Polar Explorer
Tuesday, January 29 2008
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Polar Explorer
Will Steger
In 2002, Arctic explorer Will Steger was in his late 50's, holed up in his remote cabin in northern Minnesota, designing winter clothes and building an environmental conference center.
Then he read about the sudden collapse of a major ice shelf in Antarctica, and he was jolted back to action. He came barreling out of his hideaway to tackle the biggest issue of our time: global warming.
One of the biggest names in extreme exploration, Will is suited to the task. He had made the world's first unsupported dog sled trip to the North Pole, and he once spent 220 days crossing Antarctica. Now 63, he's leading a new generation of explorers to witness the effects of a warming planet. He talks with Dick Gordon about how he is spreading the word about the coming catastrophe.
Music heard in this story: Qiugaviit by Tudjaat from the album Putomayo Presents Native American Odyssey, Inuit to Inca
- See a photo gallery of Will's 2007 expedition to Baffin Island
- See a video from the expedition
- Read Will's past expedition journals
- Learn more about the Will Steger Foundation
Listener response - Biggest Mistake
Kevin Haw
After he interviewed Thom Brennan about his accident with a forklift, Dick put out a call for stories about "biggest mistakes."
Kevin Haw was an engineer in the airline industry. He and a buddy hooked up the cables to see if a prototype would work. It didn't - in fact, Kevin might have become known as "the engineer who nearly blew up a one-of-its-kind machine." But instead of getting fired, Kevin 'fessed up … and got a raise.
YOUR STORY - BRUSH WITH FAME - ERIC LARSON
Eric Larson was visiting London in 1991. On the morning he was to return, he got mixed up on the switchover to daylight savings time. As soon as he got to the airport, he butted in to the front of the line. The woman behind him protested. Then it slowly dawned on him that she was the famous anthropologist, Jane Goodall. That encounter taught Eric something about what success in life really means.
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