Explore: A Canadian Geographic podcast

#Society #Travel #Canadian Geographic

22:08

Host Francesca Amiker sits down with directors Joe and Anthony Russo, producer Angela Russo-Otstot, stars Millie Bobby Brown and Chris Pratt, and more to uncover how family was the key to building the emotional core of The Electric State . From the Russos’ own experiences growing up in a large Italian family to the film’s central relationship between Michelle and her robot brother Kid Cosmo, family relationships both on and off of the set were the key to bringing The Electric State to life. Listen to more from Netflix Podcasts . State Secrets: Inside the Making of The Electric State is produced by Netflix and Treefort Media.…

Explore: A Canadian Geographic podcast

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Host David McGuffin talks to Canada’s greatest explorers about their adventures and what inspires their spirit of discovery.

104 episodes

Explore: A Canadian Geographic podcast

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updated 5 days ago

Series home•Feed

Host David McGuffin talks to Canada’s greatest explorers about their adventures and what inspires their spirit of discovery.

104 episodes

#Society #Travel #Canadian Geographic

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Explore: A Canadian Geographic podcast

1
Episode 100: Diving into the Darkness with Jill Heinerth 44:21

5 days ago44:21

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…

Explore: A Canadian Geographic podcast

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Exploring the depths of sperm whale communication 47:36

19 days ago47:36

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 .…

Explore: A Canadian Geographic podcast

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The core of the mountain with Alison Criscitiello 46:17

5 weeks ago46:17

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!…

Explore: A Canadian Geographic podcast

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Journey of resilience: Jillian Brown on water, wilderness, and healing 55:28

7 weeks ago55:28

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!…

Explore: A Canadian Geographic podcast

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Encore Presentation: Sugarcane — the Oscar-nominated documentary of St Joseph's Mission Residential School with Julian Brave NoiseCat 42:31

8 weeks ago42:31

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.…

Explore: A Canadian Geographic podcast

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Christmas at Devil's Portage - Charles Camsell 8:34

13 weeks ago8:34

8:34

"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.…

Explore: A Canadian Geographic podcast

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Laval St. Germain’s journey to Afghanistan’s highest mountain 51:13

15 weeks ago51:13

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!…

Explore: A Canadian Geographic podcast

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Running solo across Death Valley with Ray Zahab 34:18

17 weeks ago34:18

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.…

Explore: A Canadian Geographic podcast

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Manitoba's historic Dawson Trail with Pierrette Sherwood and Mimi Lamontagne 44:26

19 weeks ago44:26

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.…

Explore: A Canadian Geographic podcast

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Our Green Heart - The Soul and Science of Forests with Diana Beresford-Kroeger 36:20

21 weeks ago36:20

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.…

Explore: A Canadian Geographic podcast

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Storm chasing with Jaclyn Whittal 41:05

23 weeks ago41:05

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!…

Explore: A Canadian Geographic podcast

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Sugarcane: the documentary of St Joseph's Mission Residential School with Julian Brave NoiseCat 43:05

25 weeks ago43:05

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.…

Explore: A Canadian Geographic podcast

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Canoeing across the Arctic with Dave Greene 1:03:59

27 weeks ago1:03:59

1:03:59

“This might be why people go down rivers!” We're back in the Arctic for the last of our 2024 Summer Canoe Series. This time, it's with Dave Greene, who, along with paddling partner Chris Giard, led an RCGS-flagged Akilineq Canoe Expedition from Yellowknife, N.W.T., to Baker Lake, NU, in 2023. During this time, they covered 1400 kilometres, including Canada's newest national park, Thaidene Nëné. A good chunk of their trip also involved paddling upstream (see episode title). Greene has some incredible stories to share from this trip, including close calls with wildlife and a lot of great wisdom on how to plan, carry out and fund remote expeditions of this scale. This is Greene’s third RCGS-flagged expedition. In all, he has led nine expeditions, most of them by canoe and lasting 30 days or more. Greene is a teacher in Halifax, N.S., and education is at the core of his travels, bringing Canada's natural world to young people. Greene hosts the storytelling platform Night of Adventure , which is focused on travel and adventuring and includes a podcast and a film festival.…

Explore: A Canadian Geographic podcast

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Autumn paddling and northern lakes with musician Sam Polley 50:51

29 weeks ago50:51

50:51

Musician Sam Polley’s first canoe trip was with his dad, Blue Rodeo’s Jim Cuddy, his mom and siblings. He doesn’t remember much about it, but he clearly got hooked. All these years later, he’s still an avid canoe tripper with a love of the lakes and rivers in northern Ontario. Sam is best known for his rockabilly band Sam Polley and The Old Tomorrows and playing with The Jim Cuddy Band, fronted by his father. When Sam isn’t touring or in the studio or writing songs, he likes to feed his muse by taking off on canoe trips into the wilds north of Toronto. We’re into September now. Summer is drifting away, there’s mist on the water in the morning and a nip in the air, even when the sun is out. One of the things we get into in this conversation is Sam’s love of autumn canoe tripping. The lakes and rivers are largely empty of people and along with all that space and peace — and your pick of campsites — there’s also no bugs. And while Sam is a self-confessed Toronto boy through and through, he is proof that even if you live in the most densely populated city in Canada, amazing canoe tripping adventures are still accessible. We get into his trips in Algonquin Park, Killarney and Temagami. It’s a fun romp spiced with his own music.…

Explore: A Canadian Geographic podcast

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Paddling the Peel Watershed with Bobbi Rose Koe 50:52

31 weeks ago50:52