What Survival Stories Tell Us (and Should We Listen?)

On this episode of Critics at Large, Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, and Alexandra Schwartz discuss the perennial appeal of survival stories. They trace the theme of man versus nature from early novels like Daniel Defoe’s “Robinson Crusoe” to new releases like “Heart of the Beast,” in which Brad Pitt plays a grizzled veteran traversing the Alaskan wilderness with a canine companion. Survivalist themes are common in reality franchises like “Survivor,” now in its fifty-first season, and the History Channel show “Alone.” But a new offering from Channel 4, “Apocalypse,” takes the format in a darker direction: contestants profess their fears about societal collapse as they compete for food and shelter on an abandoned military base. As anxiety rises about the climate crisis and the potential for an A.I. takeover, the question of survival seems more pressing than ever—and yet these tales of rugged individualism can seem out of step with the times. “They don’t really describe our condition,” Cunningham says. “Unless you are in fact marooned somewhere, there are other people. It’s harder to dramatize surviving together than it is surviving alone.” Read, watch, and listen with the critics: “Heart of the Beast” (2026) “A Marriage at Sea: A True Story of Love, Obsession, and Shipwreck,” by Sophie Elmhirst “All is Lost” (2013) “Hatchet,” by Gary Paulsen “My Side of the Mountain,” by Jean Craighead George “Island of the Blue Dolphins,” by Scott O'Dell “Cast Away” (2000) “Rescue Dawn” (2006) “The Ecstatic Truth,” by Daniel Zalewski (The New Yorker) “The Rise of the Novel: Studies in Defoe, Richardson and Fielding,” by Ian Watt “The Revenant” (2015) “Little House in the Big Woods,” by Laura Ingalls Wilder “Alone” (2015-) “Survivor” (2000-) “Apocalypse” (2026) “Tuesday, and After” (The New Yorker) New episodes drop every Thursday. Follow Critics at Large wherever you get your podcasts.Critics at Large is a weekly discussion from The New Yorker that explores the latest trends in books, television, film, and more. Join us every Thursday as we make unexpected connections between classic texts and pop culture. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices