The Race for the North Pole

American History Hit

History Hit

America, History

4.5 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 7 November 2022

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

On April 6th 1909, deep inside the Artic Circle after months on the ice, Robert Peary, Matthew Henson and their four Inuit guides reached what they thought was the North Pole. But, as Edward J. Larson tells Don, Peary’s measurements and the speed of their journey were immediately called into question. Nonetheless, Congress voted to recognise Peary’s expedition as the first to reach the North Pole, dismissing a rival's claim to have done it a year earlier.

Produced by Benjie Guy. Mixed by Aidan Lonergan. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	It is April 6, 2009.
0:05.0	Somewhere deep within the Arctic Circle,
0:11.0	explorers Robert Piri, Matthew Henson, and their four Inuit guides on five sledges
0:16.0	pulled by 40 dogs are headed north across a frozen landscape. Their objective? To reach the furthest north, where there is no east, no west, and the only direction is south. They seek to become the first known humans to reach the North Pole. The expedition holds and Matthew
0:35.8	Henson is dispatched ahead to scout what Piri believes to be the North Pole.
0:40.2	Upon his return, Henson states, I think I'm the first man to sit on top of the world.
0:46.7	This was almost certainly not the case.
0:50.1	Pirie's measurements and the speed of his journey were immediately called into question.
0:55.0	Nonetheless, Congress voted to recognize Pire's expedition as the first to ever reach the
1:00.2	fabled north, dismissing arrivals claim to have done so a year earlier. A couple weeks ago a friend sent me a book in the mail and suggested it for an episode.
1:19.9	You know something's working with your podcast when friends are volunteering their books.
1:23.2	I knew the author, of course, he's published for decades on a whole range of subjects,
1:27.6	won the Pulitzer Prize, but I hadn't read this one and I certainly had never considered the particular year the book focuses
1:35.2	on or the year's remarkable place in the annals of human endeavor.
1:39.9	The title says it all, To The Edges of the Earth,
1:43.2	1909, The Race for Three Poles
1:46.4	and the Climax of the Age of Exploration.
1:49.2	The author is Edward J Larson, and he joins us today.
1:52.8	Hello Ed Larson, big thrill to meet you.
1:54.8	Oh, it's wonderful to be on your show.
1:56.4	Thank you very much for having me.
1:58.0	I don't know how I missed this book.
	...

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