#karluk

[dreamsofarachne]

Can someone please go back in time and kill Vilhjamur Stefansson for me? I'd pay ANY amount of money at this point, God I can't stand that guy

[denisglillie]

Big fan of the meteorologist on the Karluk but I keep forgetting how to spell his surname

[denisglillie]

Might be nonbinary but idrc abt that rn because my expedition leader abandoned us in the pack ice - William Laird McKinlay on the Karluk or something idk

[jesslovesboats]

I’ve been reading some about nutrition on polar expeditions recently (mainly in reference to Franklin) and a lot of them cite Stef about living off of the land (and don’t mention anything else). The book I’m reading right now has a whole chapter on Stef though (Polar Journeys: The Role of Food and Nutrition in Early Exploration - Robert E. Feeney). It super cannot be read uncritically because he’s getting a lot of things just straight up wrong (dates, such as when Franklin died, something we know the exact date of), and I am not recommending it.

However, I did want to pull this quote: “All went well when [Stef] set off for the ice, but there was a catastrophe from loss of the expedition’s vessel, the Karluk, before he started wherein much of the equipment was destroyed and eight men were lost,” (p 103) because it is an astoundingly broad and incorrect statement, also “before he started”???? (more incorrect dating, or maybe he didn’t realize Stef had even been on the ship?). Feeney also doesn’t mention the second Wrangle Island Experience(TM) at all, which I feel would warrant mentioning in a book about scurvy and starvation?!

Anyway, I just thought you would find that interesting, hope you’re having a good day :)

Hello and thank you for sending this over! Choices were definitely made here 😅 Like, I appreciate the effort because there hasn't been much written outside of academic circles about the role of nutrition in polar exploration, but this is... something. Is the nutrition information generally correct and this is just a case of an author not knowing any context for their subject, or is it this bad from start to finish? I'm super curious now, because this is definitely a subject of interest for me! Along the same lines, a book I do recommend is Hoosh by Jason C. Anthony, which is both interesting and generally correct!

Thanks again for sending this over, it brings me great joy that people think of me whenever they read some absolute nonsense involving Stef ☺️

[denisglillie]

dude., did you know. norwegian topographer bjarne mamen. he well. he existed at one point. and then well he sort of stopped existing. and it was very sad

[jesslovesboats]

I finally finished all the beyond the breakers episodes you did. The amount of new information I heard after reading the ice master was insane !! Everyone needs to listen to it and talk about the Karluk immediately

This is such a kind comment, thank you so much! I am having an extremely stupid week and this absolutely made my day 😭 I agree that everyone needs to get weirder about the Karluk ASAP, preferably with me so we can all go through it together!

Also thank you for listening, it means so much to me that people are still finding these episodes! When things calm down for me I have promised the hosts that I'll come back for an episode about Arctic sovereignty, but I will need to do a whole lot of research first. Thank you again for this comment, you are awesome! ❤️

[hamyilton]

Tried to find Karluk rpf to no avail :(

[jesslovesboats]