The Art of Adventure
The Art of Adventure is a weekly podcast hosted by Hugh Taylor that explores extraordinary journeys, from historical figures to modern explorers. Each episode delves into the preparation, doubt, grit, and judgment behind these adventures, revealing the tiny choices that change everything. New episodes are released every Wednesday.
Episodes
The Race for Timbuktu: The Hunt for Africa's City of Gold
For centuries, Timbuktu was Europe's idea of the unreachable place - an African El Dorado where the roofs were said to be made of gold. The myth had roots in something real: in 1325 the Malian emperor Mansa Musa travelled to Mecca with so much gold that his spending in Cairo devalued the Egyptian currency for years afterwards. By the time European explorers went looking, the city had been in decli
Denali 1967: The Worst Climbing Disaster in North American History (Part 2)
Seven men were somewhere on the upper slopes of Denali and nobody had heard from them since a single radio call from the summit. Five survivors were pinned in their tents three thousand feet below, so battered by the wind that four hours of climbing gained them only a few hundred yards. In 1967 there was no rescue service on the mountain, no aircraft that could fly in those conditions, and no way
Denali 1967: The Worst Climbing Disaster in North American History (Part 1)
In the summer of 1967, twelve men set out to climb Denali - then officially Mount McKinley - the highest mountain in North America. Nine of them had been recruited by a 24-year-old graduate student named Joe Wilcox, and most had never met before they arrived in Alaska. The other three were a Colorado team who had lost their fourth man in a car accident weeks earlier, and who were forced to merge w
The Last Tourist in Russia
In February 2022, Charlie Walker flew to Russia to travel 600 miles alone across Arctic Siberia. Five days later, Russia invaded Ukraine. He had a narrow window to get out - and chose to stay and finish the trip, becoming very possibly the last Western tourist in Russia.Walker set off on foot from the coldest inhabited place on earth, hiking frozen rivers and ice roads in temperatures down to minu
Theodore Roosevelt's Last Great Adventure: The River of Doubt
In 1914, former US President Theodore Roosevelt nearly died in the Amazon. Feverish and delirious from an infected wound, he asked his son to leave him behind — and carried a lethal dose of morphine in case the end came.Roosevelt had gone to Brazil after losing the 1912 election, the strongest third-party run in American history. A planned speaking tour turned into an expedition to chart the River
Dismasted in the Southern Ocean: Lisa Blair's Solo Record Around Antarctica
Seventy-two days into her attempt to sail solo around Antarctica, more than 1,000 miles from the nearest land, Lisa Blair's mast came down in a storm. She was alone, outside rescue range, in the most hostile stretch of water on the planet. She fought through the night to save the boat and her life - and then, having lost the record she had spent years chasing, she had to decide what to do next.Lis
Scott vs. Amundsen: Triumph and Tragedy (Part 2)
March 1912. Roald Amundsen has beaten Scott to the South Pole, outrun the winter ice, and telegraphed his triumph around the world. But back on the ice, Captain Scott and his men are still fighting for their lives — and no one yet knows their fate.In the conclusion of this two-part series, host Hugh Taylor is joined once more by historian Dr Max Jones - author of The Last Great Quest - to tell the
Scott vs. Amundsen: The Race to The South Pole Begins (Part 1)
June 1910. Captain Robert Falcon Scott sets sail from Cardiff aboard the Terra Nova, convinced he has a clear run at the South Pole. Then a telegram arrives: "Beg leave to inform you Fram proceeding south. Amundsen." The race is on.In Part 1 of this two-part series, host Hugh Taylor is joined by historian Dr Max Jones - author of The Last Great Quest - to unpick the real story behind the Scott vs
Sailing Solo Around the World Like It's 1968: The Golden Globe Race
In 1968, nine sailors set off on the first solo nonstop race around the world. Only one crossed the finish line. Sir Robin Knox-Johnston returned aboard Suhaili to claim the Sunday Times Golden Globe - while behind him, one competitor faked his positions, another sailed to Tahiti instead of the finish line, and a third pushed his boat so hard it fell apart 1,200 miles from home.Nearly fifty years
Gino Watkins: The Greatest Explorer You've Never Heard Of
In 1930, a 24-year-old Cambridge undergraduate named Gino Watkins led fourteen men to the east coast of Greenland on one of the most ambitious Arctic expeditions of the twentieth century. Their mission: to prove that aeroplanes could fly the Atlantic by mapping an unmapped coastline, discovering unknown mountain ranges, and manning a weather station in the middle of the Greenland ice sheet — throu
Solo to the North Pole: Pen Hadow
Pen Hadow appears by arrangement with DBA Speakers www.dbaspeakers.comIn 2003, Pen Hadow became the first person to trek solo and without resupply from Canada to the North Geographic Pole - 770 kilometres across shifting sea ice, open water, and temperatures of minus 40. It is a feat that has never been repeated, and almost certainly never will be.But this is not the story of a single expedition.
The Lost Franklin Expedition: What Really Happened?
In 1845, Sir John Franklin sailed from England with 129 men and two of the Royal Navy's finest ships, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, to chart the last unmapped stretch of the Northwest Passage. They were expected back within three years. They were never seen again.What followed became one of the greatest mysteries in the history of exploration. Scattered bones on a frozen island. Inuit testimony of st
Navigating the Grand Canyon Like It's 1869: John Wesley Powell
In 1869, John Wesley Powell set off down the Colorado River with nine men, four wooden boats, and no idea what lay ahead. The Grand Canyon, 300 miles of unmapped canyon, unknown rapids, and sheer rock walls, was the last blank space on the map of the continental United States.Author John F Ross joins Hugh to tell the full story: how a one-armed Civil War veteran turned geologist became the first p
Astronaut wanted, no experience necessary: Helen Sharman
Helen Sharman appears by arrangement with DBA Speakers www.dbaspeakers.comIn 1989, Helen Sharman was driving home from work when a radio ad changed her life. Astronaut wanted. No experience necessary. Britain had no space agency, no human spaceflight programme, and no tradition of sending civilians into orbit. Helen was a 26-year-old food technologist from Sheffield with a chemistry degree and no
Climbing Mont Blanc like it’s 1838: Lise Wortley
In 1838, Henriette d'Angeville became the first woman to climb Mont Blanc unaided - in a 12-kilogram wool dress, a matching bonnet, and hobnail boots, with 18 bottles of wine and a carrier pigeon tucked into her pack. Her name was largely forgotten until adventurer and filmmaker Lise Wortley decided to find out exactly what that climb felt like by doing it herself, in the same outfit, from the sam
The Endurance: How to Captain a Ship Like Shackleton
In 1914, Ernest Shackleton set out to make the first land crossing of Antarctica. His ship never reached the continent. Within months, the Endurance was crushed by sea ice, leaving 28 men stranded in one of the most hostile environments on earth, with no hope of rescue.Historian of polar exploration Henrietta Hammant joins Hugh to unpick the legend of Shackleton: his rivalry with Scott, the 5,000
Rowing For My Life: A Record Breaking Tale of Endurance
Kathleen Saville was barely out of college when she rowed her first ocean - earning a world record along the way. What began as a wildly ambitious plan between two newlyweds became a test of resilience, navigation and marriage itself.In this episode, Kathleen recounts building Excalibur by hand, rowing 3,600 miles across the Atlantic, and later attempting a 10,000-mile Pacific crossing, during whi
Mallory's Last Climb: What Really Happened on Everest?
On 8th June 1924, George Mallory and Andrew Irvine set out from their high camp on Everest. They were spotted once, two small figures moving through a break in the clouds, and then they were gone. Over a hundred years later, we still don't know if they made it to the top.Award-winning filmmaker and author Mick Conefrey, whose book Fallen examines Mallory's final expedition, joins Hugh to separate
Win a £100 Arthur Beale voucher - What do you want to hear in series 2?
Have your say: https://forms.gle/Xc6USH2ThWqzxRex7Series 2 is coming. But first - we want to hear from you.Which adventures should we cover next? Which explorers, expeditions, or untold stories are you dying to hear?Fill in our short listener survey for your chance to win a £100 Arthur Beale voucher. It takes about a minute.Have your say: https://forms.gle/Xc6USH2ThWqzxRex7Entry closes 10PM GMT on
Introducing The Art of Adventure
The Art of Adventure celebrates the people who push into the unknown, past and present, and asks: what is the true art of adventure… and where might it take you?Brought to you by Arthur Beale. Find out more www.arthurbeale.co.uk
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