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The World's Most Dangerous Places podcast explores what really drives people to step into the world’s most volatile places — and what they learn there. Hosted by survival instructor and journalist Reza Allahbakshi, the show goes beyond adrenaline and adventure to uncover the psychology, philosophy, and lived experience of those who confront danger head-on.
In its premiere season, Reza sits down with Robert Young Pelton, the legendary author of The World’s Most Dangerous Places, whose life has taken him from Canada’s logging camps to corporate boardrooms to war zones around the globe. Through candid conversations, Pelton challenges the media’s fear narratives, shares practical lessons from conflict zones, and reveals why surviving is about much more than staying alive — it’s about living well.
Each episode blends stories, history, and hard-earned wisdom, offering a fresh perspective on risk, resilience, and the extraordinary human spirit.
19 Episodes
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Send us a text The Problem With “World’s Most Dangerous Places” Lists Every year, listicles warn travelers away from places like Mexico, Brazil, or Thailand. What they rarely explain is how “danger” is measured, or who it applies to. The uncomfortable truth: there is no reliable global database tracking crimes or deaths involving tourists. Most incidents are underreported, sanitized, or ignored because it’s bad for tourism. Robert Young Pelton has assessed global risk for over thirty years. T...
Send us a text In this wide-ranging and unfiltered conversation, Robert Young Pelton sits down with Professor Clionadh Raleigh, founder of the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), to unpack how global violence is actually measured—and why most people misunderstand what the data really shows. For anyone expecting a Band-Aid solution or We Are the World framing, be warned: both Pelton and Raleigh argue that violence is a feature, not a flaw, of modern state foreign policy. ...
Send us a text Making Smart Decisions in Dangerous Places What does wisdom really mean when lives are on the line? In Wisdom Under Fire, conflict journalist and survival expert Robert Young Pelton explores decision-making in environments where mistakes are punished immediately. Drawing on more than four decades in war zones, failed states, and high-risk situations, Pelton argues that wisdom isn’t mystical, emotional, or age-dependent. Wisdom is the quality of your decisions—and their outcomes...
Send us a text In Robert Young Pelton’s latest project—a reimagining of The World’s Most Dangerous Places—he begins with the building blocks of survival: turning raw information into useful knowledge and calm decisions under pressure. When Pelton first wrote his guide, there were almost no online sources. Today, there are too many—and everyone claims to be an expert. More data will be produced in the next three years than in all of human history, much of it generated by AI. It’s like being dr...
Send us a text The St. John’s Cathedral Boys’ School was founded in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in the late 1950s as an experiment in turning boys into men through relentless hardship, wilderness training, and strict religious discipline. For four decades, the St. John’s system operated under a Muscular Christian belief: that suffering, hard work, and obedience would reform “undisciplined” youth and bring them closer to God. Created by teacher Frank Weins and conservative journalist Ted Byfield—neith...
Send us a text In this interview, Reza sits down with journalist, author, and filmmaker Robert Young Pelton for an unfiltered conversation about writing, conflict, survival, and truth. Pelton shares what it means to write from war zones, how publishing has changed, and why books still matter in a world of algorithms and AI. The Origin of a Writer Pelton learned to write by reading. With no formal training, he devoured The Odyssey at age six and finished the Hardy Boys series in first grade. T...
Send us a text In this episode of The World’s Most Dangerous Places, host Robert Young Pelton sits down with Artie McConnell — a man who’s lived on both sides of danger. After a decade as a Manhattan prosecutor, McConnell moved into global investigations, chasing terrorists, traffickers, and cybercriminals across borders. His story reveals why law and order still matter — and what happens when nations forget that. Pelton, who’s spent years among rebels, mercenaries, and killers, turns to McCo...
Send us a text From Propaganda to Psychographics Pelton traces the arc from Sigmund Freud’s nephew Edward Bernays—who pioneered “engineering consent”—to Cambridge Analytica, where psychological profiling became the core of modern political warfare. They break down the difference between demographics (who we are) and psychographics (how we think and feel), revealing how platforms like Facebook opened the floodgates to emotional targeting and mass persuasion. “When Bernays said civilizati...
Send us a text Pelton traces propaganda’s modern roots to Sigmund Freud’s nephew, Edward Bernays, who turned psychoanalysis into a tool for mass persuasion. His early rise in advertising—and decision to leave it behind—fueled his quest to understand real conflict, not the manufactured kind. “My job was to sell people something they didn’t need — and that’s when I realized how deep this runs.” From Psychoanalysis to Public Relations to War Freud’s ideas on the unconscious became Bernays’ blue...
Send us a text Once again, with political assassination back in the news, Colombia is overwhelmed with violence. Pelton knows the country well and thought it timely to revisit one of his films made 25 years ago. Not much has changed. Creating a documentary is tough. Creating one on the fly, without a script, across a large and dangerous nation is even more challenging. When Discovery asked Robert Young Pelton to turn his bestselling book into a TV series, he drove a hard bargain: he would dec...
Send us a text A powerful and timely conversation between Robert Young Pelton, one of America’s leading conflict experts, and interviewer Reza Allahbakshi. They dive into the anatomy of coups, insurgencies, and the fragile state of democracy in America today. Sparked by the recent assassination of Charlie Kirk, the discussion shows how violent events are manipulated into polarization and narrative warfare—a tactic used for centuries to destabilize nations and now visible at home. Drawing on e...
Send us a text Robert Young Pelton and Rory Nugent are kindred spirits. Nugent first made his name by crossing the Atlantic solo four and a half times—the “half” voyage inspiring the new book he’s now writing. A boatbuilder, sailor, writer, and journalist, Nugent began with the perfection of open space—the union of wind, sail, boat, and sea—before steering toward darkness: African swamps, war’s deep shadows, vanishing traditions, and fragile human memory. Pelton and Nugent explore pure advent...
Send us a text In this episode, Reza pulls a timeless list from page 83 of The World’s Most Dangerous Places and Robert Young Pelton breaks down his 7 survival rules with real stories—from New Orleans pickpocket crews to Sahara breakdowns, embassy backrooms, and negotiating Land Cruisers in Chad. What you’ll learn: Be Alert: Build situational awareness, read the “flow” of crowds, and do a 360 check—especially when phones/headphones dull your senses.Be Sober: Why most robberies hit between ...
Send us a text In this week’s video, Pelton straddles the line between veteran journalist and adventurer. He shares his unconventional journey into the media spotlight and critiques modern journalism, arguing the traditional definition has become “blurred.” Unlike classic journalists who report with detachment, Pelton is as much the story as the reporter. Skipping the conventional path of journalism school and internships, he began as a copywriter at 17 and honed his craft through expeditions...
Send us a text In this episode, Reza Allahbakhshi and Robert Young Pelton unpack the “lessons learned” behind The World’s Most Dangerous Places. The real challenge isn’t landscapes or weapons—it’s people. From customs officials to taxi drivers, soldiers at checkpoints to warlords in conflict zones, survival comes down to reading signals, understanding motivations, and finding common ground. “You start off focusing on places, and then you realize—it’s about situations.” Everyday Situations, Di...
Send us a text Jason Florio grew up in London with a fascination for skateboarding and being a rebel. Early exposure to photojournalism and adventurous literature shaped his worldview, leading him to see photography not just as art, but as a tool for truth-telling in places where truth is hidden. First Steps into Photography Florio moved to Texas and began as an assistant in the commercial photography world but quickly felt the pull toward photojournalism and documentary work. The shift was...
Send us a text Robert Young Pelton sits down with Enrique “Ric” Prado, a decorated CIA officer whose covert work shaped decades of U.S. paramilitary operations. Known for his leadership in the Contra War, counterterrorism missions, and the development of modern “find, fix, finish” kill teams, Prado’s life reads like a spy thriller. Pelton and Prado share a mutual friend, CIA legend Billy Waugh , who goes beyond what was allowed in his best-selling book and takes the audience into uncharted,...
Send us a text Robert Young Pelton explores danger and how to manage it. Not the trenches of Ukraine but for normal fans who need a basic primer on measuring risk. When discussing danger, it's crucial to distinguish between fear and actual risk. The perception of danger is often influenced by imagery of warfare, poverty, or other conflicts, leading people to fear places where daily life continues for residents. For instance, despite being war zones, places like Ukraine, Somalia, or Li...
Send us a text Inside the Mind of Danger: Robert Young Pelton The Man Behind the Book When Reza Allahbakshi, a survival instructor and journalist, first picked up a battered used copy of The World’s Most Dangerous Places, he didn’t expect the man behind it to be so complex. Pelton, the author in question, isn’t just a writer — he’s a lumberjack, marketer, blaster’s assistant, television host, and, most notably, a relentless and fearless explorer of the globe’s most volatile zon...
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