What really happened in the race to the South Pole? Did Captain Oates really say "I'm going outside, I may be some time?" Were the British Heroic Age explorers like Robert Scott and Ernest Shackleton “brave but foolish,” or has history simplified a far more complex story? And how are modern explorers like Preet Chandi, reshaping what heroism looks like in the twenty-first century?
In this episode of Artfully Said, Dr Henrietta Hammant and Dr Max Jones revisit this dramatic era of Antarctic exploration beyond the familiar narrative of Scott versus Amundsen to uncover the wider context of the “scramble for the Antarctic” on the eve of the First World War. The episode considers how empire was packaged for audiences at home through stirring tales of endurance, sacrifice and masculine heroism, and why Scott’s tragic death resonated so strongly on the eve of the First World War. Discover the extraordinary story of Captain Oates’ reindeer-fur sleeping bag, tracing its journey from Sámi craftsmanship to the Antarctic ice and eventually to the Scott Polar Research Institute. Revisit Shackleton’s Endurance expedition, one of the most remarkable survival stories in history, and learn how his reputation has risen and fallen over time.
Dr. Henrietta Hammant is a museum anthropologist with a love of the polar regions. She holds degrees in Archaeology and Anthropology from the University of Cambridge, and Visual, Material and Museum Anthropology from the University of Oxford. Recently, she has completed her PhD in the Anthropology of Heritage at the University of Reading, with a focus on Heroic Age Antarctic explorers and their representation in British museums. She has worked in museums across Canada and the UK, including as Assistant Curator at the Itsanitaq Museum in Churchill, Manitoba, and Collections Coordinator at the Polar Museum, part of the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge. She has visited Antarctic twice, and is now an Impact Fellow at the University of Nottingham, working to decolonise Nottingham City Museums and Galleries’ collection of North American ethnographic objects.
Formerly a Fellow and Director of Studies in History at Christ's College, Cambridge, Dr. Max Jones, teaches at the University of Manchester and has previously won the university’s ‘Teacher of the Year’ award. He specialises in modern history since 1750, with particular interest in the cultural history of war and heroism, and is currently writing a new history of British heroes. His research and teaching focuses on heroes, heroism, gender & sexuality; the Arctic and Antarctic, exploration, technology & empire; the media and celebrity and the cultural history of war. He has analysed how heroic reputations are constructed and disseminated in order to offer insights into a range of research questions regarding empire, gender, sexuality, the media and the state.
Artfully Said is a video podcast brought to you by The Arts Society. All guest viewpoints are independent and do not necessarily reflect The Arts Society’s perspective.
