Short video portraits of some of the women scientists, artists, teachers, technicians and support personnel working in Antarctica. For more information about this project and the work of the women featured in these short video portraits please visit our website, WomenInAntarctica.com.
Journalist and broadcaster Alok Jha talks to leading explorers, scientists, conservationists and artists about Antarctica’s fascinating past, present and future, to discover why the icy continent matters to us all. Created by the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the first sighting of Antarctica. UKAHT champions public understanding of, and engagement with Antarctica through the history of human endeavour in the region. UKAHT looks after British historic sites ...
A unique behind the scenes look into Richard Parks' world-leading expedition to ski solo, unsupported and unassisted from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole as fast as possible. Find out how a former international rugby player became a world leading extreme athlete and has brought a team of people together to create Team Quest; A collaborative project to use one of the most gruelling endeavours on the planet to mobilise a community to create learning opportunities in education and bus ...
John Giaever storms it in as a high latitudes can-do-mo-fo with an international team of scientists. No matter how many committees got involved and put their bureaucratic handbrake on the NBSAE, the residents of Maudheim got south and got on with their data gathering and trail prep.
The role of ham radio operators in keeping Antarcticans sane through the long dark is given some attention. Additional audio of Vivian Fuchs speaking to Donald Milner at the BBC was made available by Thomas Henderson of Graceful Willow Productions and with the permission of Jules Madey (http://www.gwillow.com/) The music closing out this episode is…
The first Australian National Antarctic Research Expedition gets moving. Led my Campbell, informed by Mawson, and ignoring any potential input from Davis, the first foryas didn't kick all the committee proposed goals but a start is a start. Heard Island. Macquarrie Island. The last Antarctic outing of the Wyatt Earp. The first Antarctic outing of L…
A mixed bag of achievements and tragedy for the 1948 FIDS. New faces with big Antarctic careers ahead of them show up in the narrative. If you are working through the series in order and don't usually listen to episodes immediately after they're released I urge you to give this one an early play as there's an important message about pies near the e…
Where the history of other nations involved in the Antarctic land grab received plenty of attention in the series to date, Argentina only received mention as being close to the Antarctic Peninsula. I've sought to redress that in this episode. Thanks to Jim for test piloting the new audio settings. Hope I don't blow anyone's speakers with unexpected…
While theft is rare in circumstances where most needs and wants are catered to by management other crimes occur in Antarctica with surprisingly monotonous regularity, given the small numbers of people in the far south at any given moment. Other podcasts have dedicated episodes to the matter but that doesn't mean I shouldn't cover it too, so I did. …
A formal book review of "With Scott Before the Mast," an informal review of "Operation Deep Freeze II Gooney Birds," and interviews with Associate Professor Priscilla Wehi, Elodie Camprasse, and Evan Townsend.
Trail operations, survey flights, tension, and a surprise for the Darlingtons. The RARE comes to a close and departs Stonington Island with the aid of the Operation Windmill ice breakers. The FIDS stay to keep the lights on at Base E.
In this episode I fail to respect, let alone defer to, religious beliefs and the artifacts and structures dedicated to various deities' alleged glory while recounting the ongoing story of religion at high southern latitudes. Happy to take debates on the merits of religion generally or your religion specifically if this outing causes sufficient umbr…
The Ronnes sulk about the FIDS as the RARE settle in to their digs on Stonington Island but realise they have to Voltron up or get little done. George Takei makes his series debut in company with Katie Sagal and Billy West.
In the final episode of series 2, Alok Jha talks to Polar Conservationist and explorer Prem Gill to find out what Antarctic seals and Grime music have in common. Prem is a PhD candidate leading the "Seals from Space" project with the Scott Polar Research Institute, British Antarctic Survey & World Wildlife Fund, and a researcher working on Frozen P…
Alok Jha talks to the award-winning writer Philip Hoare about his life-long love for and obsession with whales and their history in Antarctica. Philip’s numerous books include Leviathan or, The Whale, which won the 2009 BBC Samuel Johnson Prize, and has been published all over the world. It was followed by The Sea Inside (2013) and RISINGTIDEFALLIN…
Worried that you might be feeling cheated on the history front, this month, here's some hefty chunks of trail experiences from the pen of one who lived it. Do you want your word hoosh thick or thin? I can add extra p flour, if you want.
Sean McBride intends taking electric flight to Antarctic and I am excited about it. I'm also excited about my own investigations into heading south to follow in Wilkins and Eilson's prop steps but uncertain whether it will or should happen.
Alok Jha talks to Dr Kelly Hogan, a Marine Geophysicist at the British Antarctic Survey to find out what studying the remains of ancient ice sheets in Antarctica can tell us about climate change and the future of the planet. Kelly works on research vessels around Antarctica, looking for clues about how ancient ice sheets flowed and eventually reced…
In part 1 of this special two part episode, Alok Jha talks to polar explorer Dwayne Fields: the first black Briton to walk 400 miles to the magnetic North Pole, in 2010. Born in Jamaica, Dwayne came to the UK at age of six. In his youth, he was a victim of knife and gun crime and as a result of his experiences, decided to change his life and become…
In part 2 of The White Continent? Alok Jha delves further into Antarctica’s colonial history with historian Dr Ben Maddison, to discover some untold stories of the continent. Ben’s book Class and Colonialism in Antarctic Exploration looks at the the discovery of Antarctica ‘from below’, focusing on the sailors, sealers, whalers, cooks and engineers…
US Navy ice breakers get ground control parties ashore to provide fixed points of reference for Operation Highjump aerial photographs. Helicopters work ship to Antarctic shore for the first time.
The RARE draws nearer its destination and the FIDS head out on trail. Will the confluence of two Antarctic expeditions in the same place at the same time conflict with the laws of physics? Listen to 119 and find out. Oooh, see what I did there? Sizzly call to action. Getting good at this marketing shit, ay?…
Alok Jha goes to Antarctica and far beyond with space plasma physicist Dr Suzie Imber. Suzie is Associate Professor in Space Physics at the University of Leicester. She’s currently involved in the BepiColombo mission to Mercury, which launched in 2018, and will go into orbit around Mercury in December 2025. She’s also a high altitude mountaineer: S…
Alok Jha talks to legendary explorer Felicity Aston about what endurance means to her. In 2012, Felicity became the first woman to ski solo across the Antarctic landmass, a journey of over 1000 miles that took her 59 days and earned her a place in the Guinness Book of World Records. Felicity has gone on to organise and lead numerous expeditions to …
The largest ever Antarctic expedition runs its course. The Sennet heads north with its bow in a sling, divers get with the diving, and the DC-3 makes its "Ice Coffee" debut while the Sea Bees make everything else.
The United States Navy returns to Antarctica, this time under Admiral Cruzen, though Admiral Byrd was there and waving hard at the cameras and yelling that we shouldn't forget that he's the mayor of Antarctica and firsted all the firsts. While not the first fatal air accident in Antarctica, the George 1 becomes the first fatal air accident in Antar…
In the second season of this podcast from the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust, we’ll be delving further into the extraordinary human stories of the wildest, windiest place on our planet. We’ll hear from explorers, scientists and writers who’ve built their lives around this incredible continent. Our guests include explorers Felicity Aston and Dwayne Fie…
This month, in a very special episode of "Ice Coffee" Amanda Zimmerman shares her insights on life at McMurdo Station. Timely stuff for those listeners applying for USARP slots for the first time. Best of luck with your applications, people.
The Tabarin mooted, Marr demurred Base E arises on Stonington Island, five nautical miles from the BGLE hut on Barry Island but two hundred yards from the Johnny-come-five-years-ago East Base. Ted Bingham leads the first iteration of the FIDS and sets the tone for subsequent cohorts. Scones, rum, freshies and the sort of treats that make Brits wave…
Finn Ronne makes ready for his return to Stonington Island, getting away late, in debt and with morale already fraying at the edges. My apologies to anyone who downloaded the place holder episode used to keep this place held while I finished editing episode 113. Here's the real deal.
With a hundred meg of storage in my name and a lot of audio snippets with nothing better to do I give you the bits episode. Mind the neck bolts. This episode features the first competition I've run in a long time. As usual it's biased in favour of early listeners who are old and who are me. Voices from the past. Voices I hope will feature in the fu…
Hope Bay's second tranche of winter residents settle in. Then they head home to a less than heartening reception than their Swedish predecessors experienced, though Taylor didn't die in a public transport accident, so there's that.
Penguin sex gets the attention it deserves after Murray Levick deprived the world of his observations due to his prudish Victorian era sensibilities. Professor Lloyd Spencer Davis gives you the good oil on the oily birds getting it on (early birds only get worms). Extended and diminished visibility and lights in the sky at high latitudes receive so…
In the final episode of the series, Alok Jha talks to Professor Klaus Dodds about Antarctica’s unique geopolitical position, The Antarctic Treaty, Antarctica’s potentially precarious future and what we can all do to protect it. Klaus Dodds is Professor of Geopolitics at Royal Holloway, University of London and a Fellow of the Academy of Social Scie…
In this penultimate episode, Alok Jha talks with contemporary artists Peter Liversidge, Lucy Orta and Marc Rees to find out how Antarctica has inspired them in their work, and why the icy continent has been a particularly inspiring place for so many artists, even before the first sighting 200 years ago. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out…
We hear plenty about the glories of men like Scott and Shackleton who lived in and explored Antarctica, but what about the women? This week, Alok Jha talks with travel writer Sara Wheeler and UKAHT CEO Camilla Nichol to find out the untold stories of the first women to engage with Antarctica — from the first explorers to the undocumented wives of w…
Alok Jha talks to conservation filmmaker Ruth Peacey about the history of penguins in the Antarctic, and what studying penguins can tell us about the future of the planet. Ruth Peacey worked with the BBC for over ten years on series including Natural World, Springwatch, Life in the Air and Planet Earth 2. In her spare time, she started documenting …
Antarctica is at the front line of the global climate crisis; in this episode Alok Jha talks to Professor Dame Jane Francis about the history of the continent, and the extraordinary climate research happening there. Professor Dame Jane Francis is a geologist by training, and a palaeobotanist at the British Antarctic Survey. Her research interests i…
Alok Jha talks to Sir Ranulph Fiennes about the explorers of the past, his experiences of Antarctica and what it actually takes to go there. Sir Ranulph Fiennes is an explorer, author, fundraiser and public speaker. He was described by The Guinness Book of Records as “the world’s greatest living explorer” in 1984, and, since then, he has broken man…
Alok Jha introduces the first series of UKAHT's new podcast A Voyage to Antarctica. To celebrate the 200th anniversary of the first sighting of Antarctica, UK Antarctic Heritage Trust present A Voyage to Antarctica. Through conversations with experts including Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Professor Dame Jane Francis, Ruth Peacey, Klaus Dodds and Sara Wheel…
The War to End All Wars didn't do what it said on the box and political and economic pressures to fascist all over Europe, China and the Pacific led to another protracted period of bloodshed and barbarism. This episode is short and short on Antarctic content but it's important to understand the motives and outcomes of the morass of conflicts we cam…