Antarctica is cold, windy, isolated, barren, and often downright dangerous. Yet somehow, people manage to live there. (Some even enjoy it!)
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People have been visiting Antarctica for over a century—and hosts Caitlin Saks and Arlo Pérez can actually see what living there used to be like, because some of the early explorers left all their stuff! Ernest Shackleton’s illfated ship Endurance was only recently rediscovered, but the 19101913 expedition led by Robert Falcon Scott (more commonly known as the Terra Nova Expedition) left its “homebase” hut still intact, and it’s now a museum. Inside one finds all the trappings of early Antarctic life: seal blubber, science experiments, and of course a desiccated penguin.

Today, living in Antarctica is a bit different. But still, an eclectic band of scientists and support personnel are drawn to the continent and, every year, a crew makes their home on “the ice.” Starting at the U.S. Antarctic Program’s McMurdo Station and then while exploring Antarctica’s natural wonders—glaciers, a volcano, Weddell seals, and even weird fish–Arlo and Caitlin meet the people who find themselves in Antarctica year after year.

But will they be able to discover what it is about this icy, seemingly inhospitable place that’s so alluring to geologists, astrobiologists, and waste managers alike?

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Hosted by Caitlin Saks and Arlo Pérez
Digital Producer/Editor: Emily Zendt
Producer: Caitlin Saks
Digital Associate Producer: Arlo Pérez
Field Director/Cinematographer: Zachary Fink
Executive Producer: Julia Cort
Coordinating Producer: Elizabeth Benjes
Project Director: Pamela Rosenstein
Production Assistance: Matthew Buckley, Emily Pattison, Sean Cuddihy
Audio Mix: Heart Punch Studio
Director of Audience Development: Dante Graves
Senior Digital Producer: Ari Daniel
Audience Engagement Editor: Sukee Bennett
Outreach Manager: Gina Varamo

Special thanks to Michael Amundson
Special thanks to the United States Antarctic Program

Additional Footage:
Brad Herried / Polar Geospatial Center
Music: APM

National corporate funding for NOVA is provided by Draper. Major funding for NOVA is provided by the David H. Koch Fund for Science, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and PBS viewers. Additional funding is provided by the NOVA Science Trust.

Major funding for this project is provided by the National Science Foundation. Additional funding is provided by the HeisingSimons Foundation, The Kendeda Fund, the George D. Smith Fund, and the Richard Saltonstall Charitable Foundation.

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1713552. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Footage of seals was obtained under the authority of NMFS MMPA permit nos.10321917, 17236, & 21158

© WGBH Educational Foundation 2020