Intelligence Squared What Is Really at Stake at the North Pole? With Neil Shea
Mar 13, 2026
Neil Shea, National Geographic reporter and author of Frostlines, shares vivid stories from the High North. He recounts tracking caribou, walking with wolves, and meeting Inuit elders. He also explores how melting ice has turned the region into a new geopolitical battleground as ships, tourists, and superpowers rush in.
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Frostlines As Boundary Thread
- Frostlines ties scientific meaning (depth ground freezes) to multiple political and ecological boundaries across the Arctic.
- Shea uses the term to thread tree line, Arctic Circle, and national borders into one narrative frame.
Walking With Wolves On Ellesmere Island
- Neil Shea spent many hours with wolves on Ellesmere Island and sometimes moved alongside them across the tundra.
- Wolves held territory, gazed steadily at him, and at times he kept up only using all-terrain vehicles while pups learned like him.
Marvin The Conduit Between Generations
- Shea describes Marvin from Gjoa Haven as bilingual conduit between elders raised nomadically and younger English-speaking Inuit.
- Marvin grew up Inuktitut-only at home then navigated jobs, hunting and raising sons in town.
