Fridtjof Nansen: North of Insanity

Ice. Starvation. Total darkness. And somewhere out there — a polar bear that would very much like to eat you. On this episode, Ben Thompson is joined by producer Andrew Jacobs to break down the life of Fridtjof Nansen — Arctic explorer, record-setting skier, neuroscientist, diplomat, Nobel Peace Prize winner, and the only man in history to drift across the polar ice cap on purpose. Nansen didn’t just explore the Arctic — he weaponized it. He froze his own ship into the pack ice to prove a scientific theory. He skied farther north than any human had ever gone. And when he was done conquering the planet’s most hostile environment, he turned around and saved hundreds of thousands of refugees. This one has frostbite, philosophy, and a man who genuinely believed the only way out… was further in. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices