

Host: Dan LeFebvre

Guest: Rich Napolitano

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: The Terror, Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs

Places: Northwest Passage, Arctic, HMS Erebus, HMS Terror

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