A Voyage to Antarctica

UKAHT
  • 4.9 (14)
  • EARTH SCIENCES
  • SERIES
A Voyage to Antarctica

Journalist and broadcaster Alok Jha talks to leading explorers, scientists, conservationists and artists about Antarctica’s fascinating past, present and future, to discover why the icy continent matters to us all. Created by the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the first sighting of Antarctica. UKAHT is a charity, championing the public understanding of, and engagement with Antarctica through the history of human endeavour in the region. UKAHT looks after British historic sites and artefacts in Antarctica and invests in global public programmes and education; enabling more people to discover, understand, value and protect this precious wilderness.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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  1. EPISODE 1

    Polar Preet

    Alok Jha talks to Guinness World Record-breaking polar explorer Preet Chandi MBE – known as Polar Preet – about her extraordinary, inspiring and boundary-breaking achievements in Antarctica. In 2022, Preet became the ninth woman in history to ski solo to the South Pole and the first woman of colour to complete a solo expedition on the continent. The next year, Preet set out on another adventure: covering 922 miles in 70 days and breaking two Guinness world records for the longest solo unsupported one-way polar ski journey for a woman and overall.  After we spoke to her, Preet went back to Antarctica – this time to attempt a speed record for the fastest woman to complete a solo South Pole ski expedition, covering 702 miles of Antarctic ice in 31 days, 13 hours and 19 minutes. www.ukaht.org Season 4 of A Voyage to Antarctica is made possible with support from Hurtigruten Expeditions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    39 min

  2. EPISODE 2

    Dinosaurs in Antarctica

    Dr Susannah Maidment, Principal Researcher in fossil reptiles at London’s Natural History Museum, takes us 100 million years back in time to when Antarctica was a rainforest and home to some of the biggest creatures to ever walk the earth – the dinosaurs!  Susannah has a PhD in vertebrate palaeontology from the University of Cambridge and, prior to working at the Natural History Museum, was a Research Fellow at Imperial College and a postdoctoral researcher at the Natural History Museum. She appears regularly in the media talking about dinosaurs and has been a guest on BBC Radio 4’s The Life Scientific and The Infinite Monkey Cage. https://www.ukaht.org/antarctica-in-sight/podcasts/ Season 4 of A Voyage to Antarctica is made possible with support from Hurtigruten Expeditions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    34 min

  3. EPISODE 3

    Into the Dark Antarctic Night

    Alok Jha talks to journalist and author Julian Sancton about the harrowing and epic survival story of The Belgica: an early polar expedition gone terribly wrong – with a ship frozen in ice and its crew trapped inside for months of endless polar night.  Julian is an editor at The Hollywood Reporter. His writing has appeared in Vanity Fair, Esquire, GQ, The New Yorker, Wired, and Playboy, among others. He has reported from every continent, including Antarctica, which he visited while researching his New York Times bestseller Madhouse at the End of the Earth: The Belgica’s Journey into the Dark Antarctic Night. A graduate of Harvard College, where he majored in History, Julian lives in Larchmont, New York, with his partner, Jessica, and their two daughters. For more info about our guests and episode transcripts click here To support the work of the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust click here Buy Julian's book, Madhouse at the End of the Earth here Season 4 of A Voyage to Antarctica is made possible with support from Hurtigruten Expeditions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    39 min

  4. EPISODE 4

    Emperor Penguins

    Alok Jha talks to Dr Peter Fretwell, award-winning cartographer and leading scientist at the British Antarctic Survey, about Antarctica’s most iconic residents – Emperor penguins – and the threats they’re facing from climate change.  Peter pioneered the use of satellite imagery to find and monitor polar wildlife – a project that has led to him discovering almost half of the world's Emperor penguin colonies. He chairs the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research, Bedmap3 group and ‘Censusing Animal Populations from Space’ (part of the Southern Ocean Observing System) and heads BAS’s ‘Wildlife from Space’ group. He has completed five field seasons in Antarctica. For more info about our guests and episode transcripts, click here To support the work of the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust - and adopt a penguin - click here Season 4 of A Voyage to Antarctica is made possible with support from Hurtigruten Expeditions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    33 min

  5. EPISODE 5

    The Space Gardener

    Alok Jha talks to NASA astro-botanist Jess Bunchek about growing vegetables in Antarctica – and outer space.  Jess started as a botanist and agronomist and, after completing her masters, worked as an astro-botanist at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where she researched space crop production and supported “Veggie” – a vegetable production chamber on the International Space Station.  While at NASA, she proposed a new collaboration with Germany's space agency, DLR, on the EDEN ISS greenhouse project in Antarctica. For this, Jess overwintered for 14 months at Germany's Neumayer Station III in Antarctica from late 2020 to early 2022, where she operated EDEN ISS and contributed to multiple areas of Antarctic research.  For more information about our guests and episode transcripts, click here To support the work of the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust, click here Season 4 of A Voyage to Antarctica is made possible with support from Hurtigruten Expeditions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    32 min

  6. EPISODE 6

    Snow Widows

    Alok Jha revisits one of Antarctica’s most enduring tales of exploration with author and journalist Katherine MacInnes. Her book 'Snow Widows' tells the story of the race for the South Pole, from the perspective of the women whose lives would be forever changed by it: the wives and mothers that Sir Robert Falcon Scott and his expedition team left behind.  Katherine MacInnes has been an arts journalist and commissioning editor and has gained an MSt from The University of Oxford. She has published plays and children’s books, as well as a biography of Oriana Wilson - 'The Woman With The Iceberg Eyes'. She is a regular on local BBC Radio and her journalism has appeared widely, including in the Times, Telegraph and Country Life.  For more information about our guests and episode transcripts, click here To support the work of the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust, click here  To buy 'Snow Widows' by Katherine MacInnes, click here  Season 4 of A Voyage to Antarctica is made possible with support from Hurtigruten Expeditions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    44 min
See All Season 4 (6)

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Ratings & Reviews

4.9
out of 5
14 Ratings

About

Journalist and broadcaster Alok Jha talks to leading explorers, scientists, conservationists and artists about Antarctica’s fascinating past, present and future, to discover why the icy continent matters to us all. Created by the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the first sighting of Antarctica. UKAHT is a charity, championing the public understanding of, and engagement with Antarctica through the history of human endeavour in the region. UKAHT looks after British historic sites and artefacts in Antarctica and invests in global public programmes and education; enabling more people to discover, understand, value and protect this precious wilderness.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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