Explore: A Canadian Geographic podcast

“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 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.

“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.

“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 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 Read more from Trina Moyles; Excerpt from Black Bear: A story of siblinghood and survival Caribou people: The story of conserving the Porcupine caribou herd is a story about working together (Canadian Geographic, 2026) Monitoring migration through the Nisutlin River Delta National Wildlife Area (Canadian Geographic, 2026) Born for this: Unravelling the disappearance of Dall sheep (Canadian Geographic, 2026) The good bear: Co-existence on Yukon’s Klukshu River (Canadian Geographic, 2025)

“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: 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

“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 .

"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!

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? Visit Thornhill Verma’s favourite place in Canada: Nain, Labrador Watch the documentary, Angry Inuk (National Film Board of Canada) Browse Thornhill Verma's art ( Art - Jenn Thornhill Verma ) Discover more about whales in Explore episode 99 with Canadian sperm whale researcher Shane Gero – a fascinating conversation about the attempts to decode the sperm whale's click language using AI Read Punctuation's mark: Can we save the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale? by Alanna Mitchell with photography by Nick Hawkins

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 Michael Palin — Erebus: One Ship, Two Epic Voyages Jill Heinerth — Bell Island's U-Boat Wrecks Under the Ice — Andrew Bramburger and Andrew Budziak 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: 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

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

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.

"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 A 1,200-kilometre canoe journey from Tadoussac to James Bay Building traditional cedar canvas canoes for the expedition Following ancient Indigenous trade routes and fur trade corridors Reopening long-forgotten portages in Quebec's interior Encounters with Cree and Innu communities along the route Wildlife, wilderness, and life on the water The philosophy of canoe travel and adapting to the land 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

“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: What it’s like living and working in Antarctica for months at a time Studying Adélie penguins at the world’s southernmost colony The remarkable resilience and behaviour of penguins in extreme environments Life at McMurdo Station and the unique culture of Antarctic research communities Isolation, endurance, and the psychological challenges of remote fieldwork How climate change is threatening emperor penguins and Antarctic ecosystems The strange beauty of Antarctica’s landscapes, wildlife, and silence Why Antarctica continues to inspire scientists, explorers, and conservationists 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.

“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: Skiing across Ukraine’s highest peaks in the Carpathian Mountains A landscape shaped by shifting borders, empires and conflict Wildlife is rebounding in some regions while war devastates others Life in remote Ukrainian villages and the impact of war on communities Travelling through Ukraine during wartime — from trains to checkpoints Kyiv today: a vibrant city adapting to ongoing conflict How modern warfare, including drones, is changing life on the ground 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: Explore podcast episode 95: Laval St. Germain's journey to Afghanistan's highest mountain Explore podcast episode 78: Laval St. Germain: Mountains, oceans and the Arctic Jan 19, 2019 — Meet the Canadian explorer who just completed the Seven Summits

The hidden life of Canada’s frozen lakes with Andrew Budziak and Andy Bramburger

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: What exoplanets reveal about the potential for life beyond our solar system Why Venus, once overlooked, may be a key target in the search for life The mystery of phosphine gas and the scientific controversy that followed How future missions could directly sample Venus’s atmosphere How exploration, from Canadian wilderness to deep space, shapes discovery Books on exploration recommended by Seager: Sleeping Island: The Story of One Man's Travels in the Great Barren Lands of the Canadian North Coppermine Journey: An Account of Great Adventure Selected from the Journals of Samuel Hearne

"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.

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? Visit Thornhill Verma’s favourite place in Canada: Nain, Labrador Watch the documentary, Angry Inuk (National Film Board of Canada) Discover more about whales in Explore episode 99 with Canadian sperm whale researcher Shane Gero – a fascinating conversation about the attempts to decode the sperm whale's click language using AI. *North Atlantic Right Whale sounds in this episode are courtesy of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“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.

“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 Why the fish-slapping dance may be the perfect piece of Python humour Monty Python’s surprising Canadian connections, from CBC protests to the Lumberjack Song Palin’s journey through Venezuela, North Korea, Iraq, and other dodgy places Why The Life of Brian is his favourite Python film Talking about the weather with Robert DeNiro What the Franklin Expedition reveals about colonial blind spots and the importance of Inuit knowledge Visiting Franklin expedition graves on Beechey Island in Canada's High Arctic How Around the World in 80 Days changed the way Palin approached storytelling Why Palin avoids interviewing presidents — and prefers talking to everyday people The magic of truly disappearing while travelling Reflections on aging, curiosity, and why Palin never wants to retire 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

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: Jeremy Hansen’s historic role on Artemis II What it means to be the first Canadian and first non-American on a Moon mission David Saint-Jacques on trust, teamwork, and astronaut life behind the scenes Why Artemis II is a critical step toward long-term lunar exploration