Race for the Poles: South

[@avatar6699]

Will we be seeing a review of the AMC series: The Terror Season 1?

[@DiamandaHagan]

Yup, I've got an ep-by-ep scripted.

[@avatar6699]

DiamandaHagan You are the Grand Mistress of Our Hearts. Great to hear and looking forward to your insight and take on all things AMC The Terror.

[@disconnected22]

“A time-displaced member of Amon Amarth” I love you, Hagan 🤣

[@RageTyrannosaurus]

This series is fascinating, but it reveals just how much it sucked to be in an exploratory crew. Just horrible death after horrible death on top of acts of cruelty that I personally find disturbing. Even some of the acts of kindness are messed up.

[@kramermariav]

I couldn't have expected liking your history stuff more than your reviews...yet here I am. More history!

[@DiamandaHagan]

Aww thanks. Hoping to get a new history video up next month.

[@ZGMFX28ANuLiberty]

Thanks to this video, I sought out and watched "The Last Place on Earth" and now I count it as one of my (admittedly odd) comfort shows.

[@DiamandaHagan]

Great miniseries, have you seen the 80s 4 ep Shackleton miniseries?

[@ZGMFX28ANuLiberty]

@@DiamandaHagan Not as of yet, but only because it hasn't popped up on streaming. I'd like to see Kenneth Branagh take some bites out of the scenery as Shackleton though (as well as seeing his dickery first hand).

[@CTAigis]

This is fascinating stuff, thank you.

[@LeonheartDelta]

I see a Sylvester McCoy in "The Last Place on Earth."

[@wrapwrapper4406]

The dark souls of exploration.

[@richardmalcolm1457]

Love this video. And I don't know if you noticed, but you've inserted a real Lord Nelson moment at @7:00 talking about Sir Francis McClintock. McClintock revolutionised British polar exploration with his man-hauling techniques during his searches for Franklin. In 1859, in fact, in one short scouting trip McClintock undertook, he covered 360 miles in 25 days - more than Franklin's men seem to have managed in the entirety of their fatal retreat in 1848-50! But subsequent British polar leaders like Markham seem to have taken McClintock's innovations as dogma, rather than the starting point for ongoing improvement - just as the 19th century Royal Navy turned Lord Nelson's innovations into holy scripture. In fact, McClintock himself came to appreciate the use of dogs much more in his final years. Alas, it was Markham who came to set the tone for British exploration in later decades, not McClintock.

[@ANewEraofLife]

I wouldn’t say that Ross, Franklin, or Crozier were like that to there crew. Ross was just egotistic, Franklin was pleasant, and Crozier was sensible. But that is just from what I can look up and read.

[@alhuttges9732]

I've watched many of your videos. Very well done and entertaining. Subbed. And I hope u get many more.

[@cartmann94]

I hope you also watch the film South from 1919. It details Shackleton's failed expedition to cross sled the South Pole. You have this dramatic survival tale. And then all of a sudden, Boom, we got a National Geographic documentary all of a sudden.

[@jordang7479]

This was an informative way to end my night. 😢

[@LeonheartDelta]

It occurs to me that the part about Man-Hauling is a textbook definition of Toxic Masculinity. How is it more legit that you managed your expedition by hauling the equipment yourself, especially if it creates a major disadvantage.

[@catxborsuq1]

About the only way I could "agree" that man-hauling was noble was that you don't exploit animals, which often results in their certain death (like we saw here). Aside of that, it's a complete idiocy.

[@theproplady]

I doubt it had as much to do with the crazy Fembot term "Toxic Masculinity" as it had to do with the hubris of the British Empire of that time, whose superior technology and arrogance gave them a false sense of reality/security.

[@ConclusiveConfusion]

Yes! More Hagan does history, the day is made!

[@jadegecko]

If you ever get done with the poles, but are still interested in grisliness and snow, I'd love to see your take on Everest.

[@jokerz7936]

I'm just surprised to see the Doctor there. 😀

[@sonofthewolfguardianofthef1214]

3:52 one of these is not like the other 10:50 also how does that even happen was he just wait for his birthday so his death hit harder like for my birthday I want my friends to survive

[@thethinkingcatakaneonormie3527]

It's intresting how the artic and ant-artic are I strongly recommend Richard Gerriotts interviews and biography about visiting it

[@namelessguard6435]

I enjoy these videos more than your Hagan reviews, still like most of your content, keep up the great work

[@michaelbuehler3897]

Good to see another one of these videos.

[@Itried20takennames]

In another YT doc, regarding the ponies, apparently Scott or someone requested only white ponies, as in their prior experience the white ones worked or survived best. But wherever they got the ponies from the pickings were reportedly not good, and the white pony restriction further narrowed their choices. Probably made no difference as the ponies were I’ll-suited and doomed from the beginning.

[@sweetheart_cosplays]

There's a good kitty at 0:48 ❤❤

[@reloadpsi]

When we were taught this in school, my teacher spelled Amundsen's name incorrectly with two M's on numerous occasions. My own surname being that might've been responsible for that :P

[@maskawin89]

More please :3

[@glentalbot9166]

This reminds me of the Monty Python skit.

[@DiamandaHagan]

SCOTT OF THE SAHARA!

[@HieMan-g1n]

I wish there was something better and more recent about the expedition than The Last Place on Earth. I know what it's based on and I refuse to watch it on principle. But I know its arguments (and manipulations) because it's almost the entire Antarctic historiography from 1979 to 2003. The 2003 cutoff date is actually pretty precise. Maybe it's just because of Ranulph Fiennes but I noticed an almost immediate shift in the way the story was presented in documentaries. Anyway I think that even if you argue that a shift in the 70s was necessary it didn't have to come at the expense of truth and sadly it did and it was a job for later generation of writers to debunk them in books or articles in science journals. Now of course the level of polar historiography is much better than it used to be and Scott's reputation isn't a result of blind idolatry or thoughtless criticism to make a point but the synthesis, a more honest evaluation. On a side note Shackleton's rep is still in its infant "idolatry" phase I expect a slight shift one day that also won't last. One of the worst things to happen however was the way Huntford (forgive me for writing this name) attempted to restore Amundsen to his rightful place in history. Not even by inventing stuff that never happened and picking and choosing arguments to fit his thesis (which he did of course) but by framing both expeditions as a race only. That's what he always said in his interviews. "Scott lost the race therefore blah blah blah..." Of course they were slower. Amundsen's main risk was finding a way up the plateau. Scott also knew the Norwegians were faster with their dogs. Now with hindsight it's easy to believe this was some literal race. It really misrepresented the situation and it turned real people into dehumanized archetypes. Amundsen: practical, ruthless, competent, used traditional techniques, democratic, from a newly independent country and Scott: stiff, sentimental, used impractical techniques and was from a heavily hierarchical background. Those are oversimplifications of course but they nearly turned them into pawns in some convenient battle of worldviews. Most of the factor that contriuted to Scott's death were outside of his control but he made mistakes also just like anyone would and like all explorers did. Take away unnatural weather, Evans and Oates hiding their injuries and you have a totally different story.

[@nicholashurst780]

1st people to see the winter penguin colonies

[@charlesfaure1189]

A few things: A pilot who plans meticulously and flies perfectly but needlessly stalls and spins in due to poor judgement is, in fact, incompetent. To be competent does not mean "mostly." Scott committed egregious fuck-ups that doomed his team. That is incompetence. Add to that: A pilot who bases his flight plans on "average weather" is going to end up dead. In unfamiliar environments a competent leader has to take contingencies into account. (BTW, Scott had no real right to trust his weather predictions even though they turned out to be ok for most seasons. The data had not been and could not be properly verified at the time of the expedition. Nor, obviously, did it account for possible variations.)

[@abraksas14]

pls more!

[@golgothavirus]

Frozen wasteland wins again

[@ronaldsmith4153]

Blame the weather for Scott's failure? This is Antarctica and you plan for the worst. Amundsen used dogs and skis while one of Scott's crew did not have skis. Amundsen used champion skiers while Scott used navy personnel. I heard 5 absurd excuses in 5 minutes to explain away Scott's failure and not one comment on Amundsen's superior planning. DUH.

[@DiamandaHagan]

Mustn't have been paying much attention then.