Explore every episode of the podcast Explore: A Canadian Geographic podcast
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
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| Quest: Shackleton’s last ship, with John Geiger | 20 oct. 2026 | 00:48:07 | |
“Emerging out of this darkness suddenly was the bow of Quest.” — John Geiger Nearly 400 metres beneath the Labrador Sea, John Geiger watched Sir Ernest Shackleton’s last ship emerge from the darkness. Two years after leading the expedition that discovered Quest, the Royal Canadian Geographical Society CEO returned aboard the research submersible Alvin to see the wreck with his own eyes. In this episode of Explore: A Canadian Geographic Podcast, Geiger joins host David McGuffin to discuss that extraordinary encounter and his new book, Quest: Shackleton’s Last Ship and the End of the Heroic Age. It reveals a surprising Canadian chapter in Shackleton’s life: his plans to explore Canada’s Arctic, his efforts to secure backing in Ottawa, and his thoughts of making Canada his home. Geiger takes us inside the rivalry between Shackleton and Canadian-born explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson, whose competing ambitions divided Ottawa’s political and bureaucratic circles. When Canadian support fell through, Shackleton turned south instead—aboard a ship ill-suited to the Southern Ocean, on the expedition that would become his last. We also explore Quest’s remarkable working life after Shackleton, the expedition’s visit to Robert Falcon Scott’s last ship, Terra Nova, and how new technology is helping preserve both wrecks digitally. Along the way, Geiger reflects on Shackleton’s exceptional leadership and the power of exploration to bring Canadian history and geography to life. About our guest John Geiger is CEO of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society and Canadian Geographic Enterprises, an internationally bestselling author and a member of the Order of Canada. His books include Frozen in Time: The Fate of the Franklin Expedition, co-written with Owen Beattie, and The Third Man Factor: Surviving the Impossible, which examines the mysterious presence people sometimes experience in life-threatening situations—including Shackleton during his crossing of South Georgia. His latest book is Quest: Shackleton’s Last Ship and the End of the Heroic Age. Revisit episodes 85 and 86 of Explore for the story of the 2024 expedition that discovered Quest, featuring John Geiger and expedition members David Mearns and Antoine Normandin. Explore: A Canadian Geographic Podcast is hosted by David McGuffin and produced by Explore Podcast Productions for Canadian Geographic. Next Listen: - Episode 85: Finding Sir Ernest Shackleton's lost ship with John Geiger - Episode 86: How the Quest was found Canadian Geographic
Enjoying Explore? Follow the podcast and leave a rating or review wherever you listen. | |||
| Alan Doyle: Songs, stories and The Smiling Land | 06 oct. 2026 | 00:59:04 | |
“We knew we had something that was ours and unique and different, and we figured we better shout it out loud.” - Alan Doyle For Alan Doyle, travelling the world has only strengthened the pull of home. Along the way, he takes us back to his childhood in Petty Harbour, where music filled the family home, cutting cod tongues earned him spending money, and singing Anne Murray songs bought him a later bedtime. Doyle reflects on Great Big Sea’s beginnings in the shadow of the cod moratorium, the band’s unexpected role as ambassadors for Newfoundland, and the resilience behind their enduring anthem, “Ordinary Day.” He also shares what decades of touring have taught him about Canada — and why St. John’s remains his favourite place to be. Full of humour and affection, this conversation explores how the places we come from shape the stories we tell. About our guest: Alan Doyle is a singer, songwriter, actor and author from Petty Harbour, N.L. Best known as a founding member of Great Big Sea, his books include Where I Belong, A Newfoundlander in Canada and The Smiling Land. Check out: Our conversation with The Guess Who’s Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings, featuring more unforgettable stories from a life in Canadian music. Explore: A Canadian Geographic Podcast is hosted by David McGuffin and produced by Explore Podcast Productions in partnership with Canadian Geographic. Canadian Geographic: Editor-in-chief: Alexandra Pope Digital and travel editor: Madigan Cotterill Digital marketing manager: Caroline Workman Enjoying Explore? Follow the podcast and leave a rating or review wherever you listen. | |||
| What black bears taught bestselling author Trina Moyles about coexistence | 22 sept. 2026 | 00:51:27 | |
“I knew about bears in this abstract theoretical way, but I didn’t really know what it meant to live closely with them.” What happens when a mother black bear refuses to leave the hillside beneath your fire tower? For bestselling author Trina Moyles, the answer became the heart of Black Bear: A Story of Siblinghood and Survival. While working at a fire tower in northern Alberta, Moyles found herself living in a black bear corridor, where a resident mother and her cubs returned to the nearby slope. She tried noise, rubber bullets and even a helicopter to drive them away, but nothing worked. Eventually, she began to question what she thought she knew about bears. Moyles joins Explore host David McGuffin to discuss how she learned to share the landscape with the bears and what years of observing them revealed about their behaviour. They explore the challenges of living alongside black bears as towns and cities expand into their habitats, as well as the practical choices that can help prevent conflict. Black Bear also tells the story of Moyles’s relationship with her late brother, Brendan, who chose a life working in Alberta’s oil fields. She reflects on the distance that grew between them, their efforts to reconnect, and why writing about him became inseparable from writing about the bears. Black Bear is a 2026 finalist for the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction. Trina Moyles is a bestselling author, environmental journalist and a frequent contributor to Canadian Geographic magazine. Her first memoir, Lookout, won a National Outdoor Book Award and the inaugural Memoir Award at the Alberta Literary Awards. In 2022, she received the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Emerging Artist Award. She lives in a cosy Yurt outside Whitehorse. Explore: A Canadian Geographic Podcast is hosted by David McGuffin and produced by David McGuffin and Graham McGuffin of ExploreProductions.ca in partnership with Canadian Geographic. Canadian Geographic
For more stories of adventure, science, history and exploration, visit canadiangeographic.ca Read more from Trina Moyles;
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| The places that change us with Eric Weiner | 08 sept. 2026 | 01:03:09 | |
“One of the main reasons we travel is to be different, hopefully better, versions of ourselves.” For Eric Weiner, travel has always been a way to pursue the big questions: What makes us happy, creative, wise, and fully alive? He has spent much of his career exploring the intersection of place and big ideas. A former NPR foreign correspondent, he reported from more than 30 countries before turning his attention to philosophical travel: journeys in search of happiness, faith, creativity, wisdom and awe. He is the New York Times bestselling author of The Geography of Bliss, Man Seeks God, The Geography of Genius, The Socrates Express and Ben & Me. The Geography of Bliss was adapted into a 2023 Peacock television series featuring The Office star Rainn Wilson. Weiner also co-hosts Toronto Pearson Airport’s podcast, Y We Travel, with Canadian journalist Erica Vella. In this conversation, Weiner and host David McGuffin trace his wanderlust back to the day he ran away from home at five years old. They look back on when it was still possible to be truly “out of pocket,” and consider how smartphones have changed not only travel but our relationship with place. Weiner explains why his journeys are always purposeful — ways of exploring ideas rather than simply accumulating destinations. He shares lessons from an unexpectedly transcendent pizza in an Arctic Finland gas station, reflects on experiencing awe amid the immense dunes of Oman’s Empty Quarter and makes the case for travelling more slowly, with enough time for serendipity. The conversation ends at the Haskell Free Library and Opera House, straddling the border between Stanstead, Quebec, and Derby Line, Vermont. There, Eric watched Shakespeare from a seat in the U.S. while the actors performed onstage in Canada — a powerful reminder that borders can be both artificial and very real. Explore: A Canadian Geographic Podcast is hosted by David McGuffin. Produced by David McGuffin and ExploreProductions.ca in partnership with Canadian Geographic. Canadian Geographic:
For more stories of adventure, science, history, and exploration, visit canadiangeographic.ca | |||
| Echo Maker: James Raffan on the people and stories behind the Historical Map of Temagami | 25 août 2026 | 00:57:31 | |
“To be in a relationship with a place is a very complex and beautiful dynamic.” Bestselling author, explorer and master storyteller James Raffan returns to Explore to discuss his new book, Echo Maker: Craig Macdonald and the Lives That Produced One of Canada’s Most Significant Historical Maps. The book tells the remarkable story of Craig Macdonald, a quiet and determined ethno-geographer who spent decades travelling through the Temagami region of northern Ontario and learning from Teme-Augama Anishnabai elders. Through hundreds of conversations and journeys by canoe, snowshoe and dogsled, Macdonald documented traditional place names, portages, winter trails and patterns of land use that had never appeared on conventional maps. The result was the historical Map of Temagami, which showcases the traditional travel routes, campsites, and geographical names of the Indigenous Anishinaabeg before 1900. An extraordinary record of Indigenous knowledge, the map has helped preserve language and culture, strengthen connections between generations and support an ongoing land claim. Raffan and Explore host David McGuffin discuss what drew Macdonald to this work, why he learned the language of Anishinaabemowin, and how a landscape often described as “wilderness” was revealed to be a deeply known and inhabited cultural landscape. They also discuss James’s new documentary, Signs of Life, about a music-and-storytelling project with Inuit youth in Kugluktuk, Nunavut, and reminisce about an unforgettable #CanGeoPolarPlunge through Arctic sea ice at −38C. James Raffan is a cultural geographer, bestselling author and Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society. He has spent more than 50 years travelling, researching and telling stories across Canada and the circumpolar North. Purchase the Historical Map of Temagami. Learn more about James, Echo Maker and his touring one-man musical show, The Accidental Canadian, at jamesraffan.ca. | |||
| Encore — Paddling the Peel Watershed with Bobbi Rose Koe | 11 août 2026 | 00:50:52 | |
"In my mind, when I want to relax, I take myself back to the Wind River." Tetlit Gwich'in means people of the headwaters, and Bobbi Rose Koe is on a mission to live up to her people's name. Born and raised in the Tetlit Gwich'in community of Fort McPherson, on the Peel River north of the Arctic Circle in the Northwest Territories, Koe spent her childhood with her grandparents, who regularly took her hunting and fishing out on the land. When she reached her mid-20s, she translated those skills into guiding adventure canoe trips on rivers in the Canadian Arctic. But just a decade ago, she was shocked to discover that she was one of the few First Nations people in the industry, let alone Indigenous women. The resistance she felt coming into river guiding led her to be the change that was needed. She set up Diinji Zhuh, an Indigenous-run canoe-tripping outfitter based in Whitehorse, YT. She is also setting up the first school to train Indigenous river guides. Koe and her teams lead trips across the Arctic. Still, her favourite rivers are in the traditional lands of her people, the Peel Watershed, a system of stunningly beautiful whitewater rivers. I paddled some of those rivers with my son Graham and cousin Terry in 2018 for Canadian Geographic. Koe and I bonded over talk about her favourite rivers in the Peel watershed, her role in the successful fight to protect the watershed from mineral development, mapping by storytelling, her mission to get Indigenous people back out into their ancestral lands, and the warm feeling of excitement she gets paddling through lands that her family have travelled and known for generations. Also, in 2021, Koe was presented with the Canadian River Heritage Award. Enjoy! | |||
| Encore — Newfoundland, Cod Collapse and saving the North Atlantic right whale with Jenn Thornhill Verma | 29 juil. 2026 | 00:52:43 | |
Raised on Newfoundland’s west coast, Jenn Thornhill Verma grew up immersed in the life and lore of fishing communities and the rhythms of the North Atlantic. She is the author of the bestselling book Cod Collapse: The Rise and Fall of Newfoundland’s Saltwater Cowboys, a contributor to Canadian Geographic, and a fellow with the Pulitzer Center’s Ocean Reporting Network, where she recently reported a series for the Globe and Mail on the endangered North Atlantic right whale. In this episode of Explore, Thornhill Verma and podcast host David McGuffin discuss the legacy of the cod fishery collapse in the early 1990's, the politics of fisheries management, and the urgent effort to protect one of the world’s most endangered whales: the North Atlantic right whale. With fewer than 400 individuals remaining, these whales face a variety of threats, including ship strikes, entanglement in fishing gear, and, of course, the climate crisis. Want to learn more?
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| HMCS Canada: The forgotten ship that built a navy with Joseph Frey | 14 juil. 2026 | 00:46:51 | |
What does a ship that sank a century ago off the Florida Keys have to do with the birth of the Royal Canadian Navy? Quite a lot, as it turns out. Before there was a Royal Canadian Navy, there was the HMCS Canada, a steel-hulled vessel that trained Canada's first naval officers, escorted First World War convoys, survived the Halifax Explosion, and helped lay the foundations of a young nation's naval service. Yet despite its remarkable legacy, most Canadians have never heard of it. In this episode of Explore, host David McGuffin sits down with naval historian, underwater archaeologist and former Royal Canadian Navy officer Joseph Frey to tell the extraordinary story of Canada's forgotten first warship: the HMSC Canada. From its launch in 1904 to its wartime service and eventual sinking off the Florida Keys in 1926, Frey traces the unlikely journey of a vessel that helped shape Canadian history. The conversation also follows a modern RCGS Flagged expedition, led by Frey, to the wreck nearly a century after the ship's loss. Using advanced diving techniques and 3D photogrammetry, Frey and his team documented the wreck, answered long-standing questions about how it sank, and helped restore HMCS Canada's place in Canada's historical memory. Along the way, Frey reflects on his role in the discovery of HMS Erebus, the enduring appeal of underwater exploration, and why forgotten stories like HMCS Canada still matter today. Whether you're listening in a car, a canoe, a sailboat, a dock, or somewhere along Canada's coastline, this is a story of exploration, naval history, and the remarkable rediscovery of a ship that helped build a nation. Joseph Frey is Vice-President of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, a Fellow of The Explorers Club, a naval historian, an underwater archaeologist, and a retired Royal Canadian Navy officer. He was a member of the 2014 Victoria Strait Expedition that discovered HMS Erebus, one of Sir John Franklin's lost ships, and has spent decades researching and documenting Canada's maritime history both above and below the waterline. Recommended episodes
Credits: Closing music is Heart of Oak, the official march of the Royal Canadian Navy played by the RCN's Stadacona Band. Halifax, NS. Explore: A Canadian Geographic Podcast is hosted by David McGuffin. Produced by David McGuffin and ExploreProductions.ca in partnership with Canadian Geographic. Canadian Geographic:
For more stories of adventure, science, history, and exploration, visit canadiangeographic.ca | |||
| The Guess Who's Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman on Canadian music, travel and the prairies | 30 juin 2026 | 00:31:04 | |
What do endless prairie highways, a runaway tour bus, a hockey stick used as cruise control, and one of the greatest Canadian rock bands of all time have in common? Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman have the stories. From overpacked motel rooms on the road, to their tour bus almost going off a cliff in B.C., to witnessing polar bear attacks in Churchill, to revealing the real inspiration behind hits like American Woman and Undun, Bachman and Cummings share unforgettable stories from more than six decades of music, friendship, and life on the road. Along the way, they explain why the wide-open spaces of the Canadian prairies continue to inspire them, how growing up in Winnipeg helped nurture one of Canada's greatest songwriting partnerships, and why, after touring the world, they still feel most at home where "you can see forever." Whether you're listening from a canoe, a campsite, or somewhere along a Canadian highway, this is a conversation about music, memory, friendship, and the prairie landscapes that helped shape one of Canada's greatest rock bands. Credits Explore: A Canadian Geographic Podcast is hosted by David McGuffin. Produced by David McGuffin and ExploreProductions.ca in partnership with Canadian Geographic. Canadian Geographic: Editor-in-chief: Alexandra Pope Digital and travel editor: Madigan Cotterill Digital marketing manager: Caroline Workman For more stories of adventure, science, history, and exploration, visit canadiangeographic.ca | |||
| Sing Louder, Paddle Harder: Exploring Canada's Arctic rivers with Ted Johnson | 16 juin 2026 | 01:15:21 | |
In this episode of Explore, host David McGuffin sits down with lawyer, conservationist, former senior aide to Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, and one of Canada's most accomplished Arctic paddlers, Ted Johnson. For more than two decades, Johnson and a remarkable group of friends, including diplomats, journalists, cabinet ministers, and occasionally Pierre Trudeau himself, set out each summer to canoe some of the most remote rivers in northern Canada. From the Hood and Coppermine rivers to little-known rivers on Banks Island and Ellesmere Island, Johnson shares stories of first descents, close calls, vast caribou migrations, and landscapes few Canadians will ever see. Along the way, he reflects on a changing Arctic, the evolution of wilderness travel, and what it was like to paddle and camp alongside one of Canada's most transformational Prime Ministers. This captivating episode explores a remarkable era of northern exploration and the enduring pull of Canada's wild rivers. Ted Johnson is a lawyer, conservationist, pilot, and former senior advisor to Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. An Officer of the Order of Canada and Fellow of both the Royal Canadian Geographical Society and the Royal Geographical Society, he has spent decades exploring Canada's North by canoe, helping document and promote some of the country's most remote wilderness rivers. To learn more about the paddling adventures of Johnson and his friends, Sing Louder, Paddle Harder, edited by his colleague Robert Fowler, contains hundreds of images and stories from across the Arctic. Credits Explore: A Canadian Geographic Podcast is hosted by David McGuffin. Produced by David McGuffin and ExploreProductions.ca in partnership with Canadian Geographic. Editor-in-chief: Alexandra Pope Digital and travel editor: Madigan Cotterill Digital marketing manager: Caroline Workman For more stories of adventure, science, history, and exploration, visit CanadianGeographic.ca Follow Explore wherever you get your podcasts and leave a rating or review if you enjoy the show. | |||
| Retracing a historic fur trade route across Quebec with Bruno Forest | 02 juin 2026 | 00:48:23 | |
"There's a humility in this kind of travel. You don't pretend to adapt the world to you. You adapt to the world." — Bruno Forest In the summer of 2025, Bruno Forest and his team of five others pushed their canoes into the waters of the Saguenay Fjord, setting out on an extraordinary 1,200-kilometre journey, paddling from Tadoussac on the St. Lawrence River to Waskaganish on James Bay. But this wasn't simply a wilderness expedition. Travelling in hand-built cedar canvas canoes by Forest and veteran artisans, he and his crew retraced a route that stretches deep into North American history — following waterways used by Indigenous traders for centuries before becoming part of the European fur trade networks. The journey demanded weeks of hauling canoes upstream through powerful rivers, reopening forgotten portages swallowed by the forest, and crossing some of Quebec's most remote landscapes. Along the way, the expedition connected with Innu and Cree communities whose histories remain deeply intertwined with these waterways. In this episode, Forest shares stories of building the expedition's canoes alongside some of Quebec's last traditional canoe builders, encountering woodland caribou and wolves in the north, and discovering what happens when travel slows to the pace of a paddle. More than an adventure story, this is a conversation about memory, place, and why the canoe remains one of Canada's most powerful symbols. In This Episode
About Bruno Forest Bruno Forest is a Quebec-based canoe and kayak guide, filmmaker, author, and expedition leader. In 2025, he led the Royal Canadian Geographical Society's Expedition of the Year, retracing a historic route across Quebec from the St. Lawrence River to James Bay in traditional cedar canvas canoes. Based in Tadoussac, he is also documenting the expedition in an upcoming feature-length film. For updates on the documentary, follow Bruno on Facebook @alamerdunord.2025 | |||
| Life at the edge of the world with Louise K. Blight | 19 mai 2026 | 00:49:49 | |
“There’s something really profound in being in such a vast landscape with nobody else around… You feel like such a diminutive thing in the landscape, really insignificant. Putting you in your place in the world.” - Louise K. Blight In this episode of Explore, host David McGuffin sits down with Louise K. Blight for a live conversation recorded at the Ottawa International Writers Festival about her new book, Where the Earth Meets the Sky. Drawing on her time studying Adélie penguins in Antarctica in the early 2000s, Blight reflects on life at the edge of the world, where she lived among hundreds of thousands of penguins and endured brutal storms and isolation in this remote corner of the planet. Working alongside legendary penguin researcher David Ainley at Cape Royds on Ross Island, Blight spent months immersed in one of the harshest and most surreal environments on Earth. The conversation explores the rhythms of penguin colonies, the eccentric culture of Antarctic research stations, the psychological realities of isolation, and the growing impacts of climate change on polar ecosystems. Blight also shares stories of hurricane-force winds, skua attacks (predatory seabirds), the unforgettable smell of penguin colonies, and the profound sense of perspective that comes from living in a vast frozen landscape with almost no other humans around. In this episode:
Louise K. Blight is a conservation scientist, seabird researcher, and professor in the Environmental Studies Department at the University of Victoria. Her work focuses on seabirds, marine ecosystems, and conservation biology. She also serves as co-chair of the Bird Specialist Subcommittee on the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Her new book, Where the Earth Meets the Sky, chronicles her experiences studying Adélie penguins in Antarctica and explores the intersection of science, solitude, and environmental change. | |||
| Into the Carpathians: Skiing Ukraine’s highest peaks with Laval St. Germain | 05 mai 2026 | 00:43:23 | |
“Even in the most peaceful village, you’re surrounded by fresh graves… and you know the war is still there.” What does it mean to explore a country at war? In this episode of Explore, host David McGuffin speaks with Laval St. Germain, a Canadian explorer who has just returned from a journey deep into the Carpathian Mountains of western Ukraine. Travelling overland into the country, St. Germain set out to ski the Chornohora Ridge and climb Ukraine’s six highest peaks — what he found was a place of striking contrasts. In the high mountains, wildlife is rebounding due to a wartime hunting ban, with wolves, bears and lynx returning in surprising numbers. But elsewhere, the war continues to devastate landscapes, with some calling it an “ecocide” as forests burn, infrastructure collapses, and ecosystems are destroyed. The Carpathians themselves are among Europe’s last wild regions — home to ancient cultures like the Hutsul people and layered with history, from World War I trenches to long-forgotten border markers that once divided empires. But even in these remote and peaceful settings, the war is never far away. In village cemeteries, fresh graves of young soldiers serve as a stark reminder of the ongoing conflict. From skiing windswept ridgelines to navigating military checkpoints, and from quiet conversations with locals to witnessing the surreal normalcy of life in Kyiv, St. Germain offers a rare, ground-level perspective on Ukraine today — one that goes beyond headlines to reveal resilience, complexity and humanity. In this episode:
Laval St. Germain is a Canadian explorer, commercial pilot in the Arctic and Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society. He is the only Canadian to have summited Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen. His expeditions have taken him to some of the world’s most remote and politically complex regions, including Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran. He has also rowed solo across the North Atlantic from mainland Canada to mainland Europe and skied to the South Pole. More with Laval St. Germain:
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| Beneath the ice: The hidden life of Canada’s frozen lakes with Andrew Budziak and Andy Bramburger | 21 avr. 2026 | 00:46:42 | |
The hidden life of Canada’s frozen lakes with Andrew Budziak and Andy Bramburger | |||
| Searching for life beyond Earth with Sara Seager | 07 avr. 2026 | 00:49:39 | |
What if life isn’t just “out there”, but closer than we think? For the first time in more than 50 years, humans have left Earth's orbit, marking a significant point in history. And as NASA’s Artemis II mission makes its historic journey around the moon, we explore the thought-provoking question driving this return to space: are we alone? From pioneering techniques to study distant worlds to leading bold robot missions to Venus, Toronto-born Sara Seager is helping redefine how (and where) we look for life in the universe. Alongside podcast host David McGuffin, this episode featuring Seager is all about space: exoplanets, phosphine gas, future space missions and, of course, life beyond Earth. As a global leader in exoplanet science, Seager shares the story behind the controversial detection of phosphine gas in Venus’s clouds, a potential biosignature (a substance or phenomenon that provides evidence of past or present life) that sparked global debate, and why our neighbouring planet may hold surprising clues to alien life. A Canadian astronomer and professor at MIT, Seager is widely recognized for her work on exoplanets and planetary atmospheres. She is a recipient of a MacArthur Genius Grant, is a Companion of the Order of Canada and a Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society. Her research has helped transform exoplanets into one of the most dynamic fields in astronomy. More recently, she has led innovative efforts to explore Venus’s clouds for possible signs of microbial life. Her award-winning memoir, published in 2020, is called The Smallest Lights in the Universe. In this episode:
Books on exploration recommended by Seager: | |||
| 200 km across the Atacama: Ray Zahab on survival, heat, and the edge of human limits | 24 mars 2026 | 00:50:42 | |
"The thing about desert expeditions that really takes you by surprise is how quickly things can go off the rails. It goes from good to bad almost instantly. In those moments, I remind myself: I chose to do this." We’re excited to be joined again by Ray Zahab, an ultra-endurance athlete, public speaker, author, and RCGS Explorer-in-Residence, among other things. In this thrilling episode of Explore, Zahab takes us through his latest expedition across the driest desert on the planet: Chile’s Atacama. Running a marathon a day over 200 kilometres in extreme heat, Zahab traversed over brutal terrain with constant risk. Carrying minimal gear and relying on cached water, he and his teammate, Stephano Gregoretti, pushed through deep sand, steep climbs, and temperatures that regularly topped 45°C. Along the way, their journey took an unexpected turn when they took part in a real-life rescue in the Andes. This episode also touches on one of Zahab’s favourite endurance films, Running on the Sun, a cult-classic documentary from 2000 about the Badwater ultramarathon that captures the mindset behind pushing human limits. This is a powerful conversation about resilience, decision-making under pressure, and the mindset required to endure when things go wrong. And a special thanks to long-time listener and friend of the podcast, Aran O'Carroll, who sent in a very thoughtful question for this episode. Zahab has a great answer towards the end. If you enjoyed this, check out Episode 104 with Zahab and RCGS Fellow Kevin Vallely on their self-supported winter ski expedition across Ellesmere Island, Canada's most northerly Arctic island. About Ray: Ray Zahab (@rayzahab) is a Canadian explorer and ultra-endurance athlete known for completing some of the world’s toughest expeditions, including running across the Sahara desert and a record-setting expedition by ski to the South Pole. As an RCGS Explorer-in-Residence, he is dedicated to education and inspiring the next generation through global expeditions. | |||
| Newfoundland, Cod Collapse and saving the North Atlantic right whale with Jenn Thornhill Verma | 10 mars 2026 | 00:52:43 | |
Raised on Newfoundland’s west coast, Jenn Thornhill Verma grew up immersed in the life and lore of fishing communities and the rhythms of the North Atlantic. She is the author of the bestselling book Cod Collapse: The Rise and Fall of Newfoundland’s Saltwater Cowboys, a contributor to Canadian Geographic, and a fellow with the Pulitzer Center’s Ocean Reporting Network, where she recently reported a series for the Globe and Mail on the endangered North Atlantic right whale. In this episode of Explore, Thornhill Verma and podcast host David McGuffin discuss the legacy of the cod fishery collapse in the early 1990's, the politics of fisheries management, and the urgent effort to protect one of the world’s most endangered whales: the North Atlantic right whale. With fewer than 400 individuals remaining, these whales face a variety of threats, including ship strikes, entanglement in fishing gear, and, of course, the climate crisis. Want to learn more?
*North Atlantic Right Whale sounds in this episode are courtesy of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. | |||
| The life and death of an iceberg with Jill Heinerth | 24 févr. 2026 | 00:34:09 | |
“You see these massive calving fronts breaking off icebergs… you hear it, you feel the vibrations… everything is just absolutely magical.” In this episode of Explore, podcast host David McGuffin welcomes back legendary underwater explorer Jill Heinerth to talk about her powerful new documentary, The Berg, airing on CBC’s The Nature of Things and streaming on CBC Gem. For years, Heinerth dreamed of following the full lifecycle of an iceberg — from the calving glaciers of Greenland and around the Davis Strait to Newfoundland’s Iceberg Alley. In The Berg, she traces that journey, revealing how ice seeds the ocean with nutrients, supports entire food chains and acts as a critical carbon sink for the planet. But the making of this film carried a deeply personal dimension. Heinerth shot portions of The Berg just one week before undergoing cancer surgery. The documentary now bookends a transformative chapter in her life, framing both the vulnerability and resilience she experienced during treatment. In our conversation, Heinerth shares how her “explorer mindset” helped her navigate cancer, just as she approaches diving beneath unstable ice: prepare, visualize, understand the risks, and lean on her team. As her great uncle once told her: “You alone can do it, but you cannot do it alone.” That philosophy of courage and community guided her through radiation therapy and recovery. We also dive into what it’s like swimming beside and beneath an iceberg, the physics of mixing fresh and saltwater, the explosive (and dramatic) end of an iceberg’s life, microscopic extremophiles and what they might teach us about medicine, and the new, under-ice research happening across Canada’s waterways. Heinerth also reflects on working with filmmaker James Cameron, whose relentless drive to explore the oceans has deeply inspired her. And when asked about her favourite exploration film, she points to the book Touching the Void, the harrowing true story of climber Joe Simpson. For Heinerth, it captures the raw psychology of survival: determination, dark humour, impossible odds, and the thin line between life and death that explorers understand all too well. Heinerth is once again taking part in the Canadian Geographic Polar Plunge, raising funds for Canadian Geographic education programs, expedition grants and storytelling initiatives. Support Heinerth, or sign up and plunge yourself: https://rcgs.org/polarplunge2026 Heinerth is the inaugural Explorer-in-Residence of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society and one of the world’s foremost underwater explorers. A pioneering cave diver, filmmaker and bestselling author of Into the Planet, she has led expeditions to some of the most extreme environments on Earth, including Antarctica’s icebergs to deep submerged cave systems. With more than 8,000 dives to her credit, Heinerth serves as the “hands and eyes” for scientists in remote underwater environments, translating complex research into powerful storytelling that connects global audiences to fragile ecosystems. Her work blends exploration, conservation, science communication and an unwavering belief in the power of community. | |||
| Michael Palin on Monty Python, polar plunges and travelling with curiosity | 10 févr. 2026 | 00:51:42 | |
“Always travel with a fish-slapping dance in your bag.” — Michael Palin What value does a fish-slapping dance have when travelling in authoritarian countries? Quite a lot, as it turns out… In this episode of Explore, founding member of Monty Python, acclaimed travel documentarian, author, and Honorary Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, Michael Palin joins host David McGuffin to reflect on a lifetime of comedy, curiosity, and crossing borders. From being detained by paramilitary guards in Venezuela (and saved by Monty Python YouTube clips), to plunging into frigid waters to retrace the doomed Franklin Expedition in the Canadian Arctic, to starring in films like Life of Brian and Brazil, Palin shares stories that are hilarious, thoughtful, and quietly profound. Now 82, Palin shows no signs of slowing down. Alongside his work as an actor, author, and travel documentarian, Palin’s involvement in Monty Python has helped establish the comedy troupe as one of the world’s most influential. Beyond comedy, Palin has spent decades creating landmark travel documentary series, including Around the World in 80 Days, Pole to Pole, Full Circle, Sahara, Himalaya, and, most recently, Venezuela. He is the author of multiple bestselling books, including Erebus, his acclaimed history of one of the ships from Sir John Franklin’s lost Arctic expedition. Palin is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society and the recipient of RCGS medals, including the first Louie Kamookak Medal, which recognizes respect for Inuit knowledge and northern history. In this episode
Did you know that Michael Palin has done a polar plunge — and loved it! Learn more about the Canadian Geographic Polar Plunge and support Canadian storytelling at rcgs.org/polarplunge2026 | |||
| Artemis II: David Saint-Jacques on Canada’s growing role in international space missions | 27 janv. 2026 | 00:31:02 | |
In this special episode of Explore, Canadian astronaut, engineer, and physician David Saint-Jacques shares a rare and personal perspective on what humanity’s return to the moon means for Canadians and the world. On December 3, 2018, Saint-Jacques launched to the International Space Station, where he spent 203 days, 15 hours, and 16 minutes before returning to Earth on June 24, 2019. In this conversation, Saint-Jacques reflects on why NASA’s Artemis II mission matters, what the mission is designed to test, and how Canada’s role in lunar exploration signals a new era of international space cooperation. The episode also explores what Jeremy Hansen’s historic assignment means for Canada. As the first Canadian and the first non-American ever assigned to a crewed lunar mission, Hansen will circle the moon aboard the still-experimental Orion capsule, marking a major milestone in Canada’s space history. As members of the same 2009 Astronaut Class at the Canadian Space Agency, Hansen and Saint-Jacques were not only colleagues but friends. Through this relationship, Saint-Jacques brings an intimate perspective to this moment in history, reflecting on years of shared training, deep trust, and what it takes to prepare someone, not just technically, but mentally and emotionally, for a mission of this magnitude. Episode Highlights:
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| Storytelling at the edge of the world with award-winning filmmaker Trevor Wallace | 13 janv. 2026 | 01:02:00 | |
Award-winning expedition filmmaker and RCGS Fellow Trevor Wallace joins Explore podcast host David McGuffin to talk about exploration, archaeology, and insights into his expeditions around the world. In this conversation, Wallace goes into detail about his decades-long career working in Greenland and the Arctic, reflecting on Inuit knowledge systems, sovereignty, and why the North is so often misunderstood — and impossible to forget. He also discusses his latest documentary, Among Thieves, an investigative film that exposes the global black market for looted antiquities, following an undercover trail from remote burial sites to international art markets. The conversation also highlights Wallace’s underwater archaeology work in Menorca, where his team is excavating rare 13th-century medieval shipwrecks, and how hands-on field schools are bringing new generations into archaeological research. A member of the Explorers Club and an RCGS Fellow, Wallace has led and documented expeditions across the Canadian Arctic, Greenland, Antarctica, Central Asia, Siberia, and the Mediterranean — using film to connect people with place, history, and culture. | |||
| Christmas at Devil’s Portage – Charles Camsell | 23 déc. 2025 | 00:08:34 | |
“So does Christmas eliminate distance.” Happy holidays from Explore! For this Yuletide episode, we’re dipping into our Canadian Geographic files for the reading of a story written by RCGS founding President and Arctic explorer Charles Camsell who recalls a memorable Christmas he had on the trail to the Klondike in 1897. In the early 1900s, travelling by canoe and horseback, Camsell mapped hundreds of thousands of square kilometres of Canada’s north for the Geological Survey of Canada. Born at Fort Liard, N.W.T., in 1876, his father Julian was an English fur trader with the Hudson’s Bay Company. His mother, Sarah Foulds, was Metis, with deep roots in the Red River. After graduating from the University of Manitoba, Camsell returned to the Northwest Territories just in time to get swept into the Klondike gold rush. Like thousands of young men and women at the time, he and his friend Arthur Pelly set off for the Yukon to seek their fortune. Lynne McGuffin, Camsell’s granddaughter, found the following story in his personal files. It was dated 1937, around the time he was writing his memoir, Son of the North. For the past two decades, it’s been a tradition of host David McGuffin to read this to his wife and children on Christmas Eve as they moved from continent to continent, country to country, often celebrating the holidays far from family and home. So, pour yourself a favourite drink, settle into a comfy chair by the fire and enjoy this reading of Christmas at Devil’s Portage. To learn more about the Camsell family and their role in the fur trade, check out Season 2 of Explore, which features fascinating full archival recordings of Charles Camsell and his brother Philip Scott Camsell looking back on their Arctic childhoods. | |||
| The Hudson’s Bay Company charter: "Interesting and problematic" | 03 déc. 2025 | 00:11:45 | |
NOTE: This special episode of Explore is being re-released to mark an important moment in Canadian history: the original 1670 Hudson’s Bay Company Royal Charter is being sold at auction. But thanks to a joint purchase by the Thomson and Weston families, the charter will remain in Canada, ensuring this remarkable artifact of colonial history stays in public hands In 2020, the Hudson’s Bay Company marked its 350th anniversary. At this time, podcast host David McGuffin headed deep into the HBC vault with Amelia Fay, curator of the HBC Collection at the Manitoba Museum. Together, they unpacked the story and the symbolism of the Royal Charter granted by King Charles II in 1670, a document that established what was then known as “The Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading into Hudson’s Bay.” Fay describes the charter in vivid detail, from its shimmering vellum pages to its exceptional state of preservation, and explains how this corporate decree laid out the governance structures and sweeping territorial claims that would shape the future of northern North America. Their conversation explores the charter’s complex legacy: how it empowered the HBC to act as a government, shaped settlement and trade across a vast section of the continent and how it is inseparable from the Doctrine of Discovery and the harmful concept of terra nullius, both of which displaced and ignored the sovereignty of Indigenous nations. With the charter now back in the public spotlight through its historic sale, this episode offers timely context on why the document remains both foundational and deeply problematic, and why understanding its legacy is essential to understanding Canada today. | |||
| Run Like a Girl with Catherine McKenna | 25 nov. 2025 | 00:53:57 | |
Few Canadians have been closer to the front lines of global climate action than Catherine McKenna, Canada’s former Environment Minister. And this week on Explore, she opens up about what she’s learned from the fight. Joining podcast host David McGuffin, McKenna discusses her new book Run Like a Girl: A Memoir of Ambition, Resilience, and Fighting for Change. She reflects on how a childhood insult became a personal rallying cry, how competitive swimming shaped her approach to tough political battles and what it actually felt like inside the high-pressure rooms of the Paris climate negotiations. McKenna also talks frankly about online abuse targeting women in public life and why she remains a realistic optimist about climate action. Speaking candidly about the online harassment she faced, including being dismissed as “Climate Barbie” by a Conservative MP in 2017, and why these experiences only strengthened her commitment to supporting women in public life. Despite the noise, she remains a realist and an optimist about where climate action can go next. McKenna served as Canada’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change from 2015 to 2019 and Minister of Infrastructure and Communities from 2019 to 2021, helping negotiate the Paris Agreement and introducing Canada’s first national climate plan. An honorary RCGS Fellow, she is now the founder and CEO of Climate and Nature Solutions, leads Women Leading on Climate and chairs a UN expert group advising the Secretary-General on credible net-zero commitments. Run Like a Girl is her first book, and, as listeners will hear, the culmination of a career spent pushing for a better, faster, fairer climate future. | |||
| Across Quebec's Ungava Peninsula with Dave Greene | 11 nov. 2025 | 00:41:52 | |
On this episode of Explore, host David McGuffin is joined by Arctic explorer and elementary school teacher Dave Greene. Earlier this year, Greene completed his fourth RCGS-flagged expedition across northern Quebec’s Ungava Peninsula. As the leader of this ski expedition, Greene shares his experience, traversing the harsh landscape alongside teammates Chris Giard and Lee Fraser. Skiing hundreds of kilometres through -40°Celsius temperatures, the goal of the expedition was to reach the spectacular Pingualuit Crater, a 450-million-year-old meteor impact site. Greene shares stories of extreme cold, frostbite, whiteouts and life above the tree line, as well as the moments of awe and resilience that define Arctic travel. As a Nova Scotia teacher and a new CanGeo Education board representative, Greene also brought the expedition into the classroom, connecting students to Canada’s North with live updates, weather tracking and daily Arctic haikus. Follow Greene on Instagram @greeneradventures | |||
| Frozen fjords and first ascents: Shira Biner’s Baffin Island odyssey | 28 oct. 2025 | 00:53:10 | |
In this episode of Explore, podcast host David McGuffin speaks with Canadian climber and expedition leader Shira Biner, who led the first female-plus team to establish a new 600-metre route on Eglinton Tower in the remote fjords of Baffin Island. Biner recounts the 2025 expedition, which was partly funded by The Nat Gillis Adventure Photography Expedition Grant awarded by the Royal Canadian Geographical Society. Over 29 days, the team travelled entirely under human power, skiing 150 kilometres across Arctic sea ice with teammates Kelly Fields, Heather Smallpage and Nathalie Afonina to reach the towering granite walls of Eglinton Fjord. From navigating crevassed ice and polar-bear country to sleeping on narrow ledges high above the fjord, Biner shares the physical and emotional demands of exploratory climbing at the edge of the world. Through her work as an expedition leader and a climber, Biner explores the intersection of human-powered travel, alpine climbing and geographic discovery. Based in Squamish, B.C., she approaches mountaineering as both an athletic pursuit and a form of storytelling. In 2023, Biner received an RCGS Expedition Grant to support an alpine rock-climbing journey on the east coast of Baffin Island. In 2025, she received the RCGS Nat Gillis Adventure Photography & Expedition Grant, recognizing her leadership and visual storytelling in the North. Topics covered:
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| Gales of November: John U. Bacon on the untold story of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald | 14 oct. 2025 | 01:00:24 | |
“From 1875 to 1975, there were 6,000 shipwrecks on the Great Lakes — one a week for a century. Everyone remembers one: the Edmund Fitzgerald. And that’s because of the song.” — John U. Bacon, Explore Podcast This year marks 50 years since the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald, the most famous shipwreck in Great Lakes history. In this episode of Explore, host David McGuffin welcomes back John U. Bacon, New York Times bestselling author of The Great Halifax Explosion, Cirque du Soleil: The Spark and The Greatest Comeback about the 1972 Canada–Soviet hockey Summit Series. In this conversation, Bacon discusses his latest book, Gales of November: The Untold Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald, which revisits the tragedy that claimed 29 lives on Lake Superior and inspired Gordon Lightfoot’s haunting ballad, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. Through rich storytelling and meticulous research, Bacon brings new insight into the ship’s storied history, its legendary Canadian captain, and the perilous world of Great Lakes shipping, where danger, devotion and duty collide with the power of nature. Bacon also explores the human stories behind the headlines and the Gordon Lightfoot song that has kept the memory alive for half a century. The conversation also explores the haunting story of the Edmund Fitzgerald, which is often called the “Titanic of the Great Lakes.” Then, we dive into the brutal realities of Great Lakes shipping and why navigating these inland seas can be even more perilous than the open ocean. You’ll hear about Captain Ernest McSorley’s fateful final voyage, the mystery that still surrounds that November night, and how Gordon Lightfoot’s iconic ballad immortalized the tragedy and honoured the lost crew. We also reflect on the enduring importance of the Great Lakes, a lifeline that continues to shape North America’s history, economy, and identity. The episode closes with a touching reflection on the late Ken Dryden, the Hall of Fame goaltender, author, politician and poet laureate of hockey, whom Bacon got to know when profiling him for The Greatest Comeback, Bacon’s earlier book on the '72 Summit series. The bells ringing during the interview and at the end of the episode were recorded on May 2, 2023, at the Mariners Church in Detroit. They rang 30 times, once for each of the 29 men lost aboard the Edmund Fitzgerald, and once more for Gordon Lightfoot. | |||
| Vanished Beyond the Map: Adam Shoalts on the mystery of lost explorer Hubert Darrell | 30 sept. 2025 | 00:58:16 | |
" Hubert Darrell is the greatest explorer of all time that no one has ever heard of. The Norwegian great Amundsen, the first to the South Pole and first person to sail through the Northwest Passage successfully, actually met Darrell in the Arctic. He was in awe, and he wrote that with men like Darrell, 'I could go to the moon.'" In this episode of Explore, RCGS Explorer-in-Residence and bestselling author Adam Shoalts discusses his latest book, Vanished Beyond the Map, which chronicles the life of the nearly forgotten Arctic explorer Hubert Darrell. Darrell, once a legendary figure from the early 20th century, made incredible solo journeys on foot across the Arctic, from Alaska to Hudson's Bay and onto the Arctic Ocean, earning the respect and praise of more renowned explorers like Roald Amundsen, Vilhjalmur Stefansson and many others Shoalts shares his exhaustive, years-long research process, which includes tracking down archival materials and retracing Darrell's steps in remote northern regions, seeking the answer to the mystery of Darrell's disappearance in 1910. The conversation delves into Darrell's respect for Indigenous cultures, his disdain for conventional society and the enduring call of the wild. Adam Shoalts is a Canadian explorer, adventurer and bestselling author renowned for his epic solo journeys through some of the world’s most far-reaching northern landscapes. Shoalts has paddled nearly 4,000 kilometres alone across Canada’s Arctic, mapped uncharted northern rivers, and authored books like Beyond the Trees and Where the Falcon Flies. Shoalts currently serves as the Explorer-in-Residence at the Royal Canadian Geographical Society (RCGS) and is a passionate storyteller about wilderness, history and adventure. This episode also features a brief interview with my 26-year-old nephews, Callum and Cianan McGuffin, who are on the final leg of a three-year sailing expedition around the world. They are currently navigating one of the most challenging passages on Earth, the Canadian Northwest Passage. You can follow their journey on social media at @mcguffinbrothersadventures. For listeners interested in learning more about Shoalts’ expeditions and his latest book, they can attend a fireside chat, taking place on October 17th at 8:30 p.m. at the Arc’teryx Store located in Toronto at 339 Queen St W, ON. | |||
| The future of exploration with Richard Wiese | 11 sept. 2025 | 00:39:02 | |
“I think in any exploration there’s a nobility of purpose — it’s more than just pounding my chest and saying, ‘Hey, I’m on top of Mount Kilimanjaro.’ It’s about filling a knowledge gap or serving the greater good.” — Richard Wiese, President, The Explorer's Club Join us for a fascinating conversation with Richard Wiese, world-renowned explorer, Emmy Award-winning host of Born to Explore and the newly re-elected 46th President of The Explorers Club, a role he has held seven times, including as the youngest-ever club president in 2002. Wiese has spent decades leading expeditions around the world, from skiing to the North Pole to summiting Mount Kilimanjaro 18 times, all while championing conservation, inclusivity and the future of exploration. In this episode, he shares incredible stories of adventure, discovery and resilience, along with his vision for what comes next in the world of science and exploration. We also delve into the 2025 Global Exploration Summit (GLEX), which will take place from September 12 to 14 at 50 Sussex Drive in Ottawa, headquarters of The Royal Canadian Geographical Society and Canadian Geographic (RCGS). Hosted in partnership with the RCGS, this landmark event will bring together explorers, scientists, and storytellers from around the world to chart the future of exploration and celebrate the shared human pursuit of discovery. This year’s event will also mark the first time GLEX will be held on Canadian soil. Founded in 1904, The Explorers Club, headquartered in New York City, has supported legendary figures such as Jane Goodall, Dr. Sylvia Earle, James Cameron, Sir Edmund Hillary, Tenzing Norgay, and the Apollo 11 crew, among many others. | |||
| Water Borne: Dan Rubinstein’s 2,000-kilometre paddleboard adventure | 02 sept. 2025 | 00:40:51 | |
Journalist and author Dan Rubinstein joins the Explore Podcast for the second instalment in our annual canoe/paddling series to share the story of his epic three-month, 2,000-kilometre paddleboarding journey, which took him from Ottawa to New York City and back via the Ottawa River, the St. Lawrence River, Lake Champlain, the Hudson River, the Erie Canal and Lake Ontario. Along the way, he explored the idea of blue space—the powerful impact of water on our bodies, minds, and communities. In this conversation, Dan reflects on his new book Waterborne, the physical and spiritual pull of water, and why paddleboarding offered a unique way to connect with people, places, and history. From Mohawk communities reclaiming their relationship with the St. Lawrence River to grassroots activists restoring the Hudson to strangers offering kindness along the Erie Canal, Dan’s journey reveals how water shapes us, heals us, and connects us across boundaries. | |||
| Is a River Alive? with Robert Macfarlane | 19 août 2025 | 00:57:30 | |
“Days on the water have produced in me the intensifying feeling of somehow growing together with the river: not thinking with it, but being thought by it.” - Robert Macfarlane, Is a River Alive? This episode of Explore was recorded live in May 2025 at the Ottawa International Writers Festival. Robert Macfarlane’s latest book asks the question: Is a River Alive? To answer it, the award-winning British author, academic and environmentalist spent four-and-a-half years exploring rivers and their watersheds across four continents. His journeys take him from an Ecuadorian cloud forest, where pristine waterways are threatened by Canadian gold mining interests, to Chennai, India, where activists are working to bring dead rivers back to life. Macfarlane also led a personally transformative kayak expedition down Quebec’s Magpie River, or Muteshekau Shipu, on the territory of the Innu Nation. In 2021, the Magpie became the first river in Canada to be granted legal personhood, a landmark effort to prevent it from being dammed by Hydro-Québec. This conversation explores the rights of nature, environmental activism and the interconnectedness of rivers and people. Through his book and this dialogue, Macfarlane underscores the need for a reimagined relationship with nature, emphasizing the importance of rivers as living entities and the hope found in environmental guardianship. It's a great and thought-provoking talk. Enjoy! Robert Macfarlane is the bestselling author of the award-winning trilogy on landscape and the human heart: Mountains of the Mind, The Wild Places, and The Old Ways, as well as Landmarks and Holloway. His work has been translated into more than a dozen languages and published in more than 20 countries, and widely adapted for television, film and radio by the BBC among others. Macfarlane has contributed to Harper’s Magazine, The New York Times, The Times Literary Supplement and the London Review of Books. In 2012, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and he is currently a Fellow in English at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. This episode is one of our annual canoe and paddling series. Next up is former Canadian Geographic editor Dan Rubinstein, who will discuss his epic 2000-kilometre waterboard adventure from Ottawa to Manhattan and back. His new book, Waterborne, details the expedition. | |||
| Learning from water with Leanne Betasamosake Simpson | 24 juin 2025 | 00:47:51 | |
Leanne discusses her latest book, The Theory of Water: Nishnaabe Maps to the Times Ahead, a genre-defying work that weaves together traditional storytelling, theory, and land-based knowledge. Through various lenses — skiing, eels, beavers, canoes, shorelines — Simpson reflects on the interconnectedness of people, water, and the natural world, and on how we might reimagine our relationships in a time of climate grief and transformation.
This live conversation touches on land based learning, Indigenous ethics, and the hopeful possibilities of communal learning, all grounded in Simpson’s unique voice as both an academic and artist.
Leanne Betasamosake Simpson is an award winning, best-selling Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg scholar, writer, artist, and musician. She is the author of eight books, including the award-winning Noopiming: The Cure for White Ladies and As We Have Always Done: Indigenous Freedom Through Radical Resistance. Her newest work, The Theory of Water: Nishnaabe Maps to the Times Ahead, continues her powerful exploration of land-based knowledge, community, and hope.
Simpson has been widely recognized for her contributions to Indigenous thought, activism, and the arts. She is a member of Alderville First Nation and is based in Peterborough, Ontario. | |||
| I Interviewed The Beaverton's Luke Gordon Field. He Replied in Headlines (Kidding! This is a fun conversation) | 10 juin 2025 | 00:43:31 | |
Canada does funny really, really well. So today we're poking that Canadian funny bone in conversation with Luke Gordon Field as he discusses his journey and experiences as Editor in Chief of The Beaverton, a popular Canadian satirical news site. Over 15 years, Field and his team transformed a side project with humble beginnings into an internationally recognized name in satire. Field recounts anecdotes from the early days, including a pivotal moment involving Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield that catapulted the site to fame ("Hadfield comes home to $1.37 million Rogers phone bill"). He talks about the challenges of producing timely satire with impact, the influence of American political comedy, and the unique nuances of Canadian humor. Field also shares insights into their funding model, discussing their successful Patreon campaign that allowed the site to continue and expand. How they escaped Facebooks Canadian news ban. The conversation touches on the creative process and Field's reflections on the comedian's life in Canada. This episode was produced by David McGuffin and ExploreProductions.ca Clare McGuffin - assistant producer Do you have any questions about or suggestions for the podcast? Drop us a line: explore@canadiangeographic.ca or DM me on instagram: @david.mcguffin | |||
| The Open Road: George Stroumboulopoulos on Music, Motorcycles, Movies and Canada | 27 mai 2025 | 01:24:26 | |
“It's the reason why this Canadian Geographic thing means a lot to me. It’s about people and how they live and how we interact and celebrate how beautiful and natural this life can be.” We’ve got a new honorary RCGS Fellow on Explore today! George Stroumboulopoulos is one of Canada’s great interviewers and broadcasters. In the span of his 30-plus year career, he has talked with thousands of people from King Charles to Gord Downie, from Maya Angelou to Lady Gaga and so many, many more. For decades he has served as a cultural prism for Canadians on MuchMusic, and CBC shows like The Hour, George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight and The Strombo Show. He was also a breath of fresh air, for too brief a time, as host of Hockey Night in Canada. He’s now on Apple Music, which has him dividing his time between Toronto and Los Angeles. Active in giving back, Strombo is, among other things, a UN ambassador for the World Food Programme, which has seen him traveling to many of the world’s danger zones. For all his good works, he was inducted into the Order of Canada in 2023. I’ve always enjoyed George’s work. The best interviewers are proxies for their audience, asking the questions we all want answered. There is a warmth, empathy, sense of humour, curiosity and connection in George’s presence that make him one of the very best at what he does. So, I’m really thrilled to be turning the tables on him in this episode. We get into it on a number of fascinating topics, including his childhood in the rough and diverse Jane and Finch area of Toronto, the books, music, movies and concerts that opened up his young mind, interviewing musical heroes like Joe Strummer and The Tragically Hip’s Gord Downie, how Canada’s landscape shapes the music we love, why motorcycles are his preferred mental health escape, and what it’s like living as a Canadian in the U.S. during this “Elbows Up” moment. It’s a great talk. Strap in and enjoy! Do you have any questions for me? Or suggestions for the podcast? Drop me a line: explore@canadiangeographic.ca or DM me on instagram: @david.mcguffin | |||
| Return to Ellesmere Island with Ray Zahab and Kevin Vallely | 13 mai 2025 | 00:43:45 | |
"It was brutal again. There was a very good chance we wouldn't succeed. And if it's a foregone conclusion that you're going to be successful, is it really an adventure?" - Kevin Vallely RCGS Explorer-in-Residence Ray Zahab and his exploring partner and RCGS Fellow Kevin Vallely have just completed an extraordinary expedition – skiing 500 kilometres across Ellesmere Island, one of the most remote and unforgiving regions in the Canadian High Arctic. This journey, completed in March and April 2025, marks a triumphant return after their 2022 attempt was cut short by extreme weather and treacherous snow conditions (listen to that adventure here). Armed with experience and revised plans, the duo set out from the Eureka weather station and traversed to Grise Fiord, enduring relentless sub-30 degrees Celsius temperatures (not including wind chill), whiteouts and punishing terrain. Along the way, they were rewarded with moments of awe: encounters with 31 Arctic wolves, Muskox, Arctic hares and fresh polar bear tracks – reminders of the raw and untamed wilderness they were navigating. Join us as Zahab and Vallely share stories from the trail, reflect on what they learned between expeditions and offer a rare glimpse into a part of Canada few will ever see. Tune in to discover what it takes to journey through the Canadian High Arctic in deep winter. We are also thrilled to share that two of Explore's Passing the Mic sessions are linked to recent Canadian Geographic story nominations for the National Magazine and Digital Publishing Awards. Our podcast training sessions for Inuit youth in Cambridge Bay inspired an article in the special Nunavut Anniversary issue of Canadian Geographic, which has been nominated for the Digital Publishing Award’s Best Large Digital Editorial Package for the magazine’s coverage of the 25th anniversary of Nunavut’s establishment as an independent Canadian territory. Canadian Geographic’s associate editor, Tom Lundy, is nominated for a National Magazine Award for his article, Protectors of Aqviqtuuq, which looks at the attempts to create the first Inuit conservation zone. This story was inspired by Explore’s Passing the Mic session in Taloyoak, NU. Congrats to everyone involved! | |||
| Singing Back the Buffalo with Tasha Hubbard | 29 avr. 2025 | 00:45:48 | |
"Buffalo are renewal. We know that — it’s baked into who we are." This week on Explore, David McGuffin sits down with award-winning filmmaker, scholar, and advocate Tasha Hubbard to discuss her latest documentary, Singing Back the Buffalo. This powerful film delves into the deep, sacred relationship between buffalo and Indigenous Peoples, highlighting how these iconic animals are more than just symbols of the past — they are key to cultural, spiritual and ecological renewal. Singing Back the Buffalo tells the story of the 2014 Buffalo Treaty, an unprecedented agreement now endorsed by over 80 First Nations, committed to restoring buffalo herds to Indigenous lands and traditional territories. Through a focus on the bison reintroduced to Elk Island, Banff and Grasslands National Parks, Hubbard explores how the return of these herds is helping to heal both landscapes and communities. The conversation touches on the interconnectedness of Indigenous knowledge and Western science, the resurgence of biodiversity and the role of buffalo not just as survivors, but as teachers and guides for a more sustainable future. Hubbard is a professor at the University of Alberta and a member of Peepeekisis First Nation in Treaty Four Territory. Her award-winning work challenges colonial narratives, centres Indigenous storytelling and envisions hopeful futures grounded in collective memory and resilience. | |||
| Dam proud: How the beaver has shaped Canada's environment | 15 avr. 2025 | 00:48:27 | |
In this episode, Explore host David McGuffin is joined by Glynnis Hood, one of the world's leading beaver experts, to mark the 50th anniversary of the beaver as Canada’s national animal. This conversation focuses on this iconic Canadian animals significance in our country’s history. Hood shares her insights into the beaver's resilience, ability to modify landscapes, role as a keystone species, and its substantial impact on its environment. They delve into the beaver's history, from its near extinction to its current resurgence. They highlight the beaver’s role in maintaining biodiversity, regulating water systems, and potentially mitigating climate change and wildfires. The episode also explores human and beaver conflicts and the coexistence strategies that emphasize the beaver's crucial role in shaping Canada’s environment. Glynnis Hood is professor emerita of environmental science at the University of Alberta and an adjunct professor at the University of Saskatchewan. Hood’s research interests include aquatic ecology, biology, and human-wildlife interactions. For more than 20 years, Hood has integrated her research on beaver ecology with more focused studies of beaver management to enhance human-wildlife coexistence. She is the author of Semi-aquatic Mammals: Ecology and Biology and The Beaver Manifesto: Conservation, Conflict, and the Future of Wetlands, which will be released in its second edition this fall. Her first children's book is A Cabin Christmas. Learn more about the beaver in this recent Canadian Geographic feature by Brian Banks. 00:00 Celebrating 50 years of the beaver as Canada's national animal 00:22 The beaver's role in Canadian history and Indigenous culture 00:58 Personal beaver encounters and observations 01:51 Introduction to beaver expert Glynnis Hood 05:32 The beaver's comeback story 07:32 Beaver population and historical impact 16:53 Beaver's ecological engineering and climate impact 21:58 Beavers and wildfire resilience 24:30 Epic beaver dams in Wood Buffalo National Park 26:05 The impact of beavers on biodiversity 28:28 Beavers in the Arctic: challenges and changes 30:58 Historical context and the beavers' return 32:32 Beaver dam construction techniques 39:06 Beaver coexistence tools and strategies 41:37 Personal encounters and reflections 46:38 Conclusion and final thoughts | |||
| Elbows Up! Hockey, politics and patriotism with Roy MacGregor | 01 avr. 2025 | 00:27:53 | |
In this special episode of the Explore Podcast, we delve into the current and unique intersection of hockey, politics, and patriotism in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff war against Canada. Featuring an insightful discussion with Roy McGregor, award-winning Canadian journalist and author, this episode explores the politically charged 2025 4 Nations Face-Off, where Canada's triumph over the U.S. in the final helped revive a nation feeling battered by its southern neighbour. The conversation touches on where this hockey moment ranks in Canada's history of international triumphs (up there with the '72 Soviet-Canada Summit Series, says MacGregor), the impact the game had on international tensions and Canadian politics, Wayne Gretzky's awkward friendship with Trump, the rise of Canadian patriotism and the interwoven histories of hockey and politics in the country. The episode also reflects on the broader implications for Canada's national identity and political landscape in the face of recent events. Please also check out episode 44 of Explore, featuring MacGregor talking about Canada and the history of the canoe and episode 47 with author John U. Bacon on the importance of the 1972 Canada-Soviet Summit Series. MacGregor is an award-winning author, columnist and feature writer for The Globe and Mail. He has also reported for the National Post, the Ottawa Citizen, Maclean's and the Toronto Star. He is the author of nearly 40 books, including one with former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and another, Home Game, with Ken Dryden, Montreal Canadiens Hall of Fame goalie and Liberal cabinet minister. His latest book, a memoir, is Paper Trails: From the Backwoods to the Front Page, a Life in Stories 00:00 Introduction 4 Nations and the 1972 Soviet-Canada Summit Series 00:34 Meet Roy McGregor: A Canadian journalism legend 01:37 The Intersection of hockey and politics 02:10 Where the 4 Nations Face-Off ranks in Canadian hockey triumphs 03:07 Canada's triumph and political implications 03:29 Roy McGregor's insights on hockey and politics 06:51 Historical context and personal reflections 09:03 The role of hockey in Canadian identity 17:00 Wayne Gretzky, Bobby Orr and Donald Trump 23:24 The impact of social media on modern politics 26:18 Conclusion and final thoughts | |||
| Episode 100: Diving into the Darkness with Jill Heinerth | 18 mars 2025 | 00:44:21 | |
In this milestone 100th episode of the Explore Podcast, host David McGuffin welcomes back world-renowned cave diver and RCGS Explorer-in-Residence Jill Heinerth. This episode dives into Heinerth’s experiences, including her new, award-winning documentary Diving into the Darkness, her extraordinary career in underwater exploration and the risks and rewards of diving. Heinerth discusses her Antarctic expeditions, her struggle with decompression sickness, and the evolution of her exploration philosophy over the years. The conversation also touches on the challenges of making documentaries in the current media environment, the impact of climate change narratives and the importance of valuing and understanding our natural world. Additionally, Heinerth emphasizes the need for flexibility, multi-skilling and ethical exploration in today's changing world. To learn more about her documentary, visit divingintothedarkness.com 00:00 Introduction to Jill Heinerth's diving adventures 01:01 Celebrating 100 episodes of the Explore Podcast 04:52 Introducing Jill Heinerth's new documentary 05:00 Behind the scenes of the documentary 06:05 The making of the documentary 13:36 Jill's Antarctic dive experience 15:07 The impact of climate change on diving 18:00 Touring the documentary 18:58 Challenges in the media landscape 19:37 The future of documentary streaming 21:35 The evolution of exploration and science 21:57 Navigating career advice for young explorers 23:48 Early challenges and determination 27:55 Facing life-threatening situations 36:41 Reflections on exploration and ethics 42:22 Concluding thoughts and future plans | |||
| Exploring the depths of sperm whale communication | 04 mars 2025 | 00:47:36 | |
In this episode of Explore, we dive deep with Canadian whale biologist Shane Gero, who shares his journey from a landlocked childhood in Ottawa to becoming a leading researcher in whale communication and conservation. Gero discusses how his early fascination with whales began, his fieldwork in Dominica and the intricate social structures of sperm whales. The conversation then delves into Project CETI, which aims to decode the complex language of sperm whales using machine learning while exploring the cultural identity expressed through the whales’ unique codas (a series of clicks). In this conversation, Gero emphasizes the complex cognition of these animals and their emotional lives, sharing personal experiences of witnessing whale births and the significance of interspecies communication. Incidentally, the pod of whales who he witnessed give birth are named after author and RCGS Fellow Margaret Atwood and her novel, Oryx and Crake. Gero highlights the challenges sperm whales face due to human activities and the need for both individual and systematic changes to protect them. He expresses hope for the future, rooted in the connection between humans and nature, and reflects on his personal journey in understanding these magnificent creatures. As well as being a Scientist-In-Residence at Ottawa’s Carleton University, Gero is also the founder of The Dominica Sperm Whale Project, a long-term research program focused on the sperm whale families living in the Eastern Caribbean. He is also the Biology Lead for Project CETI, applying advanced machine learning and robotics to decipher sperm whale communication. This interview is exactly the kind of unique Canadian storytelling that is supported by your donations to the annual Canadian Geographic Polar Plunge taking place on Sunday, March 9, 2025. To help Canadian Geographic tell Canada's story and support critical programming, please consider donating at Polar Plunge 2025. | |||
| The core of the mountain with Alison Criscitiello | 18 févr. 2025 | 00:46:17 | |
Few people have been to the summit of Mt. Logan, and even fewer people have been to the summit and stayed for more than 24 hours. But for the sake of science, RCGS Fellow and world-leading ice core scientist Alison Criscitiello and her team took 10 days to summit Canada’s highest peak, where they camped for 16 days. In her new documentary, For Winter, Criscitiello takes viewers on a gruelling journey to the top of Mt. Logan, where she and her team of six researchers extract the longest ice core ever drilled at a high altitude: 327 metres. The goal was originally to drill 250 metres, but the team was able to go deeper, successfully extracting an additional 77 metres of valuable data about our climate and environmental history. For Winter premiered at the Banff Film Festival this past fall and was produced by National Geographic. Along with being a National Geographic Explorer, Criscitiello is also the director of the Canadian Ice Core Lab at the University of Alberta and a leading high-altitude mountaineer who has led expeditions (many of them all female) up some of the world’s highest peaks. In this week’s episode, we get into her early days as a US Park Climbing Ranger in the Pacific Northwest and her journey into ice core science, which has taken her all over the Arctic, the Antarctic and many fascinating places in between. Enjoy! | |||
| Journey of resilience: Jillian Brown on water, wilderness, and healing | 04 févr. 2025 | 00:55:28 | |
Welcome back Explore listeners! We are thrilled to have award-winning photographer and explorer Jillian Brown as our first guest of 2025. Based in Squamish, B.C., Brown has an epic list of adventures. She was the first Canadian to paddle across the continental US, from Oregon to Louisiana and the Gulf of Mexico. Brown was also part of the first crew to paddle down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon in a sea kayak, which is not made for whitewater, as she explains. As a survivor of trauma and abuse, Brown is a strong and vocal advocate for those suffering from PTSD, promoting the importance of connecting to nature as a tool for healing while working with military veterans, first responders and more. Brown’s adventures have taken her up mountains and down rivers across North America. I couldn’t help noticing that many of her stories ended with the phrase, “But we survived!” So buckle in and enjoy! And good news, the Canadian Geographic Polar Plunge Fundraiser is back! This year, the plunge will occur on March 9th in Canada's lakes, rivers and oceans. Check-in on the Canadian Geographic website and social media to learn more about how you can contribute and support Canadian Geographic’s mission of making Canada better known to Canadians and the world! | |||
| Encore Presentation: Sugarcane — the Oscar-nominated documentary of St Joseph's Mission Residential School with Julian Brave NoiseCat | 23 janv. 2025 | 00:42:31 | |
Oscar nominated! Congratulations to Canadian Geographic Contributing Editor Julian Brave NoiseCat for his and Emily Kassie's Best Documentary Academy Award nomination for their film Sugarcane. Please enjoy this encore presentation of NoiseCat's interview with Explore, which was originally posted in September, 2024. We're thrilled to welcome Julian Brave NoiseCat to Explore to talk about his award winning documentary Sugarcane, the powerful and very personal story of the multi-generational trauma caused to his family and members of the Williams Lake First Nations by the physical and sexual abuse endured for almost a century at St. Joseph's Mission Residential School in British Columbia. The documentary won the Director's Award at the Sundance Film Festival and is showing in cinemas across North America and around the world. Julian will be familiar to many of you for his work as contributing editor at Canadian Geographic and his many smart and thoughtful articles in the magazine around First Nations issues. His award-winning journalism has appeared in dozens of publications including The New York Times, The Washington Post and The New Yorker. His first book, We Survived the Night, will be published by Knopf and Penguin Random House in fall 2025.
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| Christmas at Devil's Portage - Charles Camsell | 19 déc. 2024 | 00:08:34 | |
"So does Christmas eliminate distance." Happy holidays from Explore! For this Yuletide episode, we’re dipping into our Canadian Geographic files for the reading of a story written by RCGS founding President and Arctic explorer Charles Camsell who recalls a memorable Christmas he had on the trail to the Klondike in 1897. In the early 1900s, travelling by canoe and horseback, Camsell mapped hundreds of thousands of square kilometres of Canada’s north for the Geological Survey of Canada. Born at Fort Liard, N.W.T., in 1876, his father Julian was an English fur trader with the Hudson’s Bay Company. His mother, Sarah Foulds, was Metis, with deep roots in the Red River. After graduating from the University of Manitoba, Camsell returned to the Northwest Territories just in time to get swept into the Klondike gold rush. Like thousands of young men and women at the time, he and his friend Arthur Pelly set off for the Yukon to seek their fortune. Lynne McGuffin, Camsell's granddaughter, found the following story in his personal files. It was dated 1937, around the time he was writing his memoir, Son of the North. For the past two decades, it's been a tradition of host David McGuffin to read this to his wife and children on Christmas Eve as they moved from continent to continent, country to country, often celebrating the holidays far from family and home. So, pour yourself a favourite drink, settle into a comfy chair by the fire and enjoy this reading of Christmas at Devil’s Portage. To learn more about the Camsell family and their role in the fur trade, check out Season 2 of Explore, which features fascinating full archival recordings of Charles Camsell and his brother Philip Scott Camsell looking back on their Arctic childhoods. | |||
| Laval St. Germain’s journey to Afghanistan’s highest mountain | 10 déc. 2024 | 00:51:13 | |
Laval St. Germain’s journey to Afghanistan’s highest mountain Today’s conversation with extreme athlete and adventurer Laval St. Germain is fascinating as we journey through Afghanistan to its highest peak, Mt. Noshaq, which stands at 7,492 metres. On the way, St. Germain reveals the current state of a country that was a central focus for Canadians and the world for almost two decades, post-9/11, during the War on Terror. Afghanistan was home to Canada's longest war, and you hear little about it today, not since the US and NATO pulled out of the country in August 2021. That retreat cleared the way for the extreme Islamist group, the Taliban, to take back control of the country for the first time since being ousted by the US and NATO forces in 2001. I am fascinated by the place. In 1979, I got my first shortwave radio for Christmas, and I remember the first thing I tuned in to was Radio Moscow reporting that Soviet troops had gone into Afghanistan at the "invitation" of the Afghan government in what would be a long and bloody Soviet defeat. Decades later, in the spring of 2008, as a CBC correspondent, I spent two months embedded with the Canadian military in Kandahar, Afghanistan. I went out on regular patrols with Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry in armoured vehicles, where every bridge and every culvert crossed was a potential roadside bomb. I went on foot patrol in Kandahar city, visited schools newly opened for the education of girls, and ran for shelter at Kandahar Airfield to avoid incoming Taliban missiles. I was impressed with what the Canadians were able to do then, maintaining a degree of peace in the Taliban heartland and doing all that with fewer than a thousand combat troops. Still, in that dry, stark, beautiful, mountainous country, that peace and our presence always felt tenuous. So, what is Afghanistan like now? St. Germain helps peel back some of the layers of that onion as he travels to Mt. Noshaq, talking and travelling with locals from the capital, Kabul, in the centre to the north of the country near the Tajikistan border. As St. Germain confirms, the Taliban deserves its record as having one of the worst human rights records of any government in the world, largely because of its brutal treatment of women. Hunger also remains an issue, with one in four people needing food aid, according to the UN. And as St. Germain notes, that is not as dire as many had predicted. We also get into the debate about the pluses, minuses and dangers of travelling in a pariah state. As much as he’s an extreme adventurer, doing amazing things like climbing the highest peaks on all seven continents or rowing solo across the Atlantic Ocean, what I love about St. Germain is that he is also a student of history, geography and current events, and he brings all of that to his expeditions. He's got a great story to tell. Enjoy! | |||
| Running solo across Death Valley with Ray Zahab | 26 nov. 2024 | 00:34:18 | |
I’m thrilled to have Ray Zahab back on Explore. Many of you know Ray as an extreme adventurer, Royal Canadian Geographical Society Explorer-in-Residence and friend of this podcast. Ray joins me to talk about his gruelling solo run across one of the hottest places on earth, Death Valley, California during a record breaking heatwave this summer. The last time we talked, in spring 2023, he was heading off to Death Valley. He had just completed chemotherapy for a rare form of blood cancer, during which he somehow managed to fit in a trek across Baffin Island between chemo sessions, in the depths of winter. That’s a great conversation, check it out if you haven’t already. The Death Valley trip that followed wasn’t completed last year for some dramatic reasons Ray gets into in our talk. So, in true Ray fashion, he tried again. In July, he ran across Death Valley from its highest peak down to Badwater Basin — the lowest point in North America — over some incredibly tough terrain, with temperatures well above 50 degrees Celsius, 120 Fahrenheit. For those of you who don’t know Ray, his list of accomplishments are long. He set the land speed record for reaching the south pole in Antarctica on foot. He spent three months running right across the Sahara desert during the peak of summer. He has trekked unsupported in winter in the Canadian Arctic, Siberia and Kamchatka. He has run across the Gobi Desert in China and the length of the Atacama Desert in Chile. And he leads youth adventure program Impossible 2 Possible, giving children from around the world the opportunity to experience nature up close at no cost. | |||
| Manitoba's historic Dawson Trail with Pierrette Sherwood and Mimi Lamontagne | 12 nov. 2024 | 00:44:26 | |
More than military conquest: Manitoba's historic Dawson Trail with Pierrette Sherwood and Mimi Lamontagne We do love history here on the Explore podcast, and one of the reasons is that the more you poke around, the more you dig, and the wider you cast your research net, the richer the story that gets revealed. Our guests today are the perfect example of that. Pierrette Sherwood is the founder, artistic and creative director of Manitoba’s Dawson Trail Commemorative Project, and Mimi Lamontagne is the project researcher. If any of you out there have heard of the Dawson Trail, it’s probably best known as the route that British and Canadian troops used in 1870 to get to Manitoba and put down the Red River Resistance led by Louis Riel. It then became the pre-railroad overland route from Eastern Canada into the west. Starting in 2019, the Dawson Trail Commemorative Project aims to illuminate a richer story beyond just conquest and migration. It's a story focused on the First Nations, Métis and French Canadian people who lived along the route for hundreds and thousands of years and what that reveals about our history and who we are as a people, including some remarkable characters. The route is 150 kilometres long, mostly just off of the Trans-Canada Highway. It features historical markers illuminating the extensive research into the history of the trail done by Lamontagne, Sherwood and their team. Along with being the Dawson Trail Project founder Pierrette Sherwood is a proud French Canadian Métis and award-winning arts and cultural professional. She makes her living as the artist-owner of Papillon Creations along the historic Dawson Trail. Mimi Lamontagne is a career heritage specialist, researcher, and educator in Manitoba. She is a proud Franco-Manitoban and ally to Indigenous Peoples. She has worked with the Manitoba Museum, Parks Canada, the Department of Canadian Heritage and the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. To learn more about the Dawson Trail visit dawsontrailtreasures.ca. | |||
| Our Green Heart - The Soul and Science of Forests with Diana Beresford-Kroeger | 29 oct. 2024 | 00:36:20 | |
There are few greater champions of our trees and forests than Diana Beresford-Kroeger. From her base in her forest reserve in Eastern Ontario, the Irish-born Beresford-Kroeger has led a decades-long campaign to save our planet’s forests and trees, while working in the fields of medical biochemistry, botany and medicine. She is a Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, winner of the RCGS Louie Kamoookak medal and the author of multiple award-winning books including To Speak for the Trees and the documentary Call of the Forest: The Forgotten Wisdom of Trees. Her latest book is another best-seller: Our Green Heart - The Soul and Science of Forests. There is a lot that’s fascinating and hopeful in this conversation: how the North American king nut tree can solve hunger and aging issues, why oak trees may be the superheroes in the battle against climate change, and the critical link between forests and oceans. Beresford-Kroeger also examines simple, accessible tree-planting solutions to the climate crisis and the links she sees between her traditional Irish Druidic education and the traditional Indigenous knowledge in North America. | |||
| Storm chasing with Jaclyn Whittal | 15 oct. 2024 | 00:41:05 | |
It is definitely hurricane season, so what better time than now to sit down for a conversation with one of the world's leading storm chasers, Jaclyn Whittal. You probably know Whittal as the long-time co-host of Storm Chasers, where you’ll regularly find her reporting from Oklahoma's Tornado Alley, at the leading edge of some of the biggest hurricanes on record, or facing down fires in the interior of B.C. As a Fellow of the RCGS, Whittal also spends time working in the Arctic and running across deserts like the Atacama and Death Valley at the hottest times of year. With all that as her platform, she is a leader in educating the public on the climate change science behind the increasingly extreme weather we are experiencing. We get into all of that in this fascinating conversation, as well as how she started out in musical theatre before switching to storm chasing. Did you know Whittal took over from the legendary Canadian pop star Shania Twain in a musical review at a famous Muskoka resort? She's a fascinating person with a great story to tell. Enjoy! | |||
| Sugarcane: the documentary of St Joseph's Mission Residential School with Julian Brave NoiseCat | 30 sept. 2024 | 00:43:05 | |
We're thrilled to welcome Julian Brave Noisecat to Explore to talk about his award winning documentary Sugarcane, the powerful and very personal story of the multi-generational trauma caused to his family and members of the Williams Lake First Nations by the physical and sexual abuse endured for almost a century at St. Joseph's Mission Residential School in British Columbia. The documentary won the Director's Award at the Sundance Film Festival and is showing in cinemas across North America and around the world. Julian will be familiar to many of you for his work as contributing editor at Canadian Geographic and his many smart and thoughtful articles in the magazine around First Nations issues. His award-winning journalism has appeared in dozens of publications including The New York Times, The Washington Post and The New Yorker. His first book, We Survived the Night, will be published by Knopf and Penguin Random House in fall 2025.
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