MENTAL FLOSS PODCASTS

The Quest for the North Pole Bonus Episode 4: Live from Greenland

In the final bonus episode of The Quest for the North Pole, we travel to far northwestern Greenland to see the changing Arctic firsthand. Along the way, we'll see amazing wildlife, get frostbite, and realize how lucky we are not to be man-hauling thousand

The Quest for the North Pole Bonus Episode 3: Family Reunions

While on their quest for the North Pole, Robert Peary and Matthew Henson had sons with Inughuit women. In the 1980s, an ambitious Harvard neuroscientist brought them to America.

The Quest for the North Pole Bonus Episode 2: Minik and the Meteorites

Before Robert Peary claimed to have reached the North Pole, he led several expeditions to northern Greenland. He brought back three legendary meteorites from the Arctic—and a young boy named Minik.

The Quest for the North Pole Bonus Episode: The Arctic’s Biggest Mystery

The demise of the Franklin Expedition remains the most compelling puzzle in Arctic exploration. What catastrophe had befallen Britain’s best-prepared polar expedition? And what tantalizing clues are still being uncovered?

The Quest for the North Pole, Episode 9: The North Pole Today

Global warming is changing the Arctic—and explorers of the past would barely recognize its green tundra, diminished glaciers, and ice-free seas. Our final episode looks at the North Pole’s many legacies.

The Quest for the North Pole Episode 8: Triumph by Snowmobile

In 1968, 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.

The Quest for the North Pole, Episode 7: A Gold Brick

Robert E. Peary expected worldwide fame for being first at the North Pole. But Frederick A. Cook said he had been first. Peary sensed his glory being snatched from his grasp—and mounted a relentless campaign to prove his claim.