The Explorers Podcast

In the conclusion of our series, Brazza spends more than a decade as an administrator in Africa. He will then return to the Congo one final time, in 1905, to investigate the accusations of abuses against the native peoples. Website: https://explorerspodcast.com/brazza/ Map: https://explorerspodcast.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/ogowe5.png People and Places Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza - Born in Italy,...

In part 3 of our series, Brazza returns to Africa, where he will establish two outposts, including one on the Congo River. In the process, he will thwart many of the plans of King Leopold II of Belgium, who wants to make the entire Congo basin his own personal colony. Website: https://explorerspodcast.com/brazza/ Map: https://explorerspodcast.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/ogowe5.png People and Place...

In part 2 of our series, Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza conducts his first African expedition up the Ogowe River. Website: https://explorerspodcast.com/brazza/ Map: https://explorerspodcast.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/ogowe3.png People and Places Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza - Born in Italy, but educated in France. Would join the French navy, and become interested in exploring Africa. Ogowe River (often...

In the first part of our series on Italian-born Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza, we take a look at the world of Central Africa circa 1875, including the institution of slavery, and scramble by European powers to explore - and claim the continent. Brazza goes from the son of an Italian noble family, to being an officer in the French navy. He will then prepare to lead an expedition into the African inter...

In 219 BCE, Xu Fu, a Chinese explorer and alchemist, would set out in search of the elixir of life for Emperor Qin Shi Huang. Instead, legend says he discovered Japan - and maybe even became the island's first emperor. Website: https://explorerspodcast.com/xu-fu/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/explorerspod Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/explorerspod/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megap...

In the final super-sized episode (part 8) of the Burke and Wills Expedition, we take a look at the fate of John King – the last unaccounted for member of the VEE. We then cover the aftermath of the expedition, and look at the legacy of Burke and Wills and Victorian Exploring Expedition. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Part 7 of our series, Burke, Wills and King make a desperate stab at making for Mount Hopeless. While much closer than Menindee, the three men do not know the way or have accurate directions. Meanwhile, Wright and Brahe meet up, and make for the depot at Cooper's Creek. In Melbourne, the calls for a search party grown louder and louder with each passing week. People and Places Robert O’Hara Bur...

In part 6 of our series, Robert Burke and his comrades begin their journey from the northern coast of Australia to the depot at Cooper's Creek. They are low on supplies and their health is waning. Meanwhile, William Wright struggles to get the needed supplies to depot, where the health of William Brahe and his men is deteriorating. People and Places Robert O’Hara Burke – Leader of the Victorian Ex...

In part 5 of our series Robert Burke and William Wills lead a small contingent of men into the outback of Australia in an attempt to reach reach the north coast - and in the process become the first men to cross the continent. People and Places Robert O’Hara Burke – Leader of the Victorian Exploring Expedition (VEE) William Wills – British surveyor and astronomer. 2nd-in-command of the expedition....

In part 4 of our series, Burke and Wills travel north to Cooper's Creek, where they establish a supply depot. Burke will spend a month scouting the area to the north, before finally departing for the north coast in mid-December. At Menindee, William Wright waits for money to buy more horses so he can haul all the supplies to Burke's new camp. Meanwhile, a policeman, Trooper Myles Lyons, strikes ou...

In part 3 of our series, the Victorian Exploring Expedition travels from Melbourne to the frontier outpost of Menindee on the Darling River. Along the way, the VEE will undergo a transformation as many key members will be fired (or resign), and others will join the company. Meanwhile, Robert Burke must dodge an arrest notice, criticism and his own ego to move the VEE forward. Map: https://explorer...

In part 2 of our series, Robert Burke and the Exploration Committee hire men for the Victorian Exploring Expedition (VEE), including William Wills - who will serve the expedition's surveyor, meteorologist, and astronomer. The VEE, consisting of 19 men, 26 camels, 23 horse, six wagons, and 200 tons of supplies, then prepares to depart Melbourne in August of 1860. The goal is to be the first men to...

The first episode in the Burke and Wills Expedition series provides background to the endeavor - which was an expedition to cross Australia in 1860-61. We are introduced to the organizers of the expedition - Royal Society of Victoria - and its eventual leader, Robert Burke. Key people and places Robert Burke - Irish police superintendent from Castlemaine. Will be named leader of the expedition. Ro...

Between 400-600 BCE, Hanno the Navigator of Carthage, conducted an epic voyage down the west coast of Africa - sailing more than 4,000 miles - reaching all the way to modern-day Gabon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Cossack Vladimir Atlasov explores the Kamchatka Peninsula in the late 1690s - claiming it for the Russian Empire. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Series wrap up. We look at the aftermath of the siege of Tenochtitlan. We also cover the rest of Cortés' life, and the lives of some of the key players in our series. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In part 7 of our series on Hernán Cortés and the Conquest of Mexico, the Spanish and their allies converge on the Valley of Mexico and begin the siege of Tenochtitlan - which will signal the end of the Aztec Empire. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the wake of his defeat at Tenochtitlan, Cortés must fend off the Aztecs at the Battle of Otumba. He must then consolidate his forces, and plot his return to the Valley of Mexico - even while small pox ravages the empire. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Part 5 in our series on Hernán Cortés and the Conquest of Mexico, Cortés must deal with threats from the recently arrived Panfilo de Narvaez, and an uprising in Tenochtitlan. Things will end with the La Noche Triste - the Night of Sorrows (hint: that's won't end well for the Spanish).  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In part 4 of our series on Hernán Cortés, the Spanish march into Tenochtitlan - the Aztec capital. In doing so, he will come face-to-face with the legendary Montezuma. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In part three of our series on Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés, the Spanish march west, encountering resistance from the independent Tlaxcalan people, as well as confronting possible treachery in the city of Cholula. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hernán Cortés forges an alliance with a discontented people, and establishes the first European settlement in New Spain - Vera Cruz. Also, he encounters the first emissaries of the Aztec Empire, who offer the Spanish a large bribe to leave their lands. Instead, Cortés becomes determined to travel to the heart of the Aztec Empire - Tenochtitlan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/...

Hernán Cortés leads an army to Mexico to seek out the sophisticated lands to the west. The Spanish will find something they never imagined - the Aztec Empire. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Franklin Expedition disappears in the Canadian Arctic while trying to find the Northwest Passage. Part 2 in our series examines the tragic fate of Franklin, his men and their ships - and the 170+ years of searching for clues to the expedition's ultimate end. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1845, Sir John Franklin leads two ships into the Arctic in search of the fabled Northwest Passage. The ships and crew were the finest England had to offer, however, after heading into Lancaster Sound - the entrance to the Passage - neither ship would be seen again. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices