Ice Coffee: the history of human activity in Antarctica

Reynolds returns to the narrative but his efforts at getting the US a toehold in the cold see him get an even colder shoulder than his last outing. Ross earns his ice chops in the north. Dumont d'Urville, after wowing the crowds with an armless display of Greek marbility, languishes in Cholera riddled Toulon, until his big chance beckons. Balleny fulfills Enderby funded duties and adds information...

Peter Kemp isn't well recorded, so there's little to tell about him other than he sailed on the Magnet and saw a coast that's now named after him. Jason Kimberley traveled to Antarctica in 2005 and did the hauling and the crevasse fields that make up much of my nightmare material.  On his return, in addition to writing one of the most accessible recent books about life on the ice, Jason establishe...

The last gasps of British sealing efforts in the South and a brief profile of a dynasty of ship owners who paid for a lot of the exploitation of marine resources in the sealing and whaling boom times. 

Morrell was a liar, Symmes was a looper and Reynolds was a bona-fide genuine slick talker.  Running to catch up in the claims stakes, US politics gets in the way and Morrell adds confusion.  More on Reynolds later. Sue Haliwell, Antarcticartican makes what is hope will be the first of many appearances between her northern exposures. After switching to a new hosting plan to free up money for a seco...

Hear me mix and match pronunciations as my brain fights it out between what it knows is correct and what it's accustomed to. James Weddell - the explorer who went sealing in an age of sealers going exploring.  New record holders for southernmost expedition, the Beaufoy and the Jane sail into what we now know as the Weddell Sea and find vast expanses of no ice, leading to incredulity and ridicule. ...

Powell sets a new benchmark for "Who?" Sealer, navigator, measurer and cartographer, that's who.

Connnecticut sealer sails a tiny tender, finds fame.

Smith - the competent, dutiful sealer who got the job done and got no reward, plaudits or even much of a mention in the history books.  He should have taken the money and ran, but hindsight's not a lot of use without a time machine.

An overview of the state of the art in maritime extraction industries at the start of the ice rush.

The chronology gets thrown out early in the piece, as the case of the empty H4n case unravels and some temporal anomalies are narrowly prevented from becoming time travel paradoxes.  Karl, I need the Delorean back last week. The Bellingshausen episode is in the editing suite as I type, and should be available last Sunday.

Hard as nails Russian sea-dog braves the southern ocean in inadequate ships and after a rushed preparation and without biologists and...  You get the picture.  Up against it, Bellingshausen shone when the sun refused to do so, and it's not his fault most people haven't heard of him.

One of the most iconic names in maritime history does his empirical bit to show the world where Antarctica isn't.

A brief look at what was going on around the world as the exploration of the Southern Ocean began.

Imagining, seeking, and then shrinking Terra Australis Incognita to manageable proportions.  Philosophers, geographers, clergy and sailors vie for the final word on what and where Antarctica is, and who lives there. Only one more preliminary episode to go and we'll get into some history.

A quick study of the setting of the series, covering the geology, climate, glaciology and biology of the Antarctic. Only two more preliminary episodes and we'll get to the history the series is supposed to be about, I promise.

There's more to brewing up in Antarctica than just switching the kettle on.  Feel free to brew along to the chorus.