Classic Stories: Treasure Island

0:00This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. Hi, this is Alex Cantrowicz. I'm the host of Big Technology podcast, a long time reporter and an on-air contributor to CNBC. And if you're like me, you're trying to figure out how artificial intelligence is changing the business world and our lives. So each week on Big Technology, I bring on key actors from companies building AI tech and outsiders trying to influence it. Asking where this is all going, they come from places like Nvidia, Microsoft, Amazon, and plenty more. So if you want to be smart with your wallet, your career choices, and meetings with your colleagues, and at dinner parties, listen to Big Technology podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Josh Spiegel, host of the podcast, Lunatic in the newsroom. If you enjoy journalism that drifts into mild panic, wild overthinking, and a guaranteed nervous breakdown, Lunatic in the newsroom is for you. It's news like you've never heard before. The only newsroom with a panic button, you'll laugh, you'll cry, and gasp and horror as the show spirals completely out of control.

1:03It's not just news, it's emotionally unstable. Lunatic in the newsroom, listen today. Hello, my name's Tim. If you like bloodthirsty pirates and riches beyond your wildest dreams, then Shiver Matimbers. Today's story is spot on. We begin one moonlit night as Jim Hawkins, a young boy working at a harbicide inn in Bristol, hears shouts from downstairs. A yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum, a salty old sea captain named Billy Bones is arguing with a rough-looking sailor who hands him a black spot. The next morning, Billy Bones is dead. Opening his room, Jim spots an old wooden sea chest containing a compass, a ship's log book.

2:07And a stained, spotted piece of paper. Now, whatever could that be? After a spot of lunch, Jim shows the paper to his friends, Dr. Livesy and Squire Trelawney. Straight away, they spot that it's a treasure map. It must be the map made by notorious pirate Captain Flint when burying his stolen gold. And there in the middle, a big X marking the spot. On the spot, Jim, the doctor and the Squire hurry to find a ship that will take them in search of the unknown island on the map. If only they hadn't been so quick, it would have saved them as spot of bover, but I'm jumping ahead of the story. Let's return to the harbor side where Jim meets the trustworthy Captain Smollett,

3:07and hires him and his ship, the Hispaniola. Then Jim sees something which glues him to the spot. A fearsome man with one leg, gold teeth, and a parrot on his shoulder squawking, patience of eight! A pirate, if ever I saw one. But Jim greets the man, Long John Silver by name, who persuades the doctor and Squire to hire him and his men as crew, which they foolishly agree to. Only Captain Smollett is worried, believing Long John Silver and his men to be none other than the former pirate shipmates of Captain Flint. Days pass as the Hispaniola sails the seven seas. One night, Jim overhears Long John Silver plotting with the crew. Mutiny, kill Captain Smollett and take the top spot and the treasure for himself. Things start to turn ugly when suddenly, with the

4:14cry, Landahoy, an island is spotted, and Silver and his mutinous crew row ashore. Having a soft spot for Jim, Smollett allows him ashore too, with the plan to maroon the mutineers on the island. But soon, Jim finds himself in a hot spot as the pirate's treasure lust is released, and he runs away scared. From his hiding spot in the jungle, Jim sees the ground spotted with blood. Long John Silver has murdered a sailor who refused to mutiny, and carnage breaks loose as the pirates fight amongst themselves to find Captain Flint's treasure. Jim flees deeper into the jungle where he chances upon a wild, half-crazy man, Ben Gunn, who explains how Captain Flint abandoned him on the island years before, after burying the treasure in a secret spot nearby.

5:21Meanwhile, the pirates have built a fort. From the ship's mast, Captain Smollett spots the enemy's position and a terrible battle ensues. In the fight, Long John Silver knocks spots off Jim, kidnaps him, and in a final attempt to control his cutthroat gang, shows them the treasure map. But when they arrive at the right spot, they are shocked to find the treasure gone. At that moment, Smollett, Ben Gunn and the others open fire and the pirates scatter in fear. Long John Silver sees the error of his ways and helps Jim get back to the others who are waiting at Ben Gunn's cave, where they find the treasure Ben had discovered months before, gold and silver beyond their wildest dreams. Here we end our story, learning that a pirate, unlike a leopard, can change his spots after all.

6:23I hope you liked today's adventure on Treasure Island. For me, the story really hit the spot, and I hope you'll join me for another one soon. It's 2009 and we're in the German mountains, a man straps himself into a car on the world's most dangerous racetrack. He whispers to himself. It's time to put my balls on the dashboard. If he starts the engine. In 15 minutes, he's in an ambulance, unconscious, in 15 years. He's a billionaire. This is Total Wolf, Formula One's most powerful team boss and a breakout star of Drive to Survive. This week on Good Bad Billionaire, how Total Wolf made his billions. Listen wherever you get your BBC podcasts.