36 episodes
The Secret History of Antarctica: Death on the Ice Crowd Stories+
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- True Crime
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4.5 • 90 Ratings
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The Secret History of Antarctica: Death on the Ice.
From the team behind The Secret History of Flight 149 and The Secret History of the Estonia, journalist Stephen Davis investigates the mysterious death of a scientist at the South Pole in the year 2000, and interrogates why the investigation failed to uncover the truth.
Producer: Anna Staufenberg.
Mixing and sound design: Rory Auskerry.
Executive producer: Steve Jones.
Listen to the whole series straight away and ad-free by subscribing to the Crowd Stories channel on Apple Podcasts. Get them ad-free on Amazon Music.
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Antarctica | Ep 1 | Arrival
In the first episode of The Secret History of Antarctica: Death on the Ice, investigative journalist Stephen Davis meets three members of the crew who arrived at South Pole research station in 1999 – friends and colleagues of Dr Rodney Marks. As the sun sets and the station closes for winter, those inside prepare for six months of darkness, no way in, no way out.
Episodes released for free every Monday from February 26th 2024.
You can listen to the whole series ad-free straight away by subscribing to the Crowd Stories channel on Apple Podcasts.
Listen ad-free on Amazon Music.
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Antarctica | Ep 2 | The Doctor
Winter has set in, and there’s a shift in atmosphere on base. When walking back from the remote observatory where he’s conducting his experiments, Rodney Marks falls ill and it’s down to the station’s solo doctor to save his life.
Why can’t Rodney be rescued? Because when something happens at the South Pole in the middle of winter, you’re trapped.
Episodes released for free every Monday.
You can listen to the whole series ad-free straight away by subscribing to the Crowd Stories channel on Apple Podcasts.
Listen ad-free on Amazon Music.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
Antarctica | Ep 3 | The Cop
Rodney Marks is dead. But what really happened? Enter two men determined to solve the mystery, a cop and a coroner from New Zealand.
But who’s in charge when someone dies, in a land that belongs to no-one? Stephen digs into the complexities of Antarctic jurisdiction.
Episodes released for free every Monday.
You can listen to the whole series ad-free straight away by subscribing to the Crowd Stories channel on Apple Podcasts.
Listen ad-free on Amazon Music.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
Antarctica | Ep 4 | Madhouse at the End of the Earth
Warning: this episode contains a story about sexual assault. This series began with investigation into the death of Rodney Marks, but it’s developed into something much broader. A bleak picture of how mysterious deaths, and crimes in general, are dealt with in Antarctica.
In this episode, Stephen hears first-hand about a pervasive culture of harassment and sexual assault in Antarctica. He hears how Antarctic authorities who are supposed to investigate can display shocking levels of incompetence.
Episodes released for free every Monday.
You can listen to the whole series ad-free straight away by subscribing to the Crowd Stories channel on Apple Podcasts.
Listen ad-free on Amazon Music.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
Antarctica | Ep 5 | The Coroner's Verdict
The post-mortem is finished, and the cause of Rodney’s death sends shock waves through the tight-knit South Pole community. How? And will the New Zealand investigation uncover the truth?
Episodes released for free every Monday.
You can listen to the whole series ad-free straight away by subscribing to the Crowd Stories channel on Apple Podcasts.
Listen ad-free on Amazon Music.
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Antarctica | Ep 6 | Theories
In the final episode, Rodney’s friends and colleagues give their theories about what really happened. Suicide, accident, or foul play? And 24 years on, Stephen demands answers from the authorities to his own questions about the investigation.
Episodes released for free every Monday.
You can listen to the whole series ad-free straight away by subscribing to the Crowd Stories channel on Apple Podcasts.
Listen ad-free on Amazon Music.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Customer Reviews
Excellent
As a Swede I found this very interesting and informative. Thank you for telling this story.
AntarCtica
Holy hell! If you’re going to make a podcast about Antarctica, you should be able to say it correctly.
A Few Things…
Every time Stephen says ‘Antartica’ without the first ‘c’ it kills my ears. Indicates lack of knowledge and care. Makes me wonder what else he didn’t bother about. The 12 flags at the SP do NOT surround the South Pole, as he says in Ep.3 They surround the ceremonial barbershop pole used for photos. The actual South Pole is marked by a thin aluminium pole some distance away, with a sign next to it. As the ice moves over the position of the South Pole they put a new aluminium marker pole in the ice on the correct spot. On top of the aluminium marker pole is a brass disc, with a design on top made by station staff, a different one each year. When I arrived at the South Pole on January 20 2001 the marker disc had a scorpion motif, which I was told was there as it was the ‘favourite animal’ of Marks. As an Australian, one of the first things that the station boss Katie asked me was “did you know Rodney Marks?”. I did not. One staff member told me they were uncertain how he died, but seemed to be drugs. Was a rescue flight not called due to resentment over Dr. Jerri Nielsen being evac’d out in a previous winter, only to go on the talk show circuit?