Demystified

Demystified is a narrated history podcast written, recorded and edited by Ashleigh Stiles. Its usual subject is the historical mystery. One season, in the show's own words, is lighter on the mystery and heavier on the history, and it spends that time in Antarctica. The season runs from a Belgian expedition taking shape in 1896 to Ernest Shackleton's final expedition in 1922. 'Disposable Heroes' sets out the plan and asks a pointed question: why are Scott, Amundsen and Shackleton remembered, while a Japanese explorer, or an Australian expedition whose research was still being compiled decades later, are not? 'The Silent Ranges' picks up the same thread. It looks beyond the big three to an explorer some would add to their ranks, following Mawson's far eastern party as it set out to chart new territory and claim it for the crown. The party's dog handlers, Mertz and Ninnis, had spent the winter training Greenland Huskies, then the fastest way to cross Antarctica. The plan to meet back at base camp is summed up as 'easy money', just before a reminder that it does not go well. Money and motive come up again and again. 'Going South' follows Robert Falcon Scott from naval cadet at 13 to torpedo officer. By then his family had gone broke, and he was supporting his mother and sisters and was hell-bent on promotion. 'There Can Be Only One' sets aside talk of Norwegian perfidy and explains Amundsen's secret switch to the South Pole through awkwardness and funding. Only his second-in-command and his brother knew. Scott, who had given Amundsen equipment expecting him to go north, was left in the dark. 'White Winds Blowing' features Shackleton. It includes a stowaway who was signed on provided he agreed to be eaten first if food ran out, and a telegram to the Ross Sea Party that was never sent. The humour is dry and frequent; Mawson, for one, is docked points for old-school jingoism. Stiles also pauses to explain things a modern listener might miss, such as what a midshipman actually was and why being an officer was expensive. Not every episode is about the poles. 'De la Mancha: An Interview with Ruta Sepetys' gives the background to the Spanish Civil War and Spain under Franco. Its final segment is an interview with Sepetys about 'The Fountains of Silence', a work of fiction set as Francoist Spain began opening up in the late 1950s. Stiles personally recommends the book and admits the mystery is muted in that episode. The polar season is presented as broadening what Demystified means, and more mystery-led material is promised for a later season.