Dark Winter Nights

Dreams

Rob Prince — Tue, 05 May 2026 20:22:50 +0000

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 goes from foster home to foster home with her sister, but eventually solves the mystery of how a family can be whole.

Peculiar Proceedings

Rob Prince — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 15:03:05 +0000

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.

Dick Griffith

Rob Prince — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 15:00:48 +0000

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.

Extricated!

Rob Prince — Sat, 31 Jan 2026 11:00:00 +0000

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.

Season of Thanks

Rob Prince — Sat, 29 Nov 2025 15:30:00 +0000

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.

Earth Will Heal You

Rob Prince — Sun, 26 Oct 2025 03:30:00 +0000

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

Young Love

Rob Prince — Sat, 27 Sep 2025 03:30:00 +0000

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

A Step Too Far

Rob Prince — Sun, 01 Jun 2025 08:00:00 +0000

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

Exceeding Expectations

Rob Prince — Sun, 27 Apr 2025 23:53:51 +0000

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.

Frontier Justice

Rob Prince — Mon, 07 Apr 2025 20:07:08 +0000

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

(Repeat) Origin Story

Rob Prince — Wed, 26 Mar 2025 23:26:44 +0000

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

Live from Nome!

Rob Prince — Sun, 26 Jan 2025 08:00:00 +0000

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

Pay Your Taxes if you Want to Live!

Rob Prince — Sun, 05 Jan 2025 18:40:51 +0000

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

Man-Made Disasters

Rob Prince — Tue, 10 Dec 2024 20:48:48 +0000

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

The Ghost in the Garage

Rob Prince — Fri, 08 Nov 2024 18:37:59 +0000

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

Awkward Encounters

Rob Prince — Sat, 28 Sep 2024 23:00:00 +0000

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.

Car Trouble

Rob Prince — Sun, 28 Apr 2024 00:01:00 +0000

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

America's Farthest North Little Free Libraries

Rob Prince — Tue, 09 Apr 2024 19:59:46 +0000

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

Ladder Dude!

Rob Prince — Sun, 18 Feb 2024 00:01:00 +0000

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.

Squirrel, Squirrel, Bigfoot

Rob Prince — Sat, 27 Jan 2024 17:44:15 +0000

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.

Happy Mother’s Day 2023

Rob Prince — Sun, 28 May 2023 19:00:00 +0000

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.

Lessons Learned

Rob Prince — Thu, 11 May 2023 23:39:25 +0000

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

Don’t Let Go

Rob Prince — Thu, 30 Mar 2023 21:21:55 +0000

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

Silver Linings

Rob Prince — Mon, 27 Feb 2023 00:27:34 +0000

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

Awkward Situations

Rob Prince — Sat, 18 Feb 2023 00:13:52 +0000

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.

Close Encounters of the Fuzzy Kind

Rob Prince — Fri, 17 Feb 2023 23:37:45 +0000

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

The Power of Ice

Rob Prince — Thu, 16 Feb 2023 22:13:45 +0000

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

The Blowhole

Rob Prince — Tue, 10 Jan 2023 00:25:08 +0000

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.”

The Power of Nature

Rob Prince — Thu, 10 Nov 2022 01:21:11 +0000

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

Lost & Found

Rob Prince — Wed, 05 Oct 2022 00:00:06 +0000

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.

Moms Improv

Rob Prince — Tue, 04 Oct 2022 23:57:07 +0000

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.

Alaskan "Can Do!" Spirit

Rob Prince — Fri, 29 Jul 2022 08:53:00 +0000

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.

Kindness of Strangers

Rob Prince — Fri, 29 Apr 2022 23:53:57 +0000

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.

Hitchhikers

Rob Prince — Wed, 30 Mar 2022 22:09:22 +0000

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.

Don’t Look Back

Rob Prince — Thu, 03 Feb 2022 00:43:26 +0000

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.

Up a Creek Without a Canoe

Rob Prince — Wed, 12 Jan 2022 02:06:54 +0000

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

Walk for your Life

Rob Prince — Wed, 12 Jan 2022 02:02:23 +0000

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

Alaskan Practical Jokes

Rob Prince — Wed, 12 Jan 2022 01:58:08 +0000

Alaskans prank each other with very mixed results.

Bad Day at Work

Rob Prince — Wed, 12 Jan 2022 01:52:31 +0000

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.

Run for Your Life!

Rob Prince — Wed, 12 Jan 2022 01:46:38 +0000

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

Alaskan Rescues

Rob Prince — Wed, 12 Jan 2022 01:39:19 +0000

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

My Alaskan Mother

Rob Prince — Wed, 12 Jan 2022 00:26:21 +0000

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

Alaskan MacGuyvers

Rob Prince — Wed, 12 Jan 2022 00:23:13 +0000

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

Bear Cub

Rob Prince — Wed, 12 Jan 2022 00:12:04 +0000

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

Abdicating the Throne

Rob Prince — Wed, 12 Jan 2022 00:05:38 +0000

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

Soaked Science

Rob Prince — Wed, 12 Jan 2022 00:01:10 +0000

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.

Scientists On Ice!

Rob Prince — Tue, 11 Jan 2022 23:57:26 +0000

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.

Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

Rob Prince — Tue, 11 Jan 2022 23:46:10 +0000

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

Starving Around Denali Expedition

Rob Prince — Tue, 11 Jan 2022 23:43:52 +0000

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

Christmas in Seward

Rob Prince — Mon, 20 Dec 2021 00:14:38 +0000

Sam Cosnotti arrives alone in Seward shortly before Christmas and is welcomed by a co-worker to a rather unconventional Christmas Day dinner.

Dog Sense

Rob Prince — Tue, 30 Nov 2021 01:00:53 +0000

Betsey Jacobs nearly loses her new service-puppy-in-training in a frozen river and Seth Robinson and his wife are worried about getting caught in an avalanche, so they consult with their dog. NO DOGS DIE IN THIS EPISODE so don’t worry.

Halloween Special

Rob Prince — Sat, 30 Oct 2021 01:21:55 +0000

One woman starts having paranormal experiences after moving in to an apartment next to a graveyard in Juneau and another family makes a disturbing discovery on a road trip through Delta Junction.

Origin Story

Rob Prince — Wed, 29 Sep 2021 01:30:05 +0000

Dark Winter Nights Executive Producer Ryan Peterson takes an ancestry test and tells himself he doesn’t care if it helps him find his birth parents. Turns out he cared.

It’s Not About Me

Rob Prince — Fri, 26 Mar 2021 01:35:27 +0000

An Alaska woman’s battle with alcoholism starts extremely young and ends in tragedy.

Home Alone

Rob Prince — Thu, 31 Dec 2020 05:31:11 +0000

Jan Hanscomb accidentally traps a bear in her house and Linda Brandenberg recounts an old family story of when a prank “backfired.”

Thankful to Be Alive

Rob Prince — Mon, 16 Nov 2020 05:27:43 +0000

James Mennaker’s family gets caught in a flash flood, Richard Coleman goes through the ice, and Michael Daku survives a plane crash.

Hey Bear!

Rob Prince — Tue, 20 Oct 2020 05:21:42 +0000

Ryan and Val move to Alaska from D.C. only to learn that bears up here consider hibernation to be optional and Randy Brown’s day gets weird when he finds himself in a canoe in the middle of a river holding a bear by the tail.

Ice, Ice Baby

Rob Prince — Tue, 22 Sep 2020 05:16:29 +0000

Tom Bachert receives an absolutely bizarre request from a stranger in the fog on a frigid night and Andrew George decides to take a few hundred salmon ice skating.

The Little Tour Bus that Could

Rob Prince — Tue, 07 Jan 2020 23:47:55 +0000

Sarah Manriquez battles an epic blizzard on Alaska’s barren North Slope in a tiny tour bus full of wide-eyed visitors to Alaska.

Tongue Terror

Rob Prince — Mon, 12 Feb 2018 05:38:21 +0000

Turns out kids actually do get their tongues stuck to metal in winter. Host Rob Prince investigates and tries it out for himself.