There's more to brewing up in Antarctica than just switching the kettle on.  Feel free to brew along to the chorus.

There's more to brewing up in Antarctica than just switching the kettle on.  Feel free to brew along to the chorus.

Making Coffee

A quick study of the setting of the series, covering the geology, climate, glaciology and biology of the Antarctic. Only two more preliminary episodes and we'll get to the history the series is supposed to be about, I promise.

A quick study of the setting of the series, covering the geology, climate, glaciology and biology of the Antarctic. Only two more preliminary episodes and we'll get to the history the series is supposed to be about, I promise.

Geography

Imagining, seeking, and then shrinking Terra Australis Incognita to manageable proportions.  Philosophers, geographers, clergy and sailors vie for the final word on what and where Antarctica is, and who lives there. Only one more preliminary episode to go and we'll get into some history.

Imagining, seeking, and then shrinking Terra Australis Incognita to manageable proportions.  Philosophers, geographers, clergy and sailors vie for the final word on what and where Antarctica is, and who lives there. Only one more preliminary episode to go and we'll get into some history.

Prelude

A brief look at what was going on around the world as the exploration of the Southern Ocean began.

A brief look at what was going on around the world as the exploration of the Southern Ocean began.

State of Play

One of the most iconic names in maritime history does his empirical bit to show the world where Antarctica isn't.

One of the most iconic names in maritime history does his empirical bit to show the world where Antarctica isn't.

Cook

Hard as nails Russian sea-dog braves the southern ocean in inadequate ships and after a rushed preparation and without biologists and...  You get the picture.  Up against it, Bellingshausen shone when the sun refused to do so, and it's not his fault most people haven't heard of him.

Hard as nails Russian sea-dog braves the southern ocean in inadequate ships and after a rushed preparation and without biologists and...  You get the picture.  Up against it, Bellingshausen shone when the sun refused to do so, and it's not his fault most people haven't heard of him.

Bellingshausen

The chronology gets thrown out early in the piece, as the case of the empty H4n case unravels and some temporal anomalies are narrowly prevented from becoming time travel paradoxes.  Karl, I need the Delorean back last week. The Bellingshausen episode is in the editing suite as I type, and should be available last Sunday.

The chronology gets thrown out early in the piece, as the case of the empty H4n case unravels and some temporal anomalies are narrowly prevented from becoming time travel paradoxes.  Karl, I need the Delorean back last week. The Bellingshausen episode is in the editing suite as I type, and should be available last Sunday.

Pop Culture on Ice

An overview of the state of the art in maritime extraction industries at the start of the ice rush.

An overview of the state of the art in maritime extraction industries at the start of the ice rush.

I am Sealing

Smith - the competent, dutiful sealer who got the job done and got no reward, plaudits or even much of a mention in the history books.  He should have taken the money and ran, but hindsight's not a lot of use without a time machine.

Smith - the competent, dutiful sealer who got the job done and got no reward, plaudits or even much of a mention in the history books.  He should have taken the money and ran, but hindsight's not a lot of use without a time machine.

009_Smith

Connnecticut sealer sails a tiny tender, finds fame.

Connnecticut sealer sails a tiny tender, finds fame.

010_Palmer

A history of human activity in Antarctica

The content is interesting, but the narrator is very obviously reading, rather than telling the story. Personally, I much prefer reading that sounds like someone is talking to me rather than reading. Not always easily done.

Don't like delivery method

Don&#39;t look over this! It&#39;s a really cool show and you learn so much!

This show is incredible.

Ice Coffee:  the history of human activity in Antarctica

Byrd and Wilkins are done in Antarctica for the 1920s and head north, leaving many loose ends in the snow next to the dog corpses.  With the depression changing the playing field it would fall to the primo fund raisers and the independently wealthy to pick those loose ends up in the 1930s but I'll get to that after covering some Australian and Norwegian 1929 action and knocking out some interviews I picked up in my travels through the austral summer.  Victor the vostoknicchi coming your way in episode 078.

Byrd and Wilkins are done in Antarctica for the 1920s and head north, leaving many loose ends in the snow next to the dog corpses.  With the depression changing the playing field it would fall to the primo fund raisers and the independently wealthy to pick those loose ends up in the 1930s but I'll get to that after covering some Australian and Norwegian 1929 action and knocking out some interviews I picked up in my travels through the austral summer.  Victor the vostoknicchi coming your way in episode 078.

077_1929_coda...

First out of the blocks in the three way race south, Dumont d'Urville does a fair job with the resources France can throw at the project after much war and revolution and war and blockades and war.  Often described as a nineteenth century analogue to the Space Race, I think of this period in Antarctic history as the nineteenth century race southward, of which the Space Race was a twentieth century analogue, because causality. 

First out of the blocks in the three way race south, Dumont d'Urville does a fair job with the resources France can throw at the project after much war and revolution and war and blockades and war.  Often described as a nineteenth century analogue to the Space Race, I think of this period in Antarctic history as the nineteenth century race southward, of which the Space Race was a twentieth century analogue, because causality.

017_Dumont_d_Urville

Boom! Two episodes in two days.  Take that, incomprehensible download statistics.  Let's see me make sense of you now.   Byrd returns south to finish...    something...  something brave and stirring and laudably scientific and humanitarian, no doubt.  Prolly work it out in payroll.  Or in a post-hoc rationalisation that will remain in publication for half a century.   More importantly, I get to share music I love with you. Egoism's song "What are we doing" rounds out this episode and I hope you're inspired to check out their offerings, available at https://egoismband.bandcamp.com/

Boom! Two episodes in two days.  Take that, incomprehensible download statistics.  Let's see me make sense of you now.  Byrd returns south to finish...    something...  something brave and stirring and laudably scientific and humanitarian, no doubt.  Prolly work it out in payroll.  Or in a post-hoc rationalisation that will remain in publication for half a century.  More importantly, I get to share music I love with you. Egoism's song "What are we doing" rounds out this episode and I hope you're inspired to check out their offerings, available at <a href="https://egoismband.bandcamp.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://egoismband.bandcamp.com/</a>

088_Little_America_II_part_one

I'm sick of 2016.  A friend just died for stupid reasons and my extended family and many friends are facing life in the USA under president Donald Trump and his cabinet of elite racists. I really have not been in the mood to read about noble suffering under the Victorian model of manliness and my notes about Scott's death on his return from the pole came to a grinding halt about two weeks ago.  Here's a Frankenstein's episode stop gap comprising essays from the past about ice diving and contrasting Scott Base and McMurdo Station. I'll get back to the history in time for Christmas but in the mean time 2016 can fuck right off.

I'm sick of 2016.  A friend just died for stupid reasons and my extended family and many friends are facing life in the USA under president Donald Trump and his cabinet of elite racists. I really have not been in the mood to read about noble suffering under the Victorian model of manliness and my notes about Scott's death on his return from the pole came to a grinding halt about two weeks ago.  Here's a Frankenstein's episode stop gap comprising essays from the past about ice diving and contrasting Scott Base and McMurdo Station. I'll get back to the history in time for Christmas but in the mean time 2016 can fuck right off.

036_Ice_Diving

Scott leads his team south while Amundsen and Mawson keep his clockwork wound up tight. Stormy seas, pack ice and a four way split in the transport preparations frustrate efforts to meld scientific, geographic and historical goals.

Scott leads his team south while Amundsen and Mawson keep his clockwork wound up tight. Stormy seas, pack ice and a four way split in the transport preparations frustrate efforts to meld scientific, geographic and historical goals.

037_Terra_Nova_Depot

Lars Christensen funds extensive coastal exploration in concert with his whaling exploits.  A decade of Norwegian effort gets compressed into a single chagrined episode. 

Lars Christensen funds extensive coastal exploration in concert with his whaling exploits.  A decade of Norwegian effort gets compressed into a single chagrined episode.

085_Norwegians

The best acronym in Antarctic history draws to a close and Sir Douglas leaves the southern continent for the last time.  Similarly the Discovery makes its final transit of the Southern Ocean.  | Some errors of fact that warrant addenda pass into your ears. 

The best acronym in Antarctic history draws to a close and Sir Douglas leaves the southern continent for the last time.  Similarly the Discovery makes its final transit of the Southern Ocean.  | Some errors of fact that warrant addenda pass into your ears.

084_BANZARE_Part_3

Dammit - it happened again. This story always ends the same way. All of the driving forces behind Scott's polar ambition push him to his death. Poor weather, broken tractors, crap ponies, leaky fuel cans, crevasse fields - lots of things contributed to the tragedy in the physical sense but the expectations placed on Captain Robert Falcon Scott by his nation, his mentors and his peers did their part, too.

Dammit - it happened again. This story always ends the same way. All of the driving forces behind Scott's polar ambition push him to his death. Poor weather, broken tractors, crap ponies, leaky fuel cans, crevasse fields - lots of things contributed to the tragedy in the physical sense but the expectations placed on Captain Robert Falcon Scott by his nation, his mentors and his peers did their part, too.

038_Terra_Nova_Southern_Party

Douglas Mawson gets a lot done in just twelve months.

Douglas Mawson gets a lot done in just twelve months.

049_Mawson_Macquarie

Frank Worsley knocks it out of the park, navigating across eight hundred nautical miles of open ocean with four sextant shots.  Tom Crean breaks through thin ice for the final time in our saga. Shackleton tries to get back to Elephant Island and the fourth time's the charm.

Frank Worsley knocks it out of the park, navigating across eight hundred nautical miles of open ocean with four sextant shots.  Tom Crean breaks through thin ice for the final time in our saga. Shackleton tries to get back to Elephant Island and the fourth time's the charm.

058_James_Caird_more_than_most

With aircraft offering opportunities to keep the feet dry and singalling a possible end to the miseries of sledging in all its forms, key players were keen to get flying. Efforts in the north require some attention as the experiences in the Arctic shaped the approach those key players took when they brought flying machines south.

With aircraft offering opportunities to keep the feet dry and singalling a possible end to the miseries of sledging in all its forms, key players were keen to get flying. Efforts in the north require some attention as the experiences in the Arctic shaped the approach those key players took when they brought flying machines south.

065_Polar_aviation_part_one

Byrd's second expedition re-colonises Byrd's first expedition's digs after lots of digging.  Gentoo penguins under the hut floor provide ambience. 

Byrd's second expedition re-colonises Byrd's first expedition's digs after lots of digging.  Gentoo penguins under the hut floor provide ambience.

089_Little_America_two_part_two

Dogs make all the difference in getting to the South Pole and back.  With Amundsen's triumph, no-one would ever bother going to the Pole agai... Hey. Wait. Why are people still heading overland to the pole? Have they not heard of aircraft? Do they not heed the reports that the pole is cold and that the view is boring? Turns out being first at the pole was only the first in a long string of polar firsts to follow in the next century, and I'm expecting a pogo-stick based expedition to be announced at any second.

Dogs make all the difference in getting to the South Pole and back.  With Amundsen's triumph, no-one would ever bother going to the Pole agai... Hey. Wait. Why are people still heading overland to the pole? Have they not heard of aircraft? Do they not heed the reports that the pole is cold and that the view is boring? Turns out being first at the pole was only the first in a long string of polar firsts to follow in the next century, and I'm expecting a pogo-stick based expedition to be announced at any second.

045_The_Norwegian_and_the_Pole

Roald Amundsen returns to the narrative and takes pole position, showing the world what you can achieve if you don't give a stuff about science or people. 

Roald Amundsen returns to the narrative and takes pole position, showing the world what you can achieve if you don't give a stuff about science or people.

044_Amundsen

Prussian Army lieutenant Wilhelm Filchner led Germany's second expedition in the early 20th century.  While the government stayed largely hands off the expedition committee put their oar in enough to see der Deutschland sail under a syphilitic commander whose antics placed everyone's lives in danger and gave us a really good example of the sort of problems split leadership can cause in a high latitudes project.  Suspected suicide, suspected fake appendicitis and very definite mania and toastiness characterised Filchner's time in the south.

Prussian Army lieutenant Wilhelm Filchner led Germany's second expedition in the early 20th century.  While the government stayed largely hands off the expedition committee put their oar in enough to see der Deutschland sail under a syphilitic commander whose antics placed everyone's lives in danger and gave us a really good example of the sort of problems split leadership can cause in a high latitudes project.  Suspected suicide, suspected fake appendicitis and very definite mania and toastiness characterised Filchner's time in the south.

047_Filchner

I've got a few tidbits left to add about the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, and Mawson will be back in the narrative before you know it, but this ties up some loose ends and resolves the cliff hanger from the end of episode 050.

I've got a few tidbits left to add about the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, and Mawson will be back in the narrative before you know it, but this ties up some loose ends and resolves the cliff hanger from the end of episode 050.

051_AAE_Wind_up

Flying in the Arctic posed a dodgy prospect but faint heart never ended up dead on a tundra. 

Flying in the Arctic posed a dodgy prospect but faint heart never ended up dead on a tundra.

066_Polar_aviation_part_two

Shackleton's depot laying party head to the Ross Sea and fight to get food and fuel to the foot of the Beardmore.  Part one of a two parter recounting one of the most harrowing chapters to arise in the heroic era.

Shackleton's depot laying party head to the Ross Sea and fight to get food and fuel to the foot of the Beardmore.  Part one of a two parter recounting one of the most harrowing chapters to arise in the heroic era.

053_Ross_Sea_Party_Part_one

Four of the interviews I recorded at the 2018 Australian Antarctic Festival in Hobart.  Bob Tompkins, Joe Johnson, Ian Toohill and John Gillies share some fo their experiences in the south and Dave Davies rounds the episode out with some Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

Four of the interviews I recorded at the 2018 Australian Antarctic Festival in Hobart.  Bob Tompkins, Joe Johnson, Ian Toohill and John Gillies share some fo their experiences in the south and Dave Davies rounds the episode out with some Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

068_ANARE_Club_part_one

What's this? Three episodes in quick succession? Blame the hosting service download counter.  I'm now obsessed with topping last month's total downloads.  This was easy when I only had two and a dog listening but now I have to release more episodes to scratch that itch.  Expect shorter and shorter episodes until I'm editing single words and releasing them.  Anyhoo, this one explains some clothing terms and concepts which warranted more attention than I was giving them.

What's this? Three episodes in quick succession? Blame the hosting service download counter.  I'm now obsessed with topping last month's total downloads.  This was easy when I only had two and a dog listening but now I have to release more episodes to scratch that itch.  Expect shorter and shorter episodes until I'm editing single words and releasing them. Anyhoo, this one explains some clothing terms and concepts which warranted more attention than I was giving them.

043_What_not_to_not_wear

The Best Multi-Part Documentaries, with documentaries on Obama, Federer vs Nadal, the making of Star Wars, Netflix vs Blockbuster and more. Add episodes you're interested into your queue below!

Best Multi-Part Documentaries

The best podcast episodes of anyone with an interesting story. With famous guests like Obama, LeBron James, Drake, Oprah Winfrey, Richard Branson, Michelle Obama, Serena Williams, to anyone who has a unique and interesting story to tell. Add episodes you're interested into your queue below!