Below is a collection of recent audio clips featuring Max Hardberger.
September 30, 2008 — Out-Pirating the Pirates — The Story with
Dick Gordon — National Public Radio
Pirates are demanding $20 million ransom for a ship they've seized off the coast of Somalia. They say they're prepared to fight to the death. Max Hardberger has direct experience of high seas piracy. His job is to take back ships that have been pirated, many of them worth millions of dollars, and return them to their rightful owners.
Max has worked all over the Caribbean and Latin America - sometimes employing voodoo priests to help him, and at other times using blow torches by moonlight to cut anchor chains. As he tells Dick Gordon, Max enjoys out-pirating the pirates - even when it means occasionally stepping over the legal line himself.
February 2008 — Conversations with Max Hardberger — University of
Iowa Alumni Magazine
For a behind-the-scenes peek at Max Hardberger's remarkable life and extraordinary careers, listen in to our telephone interview with "The Good Pirate":
Vessel Extraction & Maritime Law (4:35 minutes) (5,373 KB)
When a lawyer can't recover seized property (ships and planes) for its rightful owners, Hardberger puts on one of his other hats and takes back the property any way he can.
Witch Doctor, Inc. (3 minutes) (3,511 KB)
A local witch doctor facilitated one of Hardberger's vessel extractions in Haiti, where locals have created an industry based on the powers of voodoo.
Risky Behavior (27 seconds) (536 KB)
Hardberger suggests that the riskiest thing he's ever done is something commonly seen in agricultural states such as Iowa.
The Writers' Workshop (1:10 minutes) (1,376 KB)
Our subject recalls his time at the University of Iowa in the early 1970s.
Looking to Teach (1:30 minutes) (1,771 KB)
Thinking back to his time at the university, Hardberger remembers his efforts to become a teacher.
Fact or Fiction? (47 seconds) (913 KB)
Listen to Hardberger's practical reason for identifying his semi-autobiographical book, Freighter Captain, as fiction.
Oh, Captain, My Captain (1:05 minutes) (1,266 KB)
Having taken the role himself, Hardberger has a top man's perspective on what it takes to run a tight ship.
Future Plans (39 seconds) (760 KB)
When many of his peers are thinking of slowing down, what lies ahead for this UI grad?
March 6, 2007 — Freighter Repo Man —
CBC/Radio Canada — Freestyle Program
Freighter Repo Man (3: 49 minutes) (part of interview) (3,586 KB)
March 2, 2007 — Repo Man on the High Seas —
The Clark Howard Show Repo Man on the High Seas (6: 34 minutes) (6,150 KB)
