Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
Glaciologist who broke barriers for women in polar science, first British woman to camp in Antarctica, and advanced understanding of climate change.
On the island
Eight records
Symphony No. 6 'Pastoral' in F major, Op. 68: V. Shepherd's Song in Gratitude After a Storm
Berlin Philharmonic, Herbert von Karajan
I've chosen this because it was called by Beethoven Shepherd's Song in Gratitude After a Storm. And it's the first music I would have heard, undoubtedly, because my mother used it as a lullaby. I'm sure I absorbed that feeling of hope from them, and so this song will represent that period and that hope.
I would like to remember that period which was one again of positivity, admiration for a black singer and a black activist, and no feeling then, really, that there was a problem. This was one of my parents' favourite records. They loved Paul Robeson's voice, and so do I.
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2: Fugue No. 9 in E major, BWV 878
what's next is some bach. I don't think I could really cope without the forty eight, and it will remind me of my very unsuccessful attempts to play the piano, and learn the piano when I was a teenager. And and my sister's very successful attempts. But this is Bach's fugue number nine in E major, with, of course, Glen Gould.
Choice is Carol Nan, which is performed by the Triorki Male Voice Choir. And for me this is going to remind me of all my friends, especially my friends in North Wales, and of all the times that I've had happy times up there climbing or canoeing, walking or just hanging out. This I suppose will just also remind me of my Welsh heritage, you know, of my mining grandfather and uncles and all the things that the Welsh stand for, in my mind. And the Welsh mountains, too.
He Shall Feed His Flock (from Messiah)
James Bowman, Choir of King's College Cambridge, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, David Willcocks
apart from the fact that I've actually got quite a devotion to sheep, I've also spent a lot of my life looking after other scientists. And I think it's one of the parts of science which is underrated. The bringing on of young scientists, helping your fellows by reviewing their papers and reviewing grant applications, and just encouraging. And, you know, when they get stuck on a problem, saying you will solve it.
Old 55Favourite
what's next is my absolute favourite skiddooing song that we used to play on bass in those early years, you know, getting on your skiddoo and going off on to a field season, leaving everything behind. It's Tom Waits singing Old Fifty Five.
Disc seven is Gracia Salavida, sung by Roy Bailey. This is a lovely song in itself. It's a South American folk song. But I think it probably, apart from the obvious, that I'm very, very grateful for my life and all the things that I've been able to do. It also takes me back to my mother. Who was in Spain during the Civil War. Rescuing Spanish orphans who were brought back to England to an orphanage here. And we never went back to Spain as a family because she couldn't bear it. I think now she would be quite proud of where Spain is. And it will be a reminder for me on my desert island if I start getting a bit sort of pessimistic, that you might not always see the end result of the things that you do in your life. But they will come. And just to keep hoping.
Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67: III. Scherzo to IV. Allegro
Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, David Zinman
just in case there's a bit of lowering of morale on this desert island, I think I'd better have something which is absolutely guaranteed to bring you from the depths, which are acknowledged, up to a bit of action. So it's uh the transition from the third to the fourth movement, Beethoven's Fifth Symphony.
In conversation
Presenter asks
2:03What do you love about [the Arctic and Antarctic]?
Well, there are days which were absolutely perfect, where the wind drops, the sky is blue, but still out of the sky from very high altitude, you get ice crystals falling down like a sort of rain of little diamonds because they flutter in the air and you see all these points of colour. And then they pile up in a very sort of soft, beautiful layer on the surface, which is ideal for skiddoos and sledges. And you're going off into a landscape where no one else has been before. It's completely untouched. You're going to be leaving the marks of your skis across it, but otherwise there's nothing there except whiteness. And that is absolutely perfect.
Presenter asks
2:50I do want to hear about your trip to the Arctic when you were prey to a polar bear. What happened?
I was invited to join the Norwegians to make some measurements at the north part of the Spitsbergen archipelago. And the first thing that we had to do was obviously test our rifles because we knew it was polar bear country. So we did. We fired off our rifles, made sure they were working, and turned round and found that a polar bear had come to have a look. To see what all the racket was about. ... And during the night we started hearing crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch around uh as the polar bear was sniffing around the crate. And I must admit, I will freely admit to feeling absolute visceral fear at that stage, because I just thought, well, this bear can just lift the crate up and just rip it to shreds, throw it around. And so we sat there sort of half the night with our backs to the the wall and the rifle sort of between us waiting for trouble. And it wasn't until the following morning that the Norwegians who had a window in their cabin came out and let us out. And yes, we got the work done, but I will say it wasn't the most delightful trip.
The keepsakes
The book
Samuel Johnson
I would like one of the many, many volumes of his collected works, and I'm not going to be greedy. I just want one which contains his contributions to the idler and the adventurer. I think he would have been an absolutely wonderful podcaster if he'd been alive today. Absolutely. But this is the nearest to your daily podcast, and I would be able to just settle down. And again, I think it would be terrific for morale to have that sort of rumbling Sergeant Major voice telling you how you should behave.
Presenter asks
12:15Tell me a bit more about your father's experiences during the war. What did he do?
He started off as a gunner. But he very rapidly learnt Spanish, which gave him enough languages to join the newly formed Intelligence Corps. And then in due course he went off to North Africa and landed on the eighth of november, nineteen forty two, in the Torch Landings in Algiers. And from then on I know quite a lot about what his life was like, because I've been transcribing his wartime diaries and his letters home to my mother. ... I had terrific trouble trying to find out who these people might have been, you know, with massive searches in the National Archives and so on, until I realized I'd been stupid and just looked at the envelopes of the letters he sent home to my mother, on which, of course, each officer had signed his name to say he'd censored the letter.
Presenter asks
24:22You first applied to the British Antarctic Survey in the early seventies. What did they tell you at that time?
I got a very nice letter saying sorry, there are no facilities for women in the Antarctic. I was very cross because I thought, well, you know, I've got my qualifications. I've got quite a lot of experience. I ought to be employable there. This is just not on. But I made a plan. I'll wait them out.
Presenter asks
31:11Was there still opposition then to women working in the field [in the British Antarctic Survey]?
Yes, there was. and in true civil service fashion. A committee was set up, but the remit was really to look at all the problems which would occur if and when women went to the Antarctic. ... the chair of the committee was a very distinguished biologist who specialised in elephant seals, and at one stage, he did sit me down. Look me straight in the eye. and say, well, look, Liz, what you have to understand is that men are like elephant seals. They'll fight. They'll fight for their harem. I was flabbergasted. I didn't know what to say. I think I probably ended up by saying but I don't think men are like elephant seals.
Presenter asks
42:26Have you ever been scared [in the Arctic or Antarctic]?
I think the only time was not in the Antarctic, which actually was relatively warm compared to my work in the Arctic. It was a time when we went in very early in the field season to Summit Station in Greenland, which is at quite high altitude as well. And the temperatures fell down to minus fifty-eight degrees centigrade. And that was a real problem because we actually couldn't light our stove, so we couldn't really maintain life there. ... We in fact bailed out about two o'clock in the morning and then made it back to base. ... I myself was gradually drifting off to sleep. and wouldn't have woken up. So that was a fairly pleasant experience, to be honest. Luckily my GA was very worried indeed, and waking up every thirty seconds, as it were, to say this is it's too cold, it's too cold, it's too cold. And finally we had to make the decision to go.
“Well, there are days which were absolutely perfect, where the wind drops, the sky is blue, but still out of the sky from very high altitude, you get ice crystals falling down like a sort of rain of little diamonds because they flutter in the air and you see all these points of colour. And then they pile up in a very sort of soft, beautiful layer on the surface, which is ideal for skiddoos and sledges. And you're going off into a landscape where no one else has been before. It's completely untouched. You're going to be leaving the marks of your skis across it, but otherwise there's nothing there except whiteness. And that is absolutely perfect.”
“And during the night we started hearing crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch around uh as the polar bear was sniffing around the crate. And I must admit, I will freely admit to feeling absolute visceral fear at that stage, because I just thought, well, this bear can just lift the crate up and just rip it to shreds, throw it around. And so we sat there sort of half the night with our backs to the the wall and the rifle sort of between us waiting for trouble.”
“look, Liz, what you have to understand is that men are like elephant seals. They'll fight. They'll fight for their harem.”
“Well, I was in a state of euphoria, as you can well imagine. I was absolutely thrilled and the moment of first setting foot on what could be called the Antarctic, although Sydney is quite far north. was going to be a big moment for me. And I thought, well, okay, here we go and got my friends set up to take a picture and I was going to pose and, you know, maybe try and look a bit heroic. Look intrepid, yeah. Oh, and I was standing there and up marched a smaller daily penguin, and pecked me smartly in the knee. At which, of course, I fell over backwards and was lying there in the snow like an upturned beetle.”
“I myself was gradually drifting off to sleep. and wouldn't have woken up. So that was a fairly pleasant experience, to be honest. Luckily my GA was very worried indeed, and waking up every thirty seconds, as it were, to say this is it's too cold, it's too cold, it's too cold. And finally we had to make the decision to go.”
“I would like one of the many, many volumes of his collected works, and I'm not going to be greedy. I just want one which contains his contributions to the idler and the adventurer. I think he would have been an absolutely wonderful podcaster if he'd been alive today. Absolutely. But this is the nearest to your daily podcast, and I would be able to just settle down. And again, I think it would be terrific for morale to have that sort of rumbling Sergeant Major voice telling you how you should behave.”