1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,600 Speaker 1: Guess what, mango? What's that will? So you know I 2 00:00:02,640 --> 00:00:04,920 Speaker 1: love a good A t M story, right, Like we 3 00:00:05,040 --> 00:00:07,240 Speaker 1: we've talked about a t M so many times in 4 00:00:07,280 --> 00:00:08,719 Speaker 1: the past, Like there's the A t M in the 5 00:00:08,760 --> 00:00:11,280 Speaker 1: Vatican City and it's the only one in the world 6 00:00:11,280 --> 00:00:14,360 Speaker 1: that operates in Latin, which is pretty cool. But I 7 00:00:14,440 --> 00:00:16,360 Speaker 1: have a new favorite A t M fact that I 8 00:00:16,360 --> 00:00:19,079 Speaker 1: wanted to share. So there's actually an A t M 9 00:00:19,160 --> 00:00:22,639 Speaker 1: located in Antarctica and it's operated by Wells Fargo, and 10 00:00:22,680 --> 00:00:24,880 Speaker 1: it's in the Guinness Book and they call it the 11 00:00:24,920 --> 00:00:30,160 Speaker 1: world's loneliest A t M because it's the only one. Actually, 12 00:00:30,160 --> 00:00:32,159 Speaker 1: there is a second A t M on hand, and 13 00:00:32,159 --> 00:00:34,360 Speaker 1: it's hidden in a closet or something, and it doesn't 14 00:00:34,400 --> 00:00:37,680 Speaker 1: actually work. It's just there to cannibalize for the spare part. 15 00:00:37,880 --> 00:00:40,560 Speaker 1: That's sad. But what's even weird is that Wells Fargo 16 00:00:40,640 --> 00:00:44,080 Speaker 1: only services the machine once every two years, and that's 17 00:00:44,080 --> 00:00:46,199 Speaker 1: when Wells sends a repairment out to give the A 18 00:00:46,320 --> 00:00:48,760 Speaker 1: t M a little check up. That's crazy. So why 19 00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:50,800 Speaker 1: don't they service it more frequently? Like don't they have 20 00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:53,400 Speaker 1: to replenish the cash? Well, that's the beauty of banking 21 00:00:53,400 --> 00:00:55,560 Speaker 1: and Antarctica. There's no need for this that, you know, 22 00:00:55,600 --> 00:00:58,240 Speaker 1: the population there is so small that the money just 23 00:00:58,360 --> 00:01:01,520 Speaker 1: keeps recirculating. But learning about that a t M did 24 00:01:01,520 --> 00:01:04,280 Speaker 1: make me wonder, like, what are the other peculiarities of 25 00:01:04,360 --> 00:01:08,000 Speaker 1: living in Antarctica? How do everyday things like plumbing and 26 00:01:08,160 --> 00:01:11,040 Speaker 1: internet work down there? And that's what today shows all about. 27 00:01:11,160 --> 00:01:31,360 Speaker 1: So let's dive in. Welcome to Part Time Genius. I'm 28 00:01:31,360 --> 00:01:33,440 Speaker 1: Will Pearson and as always I'm joined by my good 29 00:01:33,440 --> 00:01:37,600 Speaker 1: friend Man and sitting behind the soundproof glass vigorously shaking 30 00:01:37,600 --> 00:01:41,040 Speaker 1: a snow globe in each hand as our producer Tristan McNeil. 31 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:43,399 Speaker 1: Where did he get those things? He's making it blizzard? 32 00:01:44,240 --> 00:01:46,720 Speaker 1: So meno, I'm gonna ask you right off the bat, 33 00:01:46,800 --> 00:01:49,800 Speaker 1: what what's your interest in visiting the South Pole? So? 34 00:01:49,960 --> 00:01:53,160 Speaker 1: I mean, it looks beautiful, but there's so many beautiful 35 00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:55,800 Speaker 1: places in the world, and you know, I hate the cold. 36 00:01:56,480 --> 00:01:59,320 Speaker 1: Plus some of those early expeditions to Antarctica sounded so 37 00:01:59,520 --> 00:02:02,240 Speaker 1: miserable it's kind of scared me off, I know, and 38 00:02:02,280 --> 00:02:04,080 Speaker 1: I actually want to talk a little bit about those 39 00:02:04,080 --> 00:02:07,480 Speaker 1: expeditions later. And clearly we both like warm weather because 40 00:02:07,520 --> 00:02:10,040 Speaker 1: we live in warm places, but I kind of want 41 00:02:10,040 --> 00:02:12,840 Speaker 1: to see the landscape in person at least once. So 42 00:02:12,880 --> 00:02:15,680 Speaker 1: I started looking up tours this week and I found 43 00:02:15,680 --> 00:02:18,720 Speaker 1: this group called White Desert Luxury Tours. Have you ever 44 00:02:18,760 --> 00:02:21,880 Speaker 1: heard of this company out because they basically, do you know, 45 00:02:21,919 --> 00:02:26,079 Speaker 1: like glamping for an arcticle? How do you glamp in Antarctica? Well? 46 00:02:26,120 --> 00:02:29,000 Speaker 1: I was reading this article in Wired, and basically White 47 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:31,639 Speaker 1: Desert is set up these luxury camping pods and this 48 00:02:31,880 --> 00:02:36,040 Speaker 1: beautiful Mars like area of Antarctica. The pods have solar 49 00:02:36,080 --> 00:02:39,799 Speaker 1: panels and propane heaters, and they're eco friendly too, but 50 00:02:39,840 --> 00:02:42,320 Speaker 1: you know, to keep you safe. They're also designed to 51 00:02:42,360 --> 00:02:46,400 Speaker 1: withstand a hundred and eighty mile per hour. Well that's 52 00:02:46,400 --> 00:02:48,600 Speaker 1: how wendy it gets there. And you know the pods 53 00:02:48,639 --> 00:02:52,000 Speaker 1: are beautifully outfitted, but the whole camp must have cost 54 00:02:52,040 --> 00:02:55,040 Speaker 1: a fortune to build. Why is that? Well, remember, getting 55 00:02:55,080 --> 00:02:57,840 Speaker 1: stuff to Antarctica isn't cheap. According to the article, it 56 00:02:57,919 --> 00:03:01,200 Speaker 1: costs thirty eight dollars a pound to live furniture there, 57 00:03:01,520 --> 00:03:04,640 Speaker 1: and the pods themselves weigh three tons of piece, which 58 00:03:04,720 --> 00:03:07,600 Speaker 1: is insane. And and trips like that always sound like 59 00:03:07,639 --> 00:03:09,680 Speaker 1: something rich people do just because they're looking for new 60 00:03:09,720 --> 00:03:12,160 Speaker 1: ways to spend their money. It's like God's way of 61 00:03:12,160 --> 00:03:14,840 Speaker 1: telling you have too much cat Wow. You know, the 62 00:03:14,919 --> 00:03:17,800 Speaker 1: camp only services around a hundred clients a year, so 63 00:03:17,880 --> 00:03:22,040 Speaker 1: it's definitely exclusive. But you'd be in some pretty classy company. 64 00:03:22,240 --> 00:03:26,359 Speaker 1: So you know. Past travelers include Saudi princesses, Prince William 65 00:03:26,440 --> 00:03:31,360 Speaker 1: and also buzz Aldern wait, buzz Aldern Glans apparently so. 66 00:03:31,400 --> 00:03:35,040 Speaker 1: But you know, what you experience Antarctica is also insane. 67 00:03:35,400 --> 00:03:38,440 Speaker 1: Once your golfstream jet lands on the icy runway, you'll 68 00:03:38,480 --> 00:03:42,160 Speaker 1: get to explore neon blue ice tunnels and lakes, and 69 00:03:42,520 --> 00:03:46,240 Speaker 1: go on guided hikes, penguins up close, visit all these 70 00:03:46,240 --> 00:03:49,240 Speaker 1: science bases. They even take you to the South Pole. 71 00:03:49,520 --> 00:03:52,080 Speaker 1: I mean, everyone who's gone says the beauty of this 72 00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:56,680 Speaker 1: untouched land is just overwhelming. Plus you get unlimited champagne. 73 00:03:57,640 --> 00:04:00,400 Speaker 1: So I just pulled this up on my computer. Hot 74 00:04:00,400 --> 00:04:03,720 Speaker 1: showers first draped on all the dining chairs. It looks 75 00:04:03,720 --> 00:04:06,560 Speaker 1: so fancy. I'm I'm definitely in all right. Well, the 76 00:04:06,640 --> 00:04:10,280 Speaker 1: only catches it cost eighty tho dollars a person. But 77 00:04:10,520 --> 00:04:12,440 Speaker 1: you know, I've always said I just don't like the 78 00:04:12,440 --> 00:04:14,360 Speaker 1: cold that much, and I have to be true to myself, 79 00:04:14,400 --> 00:04:17,400 Speaker 1: so I'm out again. I didn't take long. So speaking 80 00:04:17,400 --> 00:04:19,479 Speaker 1: of hot showers, it it reminds me of this event 81 00:04:19,520 --> 00:04:21,960 Speaker 1: that takes place in Antarctica. It's called the Race around 82 00:04:21,960 --> 00:04:24,800 Speaker 1: the World. Basically, it's this fun two mile race that 83 00:04:24,839 --> 00:04:27,440 Speaker 1: takes place on Christmas Day at the South Pole and 84 00:04:27,520 --> 00:04:30,320 Speaker 1: it's for the scientists there. It's called around the World 85 00:04:30,320 --> 00:04:33,479 Speaker 1: because you're actually racing through every single time zone. I 86 00:04:33,520 --> 00:04:36,240 Speaker 1: didn't think about that, so you would touch every single 87 00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:39,280 Speaker 1: time Wow, that's amazing. It's pretty awesome. Then, and while 88 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:41,200 Speaker 1: some people run the course, you can actually do it 89 00:04:41,240 --> 00:04:44,480 Speaker 1: on skis or snowmobile. But the reason I'm mentioning it 90 00:04:44,520 --> 00:04:46,760 Speaker 1: is that the prize for the winning runner is a 91 00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:51,159 Speaker 1: five minute hot shower. So according to Business Insider, residents 92 00:04:51,160 --> 00:04:53,520 Speaker 1: at the South Pole station are limited to to two 93 00:04:53,520 --> 00:04:56,440 Speaker 1: minute showers a week, so a bonus five minute shower 94 00:04:56,520 --> 00:04:59,080 Speaker 1: is like a huge treat. I guess that makes sense. 95 00:04:59,080 --> 00:05:01,160 Speaker 1: I mean, it's funny how you just expect things like 96 00:05:01,279 --> 00:05:04,040 Speaker 1: hot showers are everywhere by now. But you know, one 97 00:05:04,040 --> 00:05:06,160 Speaker 1: of the things that's so cool about Antarctica is how 98 00:05:06,279 --> 00:05:09,800 Speaker 1: environmentally friendly the camps are. The Treaty of Antarticle, which 99 00:05:09,800 --> 00:05:12,920 Speaker 1: was signed by twelve countries back in nineteen fifty nine. 100 00:05:13,320 --> 00:05:15,320 Speaker 1: It was this, It was this agreement that the land 101 00:05:15,360 --> 00:05:18,880 Speaker 1: there would be used for science and peaceful purposes. And 102 00:05:18,960 --> 00:05:20,880 Speaker 1: part of the agreement is that you can't dirty the 103 00:05:20,960 --> 00:05:24,640 Speaker 1: landscape or leave any contaminants there. In fact, if you 104 00:05:24,640 --> 00:05:27,560 Speaker 1: want to organize your own expedition to Antarctica, the process 105 00:05:27,600 --> 00:05:30,400 Speaker 1: involves three things. So first it is showing that you 106 00:05:30,400 --> 00:05:33,560 Speaker 1: will be completely self sufficient. Second is that you have 107 00:05:33,640 --> 00:05:36,479 Speaker 1: a good reason for being there, and third is that 108 00:05:36,520 --> 00:05:39,719 Speaker 1: you have little or no environmental impact on the land. 109 00:05:40,080 --> 00:05:42,880 Speaker 1: And there's special attention paid to this, and if you 110 00:05:42,960 --> 00:05:46,000 Speaker 1: can't lay out your plan for creating zero waste, they'll 111 00:05:46,040 --> 00:05:48,800 Speaker 1: deny you permission to go there. That's pretty interesting. So 112 00:05:49,000 --> 00:05:51,479 Speaker 1: I was actually reading about the recycling and Antarctica and 113 00:05:51,680 --> 00:05:55,200 Speaker 1: it's like at Portlandia levels. I saw the spreadsheet on 114 00:05:55,240 --> 00:05:58,039 Speaker 1: Boing Boing from America's McMurdo base, and they have this 115 00:05:58,200 --> 00:06:01,320 Speaker 1: matrix for where to recycle old or disposed of wood 116 00:06:01,360 --> 00:06:04,359 Speaker 1: and it's pretty intense, like pens and pencils have a 117 00:06:04,400 --> 00:06:08,040 Speaker 1: specific bin, and drained radiators have their own bin, and 118 00:06:08,200 --> 00:06:11,760 Speaker 1: mops and brooms haven't been everything is clearly charred out 119 00:06:11,760 --> 00:06:14,040 Speaker 1: where it goes and how it gets separated. But they 120 00:06:14,080 --> 00:06:16,320 Speaker 1: also poked fun at themselves. What do you mean by that? 121 00:06:16,640 --> 00:06:19,520 Speaker 1: So one prankster put all these jokes signs up of 122 00:06:19,600 --> 00:06:21,880 Speaker 1: what can and can't go into the bins, and they 123 00:06:21,920 --> 00:06:24,840 Speaker 1: seem to have stuck around, like there's a recycling bin. 124 00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:28,080 Speaker 1: That's where glitter. And in the rules for what's recyclable 125 00:06:28,120 --> 00:06:33,359 Speaker 1: glitter it lists red glitter, blue glitter, ground, unicorn, horn, wizards, hats, 126 00:06:33,360 --> 00:06:36,320 Speaker 1: and wands. But in the no section it lists no 127 00:06:36,560 --> 00:06:41,120 Speaker 1: child beauty pageant, sashes or Mariah Carey movies. And that's 128 00:06:41,160 --> 00:06:44,640 Speaker 1: fair enough. We sort of dove right into hot showers 129 00:06:44,640 --> 00:06:48,080 Speaker 1: and glitter recycling somehow. But before we talk about things 130 00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:50,200 Speaker 1: like how plumbing works, why don't we talk a little 131 00:06:50,200 --> 00:06:53,240 Speaker 1: bit about who lives in Antarctica? Definitely, but why don't 132 00:06:53,279 --> 00:06:55,719 Speaker 1: we do some local slang first? God, do you immediately 133 00:06:55,760 --> 00:06:58,640 Speaker 1: put us off track again? I do, like an art explains, So, 134 00:06:58,680 --> 00:07:00,760 Speaker 1: what are some of your favorites? One of my favorite 135 00:07:00,800 --> 00:07:03,880 Speaker 1: terms is city mice and also country mice, like city 136 00:07:03,880 --> 00:07:06,560 Speaker 1: my state put on the McMurdo station, while country mice 137 00:07:06,560 --> 00:07:09,200 Speaker 1: wandered to other camps and travel around. That's pretty cute. 138 00:07:09,200 --> 00:07:12,720 Speaker 1: So you got any others, Yeah, gombles or tiny snowballs 139 00:07:12,720 --> 00:07:16,080 Speaker 1: that's stuck to dogs for so the d goobles when 140 00:07:16,120 --> 00:07:18,360 Speaker 1: you rub that loose snow off before you come inside. 141 00:07:19,120 --> 00:07:22,400 Speaker 1: And also Hollywood showers. Those are when you take a 142 00:07:22,400 --> 00:07:24,840 Speaker 1: fantasy shower that's more than the a lot of two minutes. 143 00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:26,680 Speaker 1: Oh god, all right, why do you keep bring up 144 00:07:26,720 --> 00:07:29,600 Speaker 1: showers here? You know, when I started abroad and upon 145 00:07:29,720 --> 00:07:32,640 Speaker 1: to bed in college, it was freezing and you didn't 146 00:07:32,640 --> 00:07:35,120 Speaker 1: get to take hot showers that often. So I took 147 00:07:35,160 --> 00:07:37,560 Speaker 1: like ten or eleven bucket showers during the trip, and 148 00:07:37,600 --> 00:07:40,920 Speaker 1: they were mostly with lukewarm water. It's strange being there, 149 00:07:40,920 --> 00:07:43,000 Speaker 1: Like I realized there's so many things I could live without. 150 00:07:43,200 --> 00:07:45,480 Speaker 1: I don't really need TV or a lot of clothes 151 00:07:45,600 --> 00:07:48,760 Speaker 1: or a lot of amenities, but hot showers. Well, when 152 00:07:48,760 --> 00:07:50,480 Speaker 1: I came back to the college, I I just stand 153 00:07:50,480 --> 00:07:54,560 Speaker 1: in the shower and praise American plumbing. I can understand that. 154 00:07:54,880 --> 00:07:56,560 Speaker 1: All right. Well, here's a bit of jargon I found 155 00:07:56,560 --> 00:07:59,080 Speaker 1: on mental flaws. It's ice shock, and that this is 156 00:07:59,080 --> 00:08:01,720 Speaker 1: the idea that no matter how crazy everything seems. In 157 00:08:01,760 --> 00:08:04,440 Speaker 1: an article, while you're there. It's this acknowledgement that the 158 00:08:04,560 --> 00:08:08,040 Speaker 1: rest of the world is even crazier. Alright, let's get 159 00:08:08,040 --> 00:08:11,080 Speaker 1: back to who lives there. Obviously, Antarctica doesn't have an 160 00:08:11,080 --> 00:08:14,400 Speaker 1: indigenous population. Do you know the site cool and arctica 161 00:08:14,440 --> 00:08:16,680 Speaker 1: dot com. I can't say I'm familiar with it, says 162 00:08:16,760 --> 00:08:19,520 Speaker 1: educational say that's run by a former an Arctic marine 163 00:08:19,520 --> 00:08:22,280 Speaker 1: biologist and now he's a school teacher and puts out 164 00:08:22,320 --> 00:08:25,320 Speaker 1: great information. But on a site he writes there around 165 00:08:25,400 --> 00:08:28,920 Speaker 1: sixty six scientific basis, of which thirty seven are occupied 166 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:32,400 Speaker 1: year round. Around four thousand people living at Arctica during 167 00:08:32,440 --> 00:08:35,319 Speaker 1: the summer months, and that reduces to about a thousand 168 00:08:35,400 --> 00:08:38,280 Speaker 1: who over winner there. It's also rare that someone will 169 00:08:38,320 --> 00:08:40,480 Speaker 1: stay there for two winners in a row. They might 170 00:08:40,520 --> 00:08:43,760 Speaker 1: do one winner wrapped in two summers, but two winners 171 00:08:43,760 --> 00:08:46,360 Speaker 1: in a row tends to be bad for people's mental states. Uh. 172 00:08:46,400 --> 00:08:49,080 Speaker 1: And so the McMurdo station actually has about like a 173 00:08:49,120 --> 00:08:52,040 Speaker 1: thousand or so people during peak season though, right, yeah, 174 00:08:52,080 --> 00:08:54,200 Speaker 1: that's right. And what's funny is that I didn't quite 175 00:08:54,200 --> 00:08:56,719 Speaker 1: put together how large an Arctica is and how far 176 00:08:56,800 --> 00:08:59,240 Speaker 1: some of the bases are from one another. It's Apparently 177 00:08:59,280 --> 00:09:03,160 Speaker 1: the fifth are just continent, and because five percent of 178 00:09:03,160 --> 00:09:05,560 Speaker 1: it is covered in ice, the size of the continent 179 00:09:05,640 --> 00:09:09,959 Speaker 1: actually changes like according to Live Science, the quote size 180 00:09:10,040 --> 00:09:13,559 Speaker 1: varies through the seasons. Expanding sea ice along the coast 181 00:09:13,600 --> 00:09:16,720 Speaker 1: nearly doubles the continent size during the winter. Isn't that crazy? 182 00:09:16,840 --> 00:09:19,000 Speaker 1: It nearly doubles it that it is crazy, you know. 183 00:09:19,200 --> 00:09:21,960 Speaker 1: In speaking of the geography, I was stunned by the geography, 184 00:09:22,000 --> 00:09:25,600 Speaker 1: and I didn't realize that the land is basically all desert. 185 00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:27,959 Speaker 1: You know, the inner regions of Antarctic could get less 186 00:09:28,000 --> 00:09:31,280 Speaker 1: than two inches of precipitation each year, and this is 187 00:09:31,360 --> 00:09:35,079 Speaker 1: less than the Sahara desert. And it's also cold there. 188 00:09:35,080 --> 00:09:37,320 Speaker 1: I don't know if you knew this about Anartica. I didn't. 189 00:09:37,640 --> 00:09:41,320 Speaker 1: The Russian Vostok station there recorded the lowest temperature in 190 00:09:41,400 --> 00:09:45,480 Speaker 1: the world at negative a hundred and twenty nine point 191 00:09:45,520 --> 00:09:49,040 Speaker 1: three degrees fahrenheit. I mean, I guess it's that extra 192 00:09:49,160 --> 00:09:52,240 Speaker 1: point three that really gets to you. Yeah, it's cold, 193 00:09:52,320 --> 00:09:55,400 Speaker 1: but it's a dry cold. I know we're supposed to 194 00:09:55,440 --> 00:09:58,000 Speaker 1: be talking people and not penguins here, but one of 195 00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:00,280 Speaker 1: the things I thought was funny was that the male 196 00:10:00,360 --> 00:10:03,480 Speaker 1: emperor penguins are the only warm blooded animal to stay 197 00:10:03,480 --> 00:10:06,400 Speaker 1: on the continent during the freezing winters. Apparently, when the 198 00:10:06,440 --> 00:10:09,600 Speaker 1: female lays an egg, it's a very were pregnant situation, 199 00:10:09,960 --> 00:10:12,520 Speaker 1: like the daddy bird sits on the family egg keeping 200 00:10:12,559 --> 00:10:14,640 Speaker 1: it warm while the MoMA penguin goes out to sea 201 00:10:14,679 --> 00:10:17,760 Speaker 1: for nine weeks and and then the mom's return just 202 00:10:17,800 --> 00:10:20,600 Speaker 1: before the eggs hatch, which is because you know, male 203 00:10:20,640 --> 00:10:24,719 Speaker 1: penguins are so woke. Glad you're able to work that. Alright, Well, 204 00:10:24,760 --> 00:10:26,960 Speaker 1: I actually have a funny penguin story to talk about, 205 00:10:27,000 --> 00:10:30,000 Speaker 1: and I also want to discuss the crazy ways Chile 206 00:10:30,160 --> 00:10:33,240 Speaker 1: and Argentina have, you know, tried to each claim part 207 00:10:33,240 --> 00:10:36,240 Speaker 1: of Antarctica as their own territory. But before we get 208 00:10:36,280 --> 00:10:43,200 Speaker 1: to that, let's take a quick break, all right, mangoes, So, 209 00:10:43,240 --> 00:10:46,040 Speaker 1: how many times have we had a super talented poet 210 00:10:46,240 --> 00:10:48,720 Speaker 1: on the show? Has that happened before? I don't think 211 00:10:48,720 --> 00:10:50,920 Speaker 1: it's happened yet. I don't think it has either. I mean, 212 00:10:50,960 --> 00:10:53,760 Speaker 1: I know Tristan dabbles a little in poetry, but I mean, 213 00:10:54,120 --> 00:10:57,360 Speaker 1: between us, they're they're not the best poems. But he's trying, 214 00:10:57,400 --> 00:11:00,400 Speaker 1: he's trying hard. But We're super excited to have Jen 215 00:11:00,520 --> 00:11:02,880 Speaker 1: dilling Martin on the show today. And and as we 216 00:11:02,920 --> 00:11:06,040 Speaker 1: discussed Jen as an accomplished poet, she's an associate publisher 217 00:11:06,080 --> 00:11:08,600 Speaker 1: at Riverhead, which is one of our favorite book publishers 218 00:11:08,600 --> 00:11:10,800 Speaker 1: in the world. But that's not the reason we've got 219 00:11:10,800 --> 00:11:12,560 Speaker 1: her on today. We actually begged her to come on 220 00:11:12,640 --> 00:11:16,160 Speaker 1: because in two thousand and thirteen, Jen became the Antarctic 221 00:11:16,280 --> 00:11:19,520 Speaker 1: Artist in Residence and she used the six week stint 222 00:11:19,559 --> 00:11:22,559 Speaker 1: there to inspire her poetry. So Jen, welcome to Part 223 00:11:22,600 --> 00:11:26,080 Speaker 1: Time Genius. Thank you so much. So, Jen, I know 224 00:11:26,120 --> 00:11:28,480 Speaker 1: you're in pretty esteemed company as an artist in residence. 225 00:11:28,480 --> 00:11:31,200 Speaker 1: I believe Werner Herzog was also an artist there too, 226 00:11:31,240 --> 00:11:33,480 Speaker 1: But can you tell us a little bit about how 227 00:11:33,520 --> 00:11:36,600 Speaker 1: you got that gig and what's included? Totally, it's this 228 00:11:36,720 --> 00:11:39,719 Speaker 1: incredible grant run through the National Science Foundation that they 229 00:11:39,760 --> 00:11:42,800 Speaker 1: give to about two people a year from any discipline 230 00:11:42,840 --> 00:11:47,600 Speaker 1: at all to go make art inspired by the work 231 00:11:47,679 --> 00:11:51,280 Speaker 1: that you then get to witness being done in Antarctica. Uh. 232 00:11:51,400 --> 00:11:54,439 Speaker 1: It is a really elaborate application process that I think 233 00:11:54,440 --> 00:11:57,800 Speaker 1: weed's out the people who have to go through all 234 00:11:57,880 --> 00:12:00,600 Speaker 1: kinds of bureaucratic paperwork to just even apply for it, 235 00:12:01,080 --> 00:12:04,640 Speaker 1: But once accepted, you get to I mean, you get 236 00:12:04,679 --> 00:12:07,200 Speaker 1: to lead the coolest life imaginable. You get to go 237 00:12:07,280 --> 00:12:10,120 Speaker 1: to any of the base camps that interests you. You 238 00:12:10,160 --> 00:12:13,320 Speaker 1: can ask the scientists any questions you want of them. 239 00:12:13,640 --> 00:12:16,280 Speaker 1: You get to travel all around the continent. I got 240 00:12:16,320 --> 00:12:20,360 Speaker 1: a helicopter pilot Ryan to take me um two different 241 00:12:20,360 --> 00:12:23,760 Speaker 1: base camps and basically it's just like the most incredible 242 00:12:23,800 --> 00:12:25,880 Speaker 1: experience that I will ever have in my life. So 243 00:12:26,600 --> 00:12:28,360 Speaker 1: whatever it is you want to go and study as 244 00:12:28,360 --> 00:12:30,800 Speaker 1: an artist, you ask for and they make it all 245 00:12:30,840 --> 00:12:34,440 Speaker 1: come together for you. Wow, That's that's pretty incredible. I 246 00:12:34,480 --> 00:12:36,640 Speaker 1: will say one of the things that surprised me was 247 00:12:36,640 --> 00:12:38,800 Speaker 1: was all the training that you talked about in your 248 00:12:38,840 --> 00:12:41,480 Speaker 1: first few weeks there. You know how to fix the snowmobile, 249 00:12:41,679 --> 00:12:44,800 Speaker 1: how to pitch a tent and a blizzard. I'm just curious, 250 00:12:44,840 --> 00:12:47,640 Speaker 1: like were you were you expecting that and can you 251 00:12:47,679 --> 00:12:51,120 Speaker 1: talk a little bit about that experience? Absolutely, you know, 252 00:12:51,600 --> 00:12:53,640 Speaker 1: it's one of those things where it doesn't really dawn 253 00:12:53,800 --> 00:12:55,520 Speaker 1: on you, or at least I didn't dawn on me 254 00:12:55,600 --> 00:13:01,360 Speaker 1: fully until really down there, just how isolated, vulnerable you 255 00:13:01,400 --> 00:13:06,000 Speaker 1: are and in actually grave peril should anything go dramatically 256 00:13:06,040 --> 00:13:09,320 Speaker 1: wrong on your visit. And there can be winds so 257 00:13:09,440 --> 00:13:11,400 Speaker 1: high even in the summer season on the continent that 258 00:13:11,440 --> 00:13:14,800 Speaker 1: they cannot get planes to and from Antarctica for a 259 00:13:14,840 --> 00:13:17,360 Speaker 1: week or two at the time, so we're there to 260 00:13:17,400 --> 00:13:19,920 Speaker 1: be a very bad accident, you could be stuck with 261 00:13:20,200 --> 00:13:22,480 Speaker 1: you know, the medical facilities of you know, just like 262 00:13:22,520 --> 00:13:25,520 Speaker 1: a small clinic to take care of you. So um, 263 00:13:25,559 --> 00:13:28,160 Speaker 1: they're they're very rigorous even before you go down with 264 00:13:28,200 --> 00:13:30,280 Speaker 1: getting all kinds of doctor and dental records, and then 265 00:13:30,360 --> 00:13:34,360 Speaker 1: upon arrival there's just an enormous battery of trainings and 266 00:13:34,400 --> 00:13:38,360 Speaker 1: tests and um presentations to make sure you're behaving as 267 00:13:38,400 --> 00:13:41,680 Speaker 1: safely as possible and equipped for uh, you know, as 268 00:13:41,679 --> 00:13:44,280 Speaker 1: they call it, white out conditions which can arise sort 269 00:13:44,320 --> 00:13:47,079 Speaker 1: of in less than an hour's time out of nowhere. 270 00:13:47,200 --> 00:13:51,440 Speaker 1: So um, it is, it is. It is pretty raw 271 00:13:51,640 --> 00:13:53,800 Speaker 1: in a way that's hard to fully appreciate when we 272 00:13:53,840 --> 00:13:56,840 Speaker 1: live in a you know, within a first world nation 273 00:13:56,880 --> 00:13:59,839 Speaker 1: where help is just a simple mind one one call 274 00:13:59,880 --> 00:14:03,800 Speaker 1: a way. And yeah, I mean another thing I was 275 00:14:03,800 --> 00:14:06,599 Speaker 1: fascinated by was well I spent a little time on 276 00:14:06,640 --> 00:14:09,960 Speaker 1: your tumbler page which is so great. And uh, I 277 00:14:10,000 --> 00:14:12,439 Speaker 1: was fascinated by the specific gear you had to pick 278 00:14:12,520 --> 00:14:15,319 Speaker 1: up in New Zealand, and especially the bunny boots. Can 279 00:14:15,360 --> 00:14:16,920 Speaker 1: you tell us a little bit about why you had 280 00:14:16,920 --> 00:14:20,920 Speaker 1: to take special care of them on airplanes? Yeah, as 281 00:14:20,960 --> 00:14:23,480 Speaker 1: we were preparing to leave New Zealand, there was all 282 00:14:23,560 --> 00:14:26,120 Speaker 1: kinds of kind of off hand information that they were 283 00:14:26,120 --> 00:14:28,840 Speaker 1: just throwing out there. And most everyone had been down 284 00:14:28,880 --> 00:14:30,800 Speaker 1: in Antarctica many times, but it was my first time, 285 00:14:30,800 --> 00:14:35,280 Speaker 1: and already I was trying to digest so much new information, 286 00:14:35,720 --> 00:14:39,160 Speaker 1: and very casually the guy handing out these huge, white, 287 00:14:39,200 --> 00:14:43,040 Speaker 1: eight pounds inflatable white bunny boots said, oh, yeah, don't 288 00:14:43,040 --> 00:14:45,480 Speaker 1: forget to open the valves so your boots don't explode 289 00:14:45,480 --> 00:14:49,440 Speaker 1: on the plane. It seemed like something that maybe they 290 00:14:49,440 --> 00:14:52,760 Speaker 1: should have emphasized even more directly and not just muttered 291 00:14:52,840 --> 00:14:55,080 Speaker 1: as they passed them across the table to me. But 292 00:14:55,560 --> 00:14:58,840 Speaker 1: the boots are pressurized in this actually the I guess 293 00:14:58,880 --> 00:15:02,760 Speaker 1: the air air cushions inside that keep them warm. But 294 00:15:03,360 --> 00:15:06,480 Speaker 1: because you take a you know, only semi pressurized military 295 00:15:06,560 --> 00:15:10,240 Speaker 1: jet to Antarctica, the boots are in danger of exploding 296 00:15:10,280 --> 00:15:12,320 Speaker 1: from the pressure change on the plane. If you don't 297 00:15:12,360 --> 00:15:16,479 Speaker 1: open these little mini air valves on them. That's so crazy. 298 00:15:16,520 --> 00:15:18,600 Speaker 1: And the idea that these things called bunny boots are 299 00:15:18,600 --> 00:15:23,320 Speaker 1: so dangerous is amazing. The case of the exploding bunny boots. 300 00:15:26,120 --> 00:15:28,360 Speaker 1: You know, it was really fun looking at so many 301 00:15:28,400 --> 00:15:30,280 Speaker 1: of your photos from the trip, and one of the 302 00:15:30,280 --> 00:15:33,040 Speaker 1: things that struck me was just how intense the sun looks. 303 00:15:33,040 --> 00:15:35,000 Speaker 1: And I was curious to hear, you know, what was 304 00:15:35,040 --> 00:15:38,080 Speaker 1: it like to be in constant daylight? And was it 305 00:15:38,160 --> 00:15:39,960 Speaker 1: tough to figure out, you know, tricks that are going 306 00:15:40,000 --> 00:15:43,560 Speaker 1: to sleep each night? Totally? Yeah. You know, everyone talks 307 00:15:43,600 --> 00:15:46,400 Speaker 1: and imagines, you know, if you live in Scandinavia or Antarctica, 308 00:15:46,480 --> 00:15:49,280 Speaker 1: like how horrible must be when it's dark all the time. 309 00:15:49,480 --> 00:15:51,880 Speaker 1: But the truth is is actually equally horrible to have 310 00:15:51,960 --> 00:15:54,760 Speaker 1: it be light all the time, and not just sort 311 00:15:54,800 --> 00:15:58,320 Speaker 1: of light, I mean like high noon light all the time. 312 00:15:58,440 --> 00:16:01,880 Speaker 1: And um, some of might say I was actually living 313 00:16:01,920 --> 00:16:05,680 Speaker 1: in a tent, which meant there's there was just no 314 00:16:05,760 --> 00:16:08,680 Speaker 1: way for it to not be so glaringly bright, and 315 00:16:08,720 --> 00:16:11,080 Speaker 1: that light is bouncing off all the ice in the snow, 316 00:16:11,240 --> 00:16:14,680 Speaker 1: and you do, you you do start to get fatigued 317 00:16:14,720 --> 00:16:18,120 Speaker 1: and just longing for one night of real darkness and 318 00:16:18,640 --> 00:16:21,120 Speaker 1: sleep um, and the times that I was in kind 319 00:16:21,120 --> 00:16:23,880 Speaker 1: of a little hut or dorm situation. I got so 320 00:16:23,960 --> 00:16:26,560 Speaker 1: desperate that I actually took the wool blanket and took 321 00:16:27,000 --> 00:16:29,760 Speaker 1: kind of like some tacks and tacked it over the 322 00:16:29,760 --> 00:16:31,760 Speaker 1: window to try to block all the different cracks of 323 00:16:31,840 --> 00:16:34,640 Speaker 1: light that kept coming in. It was so kind of 324 00:16:34,760 --> 00:16:40,840 Speaker 1: enervating by several weeks deep into it, It's insane. Yeah. 325 00:16:40,880 --> 00:16:42,840 Speaker 1: But the other thing that happens is it's very easy 326 00:16:42,880 --> 00:16:45,440 Speaker 1: to lose track of all time because the sun isn't 327 00:16:45,520 --> 00:16:49,480 Speaker 1: moving and so um, particularly at night it was you know, 328 00:16:49,560 --> 00:16:52,040 Speaker 1: you'd be hanging out with people talking and drinking and 329 00:16:52,040 --> 00:16:54,240 Speaker 1: you would feel like, oh, it's probably like seven or 330 00:16:54,320 --> 00:16:56,000 Speaker 1: a p m. And it's actually two in the morning, 331 00:16:56,040 --> 00:16:59,880 Speaker 1: and you've totally lost track of all all paths of 332 00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:02,400 Speaker 1: of time. It does really mess with with your mind. 333 00:17:02,800 --> 00:17:06,080 Speaker 1: So I saw in your tumbler that you visited an 334 00:17:06,119 --> 00:17:08,720 Speaker 1: Antarctica Latin club, and I was curious, what are some 335 00:17:08,760 --> 00:17:11,919 Speaker 1: of the other fun recreational activities we might not have 336 00:17:11,960 --> 00:17:16,959 Speaker 1: heard about. Oh, totally there. It's kind of like Oberlin, 337 00:17:17,119 --> 00:17:20,600 Speaker 1: but with like weirder, really cool adults. I mean, every night, 338 00:17:20,680 --> 00:17:25,159 Speaker 1: we're probably fifteen or twenty different clubs or activities that 339 00:17:25,240 --> 00:17:27,800 Speaker 1: you could do that we're all just being voluntarily taught 340 00:17:27,880 --> 00:17:30,920 Speaker 1: by the awesome people of Antarctica who wanted to share 341 00:17:30,960 --> 00:17:33,920 Speaker 1: their talents and entertain each other. So everything from every 342 00:17:33,960 --> 00:17:37,919 Speaker 1: kind of sport you can imagine too, you know, knitting club, 343 00:17:38,160 --> 00:17:42,840 Speaker 1: guitar club, chess club. People would give just lectures and 344 00:17:42,880 --> 00:17:46,840 Speaker 1: presentations on things that they were themselves studying. Uh, and 345 00:17:46,920 --> 00:17:49,159 Speaker 1: even people not showing up for clubs were always up 346 00:17:49,160 --> 00:17:51,760 Speaker 1: to something really weird. There was this very introverted woman 347 00:17:52,119 --> 00:17:54,760 Speaker 1: who I always saw like running around with pieces of 348 00:17:54,800 --> 00:17:57,119 Speaker 1: PVC pipe and they were all laid out on this 349 00:17:57,240 --> 00:18:00,600 Speaker 1: desk and I finally stopped in to ask what was 350 00:18:00,640 --> 00:18:04,120 Speaker 1: going on, and she goes, oh, oh, you know, I'm 351 00:18:04,160 --> 00:18:09,760 Speaker 1: I'm as sending a PVC harp, Like a PVC harp. 352 00:18:10,240 --> 00:18:12,080 Speaker 1: She's like, oh, yes, I'm sure you haven't heard that 353 00:18:12,200 --> 00:18:16,119 Speaker 1: to say you can make a harp out of pvc. No, 354 00:18:16,480 --> 00:18:19,480 Speaker 1: I wasn't. I wasn't familiar. But I love that you 355 00:18:19,520 --> 00:18:21,920 Speaker 1: are committed to doing this down in your free time 356 00:18:21,920 --> 00:18:25,280 Speaker 1: on Intarctica. So that's pretty great. Now, do you do 357 00:18:25,280 --> 00:18:27,400 Speaker 1: you think you'll have the chance to get back anytime soon. 358 00:18:28,119 --> 00:18:30,240 Speaker 1: You know. This is the saddest thing of at least 359 00:18:30,280 --> 00:18:32,800 Speaker 1: the way that I went is I don't know that 360 00:18:32,840 --> 00:18:35,280 Speaker 1: I will ever get to go back again, and pretty 361 00:18:35,320 --> 00:18:37,399 Speaker 1: much any other place any of us will go in 362 00:18:37,440 --> 00:18:39,959 Speaker 1: our lives. You know, if you love it, you're like, oh, 363 00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:41,960 Speaker 1: I can't wait to go back with my sister or 364 00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:45,240 Speaker 1: my friend or my partner. But this is an experience 365 00:18:45,280 --> 00:18:47,280 Speaker 1: that I don't know that I will ever get to 366 00:18:47,320 --> 00:18:50,600 Speaker 1: go have again. So leaving was incredibly sad. Um I 367 00:18:50,680 --> 00:18:56,720 Speaker 1: will say, there's just an incredible global society of what 368 00:18:56,800 --> 00:18:59,480 Speaker 1: are called ice people, and it basically means that you 369 00:18:59,680 --> 00:19:02,560 Speaker 1: live on Antarctica at some point, and there's just this 370 00:19:02,720 --> 00:19:05,800 Speaker 1: deep understanding and familiarity when you meet another ice person 371 00:19:06,359 --> 00:19:08,840 Speaker 1: in the real world. And I've stayed even now, several 372 00:19:08,880 --> 00:19:11,720 Speaker 1: years later, in very very close contact with a number 373 00:19:11,760 --> 00:19:14,520 Speaker 1: of really dear friends I made while down there, and 374 00:19:14,720 --> 00:19:17,320 Speaker 1: I think there's something in that that connection that we 375 00:19:17,359 --> 00:19:20,359 Speaker 1: all have shared this weird world. What would you want 376 00:19:20,400 --> 00:19:24,399 Speaker 1: to experience again? Oh wow, I just the vastness and 377 00:19:24,560 --> 00:19:28,240 Speaker 1: the untouched nous, Like I've I am a big traveler 378 00:19:28,280 --> 00:19:31,160 Speaker 1: and I've been to incredible places like the Sahara, the Himalayas, 379 00:19:31,240 --> 00:19:35,040 Speaker 1: but even they just have no The sense of scale 380 00:19:35,040 --> 00:19:38,400 Speaker 1: in Antarctica is something so staggering and beyond anything that 381 00:19:38,520 --> 00:19:41,119 Speaker 1: I had ever witnessed in my life. And again, besides 382 00:19:41,160 --> 00:19:43,120 Speaker 1: outer space, I don't think there's anything you could see 383 00:19:43,160 --> 00:19:45,720 Speaker 1: that would make you feel just so totally dwarfed as 384 00:19:45,720 --> 00:19:49,040 Speaker 1: a human um in a way that I find totally 385 00:19:49,119 --> 00:19:52,200 Speaker 1: freeing and exciting and so beautiful to see so much 386 00:19:52,200 --> 00:19:54,359 Speaker 1: of the world that the in fact probably be the 387 00:19:54,480 --> 00:19:56,439 Speaker 1: only last part of the world that we haven't managed 388 00:19:56,480 --> 00:19:59,879 Speaker 1: to pave over or destroy in some way. You'll be 389 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:02,640 Speaker 1: happy to know that in one week we've spoken with 390 00:20:02,840 --> 00:20:06,040 Speaker 1: an astronaut and now someone who's been to Antarctica. I 391 00:20:06,080 --> 00:20:08,119 Speaker 1: didn't even realize I don't even think about that, but 392 00:20:08,160 --> 00:20:10,200 Speaker 1: in in one in one week, so we we spoke 393 00:20:10,280 --> 00:20:13,800 Speaker 1: to uh astronaut Chris Hadfield from from Canada on an 394 00:20:13,800 --> 00:20:16,800 Speaker 1: episode about Canada. But you know, for all of our 395 00:20:16,840 --> 00:20:18,960 Speaker 1: listeners out there, I hope you'll check out Jen's book, 396 00:20:18,960 --> 00:20:22,160 Speaker 1: We Mammals and Hospitable Times. It's a It's a terrific book, 397 00:20:22,160 --> 00:20:24,080 Speaker 1: and Jen, thanks so much for joining us on part 398 00:20:24,119 --> 00:20:40,600 Speaker 1: time genius. Welcome back to part time Genius, and we're 399 00:20:40,640 --> 00:20:43,520 Speaker 1: talking Antarctica. So will you said you had a funny 400 00:20:43,640 --> 00:20:45,919 Speaker 1: penguin story to all I do, and that this is 401 00:20:45,920 --> 00:20:48,600 Speaker 1: from Maggie kirk Baker and it's a piece on boying boying. 402 00:20:48,720 --> 00:20:51,280 Speaker 1: But you know, in the early nineteen hundreds, as Robert 403 00:20:51,320 --> 00:20:53,840 Speaker 1: Scott was making his way to the South Pole, he 404 00:20:53,920 --> 00:20:57,680 Speaker 1: was accompanied by this surgeon named George Levic, and most 405 00:20:57,680 --> 00:21:00,280 Speaker 1: of the team's observations were printed up in the team's 406 00:21:00,320 --> 00:21:04,120 Speaker 1: official journals, all except this one section of levis notes 407 00:21:04,760 --> 00:21:10,199 Speaker 1: explicitly describing penguin sex. And apparently Levic witnessed penguin on 408 00:21:10,240 --> 00:21:12,800 Speaker 1: peguin acts so depraved that while he felt he had 409 00:21:12,840 --> 00:21:15,760 Speaker 1: to document them, he wrote them all in Greek rather 410 00:21:15,800 --> 00:21:17,760 Speaker 1: than English. I don't know why that makes it better, 411 00:21:17,800 --> 00:21:21,240 Speaker 1: but it's only recently that they've been discovered and added 412 00:21:21,280 --> 00:21:25,000 Speaker 1: to the journals. But on the topic of sex, maybe 413 00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:27,560 Speaker 1: now it's a good time to talk about No not 414 00:21:28,520 --> 00:21:30,560 Speaker 1: I was actually gonna say how Chilly and Argentina have 415 00:21:30,640 --> 00:21:34,480 Speaker 1: tried to use pregnancies to their territorial advantage. But now 416 00:21:34,520 --> 00:21:36,880 Speaker 1: I'm curious what you have to say about tender so 417 00:21:37,359 --> 00:21:40,120 Speaker 1: this is kind of a ridiculous story, but Nolan found 418 00:21:40,160 --> 00:21:42,640 Speaker 1: this bit about an American scientist who decided to log 419 00:21:42,680 --> 00:21:45,280 Speaker 1: on too Tinder and an Arctica, and at first no 420 00:21:45,320 --> 00:21:47,760 Speaker 1: one showed up on his radar, but when he widened 421 00:21:47,760 --> 00:21:50,480 Speaker 1: the radius, he found a match of forty five minute 422 00:21:50,480 --> 00:21:54,320 Speaker 1: helicopter right away. Unfortunately, the scientist he was chasing was 423 00:21:54,359 --> 00:21:56,680 Speaker 1: in the field and couldn't meet up, and they only 424 00:21:56,720 --> 00:21:59,359 Speaker 1: met very briefly on the day she was leaving at Arctica. 425 00:21:59,480 --> 00:22:02,320 Speaker 1: As he told the cut quote, I've yet to become 426 00:22:02,320 --> 00:22:05,400 Speaker 1: the first tender hook up in Antarctic history. But she's 427 00:22:05,400 --> 00:22:08,200 Speaker 1: actually coming back and we may overlap. There's still hope. 428 00:22:08,520 --> 00:22:11,679 Speaker 1: He's just a romantic I guess. I guess. So. I 429 00:22:11,680 --> 00:22:13,879 Speaker 1: mean that's got to be pretty good press for Tender though, 430 00:22:13,880 --> 00:22:15,640 Speaker 1: wouldn't you think, And you know that you can find 431 00:22:15,760 --> 00:22:19,080 Speaker 1: love or or lost whatever it is on any continent. Yeah, 432 00:22:19,119 --> 00:22:21,320 Speaker 1: But but the scientists wanted to stay anonymous because you're 433 00:22:21,359 --> 00:22:23,600 Speaker 1: not supposed to be taking up airways with social apps. 434 00:22:23,680 --> 00:22:27,119 Speaker 1: I guess, like the Internet's this prize commodity down Antarctica 435 00:22:27,200 --> 00:22:31,159 Speaker 1: and netflixing or using apps isn't really possible because it 436 00:22:31,160 --> 00:22:34,880 Speaker 1: takes too much bandwidth. But let's talk Chilian Argentina. That's 437 00:22:34,880 --> 00:22:37,239 Speaker 1: a bummer. You can't use Netflix there. I didn't know that, 438 00:22:37,280 --> 00:22:39,000 Speaker 1: all right, So so so back to this topic. So 439 00:22:39,040 --> 00:22:42,920 Speaker 1: we've already set Antarctica doesn't really have towns, but Chile 440 00:22:43,040 --> 00:22:46,200 Speaker 1: and Argentina have each set up the closest thing to that. 441 00:22:46,520 --> 00:22:51,359 Speaker 1: So Chile has VLAs Astraeas and Argentina has Esperanza. Both 442 00:22:51,400 --> 00:22:54,400 Speaker 1: areas have between fifty and eighty people living there during 443 00:22:54,400 --> 00:22:58,800 Speaker 1: the winters. They both have schools, gyms, medical facilities. But 444 00:22:58,840 --> 00:23:00,879 Speaker 1: as The New York Times points, both of these so 445 00:23:01,000 --> 00:23:04,400 Speaker 1: called towns were clear attempts to lay claim to Antarctica, 446 00:23:04,520 --> 00:23:07,600 Speaker 1: you know, should the Antarctic Treaty be renegotiated, and the 447 00:23:07,640 --> 00:23:10,480 Speaker 1: fact that the two countries are regional rivals only made 448 00:23:10,480 --> 00:23:13,600 Speaker 1: the situation worse. Like when Pinochet made a visit to 449 00:23:13,600 --> 00:23:16,840 Speaker 1: Antarctic in the nineteen seventies, Argentina felt like they were 450 00:23:16,880 --> 00:23:19,760 Speaker 1: losing the upper hand, so soon after his visit they 451 00:23:19,840 --> 00:23:23,080 Speaker 1: quietly sent a pregnant woman and her third trimester so 452 00:23:23,119 --> 00:23:26,600 Speaker 1: she could give birth to the first quote native Antarctica. 453 00:23:27,640 --> 00:23:30,280 Speaker 1: And according to Alice Obscura, the joke was that you know, 454 00:23:30,400 --> 00:23:33,439 Speaker 1: after they heard this, Chile started sending down couples to 455 00:23:33,480 --> 00:23:35,919 Speaker 1: conceive the first baby in the region, since you know, 456 00:23:36,040 --> 00:23:38,359 Speaker 1: some people think that birth starts a conception there, but 457 00:23:38,880 --> 00:23:42,360 Speaker 1: it's Argentina who's taken it the farthest. In Argentina, it's 458 00:23:42,359 --> 00:23:44,919 Speaker 1: illegal to show a map of the country that doesn't 459 00:23:44,920 --> 00:23:48,320 Speaker 1: include the section of Antarctica that they consider. There's biz 460 00:23:49,760 --> 00:23:52,480 Speaker 1: so I a should want to switch gears and talk entertainment. 461 00:23:52,560 --> 00:23:54,560 Speaker 1: But before we do that, should we talk about why 462 00:23:54,600 --> 00:23:57,439 Speaker 1: we're both so terrified to the continent, And that's you 463 00:23:57,440 --> 00:24:00,840 Speaker 1: know some of those early explorer stories, well, the early 464 00:24:00,880 --> 00:24:04,040 Speaker 1: explorer stories are definitely terrifying. And not only were they 465 00:24:04,080 --> 00:24:07,520 Speaker 1: wearing things like well clothing which really just absorbed the 466 00:24:07,560 --> 00:24:10,520 Speaker 1: snow and kept them damn but but they couldn't stop 467 00:24:10,560 --> 00:24:14,639 Speaker 1: being cold, like this guy absolutely Cherry Garrard, who sailed 468 00:24:14,640 --> 00:24:17,159 Speaker 1: with Captain Scott to the South Pole. He said this 469 00:24:17,240 --> 00:24:20,280 Speaker 1: about his teeth quote, the nerves of which had been 470 00:24:20,359 --> 00:24:24,960 Speaker 1: killed split to pieces from the chattering. His account in 471 00:24:24,960 --> 00:24:28,600 Speaker 1: the Antarctic trip was titled the worst journey in the World. Yeah, 472 00:24:28,680 --> 00:24:30,960 Speaker 1: he definitely wasn't glancing and you don't have to go 473 00:24:31,040 --> 00:24:33,399 Speaker 1: that far back to see how dangerous it can be. 474 00:24:33,480 --> 00:24:36,520 Speaker 1: Like in two thousand and fourteen, the British Halley six 475 00:24:36,640 --> 00:24:40,680 Speaker 1: Research Station lost its power and that is terrifying. There 476 00:24:40,720 --> 00:24:43,879 Speaker 1: the closest help was like eighteen hundred miles away in 477 00:24:43,920 --> 00:24:47,359 Speaker 1: the Falkland Islands. There was no sun, the temperature was 478 00:24:47,480 --> 00:24:51,280 Speaker 1: negative sixties seven degrees fahrenheit, and the winds were crazy. 479 00:24:51,760 --> 00:24:54,720 Speaker 1: The only thing that worked was a single satellite phone. 480 00:24:55,200 --> 00:24:57,639 Speaker 1: But the staff somehow managed to patch the problem in 481 00:24:57,760 --> 00:25:01,520 Speaker 1: nineteen hours and get limited elect fristity back. Of course, 482 00:25:01,560 --> 00:25:03,239 Speaker 1: they kind of dismissed it as being a you know, 483 00:25:03,280 --> 00:25:06,560 Speaker 1: not that big of a deal, and the station's electrician tweeted, 484 00:25:06,920 --> 00:25:10,040 Speaker 1: got Internet, lots of Yorkshire tea and a big cattle. Really, 485 00:25:10,080 --> 00:25:12,119 Speaker 1: what more do you need? Well? I love that he 486 00:25:12,200 --> 00:25:15,240 Speaker 1: was so calm. I was chatting with Noland, our researcher, 487 00:25:15,280 --> 00:25:17,439 Speaker 1: about this, and he was saying, the worst story he 488 00:25:17,480 --> 00:25:21,560 Speaker 1: read was about this Australian explorer Douglas Mawson. This is 489 00:25:21,600 --> 00:25:25,080 Speaker 1: back in and I'm gonna tell the story here. So 490 00:25:25,520 --> 00:25:29,800 Speaker 1: Mawson's this superstar geologist and he turns down Robert Scott's 491 00:25:29,800 --> 00:25:33,080 Speaker 1: expedition to lead his own. But his story is so tragic. 492 00:25:33,480 --> 00:25:37,000 Speaker 1: His timing was horrible, right, like, the blizzards were constant, 493 00:25:37,080 --> 00:25:40,399 Speaker 1: and winds off the coast where anywhere between fifty and 494 00:25:40,440 --> 00:25:43,000 Speaker 1: two hundred miles per hour. He split up his group 495 00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:45,479 Speaker 1: into different assignments, and he led a three man party 496 00:25:45,520 --> 00:25:48,080 Speaker 1: to map the far eastern shore. This was the most 497 00:25:48,119 --> 00:25:51,760 Speaker 1: difficult journeys. He was trying to map glaciers hundreds of 498 00:25:51,800 --> 00:25:55,879 Speaker 1: miles away, and so everything terrible happens. They're making about 499 00:25:55,880 --> 00:25:58,679 Speaker 1: three hundred miles out pretty smoothly, and then some weird 500 00:25:58,760 --> 00:26:01,920 Speaker 1: superstitious things up in like this petrol, which is this 501 00:26:02,040 --> 00:26:04,320 Speaker 1: bird you never see this far inland, comes out of 502 00:26:04,359 --> 00:26:07,159 Speaker 1: nowhere and just crashes into their sled and one of 503 00:26:07,200 --> 00:26:11,159 Speaker 1: the huskies eats her young one of his colleagues gets snowblindness. 504 00:26:11,400 --> 00:26:15,199 Speaker 1: Then a hundred fifty ft crevice opens up and swallows 505 00:26:15,240 --> 00:26:18,399 Speaker 1: that colleague. Yeah, as well as like their supplies and 506 00:26:18,440 --> 00:26:23,040 Speaker 1: a dog, elements are just against them. Then there's more snowblindness, 507 00:26:23,119 --> 00:26:25,399 Speaker 1: their dogs die, They run out of food, so they 508 00:26:25,440 --> 00:26:28,920 Speaker 1: have to eat their dogs. Masson's other colleague falls sick 509 00:26:29,000 --> 00:26:30,760 Speaker 1: and he carries them along, even though he has a 510 00:26:30,760 --> 00:26:34,399 Speaker 1: fever and dysentery. And despite all his best efforts and 511 00:26:34,440 --> 00:26:37,760 Speaker 1: trying to carry him, the pal passes away. So Masson's 512 00:26:37,800 --> 00:26:41,119 Speaker 1: basically alone at this point, and he's weak and damaged too, 513 00:26:41,160 --> 00:26:43,720 Speaker 1: but he somehow makes it to this cash of supplies 514 00:26:43,760 --> 00:26:47,280 Speaker 1: at this location called Aladdin's Cave, and when he's there, 515 00:26:47,440 --> 00:26:50,360 Speaker 1: another blizzard comes through and he's trapped for five more days. 516 00:26:50,840 --> 00:26:52,600 Speaker 1: But when he finally makes it back to camp to 517 00:26:52,680 --> 00:26:54,920 Speaker 1: meet up with the other teams, it's just in time 518 00:26:54,960 --> 00:26:57,560 Speaker 1: to see that the expedition ship has left for Australia. 519 00:26:57,920 --> 00:26:59,800 Speaker 1: The crew had actually waited for him, but now he's 520 00:27:00,040 --> 00:27:02,280 Speaker 1: from the ship's sail away and he has to stay 521 00:27:02,280 --> 00:27:05,439 Speaker 1: in Antarctica for another winner before he returns home. And 522 00:27:05,480 --> 00:27:08,360 Speaker 1: then the commercial ends and it says, come to Antarctica. 523 00:27:09,000 --> 00:27:11,640 Speaker 1: I mean, that is miserable, And you're right, the elements 524 00:27:11,680 --> 00:27:15,119 Speaker 1: just feel so raw and vicious. But I think we 525 00:27:15,160 --> 00:27:17,280 Speaker 1: should lighten this up a little bit with some events 526 00:27:17,359 --> 00:27:19,840 Speaker 1: to put on your calendar if you're headed to Antarctica. 527 00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:21,879 Speaker 1: So al right, here's a few of them. If you 528 00:27:21,960 --> 00:27:25,800 Speaker 1: like music, there's ice Stock, which is Antarctica's woodstock. There's 529 00:27:25,840 --> 00:27:29,440 Speaker 1: barbecue in bands and people in costumes. There there's also 530 00:27:29,520 --> 00:27:33,800 Speaker 1: Freezing Man, which is Antarctica's burning Man midwinter Day, is 531 00:27:33,800 --> 00:27:36,359 Speaker 1: a big deal. It's his celebration held halfway through The 532 00:27:36,400 --> 00:27:40,639 Speaker 1: Miserable Winner, when everyone huddles and watches the shining. Apparently 533 00:27:40,680 --> 00:27:42,840 Speaker 1: I don't know why they do this. Then there's the 534 00:27:42,920 --> 00:27:45,600 Speaker 1: Ross Cup, where once a year the Americans play scientists 535 00:27:45,640 --> 00:27:48,440 Speaker 1: from New Zealand and rugby and of course the Kiwi's 536 00:27:48,520 --> 00:27:51,359 Speaker 1: always slaughter the Americans and you know, personally because they 537 00:27:51,400 --> 00:27:53,919 Speaker 1: actually know how to play rugby. But also they do 538 00:27:53,960 --> 00:27:56,639 Speaker 1: that intimidating hawka dance that we've seen before. This is, 539 00:27:56,680 --> 00:27:59,119 Speaker 1: you know, all before they hit the field. That's pretty great. 540 00:27:59,520 --> 00:28:02,040 Speaker 1: And there's one other tradition I actually love, and it's 541 00:28:02,080 --> 00:28:05,360 Speaker 1: the moving of the South Pole. How does that work. Well, 542 00:28:05,400 --> 00:28:07,840 Speaker 1: it's because the ice shifts and so the marker for 543 00:28:07,880 --> 00:28:10,679 Speaker 1: the south pole moves about twenty five or thirty feet 544 00:28:10,720 --> 00:28:13,679 Speaker 1: every year. So there's this big ceremony that everyone from 545 00:28:13,680 --> 00:28:16,280 Speaker 1: the South Pole station attends and the south pole is 546 00:28:16,359 --> 00:28:19,840 Speaker 1: recalibrated and then a new pole is placed in that location. 547 00:28:20,040 --> 00:28:22,639 Speaker 1: Those are also fun. So I also looked into some 548 00:28:22,680 --> 00:28:24,800 Speaker 1: of the more standard things you could do, like people 549 00:28:24,840 --> 00:28:28,199 Speaker 1: play cards and board games, Argentina also just set up 550 00:28:28,240 --> 00:28:30,639 Speaker 1: this new movie theater. This might be part of their 551 00:28:30,680 --> 00:28:32,959 Speaker 1: ploy to seem like it's a real town, because they 552 00:28:32,960 --> 00:28:35,840 Speaker 1: also bring directors and actors there to talk about the films, 553 00:28:35,840 --> 00:28:39,520 Speaker 1: and they premiere new movies which are all subtitled for visitors. 554 00:28:39,520 --> 00:28:41,640 Speaker 1: But all the bases also have some version of the 555 00:28:41,720 --> 00:28:43,600 Speaker 1: three hundred club, which is where you sit in a 556 00:28:43,680 --> 00:28:46,480 Speaker 1: sauna that's three hundred degrees hotter than the temp outside, 557 00:28:46,800 --> 00:28:48,800 Speaker 1: then you run through the snow naked or do a 558 00:28:48,840 --> 00:28:51,320 Speaker 1: polar plunge, and then rush back in. I guess it's 559 00:28:51,360 --> 00:28:54,720 Speaker 1: supposed to be exhilarating. I just I've never understood the 560 00:28:54,760 --> 00:28:57,520 Speaker 1: whole like polar bear plunge thing that happens in so 561 00:28:57,560 --> 00:29:00,440 Speaker 1: many places, and it just sounds even worse here. So 562 00:29:00,480 --> 00:29:02,880 Speaker 1: I was reading on slate there's an Antarctic saying that 563 00:29:03,160 --> 00:29:05,680 Speaker 1: if it's twenty below and the wind ain't blowing, it 564 00:29:05,760 --> 00:29:08,400 Speaker 1: ain't bad. It sounds bad though, Yeah, I can't say 565 00:29:08,440 --> 00:29:10,680 Speaker 1: that I would agree with that statement. But the strangest 566 00:29:10,760 --> 00:29:13,320 Speaker 1: mundane thing I found that's actually no longer There was 567 00:29:13,400 --> 00:29:16,560 Speaker 1: a two lane bowling alley at McMurdo station. Can you 568 00:29:16,640 --> 00:29:19,120 Speaker 1: imagine bringing all that wood down in materials to build 569 00:29:19,120 --> 00:29:21,840 Speaker 1: a bowling alley. It's yeah, it's kind of insane, but 570 00:29:21,880 --> 00:29:24,640 Speaker 1: I found the photos on Laughing Squid. The alley was 571 00:29:24,640 --> 00:29:28,120 Speaker 1: built in ninety one and lasted for almost fifty years. 572 00:29:28,480 --> 00:29:31,920 Speaker 1: It's funny. It used this Brunswick manual pin set system 573 00:29:31,960 --> 00:29:34,080 Speaker 1: where an employee had to pick up the fallen pins 574 00:29:34,120 --> 00:29:36,840 Speaker 1: by hand and also send your bowling bowl back to 575 00:29:36,920 --> 00:29:39,440 Speaker 1: you down this ramp, and when they finally tore it 576 00:29:39,520 --> 00:29:42,040 Speaker 1: down in two thousand nine, it was the only manual 577 00:29:42,080 --> 00:29:44,160 Speaker 1: pin set system of that type left in the world. 578 00:29:44,320 --> 00:29:46,000 Speaker 1: Oh man, that's kind of a kind of a shame. 579 00:29:46,000 --> 00:29:48,000 Speaker 1: So so why did they end up tearing it down. Well, 580 00:29:48,040 --> 00:29:50,640 Speaker 1: eventually the wood on the lanes wore down, and replacing 581 00:29:50,680 --> 00:29:53,440 Speaker 1: the bowling alley was just too expensive. So they've turned 582 00:29:53,440 --> 00:29:57,040 Speaker 1: it into a curling club, and I would guess that 583 00:29:57,120 --> 00:29:59,520 Speaker 1: ice is a little bit easier to maintain. And you 584 00:29:59,520 --> 00:30:01,400 Speaker 1: know what I found really interesting was just how much 585 00:30:01,440 --> 00:30:05,080 Speaker 1: responsibility bartenders have an antarctic I mean, it's actually kind 586 00:30:05,120 --> 00:30:08,200 Speaker 1: of an important job. Why is that, Well, obviously, people 587 00:30:08,240 --> 00:30:10,120 Speaker 1: want to drink, I mean there's little else to do, 588 00:30:10,240 --> 00:30:13,280 Speaker 1: so having a good bar keep is comforting. But you know, 589 00:30:13,360 --> 00:30:16,840 Speaker 1: even though people aren't driving drunk, they're real dangerous to 590 00:30:16,960 --> 00:30:19,520 Speaker 1: drinking and Antarctica. I was reading this account of a 591 00:30:19,560 --> 00:30:23,320 Speaker 1: scientist who worked as the volunteer bartender at Club nineties 592 00:30:23,360 --> 00:30:25,959 Speaker 1: south and this is a bar at the South Pole station, 593 00:30:26,600 --> 00:30:28,480 Speaker 1: And this is how he's quoted in the Guardian. It 594 00:30:28,560 --> 00:30:30,560 Speaker 1: says I made it a point of honor to be 595 00:30:30,600 --> 00:30:33,400 Speaker 1: the last person to leave the club each night. I 596 00:30:33,520 --> 00:30:35,800 Speaker 1: learned to spot the signs that someone was likely to 597 00:30:35,840 --> 00:30:39,040 Speaker 1: wander drunkenly into the Antarctic night. And I heard too 598 00:30:39,040 --> 00:30:42,800 Speaker 1: many stories of people returning to base with hypothermia and frostbite. 599 00:30:43,280 --> 00:30:45,760 Speaker 1: My theory was it's easier to recover from too much 600 00:30:45,840 --> 00:30:49,320 Speaker 1: drinking than to grow back a missing limb. I was 601 00:30:49,320 --> 00:30:52,680 Speaker 1: happy only when everyone was safely tucked up and accounted for, 602 00:30:53,160 --> 00:30:55,240 Speaker 1: even if it meant leaving them passed out on the 603 00:30:55,280 --> 00:30:59,160 Speaker 1: bar's couch. I mean, with that blinding snow, it's supposedly 604 00:30:59,200 --> 00:31:01,840 Speaker 1: really easy for people to get lost. I I read 605 00:31:01,880 --> 00:31:04,440 Speaker 1: this account from the National History Museum where the scientists 606 00:31:04,440 --> 00:31:06,920 Speaker 1: talked about how he and a colleague walked just two 607 00:31:07,320 --> 00:31:09,640 Speaker 1: yards to get snow samples, and they thought they were 608 00:31:09,680 --> 00:31:12,959 Speaker 1: walking parallel to this seismic tunnel, and then they crossed 609 00:31:12,960 --> 00:31:15,640 Speaker 1: it and almost fell in, and they weren't even slashed. 610 00:31:15,640 --> 00:31:18,720 Speaker 1: They were like totally sober. So I'm really glad the 611 00:31:18,760 --> 00:31:22,000 Speaker 1: bartender has taken upon themselves to watch over the patrons. 612 00:31:22,040 --> 00:31:23,680 Speaker 1: But by the way, the strangest thing I read about 613 00:31:23,720 --> 00:31:26,280 Speaker 1: drinking in an article was that people often go outside 614 00:31:26,320 --> 00:31:29,160 Speaker 1: to be sick, but the stuff freezes as soon as 615 00:31:29,160 --> 00:31:32,080 Speaker 1: it touches the ice, so people are expected to clean 616 00:31:32,160 --> 00:31:34,760 Speaker 1: up after themselves with pick axes to chip that frozen 617 00:31:34,760 --> 00:31:39,000 Speaker 1: grossness away and then throw it out all right. Well, 618 00:31:39,000 --> 00:31:41,040 Speaker 1: on the flip side of that, one thing I didn't 619 00:31:41,080 --> 00:31:44,800 Speaker 1: expect to find an Antarctica was so many beautiful churches, definitely. 620 00:31:44,920 --> 00:31:48,160 Speaker 1: So I saw this gallery of seven churches in Antarctica 621 00:31:48,240 --> 00:31:51,560 Speaker 1: at messy Nessy Chick, and they were all gorgeous. My 622 00:31:51,640 --> 00:31:55,240 Speaker 1: favorite was this beautiful Russian Orthodox church that's a wooden structure, 623 00:31:55,600 --> 00:31:57,880 Speaker 1: like you wouldn't think that would last through those winds, 624 00:31:57,920 --> 00:32:00,720 Speaker 1: but it's somehow survived. It's like the other miracle on 625 00:32:00,760 --> 00:32:04,680 Speaker 1: ice exactly. I mean, they are all sorts of these churches. 626 00:32:04,720 --> 00:32:06,800 Speaker 1: There's there's a Catholic church that was built in an 627 00:32:06,840 --> 00:32:10,720 Speaker 1: ice cave. This Bulgarian church that's basically under the snow, 628 00:32:11,120 --> 00:32:13,239 Speaker 1: you know, except for the church bell, and it's kind 629 00:32:13,280 --> 00:32:15,920 Speaker 1: of a sweet thing that they ring it with some frequency, 630 00:32:16,120 --> 00:32:17,760 Speaker 1: you know, especially when you consider it was built for 631 00:32:17,800 --> 00:32:21,960 Speaker 1: a four member Bulgarian team. There's some inner faith churches, 632 00:32:22,160 --> 00:32:24,440 Speaker 1: you know. The priest is happy to conduct both Buddhist 633 00:32:24,520 --> 00:32:27,320 Speaker 1: and be High services as well. Well. I think we've 634 00:32:27,360 --> 00:32:29,640 Speaker 1: covered where to get sazzled and where to get saved. 635 00:32:29,680 --> 00:32:31,840 Speaker 1: But I know we want to talk about why plumbers 636 00:32:31,840 --> 00:32:34,160 Speaker 1: are the real heroes of Antarctica, or at least I do. 637 00:32:34,280 --> 00:32:49,280 Speaker 1: So let's take a quick break and then discuss Welcome 638 00:32:49,280 --> 00:32:51,120 Speaker 1: back to Part time Genius. Now, before the break, Mango, 639 00:32:51,200 --> 00:32:54,640 Speaker 1: you were making some pretty big statements about plumbers and Antarctica. 640 00:32:54,840 --> 00:32:58,800 Speaker 1: I was reading about Brendan Hopkins, who's this Australian plumber 641 00:32:58,800 --> 00:33:01,120 Speaker 1: at the Casey Station, and he was talking about how 642 00:33:01,160 --> 00:33:03,240 Speaker 1: he's tricked out the pipes so they don't freeze in 643 00:33:03,240 --> 00:33:05,800 Speaker 1: this crazy climate. I mean, that's an important thing, and 644 00:33:05,840 --> 00:33:08,160 Speaker 1: so for most of the pipes, water is constantly running 645 00:33:08,160 --> 00:33:11,040 Speaker 1: through them, but that isn't the case with the sewer lines, 646 00:33:11,400 --> 00:33:14,120 Speaker 1: so it's really complicated when you hit the flush like. 647 00:33:14,240 --> 00:33:16,920 Speaker 1: To keep the sewer pipes from freezing, his team runs 648 00:33:16,960 --> 00:33:20,200 Speaker 1: these electric cables around the pipes just to heat the pipes. 649 00:33:20,560 --> 00:33:23,000 Speaker 1: And because no waste can be left in Antarctica, he's 650 00:33:23,040 --> 00:33:26,760 Speaker 1: built this crazy wastewater treatment plant that filters the waste 651 00:33:26,840 --> 00:33:30,400 Speaker 1: multiple times with microbes. And there's even this additive that 652 00:33:30,440 --> 00:33:32,560 Speaker 1: he uses to help package and reduce the way so 653 00:33:32,600 --> 00:33:34,880 Speaker 1: it can be shipped off the continent. He has this 654 00:33:34,960 --> 00:33:37,280 Speaker 1: pager set up just to watch the sewer systems at 655 00:33:37,320 --> 00:33:41,000 Speaker 1: all times, because fixing it is an enormous task. But 656 00:33:41,120 --> 00:33:44,400 Speaker 1: the one perk that the electricians and plumbers get is 657 00:33:44,800 --> 00:33:48,520 Speaker 1: taking turns brewing beer while they're supposedly sworn enemies in 658 00:33:48,560 --> 00:33:51,720 Speaker 1: their natural habitat. According to Brendan, they get along swimmingly 659 00:33:51,800 --> 00:33:54,840 Speaker 1: in Antarctica. It's pretty fun, you know. I actually think 660 00:33:54,880 --> 00:33:57,440 Speaker 1: being a chef down there is pretty darn heroic as well. 661 00:33:57,840 --> 00:34:00,120 Speaker 1: In fact, it's an honor to be chosen to look 662 00:34:00,160 --> 00:34:02,520 Speaker 1: at the Concordia base there, you know, since you actually 663 00:34:02,560 --> 00:34:04,680 Speaker 1: have to win a lottery to work at the French 664 00:34:04,720 --> 00:34:07,440 Speaker 1: and Italian base. But before you can even put your 665 00:34:07,520 --> 00:34:10,000 Speaker 1: name and you have to demonstrate a mastery of numerous 666 00:34:10,040 --> 00:34:13,239 Speaker 1: international cuisines, and you have to be a work course. 667 00:34:13,280 --> 00:34:15,839 Speaker 1: I mean you're making all three meals a day by 668 00:34:15,920 --> 00:34:18,840 Speaker 1: yourself for the crew there. But the cook seems to 669 00:34:18,960 --> 00:34:22,480 Speaker 1: love the high pressure environment and the food is top notch. 670 00:34:22,800 --> 00:34:25,920 Speaker 1: Lonely Planet calls it the best cuisine in Antarctica, with 671 00:34:25,960 --> 00:34:29,759 Speaker 1: the seven course Sunday lunches being the absolute highlight. Well, 672 00:34:29,840 --> 00:34:31,920 Speaker 1: speaking of absolute highlights, you know what time it is? 673 00:34:32,200 --> 00:34:36,520 Speaker 1: Time for the PTG fact off, Let's do it. H 674 00:34:42,640 --> 00:34:44,560 Speaker 1: Do you know that Antarctica is one of the best 675 00:34:44,560 --> 00:34:47,239 Speaker 1: places in the world to find meteor rights? Apparently that 676 00:34:47,320 --> 00:34:50,640 Speaker 1: snow white landscape is perfect for finding space junk. I 677 00:34:50,640 --> 00:34:53,400 Speaker 1: mean everywhere else in the world it's so much more difficult. 678 00:34:53,920 --> 00:34:56,920 Speaker 1: That's interesting. Well I've got one here. So Metallica once 679 00:34:56,960 --> 00:34:59,560 Speaker 1: played a concert in Antarctica and they did this just 680 00:34:59,640 --> 00:35:02,640 Speaker 1: to be the first band to play on all seven continents. 681 00:35:02,640 --> 00:35:05,600 Speaker 1: Pretty impressive. Uh yeah, and Metallica is so cool. Do 682 00:35:05,640 --> 00:35:08,200 Speaker 1: you know what small icebergs are called. I don't. They're 683 00:35:08,200 --> 00:35:11,320 Speaker 1: called growlers. They're usually the size of a grand piano 684 00:35:11,480 --> 00:35:13,680 Speaker 1: or a truck. And if you want to upgrade to 685 00:35:13,719 --> 00:35:17,440 Speaker 1: a medium sized iceberg, those are called burgie bits, Burgie 686 00:35:17,480 --> 00:35:21,520 Speaker 1: bits nice. Well. According to Australia's government site, doctors who 687 00:35:21,520 --> 00:35:25,480 Speaker 1: winter in Antarctica must have their appendix removed before traveling there. 688 00:35:25,800 --> 00:35:29,399 Speaker 1: That's because they don't want anyone having appendicitis while they're Oh, 689 00:35:29,480 --> 00:35:33,760 Speaker 1: that's crazy. So this summer in Edinburgh geographic survey found 690 00:35:33,800 --> 00:35:37,520 Speaker 1: ninety one volcanoes hiding two kilometers under the ice and Antarctica. 691 00:35:37,840 --> 00:35:41,480 Speaker 1: It's apparently the largest volcanic region on Earth. All right, Well, 692 00:35:41,480 --> 00:35:44,560 Speaker 1: when scientists discovered a new species of yeti crab living 693 00:35:44,560 --> 00:35:47,560 Speaker 1: in the thermal vents under Antartica, they were so impressed 694 00:35:47,600 --> 00:35:51,440 Speaker 1: with its hairy chest that they named it for David Hasselhoff. 695 00:35:51,600 --> 00:35:56,240 Speaker 1: It's affectionately known as the Hoff crabf crab. I've actually 696 00:35:56,280 --> 00:35:58,600 Speaker 1: seen that critter, and I think it's way better looking 697 00:35:58,600 --> 00:36:01,319 Speaker 1: than its namesake. But I do love that fact. So 698 00:36:01,360 --> 00:36:03,880 Speaker 1: why don't you take home today's trophy? I can do that, 699 00:36:03,920 --> 00:36:05,600 Speaker 1: all right, Well, that's it for today's show. If you 700 00:36:05,640 --> 00:36:08,200 Speaker 1: have any Antarctic facts you're dying to tell us, don't forget. 701 00:36:08,239 --> 00:36:10,560 Speaker 1: You can always drop us a line on our seven 702 00:36:10,640 --> 00:36:14,080 Speaker 1: Fact hot line one eight four four pt Genius or 703 00:36:14,160 --> 00:36:16,560 Speaker 1: email us at part time Genius at how stuff works 704 00:36:16,600 --> 00:36:32,200 Speaker 1: dot com. Thanks so much for listening. Thanks again for listening. 705 00:36:32,400 --> 00:36:34,560 Speaker 1: Part Time Genius is a production of How Stuff Works 706 00:36:34,560 --> 00:36:37,160 Speaker 1: and wouldn't be possible without several brilliant people who do 707 00:36:37,200 --> 00:36:40,200 Speaker 1: the important things we couldn't even again to understand. Tristan 708 00:36:40,280 --> 00:36:42,879 Speaker 1: McNeil does the editing thing. Noel Brown made the theme 709 00:36:42,920 --> 00:36:45,760 Speaker 1: song and does the mixy mixy sound thing. Jerry Rowland 710 00:36:45,840 --> 00:36:49,120 Speaker 1: does the exact producer thing. Gayluesier is our lead researcher, 711 00:36:49,160 --> 00:36:52,160 Speaker 1: with support from the research Army including Austin Thompson, Nolan 712 00:36:52,200 --> 00:36:54,360 Speaker 1: Brown and Lucas Adams and Eve Jeff Cook gets the 713 00:36:54,400 --> 00:36:56,640 Speaker 1: show to your ears. Good job, Eves. If you like 714 00:36:56,719 --> 00:36:58,560 Speaker 1: what you heard, we hope you'll subscribe, And if you 715 00:36:58,600 --> 00:37:00,600 Speaker 1: really really like what you've heard, if you could leave 716 00:37:00,600 --> 00:37:02,960 Speaker 1: a good review for us? Did we did? We forget Jason? 717 00:37:03,320 --> 00:37:03,919 Speaker 1: Jason who