Thin Ice Teaser

“Girls weren’t allowed” in the aeronautical engineering classes Anne Kershaw wanted as a student in Glasgow. She studied civil engineering instead, at night, and sent out résumés as “Mr. Campbell” because firms wouldn’t interview a woman. She got the job—and later built an Antarctic air operation second only to the U.S. government’s. Anne’s journey south began with her husband, Polar Medal recipient Giles Kershaw, and other founders of Adventure Network International. After Giles died i...

With more than 8 billion people on Earth, can one person really make a difference? Laure de Panafieu, a senior leader at global law firm Linklaters, found her answer in a handful of South American pebbles gathered during a beach cleanup before her voyage to Antarctica. Those ordinary stones became an extraordinary reminder that small actions can create ripples that transform organizations, communities, and lives. In this episode of Thin Ice, Laure shares how Antarctica transformed her from so...

Season 2 of Thin Ice begins by revisiting the past to gain a new perspective on the future. Forty years after one of the most defining and disruptive moments of his life, polar explorer Robert Swan returns to the Ross Sea region of Antarctica. This time, not as a young man chasing history, but as a witness revisiting Cape Evans, the site of his original South Pole expedition, and the waters where his ship, Southern Quest, was lost beneath the ice. In this powerful and reflective c...

Recorded December 11 from Union Glacier Camp in Antarctica, this episode explores one of the biggest, and least discussed, climate challenges: heating and cooling the world's buildings. This source emits an estimated 15% or more of global greenhouse gas emissions, including the impact of leaked refrigerant gases, which have much higher Global Warming Potential than C02. And the problem is accelerating fast: The world is expected to grow from about 2 billion air-conditioning systems today to m...

In this episode of Thin Ice, co-hosts Robert Swan, OBE, and Dan Smith, OJ (Ordinary Joe) explore the fascinating intersection of exploration, technology and sustainability. Robert reflects on the 40th anniversary of his historic South Pole expedition, when he and his team navigated to the South Pole with just a sextant, a watch and sheer determination. No GPS, no radio and no backup. Robert reminisced (and recorded this episode) while taking a break in Tokyo, where he was exploring cutting-ed...