British Antarctic Expedition, 1910-1913

radiofrance(.)fr(/)franceinter/podcasts/naufrages-une-histoire-vraie/in-extremis-8871567 (remove the parentheses)

I doubt there's anything in it that you didn't already know, but it was respectful and interesting, plus a good show to listen to while drawing.

The monthly update is up on Patreon – as always, free and public; member or no you can read it if you like.

As hardcore polarheads know, the Canterbury Museum in Christchurch – holder of one of the world's greatest archives of documents and artefacts from the Heroic Age Antarctic expeditions – has been closed for a while as they make the building safe against future earthquakes and bring it up to date for accessibility etc. The archives have been closed to visitors since the earthquake in 2011! We are all looking forward to being able to enjoy this resource again someday in the future.

But they need our help. As the Human Histories curator Adele Jackson has put it:

I’m writing to ask if you will support the Museum by lodging an online submission to Christchurch City Council? The City Council hasn’t named the Museum in its draft annual plan. Positive submissions will encourage the Council’s financial commitment to the Museum’s redevelopment to ensure the building reopens as planned in 2029. Submissions from overseas and within New Zealand are accepted. Sending a submission takes only 2-3 minutes. https://standupforyourmuseum.co.nz/ As I’m sending this to people across the world in different time zones, please will you make a submission before Wednesday 25 March, to meet the Council’s deadline. [NB: Given NZ's proximity to the International Date Line, those of us in the Western Hemisphere should submit before Tuesday the 24th, or this weekend just to be safe.] We’re trying to get a high number of submissions to show just how much support there is for the Museum. Your submission will make a huge difference.

In 1979, Roland Huntford published a book called, initially, Scott And Amundsen, which contrasted the expeditions and personalities of each. Others had tried to puncture the hero myth of Scott in the British imagination, but this was the book that really shattered it, and it remained shattered for decades, helped by Trevor Griffiths’ 1985 TV dramatisation The Last Place on Earth. Even the 2008…