Collections · Mountains, lakes, poles & seas
Natural Wonders
Everest to the Aral Sea, both poles, and a lake or twelve. The planet's headline geography, annotated with whatever strange thing happened there that the panel couldn't let go of.
30 places in this collection
- 1Mount Everestnatural landmark · Nepal
In his 40s he skied down Mount Everest with a parachute on his back so he could slow himself down.
Open this place → - 2Grand Canyonnatural landmark · United States
The reason the Federal Aviation Administration in America was set up was because of the Grand Canyon — there were two commercial flights that used to detour to go over the Grand Canyon so people could have a quick look.
Open this place → - 3Lake Districtnatural landmark · United Kingdom
The first question was how many lakes are there in the Lake District?
Open this place → - 4Niagara Fallsnatural landmark · Canada
It stopped the Niagara Falls from flowing because it damned it up because, like, the force of all the water.
Open this place → - 5Loch Nessnatural landmark · United Kingdom
There was a theory that maybe, just maybe, a very big eel might be the Loch Ness Monster, like a six metre long eel.
Open this place → - 6Dead Seanatural landmark · Israel / Jordan
They made their money because they were near the Dead Sea.
Open this place → - 7North Polenatural landmark · Arctic
It might be the last time ever that people ever walk to the North Pole, because the ice is melting.
Open this place → - 8Easter Islandnatural landmark · Chile
He visited on Easter Day in 1722, which is why he gave it the name Easter Island.
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- 10Great Barrier Reefnatural landmark · Australia
When he was 89, he broke the record for the deepest anyone's dived on the Great Barrier Reef.
Open this place → - 11Mount Rushmorenatural landmark · United States
90% of it was done with dynamite, Mount Rushmore.
Open this place → - 12Lake Michigannatural landmark · United States
In 1912 it had this very famous accident and it sank — it was carrying 5,500 trees from Michigan to Chicago across Lake Michigan, and it was captained by this guy called Sherman, who was so famous as a…
Open this place → - 13South Polenatural landmark · Antarctica
The first ever harvest at the South Pole was grown in a giant greenhouse that uses special liquid nutrients instead of soil and LEDs rather than sunlight.
Open this place → - 14Sargasso Seanatural landmark · North Atlantic Ocean (near Bermuda)
You surely look for the bigger ones on their way back to the Sargasso Sea.
Open this place → - 15Black Seanatural landmark · Ukraine
There was some taken to the Black Sea by accident in some bilge water.
Open this place → - 16Andaman Islandsnatural landmark · India
There was another group called the Jurawas who were in the Andaman Islands and they saw the patterns of the waves changing and they had this ancient knowledge that knew that there was something that was a…
Open this place → - 17White Cliffs of Dovernatural landmark · United Kingdom
I'm gonna I'm gonna have to move us on in a second We haven't even got on to white cliffs of Dover.
Open this place → - 18Lake Genevanatural landmark · France
When the poets Shelley and Byron went on a writers' retreat to Lake Geneva in 1816, the hotel opposite them hired out telescopes to their guests so that they could spy on them.
Open this place → - 19Sahara Desertnatural landmark · Libya
This fungus lived in the Sahara Desert, been picked up, blown all the way over to the Caribbean, killed a bunch of coral.
Open this place → - 20South Island (Te Waka-a-Māui)natural landmark · New Zealand
There is a $10,000 reward for any photographic proof of the South Island Coca-Co.
Open this place → - 21Great Lakesnatural landmark · United States
At the bottom you've got the Great Lakes, sort of celebrity lakes.
Open this place → - 22Atlantic Oceannatural landmark · Brazil
Did he not realize that the Atlantic Ocean is in between those two places?
Open this place → - 23Chicago Rivernatural landmark · United States
The Chicago River is a friend of the podcast.
Open this place → - 24Aral Seanatural landmark · Uzbekistan
There's an island in the Aral Sea which in Russia is known as Vosrezhdenia, which means rebirth.
Open this place → - 25AntarcticSaint Helena
The Antarctic was known as the womanless continent for a long time because there weren't any women there, basically.
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- 27ArcticSJ
A can of tinned veal that was left in the Arctic by William Parry, the Explorer, in 1825 was rediscovered by another explorer in 1829 and used as a doorstop for many, many years, and finally opened in 1958.
Open this place → - 28Old Faithfulnatural landmark · United States
I knew that a scientist was watching that and judging.
Open this place → - 29Mont Blancnatural landmark · France
In 1852, there was a show on in London called the Ascent of Mont Blanc by a guy called Albert Smith, which was just a guy who'd climbed up Mont Blanc.
Open this place → - 30Isle of Wightnatural landmark · United Kingdom
There was someone recently on the Isle of Wight who brought back a lovely old fossil from the beach and caused the entire resort to be evacuated because it was an old hand grenade.
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