When Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg Nansen abandoned his epic, but failed, attempt to reach the North Pole, he was not expecting to hitch a ride home with a Brit.

But, on 17th June, 1896, in the remote wilderness of Franz Joseph Land, he and colleague Hjalmar Johansen - replete with long shaggy beards and frozen mittens - bumped into English explorer Frederick Jackson, who was also in the Arctic thanks to funding from the Daily Mail.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how Nansen's ship, the Fram, pioneered pack-ice exploration; reveal the nasty fate of Nansen’s dogs; and marvel at the English understatement of Jackson’s diary detailing their famous encounter…

Further Reading:

• ‘MET NANSEN BY CHANCE; JACKSON'S STRANGE EXPERIENCE ON AN ICE FLOE’ (The New York Times, 1896): https://www.nytimes.com/1896/08/15/archives/met-nansen-by-chance-jacksons-strange-experience-on-an-ice-floe-the.html

• ‘"Aren't you Nansen?" - FG Jackson's Diary’ (ExplorersWeb, 2007): https://explorersweb.com/polar/news.php?id=16309

• ‘The Polar Exploration Museum! With our two centrepieces Fram and Gjøa’ (Fram Museum Oslo, 2019): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbJ4Cu7nFro&t=32s

For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors

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The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.

Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.

Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.

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