More Than A Story is a podcast that brings Africa’s hidden histories to life through powerful, narrative storytelling. Each season, we dive deep into real events that shaped the continent — stories of survival, resilience, betrayal, belonging, and becoming.
Season One follows the gripping true account of the 1782 Grosvenor shipwreck and the survivors' epic journey along South Africa’s Wild Coast. Told with cinematic detail, rich character insight, and historical context, this is not just a history lesson — it’s a lived experience, retold with empathy and imagination.
Whether you're a history lover, a curious traveler, or someone drawn to the untold, this podcast invites you to walk the forgotten paths of the past and hear the echoes still carried by the land.
New episodes every week.
www.morethanastory.co.za
He'd already beaten every trap the British could build. This time they came with concentration camps, scorched earth, and a plan to squeeze him between two rivers with nowhere left to run. Part 2 follows Christiaan de Wet through Bothaville and Dewetsdorp, into the burning of the Free State and the camps his own resistance helped fill, through a breakout at Springhaansnek and a night raid at Groenkop that briefly looked like it might turn the war again, and on to Vereeniging, where the man wh...
30 Jun 2026
The Great De Wet Hunt: Part One
The British Empire put fifty thousand men, armoured trains, and a chain of blockhouses into catching one farmer on a horse. They never managed it. This episode follows Christiaan de Wet through the run of victories that made him the most wanted man in South Africa — Sanna's Post, Roodewal, the breakout from the Brandwater Basin — and the night he slipped a closing trap by climbing a bare-rock baboon track. A story about a man who could not lose, in a war that was already lost. Part 2 picks up...
4 May 2026
Lane One: John Akii-Bua and the Weight of Gold
In 1972, a 22-year-old policeman from northern Uganda ran 47.82 seconds around a track in Munich and broke the world record in the 400 metre hurdles. His name was John Akii-Bua, and that race gave Uganda its first Olympic gold medal. But this isn't just a story about athletic greatness. It's about what happens when a regime needs a symbol, and an ordinary man becomes one. Akii-Bua trained under British coach Malcolm Arnold, refined his stride on dirt tracks and police compounds, and mastered ...
11 Feb 2026
187 Years: The Journey to Bring Saartjie Baartman Home
For nearly two centuries after her death, Saartjie Baartman did not rest. Taken from South Africa in 1810 and exhibited in Europe as a spectacle, she died in Paris at just twenty-five. But death did not end her captivity. Her body was dissected, preserved, displayed in a museum, and legally claimed by the French state. For 187 years, she remained far from home - not as a person, but as an object. This episode traces the long and often uncomfortable journey to bring her back to South Africa. I...
15 Jan 2026
Wild Legacy: The Making of Kruger National Park
Kruger National Park didn’t begin as a sanctuary. It began as a warning. In the late 1800s, South Africa’s wildlife was collapsing under relentless hunting, war, and the belief that nature was limitless. From the first, fragile proclamation of the Sabi Game Reserve in 1898 to the lonely patrols of its first warden, James Stevenson-Hamilton, this story traces how a wounded landscape slowly began to recover. Elephants returned where none had walked for decades. Lions reclaimed silent valleys. A...
21 Nov 2025
SPECIAL: The Road to G20 JHB 2025
In November 2025, Johannesburg will host the first G20 Summit ever held on African soil. This episode traces the remarkable story behind that moment. From South Africa’s long journey out of apartheid isolation to Africa’s decades-long struggle for global representation, we follow the arc that led the world’s most powerful economies to gather in the heart of Gauteng. We explore how the G20 was born out of crisis, how it evolved into a central forum of global governance, and why its future now ...
14 Nov 2025
Boer War: Guerrillas in the Cape
A small Boer commando led by Jan Smuts plunges into the Cape Colony, surviving ambush, starvation, and a brutal mountain storm before seizing a British camp in one of the war’s most daring raids. Through the eyes of Deneys Reitz, this episode reveals the grit, tragedy, and unexpected humanity that shaped the guerrilla war. Also a big thanks to SergePavkinMusic for providing the soundtrack. You can access his music library here: https://www.youtube.com/@SergePavkinMusic/featured To get in touc...
31 Oct 2025
Congo's Ghost: The Betrayal of Patrice Lumumba
In 1960, Patrice Lumumba rose to power as the first Prime Minister of Congo, a nation newly independent from brutal Belgian colonial rule. His impassioned speech defying the King of Belgium on independence day marked him as a fearless leader, but also made him a target. As Lumumba fought for a truly unified and independent Congo, he faced immediate challenges: a mutiny in the army, the secession of the resource-rich Katanga province backed by Belgian interests, and the looming shadow of the C...
10 Jul 2025
Survival On The Wild Coast: Chapter Six
Chapter Six: Resolutions & Reflections. Approaching Christmas Day, 1782, a Xhosa chief encounters a strange, scurvy-ridden figure: William Habberley, a survivor of the Grosvenor shipwreck. Despite his ghastly appearance, Habberley is offered sustenance and shelter. However, an act of desperation leads to his banishment. Undeterred, Habberley encounters more benevolent tribes, and his body begins to mend. He eventually meets other castaways, including Tom Lewis, and learns of the var...
3 Jul 2025
Survival On The Wild Coast: Chapter Five
This episode depicts the harrowing experiences of Grosvenor survivors, detailing Captain Coxon's abandonment of vulnerable passengers and William Hosea's tragic death, illustrating the harsh realities of survival.
26 Jun 2025
Survival On The Wild Coast: Chapter Four
Survivors of the Grosvenor shipwreck confront the brutal conditions of the Transkei coast, battling despair, defiance, and the daunting prospect of a long trek south.
19 Jun 2025
Survival On The Wild Coast: Chapter Three
This episode explores early European shipwrecks along the African coast, revealing complex interactions between sailors and local communities before the Grosvenor incident.
12 Jun 2025
Survival On The Wild Coast: Chapter Two
This episode recounts the Grosvenor shipwreck off the Wild Coast of Africa in 1782, highlighting the survivors' initial struggles and first contact with the amaMpondo people.
5 Jun 2025
Survival On The Wild Coast: Chapter One
This episode explores the story of the Grosvenor shipwreck and the subsequent decades-long quest for treasure, revealing a tale of survival and cultural clash.
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Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
1 ratings
Spotify
4.9 / 5
23 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 21 / 100
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Quality
43
Social presence
0
YouTube
0
Engagement
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