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May, 2017

Episode 011: Antarctica with Joanna Young

Antarctica with Joanna Young

There’s a lot more life going on in Antarctica than one would think, given its reputation for incredibly harsh and frigid conditions. But there’s literally tons of wildlife as well as thousands of scientists gathering from all over the globe to research and share information about climate change. Joanna Young, a PhD student at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, shares what it was like to be aboard the inaugural Homeward Bound voyage to Antarctica with 76 other female scientists in 2016. Currently she’s studying how glaciers in Alaska are shrinking and acting as one of the greatest contributors to sea level rise. She’s also the Program lead and co-founder of Girls on Ice Alaska, an Inspiring Girls Expedition. Girls on Ice Alaska is a unique, free, backcountry science program for underserved high school girls, focused on developing young women’s STEM, art, and mountaineering skills, as well as self-confidence. (image © Joanna Young 2016)

EPISODE LENGTH 23 minutes

Learn more about Joanna Young here.

Listen on iTunes  OR   Google Play OR Stitcher

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SHOW NOTES

00:26 Scientific community population in Antarctica
00:39 Typical climate of Antarctica
00:49 Origin of the name of the continent and statistics
02:08 The Antarctic Treaty
[02:47] Meet Joanna Young
04:01 Sarah Palin’s thoughts on predicting the weather ([00:13])
[04:16] Climate change conditions in Alaska
[06:22] Research for PhD
08:12 Homeward Bound program
[11:21] The voyage to Antarctica
11:42 The Drake Passage
[13:10] Keeping a flexible itinerary (due to weather conditions)
[13:35] Moving through sea ice and navigating glaciers
[14:10] Total overwhelm! (in a good way!)
[15:32] Misconceptions of Antarctica
[15:57] Taking the polar plunge!
[18:45] Joanna’s big wish
19:33 Girls on Ice and Inspiring Girls Expeditions
22:38 Alan Grayson remark on C-SPAN regarding climate change denial ([01:09])

NOTE: This episode features the story of one individual’s experience. Experiences of a country and its culture will obviously vary from person to person and it is important to do your own research from a multitude of sources. In addition, immigration rules and regulations are subject to change at a moment’s notice–always check with a country’s official embassy for the latest updates.

Additional links:
Joanna Young
Homeward Bound
Girls on Ice

Inspiring Girls Expeditions
Wings Worldquest

WANT TO SHOW YOUR APPRECIATION? We’ve just launched our first fundraising campaign on Patreon and from now on will offer early access to new episodes in Expatreonistan, our new members-only community. You can support us now for as little as $2 a month to help us offset the mountain of expenses incurred to host, produce and market. It takes a village and every little bit is a tremendous help. Click here to make a donation. Strapped for cash? You can help out by writing a short review in iTunes — reviews help us alot–it makes us appear higher in the search rankings so people can find us. Don’t know how to do this on iTunes? Check out this short tutorial.

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Episode 010: Culture Shock Flashback

We kick off a new segment, Culture Shock Flashback, which features foreign nationals living in the US describing what it was like for them to move to America. In this episode host Marty Walker takes you way back to the 80s and describes her own experiences of domestic culture shock growing up in Springfield, Missouri and then being abruptly deported to Texas for unruly teenage behavior. Marty’s first foreign friend, Helena, describes what it was like to be a Swede living in Springfield, Missouri thirty years ago during the heyday of televangelists.

Get early access to future episodes by becoming a supporting member of our community on Patreon.

Listen on iTunes  OR  Google Play OR Stitcher

SHOW NOTES
(Note: Due to the montage format of Culture Shock Flashback future episodes, we will not be offering show notes, but links of interest–MW)

About the image above: Postcard image of garden in White City, Springfield, Missouri. At first I thought this was some obscure historical nickname for Springfield, but I’ve learned that it was part of dozens of amusement parks that sprung up across the country which were called White City. During WWII (baseball was halted during the war) this tract of land was purchased by Assemblies of God and is now the location for the Assemblies of God national headquarters. According to Springfield Library’s website: “A story told by Ralph Harris of the Assemblies of God church is that in 1915 five teenage boys prayed to God to make the two-block area of White City His own because they thought it a place of evil activities. The area had been widely thought of as a place where nice people would not go. In 1945 their prayer was granted when the Assemblies of God purchased the land.”

Yup, that pretty much sums up the part I never liked about Springfield. (image courtesy Springfield Public Library website). But on the other hand, there’s so much more to love–like the infamous Cashew Chicken, spectacular foliage, spending the day on Tablerock Lake, or going to drink a beer with these guys.

Not mentioned in the episode, Springfield is home to the US Federal Medical Prison (they actually have a Facebook page?!!?). When Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt was sent there for psychiatric evaluation in 1984 (for wearing the US flag as a diaper to a court hearing), I remember the community and newspaper were in a huge uproar–it was feared that just the mere presence of Flynt would bring moral decay to our fair city. As a sidenote, in 1988, Flynt won an important Supreme Court decision, Hustler Magazine v. Falwell, after being sued by Reverend Jerry Falwell in 1983, over an offensive ad parody in Hustler that suggested that Falwell’s first sexual encounter was with his mother in an out-house. Currently, Flynt refers to himself as a free speech activist.

Underground Ozarks– A great resource for creepy places in and around Springfield, including the infamous albino farm.

Legend of the Albino Farm–Novel by Steve Yates, a Springfield resident and writer, explores the lore of the infamous teen destination of cheap thrills.

Robert Tilton audio- obtained from a Youtube video not officially affiliated with Tilton. Tilton, a minister formerly based in Dallas, was one of the most successful TV evangelists of the 80s. But what goes up, must come down and a minister to the homeless of East Dallas by the name of Ole Anthony, brought down Tilton and other evangelists by exposing their fraudulent practices. This is a great read by Dallas’ WFAA that documents how it all went down.

WANT TO SHOW YOUR APPRECIATION? We’ve just launched our first fundraising campaign on Patreon and from now on will offer early access to new episodes in Expatreonistan, our new members-only community. You can support us now for as little as $2 a month to help us offset the mountain of expenses incurred to host, produce and market. It takes a village and every little bit is a tremendous help. Click here to make a donation. Strapped for cash? You can help out by writing a short review in iTunes — reviews help us alot–it makes us appear higher in the search rankings so people can find us. Don’t know how to do this on iTunes? Check out this short tutorial.

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