1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:06,400 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey 2 00:00:06,440 --> 00:00:11,039 Speaker 1: brain Stuff Lauren Vogel Bam here. As of there are 3 00:00:11,119 --> 00:00:15,360 Speaker 1: nearly eight billion human beings on the planet Earth. Vehicles 4 00:00:15,400 --> 00:00:18,600 Speaker 1: of every kind roam the land, air, and sea, often 5 00:00:18,640 --> 00:00:21,040 Speaker 1: in weather conditions that would have stopped humans in their 6 00:00:21,079 --> 00:00:24,479 Speaker 1: tracks just a few decades ago. The world is in 7 00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:30,400 Speaker 1: essence getting smaller, leaving few places unexplored. Given those circumstances, 8 00:00:30,560 --> 00:00:33,559 Speaker 1: what exactly does it mean to be an explorer today? 9 00:00:35,360 --> 00:00:38,120 Speaker 1: Some would say that exploration is part of human drive, 10 00:00:38,360 --> 00:00:41,440 Speaker 1: as our curiosity pushes us to seek out new places 11 00:00:41,440 --> 00:00:44,159 Speaker 1: around us, wherever we live just down the road or 12 00:00:44,200 --> 00:00:47,720 Speaker 1: across the open countryside, and wherever we don't live, like 13 00:00:47,960 --> 00:00:50,960 Speaker 1: under the ocean's waves, in deep caves and into the 14 00:00:50,960 --> 00:00:54,279 Speaker 1: depths of the galaxy. Well, sure, some of us are 15 00:00:54,280 --> 00:00:57,640 Speaker 1: fine with plush couches and plentiful pizza, but for others, 16 00:00:57,840 --> 00:01:01,640 Speaker 1: the call of the unknown is irresistible, and these restless 17 00:01:01,640 --> 00:01:05,040 Speaker 1: souls find that even in a shrinking world, exploration is 18 00:01:05,160 --> 00:01:08,440 Speaker 1: very possible if you know where to look. There are 19 00:01:08,440 --> 00:01:11,280 Speaker 1: adventures to be had everywhere, new sights to see, in 20 00:01:11,360 --> 00:01:14,240 Speaker 1: places to experience. But if you want to go where 21 00:01:14,280 --> 00:01:16,920 Speaker 1: no one has gone before. You can start by looking 22 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:21,640 Speaker 1: up or down. We spoke by email with Eric Larson, 23 00:01:21,800 --> 00:01:25,800 Speaker 1: a polar explorer and mountain climber. He said, there are 24 00:01:25,840 --> 00:01:29,160 Speaker 1: a variety of peaks in areas like Nepal, Pakistan and 25 00:01:29,280 --> 00:01:32,000 Speaker 1: China that have yet to be climbed. Exploring the depths 26 00:01:32,080 --> 00:01:34,440 Speaker 1: of the oceans would be one of the larger tracts 27 00:01:34,480 --> 00:01:38,000 Speaker 1: of undiscovered terrain, if you could call it that. I 28 00:01:38,040 --> 00:01:40,400 Speaker 1: know there are probably some areas of the Pacific Ocean 29 00:01:40,440 --> 00:01:43,760 Speaker 1: that remained somewhat untouched, and definitely parts of the Amazon 30 00:01:43,880 --> 00:01:48,840 Speaker 1: rainforest as well. Larson has launched some major expeditions. In 31 00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:51,440 Speaker 1: two thousand nine and twenty ten, he journeyed to both 32 00:01:51,520 --> 00:01:54,440 Speaker 1: the North and South Poles and the top of Mount Everest, 33 00:01:54,600 --> 00:01:57,360 Speaker 1: all within three hundred and sixty five days, the only 34 00:01:57,400 --> 00:01:59,960 Speaker 1: person ever to achieve this feat in under a year. 35 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:03,400 Speaker 1: It was grueling, though, and took a drastic toll on 36 00:02:03,440 --> 00:02:06,400 Speaker 1: his mind and body. So why does he do it? 37 00:02:07,280 --> 00:02:10,480 Speaker 1: He said? I really enjoy the physical and mental aspects 38 00:02:10,480 --> 00:02:13,720 Speaker 1: of big expeditions, from the planning and preparation to the 39 00:02:13,760 --> 00:02:17,760 Speaker 1: decision making and stress involved in executing these adventures. I 40 00:02:17,840 --> 00:02:20,040 Speaker 1: like blazing my own trail as well, and being in 41 00:02:20,080 --> 00:02:24,000 Speaker 1: places that I know no one has traveled previously. These 42 00:02:24,080 --> 00:02:28,440 Speaker 1: kinds of adventures cost some people their lives. Take Percy Fawcett, 43 00:02:28,560 --> 00:02:32,480 Speaker 1: who in nineteen disappeared trying to find a legendary city 44 00:02:32,520 --> 00:02:36,360 Speaker 1: in the Amazon Rainforest, or Sir John Franklin and Francis Kosher, 45 00:02:36,639 --> 00:02:39,240 Speaker 1: who met the same mysterious fate in the eighteen forties 46 00:02:39,280 --> 00:02:43,240 Speaker 1: when they tried to find the fabled Northwest Passage. Larson 47 00:02:43,320 --> 00:02:47,400 Speaker 1: himself has almost died multiple times. He said, I've had 48 00:02:47,440 --> 00:02:51,120 Speaker 1: several very close encounters with polar bears. In two thousand 49 00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:53,720 Speaker 1: five off the coast of Siberia on the Arctic Ocean, 50 00:02:53,960 --> 00:02:55,880 Speaker 1: we had one jump on our tent while we were 51 00:02:55,880 --> 00:02:58,760 Speaker 1: sleeping in it. We also were in some pretty sketchy 52 00:02:58,760 --> 00:03:02,000 Speaker 1: situations in ten when trying to climb a peak in Nepal. 53 00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:04,720 Speaker 1: It took us three different attempts, and we were in 54 00:03:04,760 --> 00:03:07,560 Speaker 1: several situations where a wrong step would have meant death. 55 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:11,840 Speaker 1: And as if near death isn't bad enough, there are 56 00:03:11,880 --> 00:03:16,160 Speaker 1: expeditions bills to be paid. Those kinds of journeys are expensive, 57 00:03:16,280 --> 00:03:19,760 Speaker 1: and explorers often search for sponsors to defray the costs. 58 00:03:20,120 --> 00:03:22,680 Speaker 1: In return for funding, the sponsors might ask for anything 59 00:03:22,760 --> 00:03:25,640 Speaker 1: from placement of their logo on a jacket to engagement 60 00:03:25,760 --> 00:03:30,120 Speaker 1: via social media, blogs, videos, live events, and more. And 61 00:03:30,160 --> 00:03:33,240 Speaker 1: these sorts of sponsorships are nothing new. Going back to 62 00:03:33,240 --> 00:03:36,560 Speaker 1: the turn of the twentieth century, explorers like Ernest Shackleton, 63 00:03:36,720 --> 00:03:40,280 Speaker 1: who led three expeditions to the Antarctic, depended on largely 64 00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:44,480 Speaker 1: private sponsors to fund their trips. The Shackleton struck deals 65 00:03:44,520 --> 00:03:47,920 Speaker 1: to name glaciers, mountains, and boats after his donors, and 66 00:03:47,960 --> 00:03:50,400 Speaker 1: even gave one woman's son a place on his team 67 00:03:50,640 --> 00:03:53,760 Speaker 1: in return for a two thousand pound loan. The son, 68 00:03:53,920 --> 00:03:57,680 Speaker 1: Philip Brocklehurst, wound up losing a big toe to frostbite 69 00:03:57,720 --> 00:04:00,360 Speaker 1: on the trip, but it seems there were no hard feelings. 70 00:04:00,760 --> 00:04:03,240 Speaker 1: The toe subsequently received a place of honor on the 71 00:04:03,240 --> 00:04:07,280 Speaker 1: mantelpiece in the family manner. That expedition was part of 72 00:04:07,280 --> 00:04:11,400 Speaker 1: a larger movement. At a dinner on May nineteen o four, 73 00:04:11,680 --> 00:04:14,320 Speaker 1: attended by fifty men well known in the circles of 74 00:04:14,360 --> 00:04:17,760 Speaker 1: exploration at the time, the Explorers Club was born and 75 00:04:17,839 --> 00:04:20,920 Speaker 1: soon began inviting explorers and scientists to speak of their 76 00:04:20,920 --> 00:04:24,680 Speaker 1: adventures and discoveries with the goal of promoting scientific exploration 77 00:04:24,800 --> 00:04:28,440 Speaker 1: and field study. The Explorers Club is particularly known for 78 00:04:28,480 --> 00:04:32,360 Speaker 1: its five Famous Firsts, a list of places conquered by 79 00:04:32,400 --> 00:04:35,640 Speaker 1: members the North Pole in nineteen o nine, the South 80 00:04:35,680 --> 00:04:38,880 Speaker 1: Pole in nineteen eleven, Mount Everest in nineteen fifty three, 81 00:04:39,160 --> 00:04:43,039 Speaker 1: the Marianna Trench in nineteen sixty and the Moon in 82 00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:47,960 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty nine. These explorers were breaking entirely new ground. 83 00:04:48,560 --> 00:04:51,720 Speaker 1: As of twenty however, most of the Earth has already 84 00:04:51,720 --> 00:04:55,680 Speaker 1: been witnessed by human eyes. Larson said the leading edge 85 00:04:55,680 --> 00:04:59,599 Speaker 1: of exploration today is more about pushing personal limits, trying 86 00:04:59,640 --> 00:05:04,080 Speaker 1: to do adventures in new, unique and challenging ways. For example, 87 00:05:04,240 --> 00:05:07,039 Speaker 1: while people have skied to the South Pole many times, 88 00:05:07,320 --> 00:05:11,320 Speaker 1: in I tried to bicycle to the South Pole. He 89 00:05:11,440 --> 00:05:14,560 Speaker 1: didn't make it, but there are plenty of other examples. 90 00:05:14,960 --> 00:05:18,440 Speaker 1: Take the incredibly steep pitch of l Capitan's Dawn Wall 91 00:05:18,520 --> 00:05:22,599 Speaker 1: in Yosemite National Park, some three thousand feet or nine tall. 92 00:05:23,200 --> 00:05:27,720 Speaker 1: It's been climbed many times, but in Tommy Caldwell and 93 00:05:27,800 --> 00:05:31,400 Speaker 1: Kevin Jorgenson were the first to free climate. Or there's 94 00:05:31,440 --> 00:05:34,440 Speaker 1: Alex Hanoald who took it to a nerve shattering extreme 95 00:05:34,520 --> 00:05:37,400 Speaker 1: when he climbed the Dawn Wall without any ropes whatsoever. 96 00:05:37,480 --> 00:05:41,040 Speaker 1: In his climb, which is considered to be one of 97 00:05:41,080 --> 00:05:44,600 Speaker 1: the greatest athletic achievements of all time, was documented by 98 00:05:44,600 --> 00:05:49,600 Speaker 1: the National Geographic film Free Solo. Now, you don't have 99 00:05:49,680 --> 00:05:52,240 Speaker 1: to take on these kinds of extreme adventures. If you 100 00:05:52,240 --> 00:05:54,400 Speaker 1: don't want to, you can leave it to the experts 101 00:05:54,440 --> 00:05:58,200 Speaker 1: and witness their bravery and perhaps dubious sanity from Afar. 102 00:05:59,040 --> 00:06:01,640 Speaker 1: But no matter how as small the world gets, it's 103 00:06:01,680 --> 00:06:04,080 Speaker 1: clear that there will always be people willing to push 104 00:06:04,080 --> 00:06:12,400 Speaker 1: exploration just a little bit further. Today's episode was written 105 00:06:12,440 --> 00:06:15,040 Speaker 1: by Nathan Chandler and produced by Tyler Clang. For more 106 00:06:15,080 --> 00:06:17,359 Speaker 1: on this and lots of other exploratory topics, visit how 107 00:06:17,400 --> 00:06:20,560 Speaker 1: stuffworks dot com. Brain Stuff is a production of iHeart Radio. 108 00:06:20,760 --> 00:06:22,680 Speaker 1: Or more podcasts in my heart Radio, visit the I 109 00:06:22,760 --> 00:06:25,479 Speaker 1: heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 110 00:06:25,480 --> 00:06:26,279 Speaker 1: your favorite shows.