It’s that magical time of year! The new Star Wars film is almost here! Oh, nope, sorry Josefina... the holiday season has just begun! This week, with the return of Marcos Astete, we share our Christmas plans, our Star Wars plans, and Marcos’ obsession with Jim Carrey. For the celebration of the holiday season, we’ve each decided to choose a Christmas movie to debate why it is the best and defend its honour in a fight to the death. Listeners, prepare for Taken North’s 'A Christmas Movie Fight!'

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Even in this northernmost city, we have a taxi service which helps us around during winter storms and getting us to and from the airport to escape the cold and snow. Wiggo Antonsen is one of these drivers and joins us to share his experience as 'The Northernmost Famous Taxi Driver in the World'! After being featured on the BBC TV Series 'Ice Town: Life on the Edge' he has fallen into celebrity life. Each week tourists recognize him as one of their favourite personalities from the series, asking for selfies and quoting him on his tour of Longyearbyen's history, stories, and forty-two kilometers stretch of road. 

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Passion projects are the driving force for many individuals living in Svalbard, and the world. For Ida Marie Eilertsen and her business partner, that project is creating a top secret pair of comfy ladies undies! Ida Maria, the third generation of arctic explorers, shares a few of her experiences here in Svalbard and says some inspirational words on how to develop one's idea into reality. 

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During our November Facebook Live event, we asked our listeners to send us some of their questions about life in the Arctic. We did our best to answer the questions, but thought we should seek additional opinions in the pursuit of clarifying what life in Longyearbyen means for people! Josefina's longtime friend, Malin Grahndin, joins us on the podcast to break the ice and introduce our new segment 'Terrorizing the Locals'.   

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Volunteering can take you a long way: for Jason Rutherford, that's the Arctic! He has been volunteering in permaculture from California to Costa Rica and now stumbling upon Benjamin Vidmar’s project, Polar Permaculture Solution, from Episode 3. In this episode, we discuss Jo’s lazy eye, Jason’s bone-breaking love for dogs, guerilla gardening, Jason’s great plans for Antarctica, and how one can be politely rejected to enter Canada. Sorry.

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Having been in all the corners of the world, internationally awarded filmmaker Carlos Casas tells his experiences of people who live in these remote areas. Casas was granted artist-in-residence by Artica Svalbard, allowing him to experience and experiment with life in the Arctic. He shares some of the sound clips he has been collecting while exploring Longyearbyen and discloses his vision for the local old cable car central, Taubenesentralen. And Jo plays air banjo - unsuccessfully.

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The winds are getting colder and the darkness if finally falling over us here in Longyearbyen, which means it’s a great time for a Halloween episode! In this spooky chat, we invite the horror enthusiast Marcos Astete to talk about sexy grapes and Halloween plans, haunted houses, and a review of the goriest film of them all, John Carpenter's ‘The Thing’

**Spoilers** We start a breakdown and discussion of the film at 22:33. Watch the film and come back to listen to our thoughts about this crazy film!

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With the dark season a few weeks away we talk with Linda Aberg, a local yoga teacher, who has experienced the dark several times in all its glory. Polar latitudes can mess up your circadian rhythm, resulting in loss of sleep, fatigue, and depression. Find out how we avoid seasonal affective disorder while enjoying life in the Arctic, mainly with laughter!

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Ten years ago Ser Thomas Williams' nomad spirit brought him to west coast Norway, where he came to experience the culture clash, and ultimately came to learn the Norwegian language. After years in the cold, he now seeks life in the warmth.

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Up in the north, we live as if in a bubble, distracted with adventure and forgetting the devastating conflicts happening around the world, causing millions to flee their homes. Ina Søhus, a member of The Hero Centre, shares some of her stories, experiences, and the misconceptions about refugees and their struggles to find a safer place in this world.

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