S7 Ep03: Empire of Ice and Stone

In June 1913, a little over a year since the Titanic struck an iceberg and sank in the North Atlantic, the Karluk, which was the flagship of a three vessel Canadian Arctic expedition set off from British Columbia, near the southern tip of Vancouver Island. The expedition’s mission was to conduct geographical and scientific exploration in an area lying between Alaska and the North Pole.

The leader of the expedition was Vilhjalmur Stefansson, a Canadian born anthropologist, who had already spent several years studying the Inuit people (Eskimos) in arctic Canada. Stefansson had selected experienced arctic mariner, Robert Bartlett as Captain of the Karluk. Sadly, shortly into its’ journey, the Karluk became trapped in ice on its way to a rendezvous point with the other two ships. 

Months later, the ship was crushed by the surrounding ice and the small crew and passengers struggled to survive for months in the punishing arctic weather. Nearly half of the people onboard would not survive.

In this episode of Your History Your Story, we will be speaking with Buddy Levy, journalist and author of eight books, the most recent one being, “Empire of Ice and Stone: The disastrous and Heroic Voyage of the Karluk”.

Buddy was also the co-star for twenty five episodes on History Channel’s hit docuseries, “Brad Meltzer’s Decoded”.

Buddy will tell stories of the ill-fated Karluk and of the bravery and determination of its’ passengers and crew. He will also talk about the distinctly different personalities and leadership qualities of Stefansson and Bartlett.

Photo(s): Courtesy of Buddy Levy / St. Martin's Press

Music: "With Loved Ones" Jay Man

Your History Your Story Social: https://linktr.ee/yhyspodcast

Buddy Levy website: www.budylevy.com

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