What Survival Tales Inform Us (and Ought to We Hear?)
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On this episode of Critics at Massive, Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, and Alexandra Schwartz talk about the perennial attraction of survival tales. They hint the theme of man versus nature from early novels like Daniel Defoe’s “Robinson Crusoe” to new releases like “Coronary heart of the Beast,” during which Brad Pitt performs a grizzled veteran traversing the Alaskan wilderness with a canine companion. Survivalist themes are widespread in actuality franchises like “Survivor,” now in its fifty-first season, and the Historical past Channel present “Alone.” However a brand new providing from Channel 4, “Apocalypse,” takes the format in a darker path: contestants profess their fears about societal collapse as they compete for meals and shelter on an deserted navy base. As nervousness rises in regards to the local weather disaster and the potential for an A.I. takeover, the query of survival appears extra urgent than ever—and but these tales of rugged individualism can appear out of step with the instances. “They don’t actually describe our situation,” Cunningham says. “Except you might be in truth marooned someplace, there are different individuals. It’s more durable to dramatize surviving collectively than it’s surviving alone.”
Learn, watch, and pay attention with the critics:
“Coronary heart of the Beast” (2026)
“A Marriage at Sea: A True Story of Love, Obsession, and Shipwreck,” by Sophie Elmhirst
“All is Misplaced” (2013)
“Hatchet,” by Gary Paulsen
“My Side of the Mountain,” by Jean Craighead George
“Island of the Blue Dolphins,” by Scott O’Dell
“Solid Away” (2000)
“Rescue Daybreak” (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)
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