In the final bonus episode of The Quest for the North Pole, we travel to far northwestern Greenland to see the changing Arctic firsthand. We explore the long history of this area, from its settlement by Indigenous people, to the expeditions of Peary and Rasmussen, to secret military operations during the Cold War. With scientists from the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, we visit a climate-monitoring station atop the Greenland ice sheet, which gathers the data scientists need to model...
Jan 12, 2022•22 min•Transcript available on Metacast On their many attempts to reach the North Pole, Robert Peary and Matthew Henson spent a lot of time in northwest Greenland. So much time that they, like many explorers before them, formed intimate relationships with Inughuit women. Their sons from those unions, Kali Peary and Anaukaq Henson, grew up in their Arctic communities never knowing their fathers. But in the 1980s, an ambitious Harvard neuroscientist brought Kali and Anaukaq to the United States to meet their American relatives. It was a...
Aug 21, 2021•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast Before Robert Peary claimed to have reached the North Pole, he led several expeditions to northern Greenland. But they were more than just scouting trips. He brought back three legendary meteorites from the Arctic, which are still on display in the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Peary also brought people—six Inughuit who had helped him retrieve the meteorites, including a young boy named Minik. In this special bonus episode of The Quest for the North Pole, host Kat Long speaks w...
Jul 30, 2021•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast The demise of the Franklin Expedition remains the most compelling puzzle in Arctic exploration. Sir John Franklin was a veteran of three previous polar voyages, recognized for his bravery and resourcefulness, and admired for his grit. The British Admiralty chose him to lead what it hoped would be its last stab at finding the Northwest Passage. In 1845, two lavishly provisioned ships with 129 crew members entered Lancaster Sound, the pathway toward solving the mystery of the Passage. Then, they s...
Jul 16, 2021•22 min•Transcript available on Metacast Global warming is changing the Arctic rapidly. Explorers of the past would barely recognize its green tundra, diminished glaciers, and ice-free seas. We’ll hear from journalists and historians who have followed in the footsteps of the explorers, and discovered their original routes have disappeared. What do these changes mean for the people who live there now, and our relationship to the Arctic today? Are there still places left to explore? How will we confront exploration’s nationalist and raci...
Mar 13, 2021•46 min•Ep 9•Transcript available on Metacast In 1968, decades after Peary’s and Cook’s competing stories emerged, a Minnesota insurance salesman named Ralph Plaisted was sitting in a bar, talking to a friend about snowmobiles. His friend said that if snowmobiles were so great, he should be able to ride one to the North Pole. Plaisted accepted the challenge. Thus began one of the most improbable expeditions, led by one of the unlikeliest adventurers, ever made to the Pole—a journey by Ski-Doo that ended up being the first to indisputably re...
Mar 05, 2021•39 min•Ep 8•Transcript available on Metacast Robert E. Peary expected glowing accolades and worldwide fame for being first at the North Pole. But a New York physician named Frederick Cook said he had been first. Peary sensed his glory being snatched from his grasp—and mounted a relentless campaign in the press to prove his claim. And Henson? He supported his longtime expedition leader—though Peary didn’t return the favor. He had no more use for his loyal assistant after they returned from the Arctic for the last time. In this episode, we u...
Feb 26, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Ep 7•Transcript available on Metacast Peary and Henson had one more shot at the North Pole in them. With their trusted Inughuit partners in Greenland, they spent months in the Arctic preparing for their dash to the Pole in spring 1909. And after traveling over hundreds of miles of dangerous ice, they believed they had reached their goal: They were the first men to stand at the top of the world. Or were they? Before Peary could claim his laurels, another explorer declared that he had conquered the Pole almost a year before Peary. Hen...
Feb 19, 2021•44 min•Ep 6•Transcript available on Metacast No explorer tried harder or over a longer time to claim the North Pole than Robert Edwin Peary, a tough Mainer who suffered setbacks that would have permanently discouraged others—he even lost most of his toes to frostbite and still wouldn’t give up his dream. But he wouldn’t have been able to do it without Matthew Henson, his African-American right-hand man on seven grueling expeditions. In this episode, we’ll meet Peary and Henson, two adventurers with completely different backgrounds and temp...
Feb 13, 2021•58 min•Ep 5•Transcript available on Metacast European explorers often thought of the Arctic as an empty wasteland, and the Indigenous people who lived there as childlike. But as one historian put it, “the real children in the Arctic would be the white explorers.” From Martin Frobisher’s expeditions in the 16th century right up until Robert Peary’s time, Inuit people helped explorers in countless ways—from providing food, to teaching valuable skills, to saving their lives. In this episode, we’ll learn how Indigenous people viewed the Europe...
Feb 05, 2021•48 min•Ep 4•Transcript available on Metacast By the second half of the 19th century, British explorers had competition from Americans and Norwegians in the race to claim the North Pole. Nowhere was the contrast in expedition styles more evident than between British naval officer George Strong Nares and Norwegian adventurer Fridtjof Nansen. While Nares stuck to tradition, Nansen ushered in a new era of polar exploration that favored tested theories over wishful thinking, self-organization over government sponsorship, and minimalism over the...
Jan 29, 2021•48 min•Ep 3•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode, we’ll dive into the first real attempts to conquer the North Pole in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. As explorers pushed farther into uncharted territory, they encountered dangerous icebergs, Arctic mirages, Indigenous communities, and extreme hardship. British explorers like William Edward Parry, John Ross, and John Franklin didn’t have any idea what they were getting into—and paid the price. The learning curve for explorers who wanted to go north would be steep. But th...
Jan 22, 2021•40 min•Ep 2•Transcript available on Metacast The North Pole has attracted explorers for centuries. They faced an unbelievably harsh and dangerous climate, lost fingers and toes to frostbite, or even cut off their own body parts to survive. Many adventurers risked everything to claim it—but why? In our first episode, we’ll meet the generations of explorers who searched for passages to Asia, like Martin Frobisher, William Barents, and Henry Hudson. And we’ll examine how, by the mid-19th century, those quests had turned into an all-out race t...
Jan 15, 2021•32 min•Ep 1•Transcript available on Metacast In this new podcast, Mental Floss Presents: The Quest for the North Pole, we’ll dive into the adventure, excitement, and danger surrounding our obsession with the North Pole. Hosted by Kat Long, the science editor at Mental Floss and obsessive fan of polar history, this show will analyze the motives and celebrate the triumphs of the people who sought the northernmost point on the globe. Many wanted to claim its discovery—but only one could be the first. Learn more about your ad-choices at https:...
Jan 07, 2021•3 min•Transcript available on Metacast In this final bonus episode of History Vs., Erin and Mental Floss fact checker Austin Thompson discuss the challenges and delights of tracking down the truth about Theodore Roosevelt—and bust some TR myths, too. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Oct 23, 2020•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast How Theodore Roosevelt used his big stick diplomacy to make the most of an international incident in an election year. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Aug 28, 2020•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast Recently, the American Museum of Natural History asked that the city of New York remove the famous equestrian statue of TR—which also features an African figure and a Native American figure in positions submissive to Roosevelt—from the steps outside its Central Park West entrance. In this special episode, we’re taking a look at the statue: Its history, what the artists intended, and why it’s controversial today. Plus, we’ll revisit Roosevelt’s thinking on race and discuss his views of legacy. Le...
Jun 26, 2020•22 min•Transcript available on Metacast Famed illusionist Harry Houdini might have been one of the only people to succeed in leaving Theodore Roosevelt truly dumbfounded. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
May 29, 2020•16 min•Transcript available on Metacast Theodore Roosevelt has been in the news lately, thanks to a ship with a cargo of coronavirus and a leaked letter to the navy. But more than 100 years ago, TR—that ship's namesake—engaged in a controversial letter-writing campaign of his own, one that incensed the highest levels of government. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Apr 16, 2020•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast In 1990, Theodore Roosevelt's double action revolver—the one he'd used during the Battle of San Juan Heights—was stolen from Sagamore Hill National Historic Site. It wouldn't come back to the museum for another 16 years. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Apr 03, 2020•12 min•Transcript available on Metacast A book must be interesting to the particular reader at that particular time,” and other tips about reading from one of history's greatest bibliophiles. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mar 06, 2020•13 min•Transcript available on Metacast In his 1893 book The Wilderness Hunter , TR wrote about what he called "a goblin story that really impressed" him. Mental Floss Science Editor Kat Long joins Erin to discuss "The Bauman Incident." Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Feb 21, 2020•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast Between all of his writing, ranching, and governing, Theodore Roosevelt made time to maintain close relationships with his many family members—all of whom led vibrant, adventurous lives of their own, and also helped establish TR’s legacy. From sister Bamie’s restoration of TR’s birthplace to son Ted Jr.’s heroic efforts on D-Day, this episode explores the stories of the Roosevelts that we didn’t get to cover in season 1. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com Se...
Feb 07, 2020•19 min•Transcript available on Metacast Theodore Roosevelt was a man who never stopped fighting. He grappled with his own physical deficiencies, railed against corruption, and always fought to move the nation forward in the way he thought best. One hundred and one years after his death, where can we still see the spirit of Roosevelt in our nation? Which of his policies do we still view favorably, and where did he fall short? And what is his ultimate legacy? Find out in the final episode of the first season of History Vs. Learn more ab...
Jan 05, 2020•1 hr 6 min•Ep 11•Transcript available on Metacast At age 55, Theodore Roosevelt embarked on an Amazonian jungle trek along the River of Doubt, where he very nearly lost his life. It was, in many ways, the icing on the cake of a life brimming with near-death experiences. He had close encounters with wild animals on hunting trips, chased down dangerous boat thieves, and quit his secretarial post in the Navy to fight in the Spanish-American War. So did Roosevelt die as he lived? Decide for yourself after this week’s History Vs . Learn more about y...
Dec 29, 2019•36 min•Ep 10•Transcript available on Metacast Theodore Roosevelt loved Christmas, but the Roosevelt family never had a Christmas tree. If you believe the stories, it's because TR, an avid conservationist, had banned them—and that ban is supposedly what led his son, Archie, to sneak a tree into the White House, a stunt that reportedly earned him a stern lecture. That's what the stories say, but what actually happened? In this episode, we'll reveal the fact, and fiction, behind this pervasive Theodore Roosevelt Christmas tale. Learn more abou...
Dec 22, 2019•16 min•Transcript available on Metacast Theodore Roosevelt was the first American to win a Nobel Prize, which he clinched in part for brokering peace between Japan and Russia in the Russo-Japanese War. During his presidency, he also paved the way for the construction of the Panama Canal. He got so far by “speaking softly and carrying a big stick,” as he famously advised to others. But how did that Big Stick Energy go over with his fellow politicians, the press, and the people? Find out all that and more in this episode. Learn more abo...
Dec 15, 2019•54 min•Ep 9•Transcript available on Metacast Like parents and children often do, Theodore Roosevelt and his daughter Alice butted heads in part because they were so similar—both passionate, curious, strong-willed, and intelligent. Throughout her upbringing (tag-teamed by TR’s sister and his second wife), her teenage years in the White House, and her marriage to a congressman, Alice never, ever made things easy for herself or her father. Did TR ever master the art of handling his fiercely spirited daughter? Maybe not, but he definitely had ...
Dec 08, 2019•39 min•Ep 8•Transcript available on Metacast Theodore Roosevelt revered Abraham Lincoln so much that, during his second inauguration, he wore a ring containing a lock of Lincoln’s hair. His feelings toward other presidents, however, were a little less warm and fuzzy. TR thought William Howard Taft was a “puzzlewit,” Woodrow Wilson was a “lily-livered skunk,” and Benjamin Harrison was a “cold-blooded, narrow-minded, prejudiced, obstinate, timid old psalm-singing Indianapolis politician.” And these weren’t even necessarily his sworn enemies—...
Dec 01, 2019•40 min•Ep 7•Transcript available on Metacast Long before Batman and Commissioner Gordon fought corruption under cover of darkness in Gotham, Theodore Roosevelt, president of the police commission, was prowling around New York City in plainclothes at night to make sure his policemen were doing their jobs. It was just one battle in a long war against corruption, during which TR fought against the spoils system, trusts, and lax food safety standards. In short, Roosevelt certainly tried his best to change the nation for the better. Did it work...
Nov 24, 2019•39 min•Ep 14•Transcript available on Metacast 
