Ice Coffee: the history of human activity in Antarctica

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168_FIDASE_part_2_Based_on_Deception Oct 15, 2026

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Mott and Co. return south with their Cansos and a single Bell-47. Unfortunately Antarctica did to that single helicopter what Antarctica does to helicopters and the time it took to receive a replacement airframe dented the second season's cartographic data output badly. Still, no-one died in spite of many hundreds of hours flying at the edge of the technological possibilities of the era. One more FIDASE episode in the pipeline. I'm gonna miss reading, writing, and recording about this mob and their aircraft. If you ever check out pictures of the FIDASE and see me grinning back at you then you know the time machine is in good fettle.

167_FIDASE_part_1 Aug 07, 2026

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PBYs, Sikorsky 51s, and Antarctica. The episode I'd fabricate from whole cloth if the events didn't actually happen. Peter Mott leads the British effort to map the Antarctic Peninsula before any pesky Patagonians steal the cartographic glory constituting the last low hanging Antarctic fruit. The Falkland Islands Dependency Aerial Survey Expedition drew together broad talents and drew the ire of less glamorously tasked FIDS. Recorded on location in Gippsland and atop Bass Strait. A visit from a kitty cat and a song by Ellis Piper to round out my happiness with episode 167.

166_Peninsula_measuring_contest_inconclusion Jun 01, 2026

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The FIDS investigate why all those seals are pining for the fjords, the Argentines engage in naval gazing, the Chileans extend their EEZ to meet everyone else' "not touching you, can't get mad" boundary, and the Uruguayans think about forming a plan for an idea on a scheme for getting south. Lots of Base D and Base A granular detail and broad strokes everywhere else, because that's how my library currently looks.

165_Still_on_about_the_Antarctic_Peninsula_in_the_mid_1950s_part_3 May 05, 2026

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FIDS get sledging. Major Moreno gets protest notes. Chile gets left out for an episode. Eva Peron's bust gets busted.

164_Cam_Hawley_and_the_Antarctic_Staggerwing May 01, 2026

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A rambling, meandering episode full of happenstance reminiscences that barely ties in to the Antarctic history thread of this series through an encounter with Antarctic novel author Evelyn and an interview with Cam Hawley about the restoration of the Beech Staggerwing carried south by the United States Antarctic Service Expedition. Cam spoke to me in a hangar at Wanaka airport during the Warbirds Over Wanaka airshow and the ambient sounds of Harvards and Strikemasters going about their skybound business outside offers a neat backdrop to our dialogue. Photographs of the Antarctica connected airframes I encountered during my whirlwind South Island visit at the Wordpress site. And some of the model Whirlwind Brian built and the model Hughes 500 I built during our evenings at his place. I don't often travel other than for work or family duties, so I loved every second of my time in Brian's company. No-one relying on me for data, consumables, or maritime services. No-one dying of cancer. A week well spent on every front.

163_Christine_Rees_and_Antarctic_water_chemistry Apr 28, 2026

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An interview with Christine Rees about finding her path south through water chemistry lab skills. Better living through chemistry indeed!

162_Peninsula_Measuring_Contest Mar 25, 2026

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Part two of my coverage of the British, Argentine, and Chilean attempts to bolster national pride in and international recognition of their various efforts on the Antarctic Peninsula. This episode drills down on goings on in Hope Bay and Anvers Island and features an interruption from Kettle catching the largest flathead I've seen in a good few years, which I left in in its entirety as an aural reminder of the best day I spent at work in over two decades.

161_Graham_O_Higgins_Martin_Land_part_1 Mar 11, 2026

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The first half hour of a lengthy and bumpy adventure in trying to recount what happened around the Antarctic Peninsula in the first half of the 1950s. And Craig.

160_Two_Years_at_Mawson_Station Oct 18, 2025

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Bob Dovers does sterling OIC work setting the rhythm and mode of Mawson Station winters, though at considerable cost to his health. John Bechervaise continues in the grooves established by Dovers, cementing Australia's toehold in the cold and the meson telescopes in place. Phillip Law goes in to bat against bureaucrats cratting for all their bureau's worth and manages to keep the focus on science, though some of his ideas about what to do with an Australian territorial claim once his efforts have gained some traction for one are a bit odd in a present day context. A busy 1954 and 1955 for ANARE, though I couldn't find much about what the Mawson Station winterers got up to during their southern sojourn.

159_Interviews_from_the_Australian_Antarctic_Festival_2024 Jun 02, 2025

Show notes

I recorded these interviews at the Australian Antarctic Festival in August 2024. I release them now in lieu of historical narrative episodes I should have ready but don't because reasons.

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Ice Coffee: the history of human activity in Antarctica

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