What to Expect:

We explore one of the most extreme circumstances imaginable to try to understand the actions of the surviving (and not) members of the Donner Party. This group of emigrants spent nearly a year attempting to cross the relatively unknown American frontier only to be trapped in a substantial snowstorm which left them immobile in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Yes, they ate their dead. Yes, they killed some people for “food.” And more…

Listen in, and remember that you can reach us directly at 775.525.0908, at info@wwdwwdpodcast.com, through the comments below OR on social via @wwdwwdpodcast or #wwdwwdpodcast.

Links for Today:

1. https://www.icloud.com/iclouddrive/0CzxWpBueNqLVuH1g_gUF58HQ#Journal_Article_on_Historical_Evidence

2. https://www.etymonline.com/word/cannibal#etymonline_v_667 (Etymology of “cannibal”)

3. https://www.jstor.org/stable/25612556?seq=1 (Article on how “cannibal” was a political term)

4. https://www.amazon.com/Emigrants-Oregon-California-Lansford-Hastings/dp/1557092451 (The Huckster’s Guide to an Early Death)

5. https://www.icloud.com/iclouddrive/0Ga06vDZkvoQqEiYMMt7YVpdg#Mexicans_in_the_California_Mines,_1848-53

6. https://www.timothysnyder.org/books/bloodlands

7. https://www.babymed.com/info/eating-placenta-placentophagia (Discussion on whether eating placentas is cannibalism)

8. https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/eating-placentas-cannibalism-recycling-or-health-food/ (Skeptical critique of placenta eating)

9. https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-17095605 (BBC Article on starvation)

10. Donnar Museum

11. Cookbook

12. VOX Article on Cannibalism

13. NPR Article: When People Ate People, A Strange Disease Emerged

14. 2009 Movie on the Donnar Party (looks terrible lol)

15. Other movies that depict Cannibalism

16. Donnar Party Memorial site

We are on Reddit! https://www.reddit.com/user/WhyWeDoWhatWeDo

Recommendations

• Abraham: Ike’s Love and Sandwiches (http://www.loveandsandwiches.com/locations/)

• Shane: Black Card by Chris L. Terry (https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/black-card-chris-l-terry/1130028044)

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The Why We Do What We Do Crew

Scott "Abraham" Miller |  Host & Producer

Shane Spiker  |  Co-Host

Alan Kinsella | Writer

Salena Schilling | Writer

Amber Groat | Marketing

Ryan O'Donnell (RYANO)  |  Contributing Member

Miranda Marie Drake  |  Contributing Member

Andrew Pawlik  |  Digital Designer

Justin Greenhouse |  Musician & Producer