Do Go On - 211 - The 1897 Arctic Balloon Expedition

Episode Date: November 6, 2019

In 1897 Swedish engineer S. A. Andree attempted to become the first to reach the North Pole, and he decided to try and get there in a giant hydrogen filled balloon. On this episode you'll hear why this is the first and only attempt to get to The North Pole in a balloon. Recorded live at the Comedy Lounge in Perth.Tickets are selling fast for our upcoming live shows in IRELAND AND THE UK, including our extra Stand Up Special in Dublin on December 1st. Grab tickets here: https://dogoonpod.com/events/Matt is also performing an hour of stand up comedy at the Bill Murray in London on December 7, find more details/get tickets here: https://mattstewartcomedy.com/gigsSupport the show and get rewards like bonus episodes: patreon.com/DoGoOnPodSubmit a topic idea directly to the hat: dogoonpod.com/Submit-a-TopicTwitter: @DoGoOnPodInstagram: @DoGoOnPodFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/DoGoOnPod/Email us: [e-mail] out our other podcasts:Book Cheat: https://play.acast.com/s/book-cheatPrime Mates: https://play.acast.com/s/prime-mates/Our awesome theme song by Evan Munro-Smith and logo by Peader ThomasREFERENCES AND FURTHER READING: Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hey everybody, Jess and Dave, just jumping in really quickly at the top here to make sure that you are across all the details for our upcoming Christmas show. That's right, we are doing a live show in Melbourne Saturday December the 2nd, 2023, our final podcast of the year, our Christmas special. It's downstairs at Morris House, which usually be called the European beer cafe. On Saturday December the 2nd, 2023 at 4.30pm, come along, come one, come all, and get tickets at dogoonpod.com. Most weight loss programs are short-term fixes, but managing your weight needs a long-term solution,

and that's what makes Noom different. Noom uses science and personalization to help you manage your weight for the long term. Their psychology-based approach helps you build better habits and behaviors that are easier to maintain. The best part? You decide how noom fits into your life, not the other way around. Sign up for your trial today at noom.com. That's n-o-o-m.com to sign up for your trial today. Hi, I am Kendra Adachi and I host the Lazy Genius Podcast. A Lazy Genius principle is to decide once.

And I have done that by deciding that Olive and June is my go-to brand for ad home mayonnaise. I don't like to waste time and the Olive and June Manny system has everything you need and nothing you don't, all with gorgeous polishes that don't ship. Visit Olive and June.com slash perfect Mi20 for 20% off your first olive and June system. That's oliveandjune.com slash perfect mani20 for 20% off your first olive and June system. This episode is brought to you by Progressive. Most of you aren't just listening right now. You're driving, cleaning, and even exercising. But what if you could be saving money by switching to Progressive?

Drivers who saved by switching save nearly $750 on average, and auto customers qualify for an average of seven discounts. Multitask right now, quote today at progressive.com. Progressive casualty and trans company and affiliates, National Average 12 Month Savings of $744 by New Customer Surveyed, who saved with Progressive between June 2022 and May 2023.

Potential savings will vary, discounts not available in all safe and situations. This podcast is part of the Planet Broadcasting Network. Visit planetbroadcasting.com for more podcasts from our great mates. This episode of Do Go On is brought to you by our upcoming Irish and UK tour. Kicking off in less than a month, we are performing seven live podcasts. And we've also just announced a one-off, extra stand-up show in Dublin.

Directly before our show at the Sugar Club on December 1st, this is the only stand-up show we were doing together on the tour. So we'll all do about 20 minutes of stand-up each. All for one ticket price, tickets are limited, even more limited than the podcast because we have less seats to sell. So if you want to come along, get in now at dogoonpod.com, where you can also get tickets for our shows in Glasgow, Leeds, Bristol, London,

and Birmingham. We can not wait. And also just a general note, thanks for downloading the show. This one was recorded this weekend, just gone at the comedy lounge in Perth. It was our first ever show over in WA. It was a lot of fun and thank you to all the legends that came out to see us. Alright, I'll be back at the end of the show for the Patreon section, but until then, I'll Thank you so much for coming out to see your live do-go-on podcast. My name is Dave Wonicky and would you please welcome to the stage my two esteemed colleagues it's Jess Perkins and That's a good thing. That's a good thing. That's a good thing. That's a good thing. That's a good thing.

That's a good thing. That's a good thing. That's a good thing. That's a good thing. That's a good thing. That's a good thing. That's a good thing. That's a good thing.

That's a good thing. That's a good thing. That's a good thing. That's a good thing. That's a good thing. That's a good thing. That's a good thing. That's a good thing.

That's a good thing. That's a good thing. That's a good thing. That's a good thing. That's a good thing. That's a good thing recording the episode. So. Yeah, not a big deal. It was taking too long, so that's concerning. Yeah, we probably could have kept talking during that. Yeah. I didn't think too out of sit.

That's all wait for Dave to get there. I don't worry, I'll take it from here. Hi guys. Hi. I already asked you, but tell these guys how are you feeling? You good? Excellent. Good to hear.

That's great, yeah me too. You're pretty good? That's the mark this, let's say loud enough. Very good. I don't want to freak you out, but I've been listening in in your conversations for the last 20 minutes. Some pretty saucy stuff going on over here. But that's nothing compared to what you guys are talking about. Oh my god.

By the way, they're cancelled. Yeah. Got a run tape. Oh, thank you so much for coming out and joining us here at the comedy. That was a fantastic venue we were here last night for the late show. And the crowd was extremely rowdy. Just, would you observe a girl sitting over there who was watching the show with only one eye like this? And on the way out, we were just waiting. The last act was still on on a girl to

talk to a person, a friend speaks to her and she just goes, ehm, he couldn't talk anymore. Perth is crazy. We like it here. The bar is open as well if anyone feels like a drink. No, alright, this is, when Dave said last night's crab was rowdy. It was pretty similar vibe to this. Yeah, the Perth is wild. She goes, whoa, stop it, we can't all hear you, one, sorry, yeah.

Someone's got one open there, but they're having a nap, so. Maybe she was too. I should have checked that she was okay, rather than just being like, it's kind of funny. There's a kind of animal, this doesn't matter, but there's a kind of animal close one eye and rest that part of their brain so that they can always be wary. Maybe she was one of those kinds of animals. Is it a perth wildcat? Yeah, yeah, Andrew La Hogg, anybody? He played it for them in the 90s. I love your references. Thank you.

Hey, I'm, uh, give us a cheer if you have heard do go on before. We like that. Come here. Not bad. A bit. A bit. An adjudgment free zone. Give us a clap if you've never heard do go on before.

Front row too. Well done. Thank you very much for being here, we appreciate it. She said me. What you should have said was man. Well, things are coming along and sitting in the VIP seat. Yeah. The microphone is on you for all your confusing questions throughout the show. So it'll pick up every time you lean across and go, I don't get it. But don't worry neither do we. If you are unfamiliar with the show or you just need a brief reminder, basically what

we do on the show is report on a topic often suggested by a listener or more than one listener and tonight it is my turn to report on a topic. Thank you. And Jess and Matt don't know what I'm going to talk about. No, we don't. Just true. Even though I've shared this to your iPad but you were doing this, one eye open. Yeah.

I don't know my glasses on, I can't see shit. Yeah. Well I hope I can because I've got a few thousand words here at Reds so let's crack into it shall we? Now I've got a question that's how we start the show with a question and Matt and Jess will give you first tips but if they can't get it then you and the audience can have a crack at it. My question is in 1897... Yeah, I'm with you, I'm out. The AFL commenced that year, the AFL began that year. Is it about the VFL? You've already done a report on that.

That's what I was going to say. That's what it's going to be. Have you already done that topic? Oh, shit. I mean, 1897. What method of transport did SA-Andry use on his expedition to the North Pole? What mode of transport? What mode of transport?

Tram. Yeah, ding-ding. One of those, um, one of those, uh, fuck it, it'd be good if I could remember the word I was looking for. That would have made a joke really good. Trastical. Yeah, it's trastical. Oh, I mean, that's closer than a tram. That'd be sick.

Oh, a bike. Donkey, camel. Horse. Is it an animal? It's not a horse or an animal. Is it a dog sled? No, Holly Davidson Oh, what are those shoes that have a wheel on the back? Yeah wheelies a Segway was it a segway it was a segway that was the way I was looking for Do you need that table?

Could have been for the next five minutes of last one. Do you need that table? You, it's sorry. Sorry, would you say I'm going to do a bit of furniture removering here? Oh, sick, yeah, I want that. Great. Yeah, go on, don't do your little report. Sorry, are you going to use that chair or...? I don't have a back, it's very uncomfortable in a stool.

Please. Anyone have any idea what transport? Submarine. I mean, that needs the best answer we've had so far. And yet, it is wrong. It is a balloon. It is a balloon. Yes!

Well done! Yeah! APPLAUSE That doesn't sound like, that just sounds easy. You just fly over the top. Is that noteworthy enough for a story? I think we're going to find out. OK.

So this topic was suggested by a few people. Ovar Laura M. Olsen from Lund in Sweden. All of those words are made up, including Sweden. Dan Lege from Farmington, Minnesota. We've got Joe Codal from London and another one from Guffin, Sweden, or Gopman. Maybe Trees from Sweden, no last name. So thank you to those people suggesting this topic.

Why two Swedes? Is it a Swedish topic? Yes, it is. Oh. It is a Swedish topic. And in the late 19th century, it two Swedes. Why two Swedes? I don't know why. I'm always sussed when you say two Swedes together.

Why? Hmm. Something's happening. Yeah. So to kick off the topic, in the late 19th century, European explorers were obsessed with one thing. Pawn. Yeah.

I was going to say two things, but I mean, you extend that to three things. I was obsessed with making it to the North Pole, the South Pole, and Paul. Yeah. And it was particularly talked about in Norway and Sweden. Also known as the Middle Pole. There's some sort of pole joke there. That wasn't it, but there was a some pole joke.

It was all too much time to the laps. I just had, you know, you don't need to know it all, you know, working. Middle pole sounds like someone is struggling to get an aeration. Yeah, everyone, I'm at semi-pole. It is semi-pole. Half-mask. Yeah. Stop talking.

Some try to reach the geographic North Pole via boat, some via dogs and sleds, and others using a combination of both. We now know that unlike the South Pole and Antarctica, where there's land underneath the ice, the geographic north pole is located in the middle of the Arctic Ocean and sometimes freezes over with ice. So it's very, very hard to get to. Yeah, as we all know,

as we all, it was all common knowledge for everyone here. You said sometimes freezes over with us, that means sometimes the North Pole is liquid. Yeah. Is that true? Yeah. Yeah, I knew it. I was just double checking first.

I got you. It's blown my mind. I would say if I was someone who didn't realise that already. And it was dangerous work. All the Alec Wilkinson told NPR that of the approximately 1,000 people that tried to reach the North Pole in the late 1800s. 751 died during their attempt. Which is over 75. 751.

Yeah. Fucking hell. One of them couldn't have held on. Yeah. Or 249 could have died. Yeah. At least I was wishing someone alive. You know?

That was a good change from you. Normally I'd be like, more people dead now. The rest in piece to that one person. But these things are always about innovation, guys. And one man thought of an idea that no one else had. He decided that rather going through the freezing water and ice, how about you go over it? Specifically, how about using a lighter than a hair balloon

filled with hydrogen to leisurely sail over the North Pole. And that idea is the subject of today's report, the first and so far only attempt to get to the North Pole using a balloon. It feels like a bit seamless, you know? Absolutely. Can't imagine anything going wrong. Ha, it's going to be a short report. Yes, it's going to be. And then I guess we'll just have a time for chat.

Yeah. Just hang out. Any questions? Yeah. Oh, the idea that I speak of is, of course, Swedish, engineer, Solomon, August, Andrew. His name is One Letter Away from Salmon. Just imagine the word Salmon were the next to Aaron.

That is his name. I struggled to get past that. Which is why myself and his three calls him essay, Andrew. His name is two clocks to salmon. Anyway, Andrew was born in Greta Sweden on October 18th, 1854, and by many accounts he was a bit of a mother's boy growing up and this only increased after the death of his father. He didn't really have the choice. Oh, I'm actually a lot closer with my mum. Yeah.

His mother remained the only real woman in his life. Andri chose to turn down... Yeah, a few robot women though. Yeah, love those robot women. Well, he chose to turn down would be girlfriend saying quote I don't want to run the risk of having a wife to ask me with tears to desist from my flights which to me says no one was asking you mate. Well you said would be girlfriends but I thought you said whoopie girlfriend. I was like what would be is a lot less fun. I'm so Yeah. He obtained a medical mechanical engineering degree from the Royal Institute of Technology at the age of 19 and he went on to conquer the world

Mechanical engineering that's so it could build more women Understand what mechanical engineering means. I want to say conquer the world I mean America where he worked as a janitor, a Swedish exhibit of the centennial exhibition in Philadelphia, which had on display an array of new inventions from around the world, which I can only imagine included many models of mechanical women. There he met early balloon innovator John Wise, whose claim to fame includes being responsible for being the first ever, delivering the first ever official airmail for the US post office.

Oh, impressed. The only two incorrect people were the people that clapped and said, oh, it's not true. There was no real commitment from them either. I know, I appreciate the support. John Wise really influenced the young Solomon. He was particularly impressed how Wise got himself out of sticky situations whilst in the balloon. This is what Solomon wrote in his diary about John Wise.

Quart, his balloons had world-like tops, caught fire, exploded and fallen to the ground like stones. The old man, himself, however, had always escaped unheard and counters his experiences as proof of how safe the art of flying really was. Yes. It sounds super safe, Samantha. Yeah. So he was inspired by John Wise and Andre took his new found enthusiasm for ballooning with him back to Sweden where he campaigned to get his own balloon whilst paying the bills

working as an engineer in the Swedish patent office. He got a grant to purchase his own balloon in 1893 and promptly made nine cents. He was 38 when he made his first flight so there's still time people. Well there's time for Jess and I, anyway. Yes, I'm very, very old. You're also assuming that no one in the audience is over 38. No, we're just talking about on stage. Oh, I'm sure. You're a hundred years old. Oh, thank you. Thanks so much. All up, Andre, you spent 40 hours in the balloon.

So 40 hours of flying experience. That doesn't feel like much. I don't think it. That's not very much at all, actually. It might turn out to be not quite enough. Okay. Bit of sizzle. But he wanted to be taken seriously as a scientist, whilst at the same time proved the potential

of a lighter than air balloon. Unlike most of his contemporaries, he considered himself to be an engineer first and an explorer second. Lava third. He wanted to show that a balloon was a reliable form of transport and could be used for photographing and mapping new areas. He considered trying to prove that a balloon could be used across the Atlantic Ocean, but then decided that he could be able to raise more interest and therefore more investment

if you proposed a fly to the North Pole. After all, everyone was talking about who's going to be the first to make it, and he was right because he made a proposal directly to the Swedish Academy of Sciences asking for a shitload of money to fund his expedition. He listed all of his challenges on the journey and how the balloon could easily overcome all of them. He claimed that it would be easily strong enough to lift him to companions, to companions photography equipment and four months of supplies.

He said it would be a piece of piss and that the midnight sun, a direct quarrier there guy. And he said that the midnight sun would mean it would never get piece of piss and the midnight sun, a direct square there guys. And he said that the midnight sun would be, would mean it would never get dark and they wouldn't have to anchor it all. It could just keep flying forever and ever. So as he said Matt, absolutely easy. It really does sound easy to me. Yeah.

Four months' worth of supplies in a balloon, easy. Yeah. It's a peasy, three people. I mean, I imagine the camera equipment they have is just one of those like little cannon the pink ones that we all took to clubs in 2008. Yeah, we all did. I still got mine. What are you picturing? What's happening in your head now? You're the night general, you're looking at it at a club and everyone's got the same camera. Talking about it each other. Yeah. That was my experience.

Really? I didn't really get in many clubs, can you believe that? Yes. American Expressor, sorry, hey, signing it's a piece of it, but he did have some critics. American explorer, General Adolphus Greeley. Great name. He questions Andri and proposed the possibility of getting lost in the balloon. He said, you could easily get lost out there.

Andri responded to the question by saying to the general who had lost 18 of his 25 men on a previous journey and he said, quote, I risk three lives in what you call a full hearty attempt. And you risked how many? A ship load. Drop the microphone. And apparently he was cheered from stage.

He left to a rapturous applause and he was given approval for the mission. People cheered him celebrating 18 deaths. Yeah. A different time. Yeah, yeah, got him. Got him. Got him. Cop that.

Sad old man. Dick head. Oh, no, we have to padwally drinks. He's got a very small gullet, but those who don't know. Scientifically speaking, they call it the Warnocky gullet. And he's going again. I don't know. Science typically speaking. They call it the Warnocky Gallet. And yeah. He's going again.

Well, when I had my operation on my soft kiss for the second time, you know that it's weird when the surgeon comes open and goes, oh, this is my friend who's visiting from England. He just wants to watch. Because that was such a freak of science. You've got following so far? Oh, she's shaking her head. Which bits of you confused about? Is he a softagus?

Right, so I'm going to wait a softagus. And you're up to date. Yeah, I got webs in there. That is the technical term. And what they did, they put a bogey down there, which is an inflatable balloon that you go on topic. And it's really called a bogey down there, which is an inflatable balloon. There you go on topic. And it's really called a bogey. And then when I was being wheeled into the operating theatre, the nurse said to me,

oh, what are you going to do? I said, I've got blockages in my soft, because she said, how do you get those? And I said, oh, it's congenital. And she goes, does that mean it's in your genitals? And then she goes, it's too early. I haven't had coffee yet. And that was one of the last things I heard as I think for myself. I thought they were going to put a balloon down my dick.

Oh, terrifying. Are you up to date now? Okay, somewhere back, where back? Can gender not miss you born with it, by the way? So the Swedes were particularly keen on making this mission a success as Norway was making good progress and they did not want to be beaten by their neighbours. So he raised the equivalent of $1 million US for his journey. A lot of the money came from the king of Sweden himself, as well as the recently wealthy inventor of Dynamite Alfred Nobel,

who I did a report on a few months ago. It was a big news story too, whilst papers saying that Andrew was like a Jules Verne novel come to life. Jules Verne being the author of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea that I covered on Bookcheat a few months ago. Just a couple of likes for an early podcast that I've done. And Jules Verne, with the name of the dogs, know the Suns in the third back to the future film, which I did a report on.

Oh, fantastic. Matt also does a podcast about monkeys. It's a little broader than that mate, we talk about apes as well. So Andrew's got his money, the $1 million and the balloon he ordered was called the Ornan which means eagle. The Ornan. Don't like it. The eagle. Great. Go that. At over 100. Just does not like that foreign language stuff. I'll cut that out. Was it it mean? I don't get it. Why are they talking like that? At one over 100 feet tall, it was one of the largest ever produced, one of the largest

balloons I've ever made. It was made of varnish silk with rubberized seams designed to hold in the enormous amount of hydrogen that it would be filled with. Is that an explosive thing? Yep. Oh yeah. Yep, yep. Yep. Yep. Oh yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Is it a hydrogen bomb thing? That's not this, is it? Alright, this is going to get pretty exciting. Do you remember I previous report the Hindenburg? Yeah.

Also filled with the same stuff. And I believe that ended very well. Yeah. But at least this one's got a sassy pilot. I can't decide how I feel about him. You know, so I don't know if I want him to see. He sounds like you. He sounds like you in the park. And he's just, yeah. Me in the what? Sounds like salmon. Yeah, true. I do. Okay. I don't know how to yes, Andy with that one. What are these contemporary? I'm just saying the other thing I could remember from the report. Yep, I sound like salmon. I thought... Yep, I sound like salmon.

Should I move on? Yeah. Oh no, let's... Let's... Wallow in this for a little longer. Yeah, that should have been the name of the podcast. Should I move on? Should I move on, move on? No, no, let's go...

Let's wallow. Do wallow. One of these contemporaries biggest criticisms of the proposal at the time, and it's only a minor criticism admittedly, it was that it was impossible to steer a lighter than hair balloon. Mine, mine. I mean, you're nitpicking at that stage, what are you? It was at the mercy of the winds, but Andre's big claim was that he'd worked out how to steer a balloon. His plan was to steer a balloon. His plan was to steer the balloon using drag ropes. These are giant ropes that would

hang from the back of the balloon and then drag along the ground. The theory is that these are the vehicles travel at the same speed as the wind and to get blown wherever the wind is going, but the ropes slow the ship down so it's slower than the wind so you'll be able to steer it like a sail. That was his claim and he said he'd worked out how to do it in his 40 hours except that he hadn't. No, he hadn't. Remember the 9 Flight so I mentioned earlier that the undertook? Yes. Well it turns out that these didn't actually go so well but he wasn't telling

people that he would take off in Sweden but had a habit of losing control and being carried out to sea, dunking him into the water or onto the rocky islands in the Baltic. One time his attempt was so bad that he was blown clear across the Baltic Sea to Finland, hundreds of miles in the wrong direction and he landed in a different country. And yet this man had just secured a million dollars in investment what could go wrong. And it also turns out that the use of drag ropes has been debunked by modern balloonists as absolute horse shit. And if modern balloonists have debunked it, you know it's bullshit.

What is his main mistake I reckon is he's said where he's trying to get to. What I would do is say, yes, I'm going to do a big old balloon flight, mystery location. And then when I rather go this is where I intended, the ropes got me here. I've been imagining, you know what playgrounds, when they have like at the top of the playground, there's just like a steering wheel that doesn't... That's what I'm imagining. So, someone driving in a 1960s movie, they're coming, no one. But he was Sweden's first and only ballooner, so no one had any reason to question him.

He would say something and people go, okay, cool. Right. He's the first and only ballooners, meaning no one else's thought of this was a good idea. No. Yeah, he's like, I'm gonna do it and they go, alright. Yeah, I'm probably the ballooning was bigger in France and people were from over there questioning him in the community. But to the general public, they were like, yeah, cool. Have a good time.

You worked out the rope thing. But he had a plunge voyage. And how would they be investing in such an endeavor? Let me explain how they filled the balloon. Andre had a five-story balloon house built on Dane's island in Norway, just to fill it up in peace. This is a quote from the New York. You want to go to the balloon house?

This is let me describe just. The front wall of the house could quickly be pulled down when the balloon was ready to lift off. The floor, as well as every part of the house, that might touch the balloon was covered with heavy felt and quote, so he'd built a house with a collapsible wall just for the project. So big money is being spent.

When he couldn't go alone on the mission. He contracted two other men to travel with him. Nils Ekholm, a 47-year-old meteorologist, and Nils Strindberg. Two Nils. Two Nils sounds like a buddy sock again. Definitely worth it. I reckon you got some of that in your mouth. He's like a dog with peanut butter. Whoa, where are you putting the peanut butter? Who are, if you hear dog and peanut butter, okay, just me and Dave. I don't know, but you're thinking it too?

Yeah. I see you've also been a 13 year old boy. I never did it, come on. Guys. I like that idea though of saying it to an adult male. I see you've been a 13 year old boy. I know a lot of people skip that age, not you and me. So, you got Nils one, the meteorologist and Nils two, the 23 year old.

That's that, that's Neil Stringberg. 23 year old assistant professor of physics and who fun fact, and now we'll find this fun except me, was the cousin of the writer August Stringberg. Whoa! The August Stringberg! Hmm, he wrote the red room, hmm? We all, we all read.

Don't, no. We've all read it. You learnt last term, not to pity him. That's a fun fact and totally worth putting in there. Thank you so much. So he's got nils and nils to hang out with him on the journey. The balloon basket was set up for the three men and their supplies. They would sleep on the floor of the basket.

But cooking was a problem as the balloon was filled with hydrogen. And as written here was later discovered with the Hindenburg, that shit is flammable. The solution was to Daniel, a modified, primus stove, 8 meters below the basket, where they could safely light it at a distance. All of a sudden those dangle ropes, the sun, sound like fuses.

The sun knows dangle ropes, the sun doesn't sound like fuses. LAUGHTER And they would use a mirror to work out if they'd lit it on them. I can only imagine they had like eight meter long barbecue tongue shunners. Kind of flip-flops. LAUGHTER The plan was to... Should've just packed sandwiches. Yeah, that makes sense.

I didn't think of that. I can't cook a rice. What do I do? I'll dangle a stove. The plan was to leave and float continuously, where they would reach the North Pole in just 36 hours. That means it's within his, you know, experience of 40. Yeah, he is qualified.

Yeah. They would then continue on and let the after party begin, according to NPR, Andri had a tuxedo with him in the balloon, so that he could at the end meet the dignitaries that he imagined would be waiting for. He was that confident. Oh my god. OK, I hate this guy. So the three men in their stove went to Daines Island

and attempted to leave. But for weeks, the winds were unsuitable. So it was an ominous start as they just hung out in the balloon house. I'm not just standing there for three weeks in a tuxedo waiting for the winter change. That's so embarrassing. It turns out that we now know, and just we all know this as well,

that the wind is expected to blow in this direction from Danes Island all the time, and that Andre had just miscalculated. He was going, it's blown the wrong way. Well, wait, well, wait, and it just never blows the road. He was planning for a type of wind that was extremely rare and wondering why it took so long. Andre, it took so long that he had to return to Sweden

to raise more money. And whilst there, his beloved mother died, unexpected. Oh, no. This deeply affected the engineer who privately wrote and how I'm revealing to an audience quote the only thread which bound me to the wish to live. It's a dangle rope. A dangle rope which was also keeping my mother alive. Sadly so now he doesn't feel like he's got any real reason to live, which is kind of scary. During their time off, Echolm, the meteorologist, as Nils won, had time to

think about what they were actually about to attempt, and he quit the mission. Yes, yes, Nils! He calculated that the hydrogen balloon was losing too much hydrogen through the holes in the seams of the balloon's material. There were millions of these little holes all around it. He ran his own calculations based on the hydrogen loss and realized that the balloon could only stay aloft for 17 days and not the planned 30. He also speculated upon that Andre was secretly filling up the balloon with more hydrogen to make it appear more solid every day.

But once they got going, this would of course be impossible, so he was just cheating the results. They call him demanded a bit of balloon, Andre refused and Nils won left the mission for good. I reckon that's gonna turn out to be a good call, you know? I reckon too. Yeah. You know what I reckon? Why is that? Because I've read a hit. Ooh. Nils was replaced by NUT Frankl. Oh, that's good. That's good. NUT. NUT Frankl, yeah.

That's great. Yeah, 20th. 27 year old civil engineer, younger and more athletic than Nils won. He was seen as a good injection of youth into the trip. And Fart, you're looking at me like that's weird to say. No, I just zoned out. Oh, cool. juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing juxtaposing ju� Go again, go again. Oh, that's great. And you bit her. Export fuck, sorry.

Sorry, local. Okay, now I definitely know there's a difference between those two. Why though? You export it, are we called export? You export, all right. This is the one you don't export a, but we call it export. You export, all right. This is the one you don't export, but it's called export. You fucking wacky perthots. Amazing stuff. Taste fine as well.

That's something I don't tell you back home. This is fine. Mmm, okay. And honestly, it might be the nicest thing anyone's ever said about emiwats for. It's fine. I'd take it over, baby, any day. It's pretty fine, be. Anyway, let's not wallow any further.

Well, finally the day came that they were able to leave. They finally got the win right July 11, 1897. And I know you're all thinking, I bet it started well and went perfectly to play. Yep. Quoting from the New Yorker here, quote, as it left the balloon house, the balloon struck something. And the last thing Andrey was heard to say was, what's that? LAUGHTER And then he was like... LAUGHTER

The two words that really sum up the mission, what's that? LAUGHTER I have so much faith in him. This is going to go really well. But don't worry guys, because he got the balloon to rapidly ascend, before rapidly descending. Until it crashed into the water below. To raise it, Andre and the others had to throw out 460 pounds or 210 kilos of sand, which

they had later hoped to use as a ballast. So they're up, then they're down, then they're back up again, because they threw stuff out of the baskets, so now they're up, then they're down, then they're back up again because they threw stuff out of the baskets, so now they're lighter. But also the much hyped drag ropes that Andre claimed made him able to steer got instantly tangled and were ripped off. So they lost 530 kilos or 1170 pounds of rope. This was most of their rope, so in their eyes they now had no way at steering. LAUGHTER Oh!

I mean, we now know that they never had any other steering. But at least, I mean, it's like being on the playground and someone's taking the wheel on the ground. Yeah, yeah. It's a placebo. LAUGHTER Does that mean the barbecue went in the water as well? No, the barbecue when they needed it, they'd lower it down.

Oh. So they had it in with, yeah, okay. They didn't lose. Well, that's good. Also because they lost all of their ballast, which is the weight keeping them down, the sand that weighed them down, shot up, so the balloon shot up to an unexpected and unprecedented height. But suddenly there were 700 meters or 2,300 feet in the air, which also had the unintended

side effect of allowing the lower air pressure that altitude let the hydritus escape quicker through the holes. So now they're losing the losing hydrogen quicker. It took an hour for the balloon to disappear from view and believe it or not, that would be the last time people would see them for a long, long time. Oh, they say them again. That's hopeful. Yeah.

I mean, we have all this information. Yeah, that's true. We don't have this. Yeah. I sent them a text. Well, even though they did need a communicate, if something went wrong, they had two means of contacting the outside world. Yelling and screaming.

Well, both of those would be probably more reliable than what they had. The first was dropping messages in steel boys. 13-year-olds. Steel boys. You can't remember being a buttering a throw off the edge. So. buttering a throng off the edge. So they put a message inside the steel boys, seal it up, throw them off into the ice and hope that they'd reach the ocean and then float towards civilization. They're basically messages in bottles.

That's one method. The other method of communication was homing pigeons supplied by a newspaper to communicate with the newspaper. Andries released four of these, and only one was ever found. And that one had landed on a ship and was promptly shot. LAUGHTER What a time! Pigeon meat!

Who's the, it as an enemy pigeon? Put your hands up. No, he didn't shoot. Oh, the message attached game, they're coordinates and red. All goes well on board. This is the third message set by pigeon. Andre.

So, are they sure? So, after disappearing into the horizon, the men continued on their journey, travelling through near freezing mist, that afternoon the balloon again lost altitude and hit the ice before again rising, something it would continue to do repeatedly. It crashed into the ground eight times and half an hour, and from there the crashing only increased. Andries wrote at his diary, paid visits to the surface and stamped it about every 50 meters. Nevertheless, humour good.

He's like the biggest optimist in the world. It sounds like he had basketball, someone's dribbling them. Yeah. The crashing and taking off continued for 40 hours and caused Neil's two-strendberg, rather than the other-strendberg, to get motion sickness. The only way to keep a float was to keep throwing sand and supplies overboard to reduce their weight.

And this is how beaches got sand. Well, people don't know that. The more you know. Hey, so it's taking them 40 hours so far. So that means they've got there and they're four hours on the way back. Yeah, because he said it would only take 36. Sadly, it's taking slightly longer than they expected. Only slightly though, so that's good.

There's still a bit. They must be nearly there. They're not far off. But sadly, all good things must come to an end. Oh, no! Oh, no. That's what he says when someone's about to die. That's how he says he's a psycho. He told me about my Nana dying.

LAUGHTER Why would they get me to do it? It was messed up. That's the bad news. All good things must come not Nana No, not just Nana It's real Blake No, all good things must come to an end and eventually they crash landed for good Luckily the crash landing was actually quite soft and they weren't injured at all

crash landed for good. Luckily the crash landing was actually quite soft and they weren't injured at all. Is there a word for that? Because crash landing really implies at least badly injured. So it's just an emergency landing? That's nice, I think yeah. They emergency landed. Softly. They've been flying for 65 hours and it traveled 517 miles but was still 300 miles away from the South Pole. North Pole? North Pole. I've written South Pole. There were still many thousands of miles from the South Pole. They'd really blown off coal. It doesn't know the difference. But it'd be so annoyed. We nearly got to the South Pole.

This episode is brought to you by Progressive. Most of you aren't just listening right now. You're driving, cleaning, and even exercising. But what if you could be saving money by switching to Progressive? Drivers who save by switching save nearly $750 on average, and auto-custom's qualify for an average of seven discounts. Multitask right now, quote today at progressive.com. Progressive casualty and trans company and affiliates, National Average 12 Month Savings

of $744 by New Customer Surveyed, who saved with progressive between June 2022 and May 2023. Potential savings will vary. Discount is not available in all safe and situations. Are you working way too hard for way too little? There's never been a better time to consider a career in IT. You could enjoy a recession-resistant career and a rewarding field with plenty of growth opportunities and often flexible work environments.

Go to mycomputercareer.edu and take the free career evaluation. You could start your new career in months, not years. Take classes online or on campus and financial Importantly, their equipment, including cameras, was left unscathed. The pink. Yeah, I mean, nothing could kill that thing. Cyber shot. Cyber shot. That's what it was.

You did have one. I won't tell you what, anyway, whatever. Does anyone say unbelievable? Yeah. Yeah, there's a pink cyber shot in that. Anyway, I feel a story coming on. No, probably not. For another time. Oh, God.

It's really not on brand. Um, uh, poor, small talk, small talk. For those people who's in your home day, I've just tried to squeeze a little water in it. And it was gallop. You got three droplets. That's a big one. Any choked?

I'll keep you going. All good things must come to an end though. Yeah. Like my ability to swallow. Not peanut butter guys. I've legit had peanut butter get stuck in myself, because... Wow. They put it there.

All right. Nobody, little ruffles. The first dog know I thought I was ruffles. Is that a dog? Anyway, whatever. Not send your wolf. So they got the cameras. That's important because Strenberg will continue to take photos as they lived on the ice, taking over 200 noles, including of the crashed balloon, which is a spectacular

photo, probably the cover image of this podcast when it comes out. They were stocked with survival equipment, including guns, snowshoes, sleds, skis, a tent, and even a small boat, which sounds like they were really prepared, but really they had all of the wrong equipment. The sleds weren't in the same style as what local inuits used, and were not really built for the ice in this area. Their clothes weren't made of furs, which is what every other explorer used at the time, but instead they used woolen coats, and supposedly waterproof oil skins, but they were apparently always cold and always wet.

They really took their time packing their sleds, spending a week choosing supplies before leaving the balloon for good. They overpacked the sleds to which weighed between three and 450 pounds, making it very difficult and sometimes impossible to pull. The food they had wasn't really designed to be taken on a sled either, should have had sandwiches.

And it was more suitable for a balloon journey. After a week of pulling these stupidly big sleds, they ditched a lot of the food meaning they had to rely on hunting, as they went on they shot and ate seals, walrus' and polar bears. Whoa. Whoa. Uh-oh. The goal was not to continue into the pole, polar bears. Whoa. Uh oh. Uh oh. Uh oh.

Uh oh. The goal was not to continue into the pole, but to instead reach one of two food depots where they'd stay there and wait for help. Initially they went for one only to find that the moving ice meant they were actually moving further away from the depot. No matter how fast they traveled on food. I couldn't outrun the eyes. So they headed off for the other one in Seven Islands in a southwest direction.

The going was tough and sometimes they had to crawl on their hands and feet. When they didn't have any meat, they just... How the fuck do you crawl? That's not a... Could you show us how you crawl quickly? What eaters did? Shots! That doesn't make sense. No. Could you show us how you crawl quickly? What he just did?

That doesn't make sense. No. I mean, what part of the journey does make sense? Good point. That's a good point. He shook his head. I was going to try and get someone to help me there, but... I know body language. And... And I... His body language said, fuck off, can't. So did his mouth. It's already lips.

Well, they didn't have any meat. They just ate bread and butter and frequently had diarrhea, which Andre is treated with opium and morphine. That's my kind of body chemist. All right, let's... I got a little Tommy A. I got a little Tommy A. Here's some heroin.

In the first four days they had travelled less than a thousand meters all of. That's not good. They continued on, struggled on, I should say. And on September 4th, it was Strinberg's birthday, and as a present, Andre gave him letters that Strinberg's fiance had written him. Well, he'd been holding on to them. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no And why are they smuddled in peanut butter? Apparently they were all very festive on this day despite their struggles, so they're trying to keep the positivity going less than a week later the meditimate did they weren't going to make it to the food depot in the six weeks Previous the ice had carried them approximately 81 miles south south east where they had been trying to travel the same distance

South west So they're actually further away when they started. The young man, Frank will have developed a large painful blister and could not pull his sled any longer and snow had fallen making it even harder for them to move. They decided to camp on the ice and stay put for the winter. Andri wrote, our humour is pretty good, although joking and smiling are not an ordinary occurrence. But our humour is good. We're not joking or smiling or wanting to live, but our humour is top-notch. It's pretty good.

It's pretty good. Oh boy. So they're just going to stay there for the winter. Camp out an Arctic winter, you know? Sure. Okay. That sounds like a good... Actually you're right, this whole thing's been out an Arctic winter, you know? Sure. Okay. That sounds like a good, actually you're right. This whole thing's been a very good plan, so I feel this is going to work out for them.

You think so, Matt, any predictions at this stage? Yeah, well, I'm wondering why we know about it if they didn't survive, but you have said he's keeping a diary, maybe one of them dies. That blister boy sounds like he's a goner. Oh, four old blister boy. But you know what, they have they treated blisters. OPM. I was that blister boy sounds like he's a goner. For old blister boy. But you know what they have, they treated blisters.

OPM. So he feels great. I think that's all they have. Yeah, absolutely neat. Andre shot three seals before they went into essential hibernation, meaning they in theory should have enough food for the winter. They built a hut out of ice, but sadly,

the feeling of having a home was shot lived, it soon collapsed as water broke through the ice beneath them. They're just scrambling to get all their supplies out. Did they have any knowledge of building ice huts? To be honest, no. Thank you for being honest. He thought I'll just float over it. Why do I even need their supplies? I'm just going to float over it. Why do I even, I don't even need these supplies. I'm just gonna float over it. I've never even seen snow. Who cares? I'll just gonna be looking at it from above.

But sadly they are now there. They decided to move their camp to the nearby deserted island of Kivitoya or White Island. It is the easternmost part of the kingdom of Norway. They settled on the only part of the island that is free from ice and it took two days to transport that equipment and set up a camp. They set up a camp in a tent and the last entry that Andrews wrote in his diary was dated Friday, October 8th, where he wrote that bad weather had trapped them in

their tent all day. And then nothing. For over three decades, people back home in Sweden speculated about what had happened to the three men and their balloon. Newspapers, you've got us all on the edge of our seats now. Newspapers often mention them because they became sort of folk heroes back home, but no real evidence was ever found of the journey. Until August 5th, 1930. Have you been waiting the whole time? Have you heard a word I've said?

I've been. I've been. I've been. I've been waiting the whole time. Have you heard a word I've said? I've been. I've been. I've been. I've been waiting. I've been waiting. I appreciate that August with 1930 what was that some of the things they said before So much what a guy I think I miss quoted those two was what's that He's back. August 5th, 1930.

Thank you so much. A Norwegian expedition called the Bratvag. Yes. We're studying the glaciers and happened upon the remains of the three men. Oh, remains. Do you know everyone was thinking they might have survived? They ate three seals over 30 years ago. The reason he'd been keeping a diary up until that point

that he got right as well after 30 years. I'm not going to bother writing this down anymore. I'll remember. Day 6,000 still living in a tent. I got a beard now, so that's fun. Same as Dave. Thanks so much. The reason it had taken so long for anyone to discover them

is that the island of Kivitoya, or a one island, is usually surrounded by ice and fog and impossible for even hardy wailing ships to access. However that year was very warm and the sea was free of ice. The crew were very keen to explore what was usually an inaccessible island. So they got onto the island and then found the three men's remains and they found that they'd been disturbed by polar bears and not much but skeletons remained. Polar bears got their revenge! Yeah! It was the sun of the polar bear they ate. You killed my father.

But that's a die. I like the idea that I would disturbed by the polar bears, like they're in there with their dog and some peanut butter. No, don't look at me! some peanut butter. No, don't look at me. Also discovered was the Men's Diaries, which were very detailed and also amazingly many of Nils' photos survived and were able to be developed. Whoa! Giving a good account of the journey.

He took over 200 photos in total and 93 survived. Shit! And they're really, really, really cool photos. The three men's bodies were taken back to Sweden and led through the centre of Stockholm, given a solemn hero's welcome. Thousands of people came out to salute their bodies. They were seen... Say again? For skeletons.

Yeah, I mean, not everyone in the parade knew that. But it was like, we're going to Bernie's style. Like, I don't know. It was beautiful. Yeah. It was a beautiful parade. I also love the idea of someone like, you're like, oh, Thiffbeen. You know, we had to burn their body, so there's not much left.

So not really, not much point going to the funeral body so there's not much left so not really not much point going to the funeral really. There's still had to give them their heroes. Not Nana. Dave. Not just now. Not just now. Dave killed a lot of people that day. Hey good thing.

You never said that part Dave. So they were seen as heroes of the nation. Are they confident? They've got a real low bar for heroism in Sweden. These guys got real lost. The coffins were... Good on your boys. The coffins were laid at the feet of the country's then King King Gustav V who said,

quote, in the name of the Swedish nation, I hear greet the dust of the polar explorers who more than three decades ago left their native land to find and answer to the questions of unparalleled difficulty. But what happened to the men? How did they die? How did they die? Well, we'll get to that.

The detailed diaries were found, meaning that we know a lot about their journey. But in terms of their deaths, I'm sorry to say that this is a mystery report! The whole time! There aren't that many options. Frows to death, murdered each other, in bipolar bear, shat themselves to death.

Well, after death. People have start up to death. Yeah. People have divided for nearly 90 years as what happened to the men. Their bodies were cremated as soon as they returned to Sweden, ruling out further forensic studies. But these are some of the theories. Many of which are. Are you thinking of cover-up from the government?

Yeah. This goes all the way to the top. King Gustav V. These are some of the theories. They may have developed lead poisoning from eating food from metal cans. Yeah, boring. Yeah, cheer for your favourite theory. They may have been poisoned from eating polar bears liver.

Maybe, yeah. That's good, that's revenge, I like that from the polar bear. Some say they could have developed deadly botulism from the sealed meat. Woo! Yeah, let's hear it from botulism. You don't hear enough about it anymore. Cookie-meat people. They could have just died from the cold.

Cookie-meat people. Cook them, cook those meat people. They could have just died from the cold in hypothermia. Others contend that they were attacked by polar bears. Yeah, that is sick. Although, I will most agree now that their bodies were disturbed by polar bears after they died. And Andre had died with his gun next to him, so. What do you have shot a polar bear?

Probably. He's done it before, apparently. The most dramatic suggestion is that it was a psychotic murder suicide with one of them killing the others before taking their own life. Although their diaries look as though they were optimistic right up until the end. Yeah. Dear diary, thinking about killing the others tomorrow. No, no, I'd. But probably the most plausible theory in my opinion is, of course, mole people. Yeah, it's really the only thing that makes sense. Just to wrap this up, some people look at Andre as a delusional man who risked his and his friends,

his two young friends' lives. He should have known how dangerous it was, and if he was lying about how far the balloon would travel, that's basically criminal. But other seem is someone who backed himself into a corner with his claims and aspirations and had to follow through no matter what. I think both of those are the same thing.

Yeah. That's true. That's true. I once he'd made the pledge to do it, there was no backing out. So I think some people feel more sorry for him and other people are like, nah, he killed two young men. Yeah.

Appreciation for Neil Strenberg, the photographer's efforts have only grown over time, however. He was an untrained student and managed to keep photographing and documenting what was happening around him, despite being in some of the toughest conditions imaginable. And the photos have survived, it's stunning. And I'll be sure to post some of them online,

but that is the 1897 Polar Balloon North Pole Expedition! So, I'm quite a kid, everybody! Well done! Do you have any theories? Yeah, what are your thoughts guys? No, I think it was, I like the idea that the polar bears live a, is what did it? Yeah, the polar bears could. Revenge from inside.

Yeah, well, revenge is a bit, a dish best served cold and I imagine that would have been the case, thank you. None of that went in the mouth that time. How about you, Jess, any thoughts, feelings, or at the end of that? I was definitely thinking that one of them killed the others. But I was imagining it in a very stoic way, you know, in the Titanic when they, the string quartet keep playing. I was imagining it a little bit like that, but instead of playing a beautiful song, it was like...

You know, killing his friends. I was imagining a little bit like that but instead of playing a beautiful song, it was like You know killing his friends. Do you think the quartet on the Titanic killed everyone? Yes Is that not how that movie goes? The string quartet went on a murder spree. Yeah, the bass player was an iceberg. No, you'll know when you say it. That's confused by myself face. Regret face usually turns mostly away from people. I've felt no regret about anything I've done today. Not yet.

Don't worry, there is a second show to come. That's just we're going to see the end of the podcast part of the show. Thank you so much for coming out today. We appreciate you being here. Thank you so much for having me. Thank you for having me. What we're going to do now for the people in the room is I have about a half hourish break. The bar will be open in that time. If you'd love to get a drink, it will probably make the second half a lot crazier. Which we try to cultivate on a Sunday afternoon.

I believe we're going to have some t-shirts for sale at the back if you are interested in buying one of those. We'll be back in about half an hour's time. What are we looking about? About three about three thirty four hours second show, which I'm gonna run a quiz where you guys as an audience If you want to stick around and compete against Jess and Matt for quiz glory It's a lot of fun We've done a lot of different cities and it's always so much fun So stick around if you can go get drinks get some get some snacks, fuck love snacks. There's $15 espresso martini. Hello. If anyone wants to get me one,

it's what I was saying. Yeah, if anyone wants to get this one, just do that. And don't get me a martini, but there are $10 ice cream sundaes, so that would be pretty much. And popcorn, god damn, I love this place. Yeah, this is great. I live here now. All right, well, because this is the end of the podcast for people at home, can we have a big round of applause for the comedy lunch for hosting us here today? So fantastic, many here in Perth running comedy many nights a week. So please do support the comedy lunch.

Thank you so much for coming out. And until next week on the podcast, I'll say thank you and goodbye. Hi, guys. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi.

Hi. Hi. Hi. And there you have it. Podcasting in WA for the first ever time. Thank you again to everyone like the camera to see us. Thanks, everyone. The comedy lounger for having a great comedy venue. We can go and see comedy many nights a week, ever in Perth.

We appreciate them having us over. It's day for you by the way. I'm just hanging out in my bedroom recording. This Patreon section later night, the night before it comes out. So I appreciate you sticking with us to the end. Now the Patreon section, if you're not familiar, this is funded by the people that basically fund the show at patreon.com slash do go on pod where you can chip in a few bucks or as much as you like every single month and exchange for some rewards where we give out bonus episodes, tickets to see our shows that people get to buy tickets before anyone else, pre-sale, it's probably the world that I'm looking for, but you know I struggled. And you can also get shout outs which we're about to do. And you get to be part of the Facebook group which is very active.

The Patreon only Facebook group. If any of this sounds appealing and at the same time you want to support the show, you can go to patreon.com slash doger1pod. But the first thing we do at the end of the show is of course our patented fact quote or question. If Jess was here she'd say fact quote or question bing. Thank you yes I should do musicals. Anyway thank you so much to this week's fact quote or questioner which if you're not familiar this is an ingenious section of the patreon that Matt thought up he thought we want to give people more of an opportunity to voice their opinions their facts or their quotes on the section of the Patreon that Matt thought up, he thought we would give people more of an opportunity to voice their opinions, their facts, all their quotes on our show.

And if you can do that at a certain level, the Sydney Shindburg Deluxe Package Reston Peace level. If you commit to that level, we let you read out a fact quote or question or we'll read it out, but you get to write it. And also give yourself a job title. Now this week's fact Quite A Questioner job title is the not-so-quite-red-haaring of the do-go-on podcast. Maybe we're about to find out what that means.

In this week, it comes from The Great Man himself, a great supporter of the show, and thank you, as always, to Kevin Ulysses or Ulysses Packrad. Damn, that's a good name. Thank you, the not so quite red-hearing who this week has given us a fact, oh man, music 20 years, I love a fact. Matt and Jess are missing out here because, well maybe they're not, maybe they don't love facts as much as I do, maybe Jess loves questions and Matt loves quotes, who knows.

But this week, the fact comes from Kevin Eulises Packred and in the spirit of Matt, who doesn't usually read them beforehand neither of us, so Kevin, don't's pack red and in the spirit of Matt, who doesn't usually read them beforehand, neither of us. So, Kevin, don't stitch me up here with the fact. Kevin writes, this is a bit of a personal fact. However, I think it is quite fun to be honest, that's a good news for me, because that means, maybe it's hard to fact check. Anyway, this is Kevin again, on my father's side of my family, my grandfather's father, grandfather's father, okay, misok. Misok, MIS okay, came to America from Syria to escape the Armenian genocide.

Wow, so sorry to hear that. He came out with his brother, his name was Nishan. It was also part of the Armenian mob, but that's unrelated. Okay, cool though. Anyway, a few years before my grandfather was born, his sister was being bullied in school because of her last name Which at the time was wait for it pack radonian Pack radonian my great grandfather took it upon himself to change the name to pack rad as you see it today I personally think that name is even better than Packrad. Imagine Kevin

Packredunian. Pretty flipping great, am I right? Yeah, you're a dam rat. You be dam rat. And dam rat. Kevin Ulysses Packredunian. Man, that should be your job title for the podcast. The official Packredunian of the Dürgeron part. Thank you, Kevin, for writing in. What a rip of a name. So that's the end of the fact quote or question section of the podcast and the only other thing left to do is of course shout out to a few people that support the show on Patreon. And I'm going to do that now. We try to get everyone in order. We are trying to catch up. We've missed a couple of people just because you know over time that does happen and Matt's

trying to reorder it a bit. So a few people have let us know if we've missed you. And do let us know if you think we have, I think, but only if you've been on there for over a year, because it does take a little while at the moment to get through everyone. But I would like to thank some beautiful people. I'm going to give you a thank-three. Usually we would thank two each, and that's six,

but I'm going to only do three, just so this doesn't go on too long with just one man talking at the end of the podcast. So I'm going to only do three just so this doesn't go on too long with just one man talking at the end of the podcast. But I'm going to thank three people, usually we'll come up with a game. And we just talked about essay and Dree and his travels to the Arctic in a balloon. How about I suggest your mode of transport, these people's mode of transport to get to the Arctic?

Did I just say balloon or moon? Man, I zoned out on a one-man podcast, and then I came back and I was still talking. Well, here we go. Let's do some shoutouts anyway, and I'll try and stay in the room with you guys. Thank you so much all the way from Fort Lorettadale in Florida. Actually, we've got three Americans coming up here today. Still definitely our dream to get out of the North America at some stage. Maybe we'll get to Fort Loretta, Florida. Actually we've got three Americans coming up here today. Now still definitely our dream to get to North America at some stage. Maybe we'll get to Fort Loddell, Florida. Beautiful weather. Fantastic art deco architecture in Miami. I'd like to

go there just for that. Bit of an art deco note. But thank you too, from Fort Loddell, Florida, Ross Carter. Ross Carter. Well I like to think that you traveled Rost Carter to the North Pole using a DeLorean. Hmm? How about that? You could travel back in time to beat S.A. Andrew, even though he never made it. Maybe you could travel back in time to meet him on the ice to save him as his balloon crashed into the snow for the 57th time. Well, we're going, we don't need roads. Thank you, Roscada. Do I remember the back to the future report we did many years ago? Who knows? Thank you so much for supporting true over in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. All right, I'm going to stop with that voice now. I would like to thank now also from the United States from Locust Grove, Virginia. Not West Virginia, Virginia. I would like to thank now also from the United States from Locust Grove, Virginia.

Not West Virginia, Virginia. I would like to thank Ben Pereira, Pereira, P-E-R-E-I-R-A. I don't know why I read them out to make me sound less stupid than I am for saying them wrong. Ben Pereira from Locust Grove in Virginia. I would like to think that you traveled to the Arctic, to the North Pole, on the inevitable train that they will build to it all aboard, which I was inspired because when we came back from Perth yesterday, we were driving back from the airport together. Yeah, we traveled together. It's funny, Carl Chandler from the Little Dunham Club that we did the Cosmetic podcast festival with earlier in the year commented on our photo of us traveling at 6am after getting up at

3am. Or sitting on the plane and he said, oh, sitting together on a plane to Perth is a brave choice. Well, we've traveled all the way to the UK together, sit next to each other. And that is how we know that Matt likes to hug a pillow whilst watching the Incredibles two or three times because he kept falling asleep during it. And he hates that we keep bringing that up all the time. But on the way back, we saw we were dropping Matt home and there was a statue for a Birken

Will's, I don't know, thing because I'd visited there on there. Ilfator Journey that Matt talked about, I never said, what in episode five I think it was so so long ago. And I started laughing because I'd forgotten until that moment that do you remember when we did the Birken Will's episodes that they were Australian explorers and they were traveling to an unknown part of Australia and it took them weeks and weeks to get to a certain point and then it just mentions in their diary that the post truck, you know, people with a horse and cart just went past and also came back. It's just the idea that they were traveling to this place where a post office is easily already

going there anyway. Why don't just hitch a ride and then go as far as the anyway, so stupid. And that made me think that maybe I like the idea that SA Andrew wants to get to the North Pole. And there's a train going there driven by Tutu Ben Pereira from Locust Grove in Virginia. And finally, I would like to thank from holiday Utah in the United States. I would like to thank Preston Hans. Preston Hans, is this the same Preston who traveled with his mum Gail to support us at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival this year all the way from Utah, the B-Hive State, which I know from Gail gave me that fact.

Thank you so much Preston for supporting the show. We absolutely appreciate that. So, yeah, they came out for the first couple of weeks of the Comedy Festival on there, and you'll holiday. They like to travel somewhere in the world, and Preston said, I want to go to the Comedy Festival in Melbourne. See the do-go-on podcast and that really blew our minds that you would come all that way. So thank you so much. It was fantastic to meet you and in honour of being from Utah. The nickname given in Point Break as in Utah, get me to, which is a quote from

Gary B. See, I would like to, and that movie is in some way about surfing, I would like to say that you would like to surf, Preston all the way to the North Pole, which as I said at the start of the episode we now know, which just made fun of me from, that it's made of water and sometimes ice, so actually more possible probably than driving or training. Preston I give you the best odds of actually making it to the North Pole. Thank you to everyone that does support the show on Patreon, especially this week to Ross Carter, Ben Pereira and Preston Hans, all fantasy people spread out across the United States of America. And if you want to join the ranks of those fantasy

people, just remember to go to patreon.com slash do go on pod. Alright, that does bring us to the end of the episode. It's late here. Maybe it's late where you are as well. I'm going to give you permission to go to sleep unless you are driving a train, train a tram or a car. And that state, I think you should stay awake. But everyone else, if my permission to go to bed, even if you are listening at work, which some people tell me they do, if you want to get in contact with us,

all our contact details are on dogoonpod.com. We can also buy tickets to our website and also merchandise t-shirts and the like that we will mail directly to you wherever you are in the world. Thanks again for supporting the show, listening to the show, spreading it around. We always appreciate that. Until next week, I'll say thank you again for listening, and until then, I will say goodbye! This podcast is part of the Planet Broadcasting Network.

Visit planetbroadcasting.com for more podcasts from our great mates. I mean, if you want, it's up to you. This episode is brought to you by Progressive. Most of you aren't just listening right now. You're driving, cleaning, and even exercising. But what if you could be saving money by switching to Progressive? Drivers who save by switching save nearly $750 on average, and auto customers qualify for an average of seven discounts. Multitask right now, quote today at progressive.com, progressive casualty and trans company and affiliates,

national average 12 month savings of $744 by new customer surveyed, who saved with progressive between June 2022 and May 2023. Potential savings will vary, discounts not available in all safe and situations. Are you working way too hard for way too little? There's never been a better time to consider a career in IT. You could enjoy a recession-resistant career in a rewarding field, with plenty of growth opportunities and often flexible work environments.

Go to mycomputercareer.edu and take the free career evaluation. You could start your new career in months, not years. Take classes online or on campus, and financial aid is available to qualified students, including the GI Bill. Now is the time. Mycomputercareer.edu