The Pirate Next Door—Myths and Unexpected Truths

(originally aired March 20, 2017) Guest: Daphne Palmer Geanacopoulos, DLS, Author of “The Pirate Next Door: The Untold Story of Eighteenth Century Pirates' Wives, Families and Communities” Captain Jack Sparrow is back in theaters this weekend with all his swashbuckling swagger in the fifth installment of Disney’s “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise, “Dead Men Tell No Tales.” Thanks in part to characters like Jack Sparrow, when we think of pirates, we tend to think about peg-legged men with parrots on their shoulders who are either drunk, immoral, or both. But, even in the “Golden Age” of piracy, it wasn’t exactly like that. In fact, the legendary pirate captains of the time were often just regular men—active participants in society pushed by economic forces to take a risky career path. Many had wives and families depending on their loot back home and a pirate retirement plan to fall back on when they were ready to return home.