In this episode of pplpod, we brave the freezing Southern Ocean to examine the life of Sir Ernest Shackleton, the Anglo-Irish explorer who defined the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. We trace his journey from a restless, poetry-loving merchant marine officer to a polar legend, starting with his early days on Captain Scott's Discovery expedition and his record-breaking march on the Nimrod, where he turned back just 97 miles from the South Pole to save his team from starvation,,.

We dive deep into his most famous exploit: the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914. Learn how the Endurance was trapped and crushed by pack ice, forcing Shackleton to lead his crew through a harrowing ordeal on floating ice floes,. We recount the miraculous 720-nautical-mile open-boat voyage of the James Caird and the  ...