Astronaut Dr Meganne Christian takes Alok Jha on a trip across the universe, to explore the many connections between Antarctica and space travel. Meganne is a member of the European Space Agency astronaut reserve and a Senior Exploration Manager at the UK Space Agency, advising on human and robotic spaceflight. She has undertaken two missions, including one over-winter, at Concordia Station in Antarctica (known as ‘White Mars’), where she was a research scientist in charge of atmospheric physics and meteorology. In November 2022, she was selected from a pool of over 22,500 applicants across Europe to be one of the 17 members of the European Space Agency’s first astronaut class in 13 years.To support this podcast and the work of the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust click here For more information about our guests, click hereSeason 5 of A Voyage to Antarctica is made possible by support from HX Hurtigruten Expeditions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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31:47
The Worst Journey in the World
The winter before Captain Scott’s ill-fated attempt on the South Pole, his youngest team member Apsley Cherry-Garrard (known as “Cherry”) set off across the ice in the middle of the polar night. Henrietta Hammant talks to Alok Jha about this astonishing journey and Cherry’s subsequent memoir, which remains one of the most gripping works of travel and adventure writing to this day. Henrietta is an anthropologist specialising in the Heroic Age of Antarctic exploration. Her research considers how this era of Antarctic history is displayed in museums. She has worked across the UK and Canada, most notably at the Polar Museum in Cambridge, and has recently submitted her PhD thesis at the University of Reading.To support this podcast and the work of the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust click here To buy a copy of Cherry: A Life of Apsley Cherry-Garrard click here Season 5 of A Voyage to Antarctica is made possible by support from HX Hurtigruten Expeditions.Sound Credits: Footsteps in Snow by SoundBiterSFX - https://freesound.org/s/730914/ - License: Creative Commons 0Walking in Soft Snow.wav by Percy Duke - https://freesound.org/s/420633/ - License: Attribution 3.0Silencyo_CC_Wind Mistral_Strong_pine trees.aif by silencyo - https://freesound.org/s/81797/ - License: Creative Commons 0Heavy hailstorm with thunder by Cinetony - https://freesound.org/s/620489/ - License: Creative Commons 0Short Hailstorm.wav by Benboncan - https://freesound.org/s/63802/ - License: Attribution 4.0 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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42:42
On Thin Ice
With Antarctica sea ice levels reaching record lows over the last four consecutive years, Alok Jha talks to leading glaciologist Professor Martin Siegert about glaciology: the study of ice in all its forms - from the Antarctic ice sheets and glaciers to the icy bodies of our solar system – why ice matters, and the crucial role it plays in our climate.Martin is Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Cornwall) at the University of Exeter. Previously, he was a Professor at Imperial College London and Director of the Grantham Institute and before that he was Head of the School of GeoSciences at the University of Edinburgh. He has published over 250 papers and 8 books on the geophysical exploration of Antarctica. In 2013 he was awarded the Martha T Muse Prize in Antarctic Science and Policy, and in 2007 he was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. To support this podcast and the work of the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust, click here For more information about our guests, click hereSeason 5 of A Voyage to Antarctica is made possible by support from HX Hurtigruten Expeditions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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39:36
Antarctica's Apex Predators
Dr Leigh Hickmott takes Alok Jha up close and personal with Antarctica’s most fearsome resident: the killer whale, which Leigh calls ‘the apex and most adept predator on the planet’. Leigh is a research scientist, zoologist and wildlife presenter, who has co-authored and contributed to numerous scientific research papers. His killer whale research is featured in BBC documentaries ‘Expedition Killer Whale’ and ‘Frozen Planet II’ and he has acted as an ‘on location’ scientific adviser during the filming of natural history series including: NatGeo/Disney+’s Emmy award winning ‘Animals Up Close – Killer Waves’, ‘Our Oceans’ on Netflix, ‘Sentient’ on Disney+ and ‘Blue Planet III’ on the BBC.Leigh’s Antarctic research journey began in 2017, and he has returned each austral summer season since. His research includes studies of three ‘ecotypes’ of killer whale found along the Peninsula’s coast, with his core focus on ‘pack ice’ killer whales.Special thanks to Leigh for providing images and recordings of killer whales for this episode. To support this podcast and the work of the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust, click here For more information about our guests, click hereSeason 5 of A Voyage to Antarctica is made possible by support from HX Hurtigruten Expeditions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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40:13
George Washington Gibbs Jr.
Alok Jha talks to Leilani Raashida Henry about her father: the pioneering Antarctic explorer and civil rights leader, George Washington Gibbs Jr. Born in Florida during the Jim Crow segregation era, Gibbs enlisted in the US Navy in 1935, and went South aboard the USS Bear. On 14 January 1940, Gibbs made history as the first black man to set foot in ‘Little America’ and the first recorded person of African descent known to have landed on the Antarctic continent. Leilani, an author, facilitator, coach, artist, and public speaker, pieced together her father’s story after his death from diaries and contemporary accounts and wrote a book – The Call of Antarctica: Exploring and Protecting Earth’s Coldest Continent – inspired by his life. She has also followed in her father’s footsteps on two expeditions to Antarctica.To support the work of the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust click here For more information about our guests click hereSeason 5 of A Voyage to Antarctica is made possible by support from HX Hurtigruten Expeditions.Sound credits:porto 19-05-14 quiet to moderate waves on rock beach.wav by bpayri - https://freesound.org/s/245132/ - License: Attribution 4.0ships cabin.WAV by inchadney - https://freesound.org/s/111123/ - License: Attribution 4.0CD_VIE_012FX_Synthetic_wind by kevp888 - https://freesound.org/s/711283/ - License: Attribution 4.0 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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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