Explore: A Canadian Geographic podcast

Canadian Geographic
  • 4.9 (24)
  • Places & Travel
  • Updated Monthly

Host David McGuffin talks to Canada’s greatest explorers about their adventures and what inspires their spirit of discovery.

  1. Jul 14

    HMCS Canada: The forgotten ship that built a navy with Joseph Frey

    What does a ship that sank a century ago off the Florida Keys have to do with the birth of the Royal Canadian Navy? Quite a lot, as it turns out. Before there was a Royal Canadian Navy, there was the HMCS Canada, a steel-hulled vessel that trained Canada's first naval officers, escorted First World War convoys, survived the Halifax Explosion, and helped lay the foundations of a young nation's naval service. Yet despite its remarkable legacy, most Canadians have never heard of it. In this episode of Explore, host David McGuffin sits down with naval historian, underwater archaeologist and former Royal Canadian Navy officer Joseph Frey to tell the extraordinary story of Canada's forgotten first warship: the HMSC Canada.  From its launch in 1904 to its wartime service and eventual sinking off the Florida Keys in 1926, Frey traces the unlikely journey of a vessel that helped shape Canadian history. The conversation also follows a modern RCGS Flagged expedition, led by Frey, to the wreck nearly a century after the ship's loss. Using advanced diving techniques and 3D photogrammetry, Frey and his team documented the wreck, answered long-standing questions about how it sank, and helped restore HMCS Canada's place in Canada's historical memory. Along the way, Frey reflects on his role in the discovery of HMS Erebus, the enduring appeal of underwater exploration, and why forgotten stories like HMCS Canada still matter today. Whether you're listening in a car, a canoe, a sailboat, a dock, or somewhere along Canada's coastline, this is a story of exploration, naval history, and the remarkable rediscovery of a ship that helped build a nation. Joseph Frey is Vice-President of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, a Fellow of The Explorers Club, a naval historian, an underwater archaeologist, and a retired Royal Canadian Navy officer. He was a member of the 2014 Victoria Strait Expedition that discovered HMS Erebus, one of Sir John Franklin's lost ships, and has spent decades researching and documenting Canada's maritime history both above and below the waterline. Recommended episodes Michael Palin — Erebus: One Ship, Two Epic VoyagesJill Heinerth — Bell Island's U-Boat WrecksUnder the Ice — Andrew Bramburger and Andrew Budziak Credits: Closing music is Heart of Oak, the official march of the Royal Canadian Navy played by the RCN's Stadacona Band. Halifax, NS. Explore: A Canadian Geographic Podcast is hosted by David McGuffin. Produced by David McGuffin and ExploreProductions.ca in partnership with Canadian Geographic. Canadian Geographic: Editor-in-chief: Alexandra PopeDigital and travel editor: Madigan CotterillDigital marketing manager: Caroline Workman For more stories of adventure, science, history, and exploration, visit canadiangeographic.ca

  2. Jun 30

    The Guess Who's Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman on Canadian music, travel and the prairies

    What do endless prairie highways, a runaway tour bus, a hockey stick used as cruise control, and one of the greatest Canadian rock bands of all time have in common? Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman have the stories. From overpacked motel rooms on the road, to their tour bus almost going off a cliff in B.C., to witnessing polar bear attacks in Churchill, to revealing the real inspiration behind hits like American Woman and Undun, Bachman and Cummings share unforgettable stories from more than six decades of music, friendship, and life on the road. Along the way, they explain why the wide-open spaces of the Canadian prairies continue to inspire them, how growing up in Winnipeg helped nurture one of Canada's greatest songwriting partnerships, and why, after touring the world, they still feel most at home where "you can see forever."  Whether you're listening from a canoe, a campsite, or somewhere along a Canadian highway, this is a conversation about music, memory, friendship, and the prairie landscapes that helped shape one of Canada's greatest rock bands. Credits Explore: A Canadian Geographic Podcast is hosted by David McGuffin. Produced by David McGuffin and ExploreProductions.ca in partnership with Canadian Geographic. Canadian Geographic: Editor-in-chief: Alexandra Pope Digital and travel editor: Madigan Cotterill Digital marketing manager: Caroline Workman For more stories of adventure, science, history, and exploration, visit canadiangeographic.ca

  3. Jun 16

    Sing Louder, Paddle Harder: Exploring Canada's Arctic rivers with Ted Johnson

    In this episode of Explore, host David McGuffin sits down with lawyer, conservationist, former senior aide to Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, and one of Canada's most accomplished Arctic paddlers, Ted Johnson. For more than two decades, Johnson and a remarkable group of friends, including diplomats, journalists, cabinet ministers, and occasionally Pierre Trudeau himself, set out each summer to canoe some of the most remote rivers in northern Canada.  From the Hood and Coppermine rivers to little-known rivers on Banks Island and Ellesmere Island, Johnson shares stories of first descents, close calls, vast caribou migrations, and landscapes few Canadians will ever see. Along the way, he reflects on a changing Arctic, the evolution of wilderness travel, and what it was like to paddle and camp alongside one of Canada's most transformational Prime Ministers.  This captivating episode explores a remarkable era of northern exploration and the enduring pull of Canada's wild rivers. Ted Johnson is a lawyer, conservationist, pilot, and former senior advisor to Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. An Officer of the Order of Canada and Fellow of both the Royal Canadian Geographical Society and the Royal Geographical Society, he has spent decades exploring Canada's North by canoe, helping document and promote some of the country's most remote wilderness rivers. To learn more about the paddling adventures of Johnson and his friends, Sing Louder, Paddle Harder, edited by his colleague Robert Fowler, contains hundreds of images and stories from across the Arctic.  Credits Explore: A Canadian Geographic Podcast is hosted by David McGuffin. Produced by David McGuffin and ExploreProductions.ca in partnership with Canadian Geographic. Editor-in-chief: Alexandra Pope Digital and travel editor: Madigan Cotterill Digital marketing manager: Caroline Workman  For more stories of adventure, science, history, and exploration, visit CanadianGeographic.ca Follow Explore wherever you get your podcasts and leave a rating or review if you enjoy the show.

  4. Jun 2

    Retracing a historic fur trade route across Quebec with Bruno Forest

    "There's a humility in this kind of travel. You don't pretend to adapt the world to you. You adapt to the world." — Bruno Forest In the summer of 2025, Bruno Forest and his team of five others pushed their canoes into the waters of the Saguenay Fjord, setting out on an extraordinary 1,200-kilometre journey, paddling from Tadoussac on the St. Lawrence River to Waskaganish on James Bay. But this wasn't simply a wilderness expedition. Travelling in hand-built cedar canvas canoes by Forest and veteran artisans, he and his crew retraced a route that stretches deep into North American history — following waterways used by Indigenous traders for centuries before becoming part of the European fur trade networks. The journey demanded weeks of hauling canoes upstream through powerful rivers, reopening forgotten portages swallowed by the forest, and crossing some of Quebec's most remote landscapes. Along the way, the expedition connected with Innu and Cree communities whose histories remain deeply intertwined with these waterways. In this episode, Forest shares stories of building the expedition's canoes alongside some of Quebec's last traditional canoe builders, encountering woodland caribou and wolves in the north, and discovering what happens when travel slows to the pace of a paddle. More than an adventure story, this is a conversation about memory, place, and why the canoe remains one of Canada's most powerful symbols. In This Episode A 1,200-kilometre canoe journey from Tadoussac to James BayBuilding traditional cedar canvas canoes for the expeditionFollowing ancient Indigenous trade routes and fur trade corridorsReopening long-forgotten portages in Quebec's interiorEncounters with Cree and Innu communities along the routeWildlife, wilderness, and life on the waterThe philosophy of canoe travel and adapting to the land About Bruno Forest Bruno Forest is a Quebec-based canoe and kayak guide, filmmaker, author, and expedition leader. In 2025, he led the Royal Canadian Geographical Society's Expedition of the Year, retracing a historic route across Quebec from the St. Lawrence River to James Bay in traditional cedar canvas canoes. Based in Tadoussac, he is also documenting the expedition in an upcoming feature-length film. For updates on the documentary, follow Bruno on Facebook @alamerdunord.2025

  5. May 19

    At the edge of the world with Louise K. Blight

    “There’s something really profound in being in such a vast landscape with nobody else around… You feel like such a diminutive thing in the landscape, really insignificant. Putting you in your place in the world.” - Louise K. Blight In this episode of Explore, host David McGuffin sits down with Louise K. Blight for a live conversation recorded at the Ottawa International Writers Festival about her new book, Where the Earth Meets the Sky. Drawing on her time studying Adélie penguins in Antarctica in the early 2000s, Blight reflects on life at the edge of the world, where she lived among hundreds of thousands of penguins and endured brutal storms and isolation in this remote corner of the planet. Working alongside legendary penguin researcher David Ainley at Cape Royds on Ross Island, Blight spent months immersed in one of the harshest and most surreal environments on Earth. The conversation explores the rhythms of penguin colonies, the eccentric culture of Antarctic research stations, the psychological realities of isolation, and the growing impacts of climate change on polar ecosystems. Blight also shares stories of hurricane-force winds, skua attacks (predatory seabirds), the unforgettable smell of penguin colonies, and the profound sense of perspective that comes from living in a vast frozen landscape with almost no other humans around. In this episode: What it’s like living and working in Antarctica for months at a timeStudying Adélie penguins at the world’s southernmost colonyThe remarkable resilience and behaviour of penguins in extreme environmentsLife at McMurdo Station and the unique culture of Antarctic research communitiesIsolation, endurance, and the psychological challenges of remote fieldworkHow climate change is threatening emperor penguins and Antarctic ecosystemsThe strange beauty of Antarctica’s landscapes, wildlife, and silenceWhy Antarctica continues to inspire scientists, explorers, and conservationists Louise K. Blight is a conservation scientist, seabird researcher, and professor in the Environmental Studies Department at the University of Victoria. Her work focuses on seabirds, marine ecosystems, and conservation biology. She also serves as co-chair of the Bird Specialist Subcommittee on the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Her new book, Where the Earth Meets the Sky, chronicles her experiences studying Adélie penguins in Antarctica and explores the intersection of science, solitude, and environmental change.

  6. May 5

    Into the Carpathians: Skiing Ukraine’s highest peaks with Laval St. Germain

    “Even in the most peaceful village, you’re surrounded by fresh graves… and you know the war is still there.” What does it mean to explore a country at war? In this episode of Explore, host David McGuffin speaks with Laval St. Germain, a Canadian explorer who has just returned from a journey deep into the Carpathian Mountains of western Ukraine. Travelling overland into the country, St. Germain set out to ski the Chornohora Ridge and climb Ukraine’s six highest peaks — what he found was a place of striking contrasts.  In the high mountains, wildlife is rebounding due to a wartime hunting ban, with wolves, bears and lynx returning in surprising numbers. But elsewhere, the war continues to devastate landscapes, with some calling it an “ecocide” as forests burn, infrastructure collapses, and ecosystems are destroyed. The Carpathians themselves are among Europe’s last wild regions — home to ancient cultures like the Hutsul people and layered with history, from World War I trenches to long-forgotten border markers that once divided empires. But even in these remote and peaceful settings, the war is never far away. In village cemeteries, fresh graves of young soldiers serve as a stark reminder of the ongoing conflict. From skiing windswept ridgelines to navigating military checkpoints, and from quiet conversations with locals to witnessing the surreal normalcy of life in Kyiv, St. Germain offers a rare, ground-level perspective on Ukraine today — one that goes beyond headlines to reveal resilience, complexity and humanity. In this episode:Skiing across Ukraine’s highest peaks in the Carpathian MountainsA landscape shaped by shifting borders, empires and conflictWildlife is rebounding in some regions while war devastates othersLife in remote Ukrainian villages and the impact of war on communitiesTravelling through Ukraine during wartime — from trains to checkpointsKyiv today: a vibrant city adapting to ongoing conflictHow modern warfare, including drones, is changing life on the ground Laval St. Germain is a Canadian explorer, commercial pilot in the Arctic and Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society. He is the only Canadian to have summited Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen. His expeditions have taken him to some of the world’s most remote and politically complex regions, including Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran. He has also rowed solo across the North Atlantic from mainland Canada to mainland Europe and skied to the South Pole. More with Laval St. Germain: Explore podcast episode 95: Laval St. Germain's journey to Afghanistan's highest mountainExplore podcast episode 78: Laval St. Germain: Mountains, oceans and the ArcticJan 19, 2019 — Meet the Canadian explorer who just completed the Seven Summits

  7. Apr 21

    Beneath the ice: The hidden life of Canada’s frozen lakes with Andrew Budziak and Andy Bramburger

    What’s happening beneath the ice of Canada’s lakes? Home to roughly two million lakes and covering nearly nine per cent of the country’s surface, Canada boasts a great reputation, holding more than half of the world’s freshwater lakes. But until recently, what goes on beneath Canada’s frozen surfaces has been largely unexplored.  In this episode of Explore, podcast host David McGuffin dives into this hidden world with scientist Andy Bramburger and filmmaker Andrew Budziak. From cutting massive holes in lake ice to sending divers into a surreal, cathedral-like underwater world, this is exploration at its most extreme.  But the real story lies in what they’re exploring: diatoms — microscopic algae living on the underside of ice that help power aquatic food webs, produce oxygen and may play a critical role in carbon cycling during winter. As ice cover shrinks with climate change, this little-known ecosystem could be disappearing before we fully understand it. Through a mix of science, storytelling and citizen-led exploration, Bramburger and Budziak are racing to uncover what’s beneath the ice—and why it matters to all of us. A research scientist with Environment and Climate Change Canada, Bramburger is one of the world's leading experts on inland aquatic ecosystems. He is based at the Canada Centre for Inland Waters in Burlington, Ontario. Budziak is an award-winning wildlife photographer and documentary filmmaker. He continues to lead dive teams under the ice to collect samples while documenting the expedition.  Together, they are part of an initiative led by the Royal Canadian Geographical Society and the Trebek Initiative that advances our understanding of freshwater systems in winter. Budziak has also been recognized as a member of the prestigious Explorers Club 50 for his leadership on the project. His documentary Under the Ice captures the story behind the science. It is touring film festivals this year and will air on PBS. In this episode: Why more than half the world’s lakes are in Canada, and why we know so little about them in winterWhat it’s like to dive beneath frozen lakes in extreme conditionsThe surprising role of diatoms in producing oxygen and supporting aquatic lifeHow shrinking ice cover could disrupt entire freshwater ecosystemsThe power of citizen science and storytelling in modern exploration Favourite explorer movie The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou Learn more: Project and documentary: freezethefuture.comMore conversations with explorer and diver Jill Heinerth If you enjoyed this episode, follow the show, leave a rating and share the link with a fellow explorer.

  8. Apr 7

    Searching for life beyond Earth with Sara Seager

    What if life isn’t just “out there”, but closer than we think? For the first time in more than 50 years, humans have left Earth's orbit, marking a significant point in history. And as NASA’s Artemis II mission makes its historic journey around the moon, we explore the thought-provoking question driving this return to space: are we alone?   From pioneering techniques to study distant worlds to leading bold robot missions to Venus, Toronto-born Sara Seager is helping redefine how (and where) we look for life in the universe. Alongside podcast host David McGuffin, this episode featuring Seager is all about space: exoplanets, phosphine gas, future space missions and, of course, life beyond Earth.   As a global leader in exoplanet science, Seager shares the story behind the controversial detection of phosphine gas in Venus’s clouds, a potential biosignature (a substance or phenomenon that provides evidence of past or present life) that sparked global debate, and why our neighbouring planet may hold surprising clues to alien life. A Canadian astronomer and professor at MIT, Seager is widely recognized for her work on exoplanets and planetary atmospheres. She is a recipient of a MacArthur Genius Grant, is a Companion of the Order of Canada and a Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society. Her research has helped transform exoplanets into one of the most dynamic fields in astronomy. More recently, she has led innovative efforts to explore Venus’s clouds for possible signs of microbial life. Her award-winning memoir, published in 2020, is called The Smallest Lights in the Universe. In this episode:  What exoplanets reveal about the potential for life beyond our solar systemWhy Venus, once overlooked, may be a key target in the search for lifeThe mystery of phosphine gas and the scientific controversy that followedHow future missions could directly sample Venus’s atmosphereHow exploration, from Canadian wilderness to deep space, shapes discovery Books on exploration recommended by Seager: Sleeping Island: The Story of One Man's Travels in the Great Barren Lands of the Canadian NorthCoppermine Journey: An Account of Great Adventure Selected from the Journals of Samuel Hearne

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Host David McGuffin talks to Canada’s greatest explorers about their adventures and what inspires their spirit of discovery.

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