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The Conversation USA

The Conversation USA

Fighting boredom with banjos and Russian grammar – tips from polar explorers for surviving months of isolation

  • Written by Daniella McCahey, History Lecturer, University of Idaho
Members of Shackleton's Nimrod Expedition (1907–1909) gather round a gramophone player in Antarctica.Artist Unknown/Getty Images

Due to Antarctica’s extreme winter, which includes four months of total darkness, polar explorers endured intense confinement in close quarters for long periods of time.

American pioneer Richard Byrd explained,...

Read more: Fighting boredom with banjos and Russian grammar – tips from polar explorers for surviving months...

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