Midnight Facts for Insomniacs

Death, Misery, Folly, and Ponies: The Chilling History of Polar Exploration

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Who was the first explorer to reach the North Pole? How about the South? It turns out that at least one of those answers is complicated, and although the controversy may never be laid to rest, plenty of would-be arctic conquerors were themselves laid to rest during the golden age of polar exploration. Join MFFI for the fascinating, brutal, bloody, pony-packed tale of the race for polar glory. 

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In this episode:  

  • The "Top" of the World
  • Map Makers, Eurocentrism, and the West Wing
  • Polar Facts
  • 90 Degrees Latitude
  • The Polar Day, the Tilt of the Earth, and Polar Seasons
  • Alert, Canada
  • Nautical Twilight
  • Thomas Nast and Santa Claus
  • Russia Claims the Pole
  • The Northwest Passage
  • Prices of Spices
  • Robert McClure and the HMS Investigator 
  • The Magnetic North Pole VS the True North Pole
  • The Lost Franklin Expedition of 1845
  • The Arsenic-Poisoning of Charles Francis Hall
  • The Crushing of George W Delong
  • The Crashing of Salomon August Andree
  • The Race Between Robert Peary and Frederick A Cook
  • The Contributions of Matthew Henson
  • Polar Bear Liver
  • The Race for the South Pole 
  • Roald Amundsum
  • Fridtjof Nansen and the Fram
  • The Night of the Ponies
  • Amundson Takes the Pole
  • Amundson Takes Another Pole
  • The Death of Amundson

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    Episode Transcript

     

    ~ KNOWLEDGE IS POWER, AND SLEEP IS OVERRATED ~

     

     

     

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    Midnight Facts for InsomniacsBy Shane Rogers
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