A Grand Tour

each other as company. The Aminsen Scott Research Station is already cramped, but this takes closeness to a whole new level. Everyone in the cedar box is dripping with sweat, struggling to breathe the hot, humid air. But just as their heart rates skyrocket and skin flushes deep red, the station's heavy doors creek open, and a biding chill works its way in every survival instinct in their bodies screams in protest.

And that's only the beginning, because what I'm describing right now is one of the most extreme athletic challenges on Earth, and only a handful of people have even tried to complete it. At any given moments, About four point eight billion people live in Asia, another one point five billion live in Africa, and a billion in the Americas, seven hundred and fifty million in Europe and fifty million in Oceania. But in Antarctica, the seventh continent, that number is zero. Well,

technically the number is closer to one thousand. While Antarctica has no permanent residence per se, it hosts thirty nine research stations, where scientists spend up to two years studying the bottom of the world. These residencies are some of the most competitive positions on Earth. The fewer than one thousand slots spread across a continent larger than Europe and twice the size of Australia. But while the chance to live at the South Pole is rare, the chance to

thrive is even more rare. It's tough to unwind from a stressful day at work when you can ever actually leave the office. There are no movie theaters, no restaurants, and certainly no front yard games of catch. Researchers spend their lives in a loop, working at a desk, then retreating to a cramped dormitory to relax before doing it all over again, and that is in the summer. Only The most committed scientists, known as winter Overs, stay for the off season at the Amts and Scott Research Station,

the southernmost point on the globe. Winter brings six months of total darkness called the Polar Night, and during this time the station is effectively cut off from the world. Frequent blizzards and lack of light mean it's too dangerous for planes to land. So what do three dozen super committed scientists do for fun? In a frozen, empty landscape devoid of most human interaction. They challenge each other to dares,

most famously the three hundred Club. To qualify, a resident must survive a staggering three hundred degrees swing in temperature, all in a single afternoon first ten minutes in the station's sauna cranked up to two hundred degrees fahrenheit. Cramped sweaty humid, it becomes an oven, and participants risk fainting, dehydration, and heat stroke to stay inside the full ten minutes. When their time is up, though, they race out of the sauna and into the negative one hundred degree Antarctic night.

It's hard to appreciate how cold that really is. It's the temperature at which carbon dioxide becomes dry ice. It's impossible for human beings to survive more than a few minutes outside, and it's cold enough that every breath feels like needles in your lungs. About one hundred feet from the doors of the Aminsen Scott South Pole Station is an actual pole, a small barber pole surrounded by the

flags of countries who were first to sign the Antarctic Treaty. Participants, still sweating from their sauna experience, sprint out of the station and into the unbearably cold darkness towards the ceremonial pole, and they aren't wearing their usual thermal research gear. Participants are allowed to wear a pair of standard issue boots and a neck gaiter to prevent their windpipes from freezing, but that's it other than that. They are completely naked

in the dark Antarctic winter cold. At minus one hundred degrees, it doesn't take long for sweat to freeze against their skin, and while the aurora might be shining green and purple overhead, no one stops to take in the view. Every breath feels like needles in their lungs, and the participants can't afford to stop for even a second. The run back from the pole is a blur. Adrenaline is the only

thing keeping anyone going frozen. Skin becomes numb, and a fog descends over the brain as the body begins to shut down. A couple of seconds mean the difference between discomfort and long term damage. The moment they're back inside the station, doors close and the celebration begin. The sauna a welcome sight after all that cold, I imagine is full of scientists thrilled to celebrate the accomplishment, and of course enough beer to warm even the coldest of hearts.

I would have to imagine that that feeling of euphoria is unreal. The relief of survival, the much needed change of pace from endless work in monotony, and the pride of accomplishing a challenge, all of it must be exhilarating. After all, there are roughly eight billion people on this planet, but these folks are the rare handful who can say they've stood at the bottom of the world stark, naked and minus one hundred degrees. Tafari was born in Ethiopia

in eighteen ninety two. Depending on who you ask, his birth was just like any other or it heralded Major change for the country, or even that it meant a new savior had been born to mankind. It's a fact that he was no ordinary man. He was, after all a prince, and before he ever became a king, he went on a journey that made him famous all over the world. By nineteen twenty four, Tafari was crown prince

regent to his cousin, the Empress. There was a constant tug of war for power between the two of them, and he wanted to show the world that he was the true leader of Ethiopia. Ethiopia was the only African nation that managed to avoid colonization by a European power

in the eighteen hundreds. Tafari's father actually helped prevent the Italians from conquering the country in eighteen ninety six, and Tafari wanted to push that success further by negotiating some kind of trade route with France that would allow Ethiopia access to the sea through the French colony of Djibouti. He traveled with a large entourage, including a pack of lions that he planned to give to the leaders of Europe.

It was not too dissimilar to a situation than that Eddie Murphy comedy Coming to America, at least in that Tfari was an African prince out of his element in the Western world. He arrived in Paris after about a month of travel, gifting one of the lions and trying to show France that he was firm when it came to protecting Ethiopia's independence, but also hopeful that the two nations could be allies. But the French only seemed interested in exploiting the situation. They would only offer to lease

Ethiopia some land at an exorbitant price. Tafari went next to Italy, his country's old nemesis. He met with none other than Benito Mussolini, who offered to build a railroad from the Italian coastal colony of Eritrea into northern Ethiopia. But again this wasn't acceptable. It would give Italy dangerous access to his country, and so he had to continue his tour. Tafari next went to England, where he was

received even more poorly. The King didn't even greet him, despite the fact that he had brought a lion for him. The monarch did accept the gift, however, and in exchange returned an Ethiopian imperial crismet that the British had stolen decades earlier. But when Tafari met with a Prime minister, he found him uninterested in helping Ethiopia gain access to the sea, and so Tafari returned to France determined to try one more time in securing their help, but he

found the country even more intractable than ever. The various political and business interests of the nation were all at cross purposes with Tafari. They all feared what a more successful, powerful Ethiopia might mean for their various colonies and businesses in Africa. Tafari visited many smaller nations on the rest of his tour, impressing various European leaders with his lions

and his sense of diplomacy. He was fluent in French and very passionate about modernizing his country, so in a sense, the tour was successful, even though it didn't achieve his primary goal. Tafari proved that he was Ethiopia's one true leader. He returned home, and by nineteen twenty eight his cousin the Empress was finally forced to crown him ruler of Ethiopia, and that was actually the beginning of the most curious

part of Tafari's story. All the way across the globe in the English colony of Jamaica, the impoverished black people of that nation heard that a black king was crowned in Africa and that he was respected by the white rulers of Europe. They came to believe that he was the second coming of Christ and would deliver them from their colonial oppressors, and so they called him the Ethiopian word for Prince Ros, and because his name was Tafari

Ros Tafari, they became Rostafarians. It's a religion that still exists to this day and was followed most famously by the musician Bob Marley. It's an especially curious bit of history, giving that Tafari himself was an orthodox Christian and never believed that he was any kind of spiritual savior, and his rule had many ups and downs, including the Italians invading in the years leading up to World War II,

which drove him into exile. After his return, he remained adept at the play helmacy but bad at economic developments, and his people suffered multiple famines. Tafari Markanen was murdered in nineteen seventy five in a communist coup. But the bravery he showed when he was just prince echoes on to this very day, and it inspires formerly colonized nations all around the world. I hope you enjoyed today's guided

tour through the Cabinet of Curiosities. This show was created by me Aaron Manke in partnership with iHeart Podcasts, researched and written by the Grim and Mild team, and produced by Jesse Funk. Learn more about the show and the people who make it over at Grimandmild dot com slash Curiosities. You'll also find a link to the official Cabinet of Curiosity's hardcover book, available in bookstores and online, as well as ebook and audiobook. And if you're looking for an

ad free option, consider joining our Patreon. It's all the same stories, but without the interruption for a small monthly fee. Learn more and sign up over at paige Treon dot com, slash Grim and Mild, and until next time, stay curious. Mm hmm.