Hollywood has given us a pirate image that's impossible to forget. Long coats. Towering boots. Gold buckles. Feathered hats. But how much of it is actually true? This week we're peeling back the myths to discover what pirates really wore, revisiting one of Blackbeard's most ruthless betrayals, and setting a course for Pirate Day at the Central Coast Renaissance Festival. So tighten your sash, keep one eye on the horizon, and let's separate pirate fact from pirate ficti

This week we're sailing through one of the most important chapters in pirate history. We'll witness the death of the man who made Black Bart Roberts possible, watch Black Bart launch one of his most daring attacks, and celebrate the birth of the swashbuckling movie star who helped define what a pirate looks like for generations.

Every now and then, the sea gives something back. This week, archaeologists uncovered pirate-era wrecks in Nassau Harbor—the very waters once sailed by Blackbeard, Calico Jack, Charles Vane, and Henry Every. Meanwhile, we'll revisit the day Blackbeard lost the Queen Anne's Revenge, follow Levasseur's narrow escape from the Royal Navy, and raise a flag worthy of any modern pirate republic.

This week, we'll explore the weapons pirates trusted with their lives, the city the sea swallowed whole, and the legends that still draw pirates together more than 300 years later. So grab your flintlock, check your powder, and mind the horizon. Let's set sail.

Privateers off Peru, pirate games at sea, and a real pirate adventure in San Diego.

Some pirates became legends because of what they did. Others became legends because of the stories told about them. This week we look at both sides of pirate history — from the fiery life of Anne Bonny, one of the most feared pirates of the Golden Age, to the enduring influence of Treasure Island, the novel that shaped how the world imagines pirates today. Between real history and myth, pirate stories continue to sail through time. Welcome to Episode 45 of The Pirate Repu

Pirates never truly disappear. They change shape — from legendary captains lost at sea, to mermaids whispered about by sailors, to modern heroes sailing across movie screens. This week’s issue explores how pirate history, myth, and pop culture continue to overlap, proving the spirit of the age of sail still hasn’t faded. From Sam Bellamy’s final voyage to festivals celebrating sea legends and Hollywood’s latest attempt at swashbuckling adventure, the pirate story sails on.

Pirate hangings, a brutal final raid, an Irish ring forged in captivity — and the traditions pirates left behind.

By the early 1800s, piracy was fading from the world — but not quietly. Some slipped into legend. Others were dragged into the light of the law. Welcome to Episode 41 of The Pirate Republic.

Not all pirates were cut from the same bloody cloth. Some ruled their decks through fear, pain, and terror. Others commanded loyalty through respect, fairness, and shared purpose. This week, we place two men beneath the same black flag — and ask a simple question: What kind of pirate leader would you follow?

This episode explores how pirates faced the New Year — through ruthless resolutions, shifting loyalties, and one fateful choice that changed Nassau forever. From survival under the black flag to the moment a pirate chose the Crown, we trace the thin line between freedom and safety at the edge of a new year.

Samuel Bellamy strikes British trade, the Black Pearl is reborn beneath the waves, Treasure Island storms the UK stage, and Skull King brings pirate chaos to the holiday table.

On one December night, Calico Jack Rackham slips silently into Port Royal harbor and steals the Kingston from under the noses of soldiers and merchants alike — proof that audacity can outweigh cannon and crown

Blackbeard torches the harbor at St. Christopher, John Bowen rebuilds his fate after disaster, and modern raiders strike in West Africa. Plus—cutlasses for every pirate, in honor of Captain George.

Blackbeard scores the greatest “Black Friday” plunder in pirate history, Calico Jack seizes a captaincy by mutiny, and our Aussie mates get a wild punk-pirate night in Adelaide.

Tonight, we sail through haunted waters: Blackbeard dumps his cocoa to spite the world, Bartholomew Roberts conquers fifteen ships in three days, and the Flying Dutchman returns from the mist to claim lost souls once more. So trim the lanterns, pour a shot o’ rum, and read by candlelight — for on this night, even the bravest sailor listens for the creak of phantom sails.

October’s final tide be upon us, and the air smells of rum, gunpowder, and ghost stories. This week we set sail through history’s wildest week — when Blackbeard, Bonnet, and the fierce Anne Bonny all carved their legends into the sea. We’ll cross haunted Carolina waters, board a full-sized pirate ship in Utah, and close the voyage with a plunder pick that’ll turn yer living room into a captain’s cabin.

From the gallows of 1717 to the ghostly coasts of Chile, Episode 26 sails through history and hauntings.

Splice the mainbrace, mates — this issue be stuffed like a treasure chest at the bottom of the sea! We’ve got Blackbeard nabbin’ the Sea Nymph while poor Stede Bonnet wanders in his dressing gown, the haunted ghost of the Whydah risin’ from the mist, a million in Spanish treasure pulled from the deep, and plunder to make yer Halloween shine.

Blackbeard’s odd plunder, Bonnet’s downfall, Phil Manzanera’s pirate heritage, and a week of revelry in Jamaica.