WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.439 I want you to imagine, just for a moment, that 00:00:02.439 --> 00:00:05.440 you have dedicated your entire existence to a 00:00:05.440 --> 00:00:08.960 single, singular definition of success. You've 00:00:08.960 --> 00:00:11.179 risked your life for it, you've begged for money 00:00:11.179 --> 00:00:13.259 for it, and you've dragged yourself through the 00:00:13.259 --> 00:00:16.100 literal worst weather on planet Earth for it. 00:00:16.300 --> 00:00:19.960 And then, when you are tantalizingly close, I'm 00:00:19.960 --> 00:00:21.980 talking within touching distance, close enough 00:00:21.980 --> 00:00:24.660 to feel like you've already won, you stop, you 00:00:24.660 --> 00:00:27.420 turn around. And you walk away. It sounds like 00:00:27.420 --> 00:00:29.339 a nightmare scenario. In our current culture, 00:00:29.519 --> 00:00:31.420 that's a failure. You didn't ship the product. 00:00:31.519 --> 00:00:33.119 You didn't close the deal. You didn't win the 00:00:33.119 --> 00:00:36.119 gold. Exactly. But here is the kicker, and this 00:00:36.119 --> 00:00:39.320 is why we are here today. Because of that decision 00:00:39.320 --> 00:00:41.799 to walk away, this man is remembered not as a 00:00:41.799 --> 00:00:44.320 quitter, but as arguably the greatest leader 00:00:44.320 --> 00:00:46.799 who ever lived. It is a massive paradox. If you 00:00:46.799 --> 00:00:49.119 look at his resume on paper, strictly by the 00:00:49.119 --> 00:00:52.020 metrics of his era, it reads like a list of catastrophes. 00:00:52.020 --> 00:00:54.179 He never reached the South Pole. He lost a ship 00:00:54.179 --> 00:00:56.399 in the ice. He died essentially broken in debt. 00:00:56.780 --> 00:00:59.320 And yet, if you go to a management seminar today 00:00:59.320 --> 00:01:01.719 or talk to military historians or even just, 00:01:01.799 --> 00:01:04.000 you know, look at who modern astronauts admire. 00:01:04.299 --> 00:01:06.159 They don't look to the guys who planted the flags. 00:01:06.299 --> 00:01:11.219 No. They look to the man who failed. Today, we 00:01:11.219 --> 00:01:14.170 are doing a deep dive into the life. the near 00:01:14.170 --> 00:01:17.209 deaths and the enduring legacy of Sir Ernest 00:01:17.209 --> 00:01:21.730 Shackleton. And we have a serious stack of sources 00:01:21.730 --> 00:01:24.109 to get through. We do. We've got the biographies. 00:01:24.109 --> 00:01:26.129 We've got the expedition logs from the discovery, 00:01:26.450 --> 00:01:28.730 the Nimrod and, of course, the famous endurance. 00:01:29.209 --> 00:01:31.790 And we're even pulling in the very recent news 00:01:31.790 --> 00:01:34.829 about the rediscovery of his lost ships, which 00:01:34.829 --> 00:01:37.750 adds a whole new layer to the story. Our mission 00:01:37.750 --> 00:01:40.090 here is really to unpack that paradox he started 00:01:40.090 --> 00:01:42.950 with. We are going back to the heroic age of 00:01:42.950 --> 00:01:45.790 Antarctic exploration, which, let's be honest, 00:01:45.950 --> 00:01:48.109 was a time when going south is basically like 00:01:48.109 --> 00:01:49.890 going to Mars. But with wool sweaters instead 00:01:49.890 --> 00:01:52.569 of spacesuits. Exactly. And no radio contact. 00:01:52.849 --> 00:01:55.870 We want to understand how a restless Anglo -Irish 00:01:55.870 --> 00:01:58.310 merchant Navy officer became the person you pray 00:01:58.310 --> 00:02:00.450 for when disaster strikes. There's the famous 00:02:00.450 --> 00:02:02.469 quote about that, which we have to save for later 00:02:02.469 --> 00:02:05.530 because it's just too good. But for you, our 00:02:05.530 --> 00:02:07.489 listener, as we wait. into this I want you to 00:02:07.489 --> 00:02:09.810 think about this not just as history this is 00:02:09.810 --> 00:02:13.169 a master class in resilience in the art of knowing 00:02:13.169 --> 00:02:16.909 when to quit which nobody teaches us and how 00:02:16.909 --> 00:02:19.409 to manage a team when you were stuck in a frozen 00:02:19.409 --> 00:02:21.990 hellscape for two years with no hope of rescue 00:02:21.990 --> 00:02:24.729 it really is the ultimate case study in crisis 00:02:24.729 --> 00:02:27.479 management But to understand the manager and 00:02:27.479 --> 00:02:29.759 to understand why he made the choices he did, 00:02:29.879 --> 00:02:32.879 we have to understand the man. Because Shackleton 00:02:32.879 --> 00:02:35.659 was not your typical Edwardian explorer. No. 00:02:35.759 --> 00:02:38.319 He didn't fit the mold. Right. Let's unpack his 00:02:38.319 --> 00:02:40.659 background. Because when I picture a British 00:02:40.659 --> 00:02:43.360 explorer from the early 1900s, I have a very 00:02:43.360 --> 00:02:45.939 specific archetype in my head. Stiff upper lip. 00:02:46.120 --> 00:02:49.099 Yes. Stiff upper lip, background at Eton or Harrow, 00:02:49.219 --> 00:02:52.620 and a commission in the Royal Navy. Very aristocratic. 00:02:52.620 --> 00:02:54.759 But Shackleton was a bit of an outsider, wasn't 00:02:54.759 --> 00:02:57.280 he? He was, and that outsider status is absolutely 00:02:57.280 --> 00:03:00.500 key to his leadership style. He was born in 1874 00:03:00.500 --> 00:03:03.419 in County Kildare, Ireland. So right off the 00:03:03.419 --> 00:03:06.199 bat, he has this Anglo -Irish heritage. His father 00:03:06.199 --> 00:03:08.479 was a farmer who eventually retrained as a doctor 00:03:08.479 --> 00:03:10.259 and moved the family to London when Ernest was 00:03:10.259 --> 00:03:13.539 10. But the young Shackleton? He just didn't 00:03:13.539 --> 00:03:15.699 fit into the academic box. He wasn't a school 00:03:15.699 --> 00:03:18.539 person. Not at all. He was bored by school. He 00:03:18.539 --> 00:03:20.780 was a voracious reader. He could quote Keats 00:03:20.780 --> 00:03:24.069 and Browning at length. But he hated the structure 00:03:24.069 --> 00:03:26.349 of formal education. So he skips the university 00:03:26.349 --> 00:03:30.030 road entirely. Completely. At 16, he joins the 00:03:30.030 --> 00:03:32.939 Merchant Navy. We need to pause here because 00:03:32.939 --> 00:03:34.780 the distinction between the Merchant Navy and 00:03:34.780 --> 00:03:37.659 the Royal Navy in Victorian England is massive. 00:03:37.840 --> 00:03:40.620 Right. It's not just two different fleets. It's 00:03:40.620 --> 00:03:43.500 two different social universes. Break that down 00:03:43.500 --> 00:03:45.639 for us. Why does that matter so much? Well, the 00:03:45.639 --> 00:03:48.060 Royal Navy, which is where his future rival Captain 00:03:48.060 --> 00:03:50.680 Scott came from, was incredibly hierarchical. 00:03:50.719 --> 00:03:53.280 It was rigid. You had the officers who were gentlemen 00:03:53.280 --> 00:03:56.020 and you had the crew and never the twain shall 00:03:56.020 --> 00:04:00.039 meet. A huge class divide. A chasm. Discipline 00:04:00.039 --> 00:04:02.770 was top down. But Shackleton goes into the merchant 00:04:02.770 --> 00:04:05.169 service. He learns his trade before the mast 00:04:05.169 --> 00:04:07.250 on sailing vessels. That means he's hauling ropes. 00:04:07.349 --> 00:04:09.189 He's scrubbing decks. He's eating the same terrible 00:04:09.189 --> 00:04:11.870 food as the deckhands. He is mixing with people 00:04:11.870 --> 00:04:14.669 from all walks of life, all social classes. So 00:04:14.669 --> 00:04:17.129 he's getting a real world education in human 00:04:17.129 --> 00:04:19.470 nature. He's not just issuing orders from a bridge. 00:04:19.810 --> 00:04:22.709 He's, you know, seeing how the sausage is made, 00:04:22.949 --> 00:04:24.829 so to speak. That's a perfect way to put it. 00:04:24.910 --> 00:04:27.470 He learned how to handle men not by pointing 00:04:27.470 --> 00:04:30.980 at a rank badge, but by personality. by influence 00:04:30.980 --> 00:04:34.120 he saw what made men work hard and what made 00:04:34.120 --> 00:04:37.060 the mutiny by the time he joins the union castle 00:04:37.060 --> 00:04:39.660 line and eventually talks his way onto his first 00:04:39.660 --> 00:04:42.519 antarctic expedition he has a very different 00:04:42.519 --> 00:04:44.740 world view than his contemporaries he's rougher 00:04:44.740 --> 00:04:47.860 perhaps but also significantly more adaptable 00:04:47.860 --> 00:04:50.839 and he creates this opportunity for himself by 00:04:50.839 --> 00:04:52.899 talking his way onto the discovery expedition 00:04:52.899 --> 00:04:55.910 in 1901 This is led by Captain Robert Falcon 00:04:55.910 --> 00:04:57.970 Scott. Yes. This is the big leagues. This is 00:04:57.970 --> 00:05:00.569 the British National Antarctic Expedition. But 00:05:00.569 --> 00:05:02.110 this is also where the trouble starts, isn't 00:05:02.110 --> 00:05:04.470 it? It is. And it sets the stage for everything 00:05:04.470 --> 00:05:06.949 that follows. The Discovery Expedition was run 00:05:06.949 --> 00:05:09.949 on strict Royal Navy lines. Shackleton was the 00:05:09.949 --> 00:05:12.689 third officer. He was charismatic. He was funny. 00:05:12.790 --> 00:05:15.029 And he was popular with the crew, maybe a little 00:05:15.029 --> 00:05:18.029 too popular for Scott's liking. Scott was a bit 00:05:18.029 --> 00:05:20.529 more introverted, a bit more rigid. It sounds 00:05:20.529 --> 00:05:22.529 like a personality clash waiting to happen. It 00:05:22.529 --> 00:05:25.529 was. But they, along with Edward Wilson, make 00:05:25.529 --> 00:05:28.810 a push for the South Pole. They set a new farthest 00:05:28.810 --> 00:05:32.310 south record, getting to 82 degrees, 17 minutes 00:05:32.310 --> 00:05:34.990 south. Which, to be fair, is a huge achievement 00:05:34.990 --> 00:05:37.370 for the time. It was massive. But the journey 00:05:37.370 --> 00:05:39.709 itself was a disaster. They didn't understand 00:05:39.709 --> 00:05:41.750 nutrition, so they had scurvy. Right. They didn't 00:05:41.750 --> 00:05:43.649 really understand how to manage the dogs, so 00:05:43.649 --> 00:05:46.970 the dogs died. And on the return trip, Shackleton 00:05:46.970 --> 00:05:50.569 physically broke down. He had severe respiratory 00:05:50.569 --> 00:05:54.189 issues, likely exacerbated by the scurvy. He 00:05:54.189 --> 00:05:56.490 had to be helped and at times carried on the 00:05:56.490 --> 00:05:58.709 sledge. That must have been deeply humiliating 00:05:58.709 --> 00:06:01.209 for him. Oh, incredibly so. And when they finally 00:06:01.209 --> 00:06:03.470 got back to the ship, Scott made a decision. 00:06:03.930 --> 00:06:06.589 He sent Shackleton home early on the relief ship. 00:06:06.889 --> 00:06:11.189 Ouch. The send home card. Yeah. That has to sting. 00:06:11.529 --> 00:06:15.129 It was a career ender, potentially. Scott cited 00:06:15.129 --> 00:06:17.250 health grounds, saying Shackleton shouldn't risk 00:06:17.250 --> 00:06:19.829 another winter. But there has always been speculation, 00:06:20.189 --> 00:06:22.769 and our sources point to this heavily, that Scott 00:06:22.769 --> 00:06:25.449 was perhaps jealous of Shackleton's popularity. 00:06:25.850 --> 00:06:28.009 Or just didn't like his style. Or just found 00:06:28.009 --> 00:06:31.410 his informal style irritating. There's a report 00:06:31.410 --> 00:06:33.829 that Scott told the ship's doctor, if he doesn't 00:06:33.829 --> 00:06:36.370 go back sick, he will go back in disgrace. Wow. 00:06:36.550 --> 00:06:39.050 So he's basically kicked off the team. That creates 00:06:39.050 --> 00:06:41.310 a serious chip on the shoulder, doesn't it? Oh, 00:06:41.329 --> 00:06:43.949 yeah. That's the fuel. Precisely. He returns 00:06:43.949 --> 00:06:46.569 to England, not as a conqueror, but as a man 00:06:46.569 --> 00:06:49.230 with something to prove. He feels he was pushed 00:06:49.230 --> 00:06:51.769 out. He needs to return to the Antarctic. He 00:06:51.769 --> 00:06:54.050 needs to outdo Scott. He needs to show the world 00:06:54.050 --> 00:06:57.529 and Scott that he is capable of the prize. And 00:06:57.529 --> 00:07:00.389 this leads us to the Nimrod Expedition of 1907. 00:07:00.730 --> 00:07:03.069 Okay, let's look at Nimrod, because I feel like 00:07:03.069 --> 00:07:04.850 everyone talks about the endurance, and we will... 00:07:04.990 --> 00:07:07.269 Trust me, we will get there. But the Nimrod expedition 00:07:07.269 --> 00:07:10.470 contains maybe the most badass decision in exploration 00:07:10.470 --> 00:07:12.529 history. It's certainly the most heartbreaking 00:07:12.529 --> 00:07:15.149 and arguably the most mature decision ever made 00:07:15.149 --> 00:07:17.949 on the ice. So Shackleton raises the money, mostly 00:07:17.949 --> 00:07:20.269 from wealthy friends and loans he couldn't really 00:07:20.269 --> 00:07:22.410 afford. Right. He was always hustling for cash. 00:07:22.629 --> 00:07:25.250 Always. And he goes back. His goal is the pole. 00:07:25.350 --> 00:07:28.490 Simple as that. And they do incredible things 00:07:28.490 --> 00:07:30.410 on this trip. I was reading they climbed Mount 00:07:30.410 --> 00:07:33.170 Erebus, which is an active volcano. In Antarctica? 00:07:33.370 --> 00:07:37.110 Yes. A team climbed Erebus, an astonishing feat. 00:07:37.290 --> 00:07:40.490 They also located the South Magnetic Pole. But 00:07:40.490 --> 00:07:43.110 the main event was the Great Southern Journey. 00:07:43.909 --> 00:07:46.949 Shackleton and three companions, Frank Wilde, 00:07:46.949 --> 00:07:49.110 Eric Marshall, and Jameson Adams, march south. 00:07:49.269 --> 00:07:51.850 Okay. They discover the Beardmore Glacier, which 00:07:51.850 --> 00:07:54.329 is this massive gateway to the polar plateau. 00:07:54.689 --> 00:07:58.310 They are the first human beings to ever set foot 00:07:58.310 --> 00:08:00.649 on the south polar plateau. They are walking 00:08:00.649 --> 00:08:04.490 into the absolute unknown. And they get close. 00:08:04.629 --> 00:08:07.110 How close are we talking? They make it to 88 00:08:07.110 --> 00:08:10.490 degrees, 23 minutes south. That is 97 miles from 00:08:10.490 --> 00:08:13.410 the South Pole. 97 miles. That is, I mean, in 00:08:13.410 --> 00:08:14.970 a car, that's an hour and a half on the highway. 00:08:15.149 --> 00:08:17.430 It's nothing. Even walking, that's a few days. 00:08:17.649 --> 00:08:19.529 They were right there. They had marched hundreds 00:08:19.529 --> 00:08:22.029 of miles. They were closer than anyone had ever 00:08:22.029 --> 00:08:23.730 been. They could probably see the sky changing 00:08:23.730 --> 00:08:26.370 over the pole. But they were starving. They were 00:08:26.370 --> 00:08:28.370 running on half rations. And they were exhausted. 00:08:28.509 --> 00:08:30.449 They were literally dying on their feet. Most 00:08:30.449 --> 00:08:33.049 people, driven by that kind of ego and ambition, 00:08:33.330 --> 00:08:35.919 having come that far, would have gambled. They 00:08:35.919 --> 00:08:37.759 would have said, we'll find a way. Let's just 00:08:37.759 --> 00:08:40.879 get there. Scott likely would have gone on, but 00:08:40.879 --> 00:08:44.059 Shackleton stopped. He did the math. He realized 00:08:44.059 --> 00:08:45.980 they had enough supplies to get to the pole, 00:08:46.159 --> 00:08:49.220 but not enough to get back. So they would plant 00:08:49.220 --> 00:08:51.740 the flag, claim the glory. And then they would 00:08:51.740 --> 00:08:54.600 be dead bodies on the return journey. So it's 00:08:54.600 --> 00:08:57.370 a choice between a glorious death. Or a shameful 00:08:57.370 --> 00:09:00.049 survival. Yeah. Or what some would call a shameful 00:09:00.049 --> 00:09:03.450 survival. Exactly. On January 9, 1909, Shackleton 00:09:03.450 --> 00:09:06.250 made the decision to turn back. He wrote in his 00:09:06.250 --> 00:09:08.330 diary about the decision, but the most telling 00:09:08.330 --> 00:09:10.509 comment came later when he was back in England 00:09:10.509 --> 00:09:13.690 talking to his wife, Emily. She asked him about 00:09:13.690 --> 00:09:16.570 it, and he simply said, A live donkey is better 00:09:16.570 --> 00:09:18.950 than a dead lion, isn't it? A live donkey is 00:09:18.950 --> 00:09:21.649 better than a dead lion. That is such a powerful 00:09:21.649 --> 00:09:24.009 summary of his philosophy. The goal matters, 00:09:24.190 --> 00:09:26.840 but people matter more. And the return journey 00:09:26.840 --> 00:09:29.240 proved he was right. It was a race against death. 00:09:29.580 --> 00:09:31.980 There's this incredible anecdote from the diaries 00:09:31.980 --> 00:09:35.080 involving Frank Wilde to illustrate just how 00:09:35.080 --> 00:09:37.519 close they were to the edge. Wilde was sick, 00:09:37.639 --> 00:09:39.980 basically dying of dysentery and starvation. 00:09:40.220 --> 00:09:43.360 At one point, Shackleton took his own daily ration, 00:09:43.679 --> 00:09:46.879 a single biscuit, and forced Wilde to eat it. 00:09:47.019 --> 00:09:49.679 One biscuit. One biscuit. But in that environment, 00:09:49.899 --> 00:09:52.860 that biscuit is life. Frank Wilde wrote in his 00:09:52.860 --> 00:09:55.220 diary, all the money that was ever minted would 00:09:55.220 --> 00:09:57.519 not have bought that biscuit. And the remembrance 00:09:57.519 --> 00:10:00.100 of that sacrifice will never leave me. Wow. That 00:10:00.100 --> 00:10:02.620 is the loyalty Shackleton inspired. He didn't 00:10:02.620 --> 00:10:05.720 just command, he sacrificed. He managed the team 00:10:05.720 --> 00:10:08.519 by serving the team. So he comes back a hero. 00:10:08.740 --> 00:10:12.019 He's knighted. He's Sir Ernest Shackleton now. 00:10:12.240 --> 00:10:14.740 Yeah. But he didn't reach the pole. And then 00:10:14.740 --> 00:10:17.480 the worst thing happens for his ambition. Roald 00:10:17.480 --> 00:10:19.779 Amundsen, the Norwegian, beats everyone to it 00:10:19.779 --> 00:10:22.419 in 1911. Yep. And then Scott gets there a month 00:10:22.419 --> 00:10:24.620 later and dies on the way back. The race is over. 00:10:24.720 --> 00:10:26.659 Exactly. The prize is gone. The map is filled 00:10:26.659 --> 00:10:29.559 in. So what does a restless explorer do? He moves 00:10:29.559 --> 00:10:32.059 the goalposts. He invents a new prize. Shackleton 00:10:32.059 --> 00:10:34.960 conceives of the Imperial Trans -Antarctic Expedition. 00:10:35.299 --> 00:10:37.740 If he can't be the first to the pole, he will 00:10:37.740 --> 00:10:39.720 be the first to cross the entire continent from 00:10:39.720 --> 00:10:42.259 sea to sea, passing through the pole. This is 00:10:42.259 --> 00:10:44.840 the setup for the endurance. And I love the stories 00:10:44.840 --> 00:10:47.220 about the recruitment for this. We have to address 00:10:47.220 --> 00:11:00.569 the elephant in the room that Famous had. It 00:11:00.569 --> 00:11:03.610 is a legendary ad. It's quoted in marketing textbooks 00:11:03.610 --> 00:11:06.350 everywhere. It's on motivational posters. The 00:11:06.350 --> 00:11:10.289 only problem is our sources suggest it's likely 00:11:10.289 --> 00:11:13.549 a myth. No. I wanted that to be true so bad. 00:11:13.789 --> 00:11:15.789 I know. I know. It captures the spirit perfectly. 00:11:16.009 --> 00:11:18.269 But researchers have scoured the newspapers of 00:11:18.269 --> 00:11:19.970 the time and haven't been able to find the original 00:11:19.970 --> 00:11:22.210 copy. Okay. Okay. But even if the ad isn't real, 00:11:22.389 --> 00:11:25.169 the response was right. Oh, yeah. What isn't 00:11:25.169 --> 00:11:27.370 a myth is that he had over 5 ,000 applicants. 00:11:27.769 --> 00:11:30.289 5 ,000 people signing up for what sounds like 00:11:30.289 --> 00:11:32.610 a miserable time. Yeah. And his interview process 00:11:32.610 --> 00:11:35.309 was unique. Very eccentric. He wasn't looking 00:11:35.309 --> 00:11:36.970 for technical skills alone. He was looking for 00:11:36.970 --> 00:11:39.330 temperament. He asked Reginald James, the physicist, 00:11:39.629 --> 00:11:42.620 if he could sing. If he could sing. For a polar 00:11:42.620 --> 00:11:46.019 expedition. Yes. Because Shackleton knew that 00:11:46.019 --> 00:11:48.220 being stuck in a tent for six months with a guy 00:11:48.220 --> 00:11:50.879 who is annoying or depressive is more dangerous 00:11:50.879 --> 00:11:53.379 than the cold. That makes so much sense. He needed 00:11:53.379 --> 00:11:57.039 morale. He needed good tent mates. He asked others 00:11:57.039 --> 00:11:58.820 just one or two questions and hired them on a 00:11:58.820 --> 00:12:01.220 hunch. He was casting a reality show as much 00:12:01.220 --> 00:12:03.940 as he was hiring a crew. He knew that technical 00:12:03.940 --> 00:12:07.039 skills can be taught, but personality is fixed. 00:12:07.240 --> 00:12:10.629 Exactly. He selected 28 men for the Endurance. 00:12:10.850 --> 00:12:14.490 They set sail in 1914, just as World War I is 00:12:14.490 --> 00:12:16.950 breaking out. Right. I read that he offered his 00:12:16.950 --> 00:12:18.950 ship and crew to the government for the war effort. 00:12:19.129 --> 00:12:21.909 He did. But Winston Churchill, who was first 00:12:21.909 --> 00:12:24.509 Lord of the Admiralty then, told him to proceed. 00:12:24.870 --> 00:12:27.149 So they head south. They enter the Weddell Sea. 00:12:27.559 --> 00:12:29.559 And this is where the endurance meets its match. 00:12:29.720 --> 00:12:32.960 The Weddell Sea is notoriously dangerous. It's 00:12:32.960 --> 00:12:35.659 a gyre, which means the currents swirl the ice 00:12:35.659 --> 00:12:37.720 around and pack it tight against the Antarctic 00:12:37.720 --> 00:12:40.440 Peninsula. A natural ice trap. And the ice conditions 00:12:40.440 --> 00:12:43.820 that year were terrible. By January 1915, the 00:12:43.820 --> 00:12:46.379 ship becomes frozen fast in an ice flow. They 00:12:46.379 --> 00:12:48.419 are stuck. They can't move forward. They can't 00:12:48.419 --> 00:12:50.620 move back. They are drifting north with the pack 00:12:50.620 --> 00:12:52.940 ice. And this is where the leadership really 00:12:52.940 --> 00:12:55.940 kicks in, because I imagine you are stuck on 00:12:55.940 --> 00:12:58.679 a wooden ship. It's freezing. The sun is going 00:12:58.679 --> 00:13:01.960 down for the winter. Morale could tank very, 00:13:02.080 --> 00:13:04.639 very quickly. That was Shappleton's biggest fear. 00:13:05.519 --> 00:13:07.919 Depression, boredom, and cliques. So he converted 00:13:07.919 --> 00:13:10.659 the ship into a winter station. He kept the hierarchy 00:13:10.659 --> 00:13:13.700 loose. Ah, back to his merchant navy roots. Exactly. 00:13:14.340 --> 00:13:16.960 He made the scientists and officers scrub the 00:13:16.960 --> 00:13:18.899 floors alongside the sailors again, breaking 00:13:18.899 --> 00:13:21.539 down those class barriers. He organized theatrical 00:13:21.539 --> 00:13:24.299 performances, soccer games on the ice, dog sled 00:13:24.299 --> 00:13:27.059 races. He kept them busy and he kept them social. 00:13:27.179 --> 00:13:29.720 He was constantly monitoring the mental temperature 00:13:29.720 --> 00:13:32.000 of the crew. He was managing their minds as much 00:13:32.000 --> 00:13:35.070 as their survival. He was. But the ice doesn't 00:13:35.070 --> 00:13:38.350 care about morale. In October 1915, the pressure 00:13:38.350 --> 00:13:41.210 from the ice became too much. The flows started 00:13:41.210 --> 00:13:44.129 to crush the hull. It sounds terrifying in the 00:13:44.129 --> 00:13:46.429 diaries. The sound of massive timber snapping 00:13:46.429 --> 00:13:49.269 like matchsticks, the rigging screaming. I can't 00:13:49.269 --> 00:13:51.389 even imagine. Shackleton realizes the ship is 00:13:51.389 --> 00:13:54.730 lost. He gives the order. Abandon ship. They 00:13:54.730 --> 00:13:57.470 move their supplies onto the ice. And then in 00:13:57.470 --> 00:14:00.110 November, the ship sinks. It just slips under 00:14:00.110 --> 00:14:02.110 the ice. There is a moment there that defines 00:14:02.110 --> 00:14:05.269 the whole expedition. The ship, their only link 00:14:05.269 --> 00:14:07.750 to civilization, their warmth, their safety disappears. 00:14:08.110 --> 00:14:10.629 They are standing on a frozen sheet of ocean 00:14:10.629 --> 00:14:14.029 thousands of miles from help with no radio. Panic 00:14:14.029 --> 00:14:16.309 would be the natural reaction. Terror. It would 00:14:16.309 --> 00:14:18.909 be. But Shackleton gathers the men and calmly 00:14:18.909 --> 00:14:21.429 says, ship and stores have gone, so now we'll 00:14:21.429 --> 00:14:23.409 go home. So now we'll go home. Like it's just 00:14:23.409 --> 00:14:26.110 a change of itinerary. He immediately reframed 00:14:26.110 --> 00:14:28.230 the disaster. It wasn't we are doomed. It was 00:14:28.230 --> 00:14:31.919 we have a new mission. He didn't let them dwell 00:14:31.919 --> 00:14:34.080 on what was lost. So they are camping on ice 00:14:34.080 --> 00:14:36.700 floes. The ice is melting as summer approaches. 00:14:36.980 --> 00:14:39.759 They're drifting. This goes on for months. This 00:14:39.759 --> 00:14:41.639 is the part of the story that gives me anxiety 00:14:41.639 --> 00:14:44.360 just reading it. It's terrifying. You are sleeping 00:14:44.360 --> 00:14:46.519 on a sheet of ice that could crack open under 00:14:46.519 --> 00:14:49.549 your tent at any moment. And it did crack. The 00:14:49.549 --> 00:14:53.370 flow started breaking up in April 1916. Shackleton 00:14:53.370 --> 00:14:56.090 realizes they have to move or they will fall 00:14:56.090 --> 00:14:59.049 into the ocean. They load into the three small 00:14:59.049 --> 00:15:01.909 lifeboats they salvaged from the Endurance. They 00:15:01.909 --> 00:15:04.509 are aiming for Elephant Island, a desolate rock 00:15:04.509 --> 00:15:06.789 about 100 miles away. And this boat journey. 00:15:07.409 --> 00:15:10.429 Five days in open lifeboats in Antarctic waters. 00:15:10.690 --> 00:15:13.250 It was harrowing. They were soaked, freezing, 00:15:13.570 --> 00:15:16.029 dehydrated. They had saltwater boils. They were 00:15:16.029 --> 00:15:18.509 rowing through pack ice, dodging killer whales. 00:15:18.830 --> 00:15:20.450 When they finally landed on Elephant Island, 00:15:20.590 --> 00:15:22.289 it was the first time they had stood on solid 00:15:22.289 --> 00:15:27.250 land in 497 days. 497 days. Imagine the relief. 00:15:27.470 --> 00:15:29.850 But Elephant Island isn't exactly a resort, is 00:15:29.850 --> 00:15:32.629 it? It's a bleak, inhospitable rock. It's far 00:15:32.629 --> 00:15:34.929 outside any shipping lanes. It's covered in penguin 00:15:34.929 --> 00:15:37.330 guano and swept by gales. Nobody was coming to 00:15:37.330 --> 00:15:39.850 look for them there. No. Shackleton realized 00:15:39.850 --> 00:15:41.870 that if they stayed, they would starve and die. 00:15:41.970 --> 00:15:43.909 He had to go get help. And this leads to the 00:15:43.909 --> 00:15:46.730 voyage of the James Caird. This is the part that 00:15:46.730 --> 00:15:49.549 historians usually point to as the greatest small 00:15:49.549 --> 00:15:51.929 boat journey ever undertaken. Without a doubt. 00:15:52.370 --> 00:15:54.330 Shackleton takes the largest lifeboat, the James 00:15:54.330 --> 00:15:56.409 Caird. It's only 20 feet long. He takes five 00:15:56.409 --> 00:16:00.090 men. Captain Worsley, the navigator, Tom Crean, 00:16:00.210 --> 00:16:02.769 the carpenter Harry McNish, and two others, Vincent 00:16:02.769 --> 00:16:05.929 and McCarthy. Okay. They have to sail 800 miles 00:16:05.929 --> 00:16:08.169 across the roughest ocean in the world, the Southern 00:16:08.169 --> 00:16:10.990 Ocean, in winter to reach the whaling stations 00:16:10.990 --> 00:16:14.350 on South Georgia. 800 miles. Yeah. In a 20 -foot 00:16:14.350 --> 00:16:17.960 boat with hurricane force winds. And waves the 00:16:17.960 --> 00:16:19.860 size of houses. We are talking about the furious 00:16:19.860 --> 00:16:22.860 50s. The waves are rolling around the globe unimpeded. 00:16:22.980 --> 00:16:25.399 And the navigation. I mean, what Orsley did was 00:16:25.399 --> 00:16:28.259 a miracle. How did he even do it? He was navigating 00:16:28.259 --> 00:16:30.980 by catching momentary glimpses of stars through 00:16:30.980 --> 00:16:33.620 the storm clouds. He had to stand up, braced 00:16:33.620 --> 00:16:36.240 by two other men, and try to use a sextant in 00:16:36.240 --> 00:16:38.820 a boat that was bucking like a rodeo horse. If 00:16:38.820 --> 00:16:41.879 he's off by even a degree. If he was off by even 00:16:41.879 --> 00:16:43.679 a degree, they would miss the island completely. 00:16:44.379 --> 00:16:48.019 Next stop. Antarctica, or oblivion, they would 00:16:48.019 --> 00:16:50.179 be swept out into the Atlantic to die of thirst. 00:16:50.940 --> 00:16:53.059 There's a detail in the source material about 00:16:53.059 --> 00:16:55.899 a storm they survived that actually sank a 500 00:16:55.899 --> 00:16:59.100 -ton steamer nearby. That's right, a 500 -ton 00:16:59.100 --> 00:17:02.240 ship. And they survived in a lifeboat. At one 00:17:02.240 --> 00:17:04.099 point, they thought they saw the sky clearing, 00:17:04.299 --> 00:17:06.740 a line of white light. Shackleton called out 00:17:06.740 --> 00:17:08.799 that it was clearing. But then he realized it 00:17:08.799 --> 00:17:12.200 wasn't the sky. It was the white foam of a massive 00:17:12.200 --> 00:17:15.259 rogue wave. That is terrifying. He yelled, hold 00:17:15.259 --> 00:17:18.279 on, it's got us. They were buried in water. The 00:17:18.279 --> 00:17:20.599 boat was half swamped. They were bailing for 00:17:20.599 --> 00:17:22.700 their lives with sleeping bags, pots, anything 00:17:22.700 --> 00:17:25.079 they could grab. And it held together. The boat 00:17:25.079 --> 00:17:27.759 held together largely because McNish, the carpenter, 00:17:27.920 --> 00:17:30.420 had improvised a decking out of sledge runners 00:17:30.420 --> 00:17:32.569 and canvas. before they left? The carpenter, 00:17:32.609 --> 00:17:35.269 McNish. He is a difficult character, wasn't he? 00:17:35.329 --> 00:17:37.930 He'd rebelled earlier on the ice. He had. He 00:17:37.930 --> 00:17:40.769 was a grumbler, a bit of a mutineer. But Shackleton 00:17:40.769 --> 00:17:42.789 took him on the boat because he knew he needed 00:17:42.789 --> 00:17:45.230 the best carpenter. And he also knew it was better 00:17:45.230 --> 00:17:47.109 to keep a troublemaker close where he could watch 00:17:47.109 --> 00:17:49.710 him rather than leave him behind to praise him 00:17:49.710 --> 00:17:52.009 the morale of the main group. Smart. So they 00:17:52.009 --> 00:17:55.930 make it. They spot South Georgia. But of course, 00:17:55.930 --> 00:17:57.910 because nothing can be easy for Ernest Shackleton. 00:17:58.130 --> 00:18:00.309 Never. They land on the wrong side of the island. 00:18:00.490 --> 00:18:03.210 Right. They crash land in King Hakon Bay. The 00:18:03.210 --> 00:18:05.970 boat is battered. The rudder is gone. The whaling 00:18:05.970 --> 00:18:07.990 stations and the people are on the other side. 00:18:08.450 --> 00:18:11.089 Between them lies the interior of South Georgia. 00:18:11.910 --> 00:18:14.910 Uncharted glaciers, jagged peaks, snow fields. 00:18:15.210 --> 00:18:17.529 And nobody had ever crossed it. No one. And they 00:18:17.529 --> 00:18:19.630 can't sail around, so they have to walk. Shackleton, 00:18:19.829 --> 00:18:22.529 Worsley, and Tom Crean. They leave the other 00:18:22.529 --> 00:18:25.250 three, who are too weak to walk, under the overturned 00:18:25.250 --> 00:18:28.109 boat on the beach. The three men set off. They 00:18:28.109 --> 00:18:30.990 have no climbing gear. Nothing. They took screws 00:18:30.990 --> 00:18:33.130 from the lifeboat and put them into the soles 00:18:33.130 --> 00:18:35.829 of their boots for grip. Improvised crampons. 00:18:35.910 --> 00:18:39.069 I love that detail. It's so MacGyver. They hiked 00:18:39.069 --> 00:18:41.970 for 36 hours straight. If they stopped to sleep, 00:18:42.109 --> 00:18:44.210 they would freeze. They had to make decisions 00:18:44.210 --> 00:18:46.980 on the fly. At one point, they were trapped on 00:18:46.980 --> 00:18:49.339 a ridge with night falling and fog rolling in. 00:18:49.400 --> 00:18:51.220 They couldn't stay and they couldn't climb down. 00:18:51.319 --> 00:18:54.680 So they sat on coils of rope like sleds and launched 00:18:54.680 --> 00:18:57.339 themselves into the fog. A leap of faith. Literally. 00:18:57.920 --> 00:19:00.440 They slid down 2 ,000 feet in a few minutes. 00:19:00.880 --> 00:19:02.740 If there had been rocks at the bottom, they would 00:19:02.740 --> 00:19:05.599 have died. But it leveled out into a snowbank. 00:19:05.940 --> 00:19:09.019 And this trek is where the third man factor comes 00:19:09.019 --> 00:19:11.329 in. Yes. Tell us about that. This feels almost 00:19:11.329 --> 00:19:14.289 supernatural. Later, all three men independently 00:19:14.289 --> 00:19:16.690 admitted that they felt a presence. They felt 00:19:16.690 --> 00:19:18.609 like there were four of them, not three. Four 00:19:18.609 --> 00:19:21.289 of them? Yeah. Worsley said he often found himself 00:19:21.289 --> 00:19:24.109 counting the party and getting to four. It's 00:19:24.109 --> 00:19:26.630 a phenomenon often reported by people in extreme 00:19:26.630 --> 00:19:29.549 survival situations. The sense that something 00:19:29.549 --> 00:19:33.269 or someone is guiding you. Whether it was a hallucination 00:19:33.269 --> 00:19:35.930 from exhaustion or something else, it got them 00:19:35.930 --> 00:19:38.089 there. They hear the steam whistle of the whaling 00:19:38.089 --> 00:19:40.470 station. That sound must have been the sweetest 00:19:40.470 --> 00:19:43.049 music they ever heard. I can only imagine what 00:19:43.049 --> 00:19:44.750 the station manager thought when these three 00:19:44.750 --> 00:19:47.470 wild -looking men, black with blubber smoke, 00:19:47.849 --> 00:19:51.170 hair matted, clothes in rags, walked out of the 00:19:51.170 --> 00:19:53.990 mountains. The station manager asked, Who the 00:19:53.990 --> 00:19:56.650 hell are you? And Shackleton replied, My name 00:19:56.650 --> 00:19:58.789 is Shackleton. It must have been a ghost story 00:19:58.789 --> 00:20:00.750 come to life. Everyone in the world thought they 00:20:00.750 --> 00:20:03.089 had died two years ago. But the mission wasn't 00:20:03.089 --> 00:20:05.750 over. He had left three men on the other side 00:20:05.750 --> 00:20:09.420 of South Georgia and 22 men. back on Elephant 00:20:09.420 --> 00:20:11.480 Island. And this is where Shackleton's tenacity 00:20:11.480 --> 00:20:14.579 is just relentless. He doesn't rest. He doesn't 00:20:14.579 --> 00:20:17.099 take a week off. He picks up the three on the 00:20:17.099 --> 00:20:19.819 other side of South Georgia immediately. But 00:20:19.819 --> 00:20:22.519 getting to Elephant Island was harder. The pack 00:20:22.519 --> 00:20:25.400 ice was still thick. He tried with a whaler blocked 00:20:25.400 --> 00:20:28.500 by ice, tried with an Argentine ship blocked, 00:20:28.700 --> 00:20:31.180 a British schooner engine trouble. He's failing 00:20:31.180 --> 00:20:33.720 over and over. And meanwhile, the men on Elephant 00:20:33.720 --> 00:20:35.720 Island have been there for four months. They're 00:20:35.720 --> 00:20:38.200 living under upturned boats, eating penguins, 00:20:38.259 --> 00:20:41.259 staring at the horizon. They have no idea. They 00:20:41.259 --> 00:20:43.420 don't know if Shackleton survived. Finally, he 00:20:43.420 --> 00:20:46.000 gets a tug from the Chilean Navy, the Yelcho. 00:20:46.589 --> 00:20:49.009 It wasn't an icebreaker. It was a small tug. 00:20:49.210 --> 00:20:53.450 But he pushes through. On August 30, 1916, four 00:20:53.450 --> 00:20:55.589 months after he left them, Shackleton breaks 00:20:55.589 --> 00:20:57.910 through the mist. He counts the figures on the 00:20:57.910 --> 00:21:00.509 beach through his binoculars. He turns to Worsley 00:21:00.509 --> 00:21:03.769 and says, they are all there. They are all there. 00:21:03.930 --> 00:21:06.589 Not a single life lost among the endurance crew. 00:21:06.750 --> 00:21:09.430 It's the miracle of the age. Now, we should note 00:21:09.430 --> 00:21:11.349 for accuracy, there was a support party on the 00:21:11.349 --> 00:21:13.150 other side of the continent, the Ross Sea Party, 00:21:13.309 --> 00:21:15.150 who were laying depots for the crossing that 00:21:15.150 --> 00:21:18.140 never happened. Right. They did lose three men, 00:21:18.240 --> 00:21:19.940 including their commander. So the expedition 00:21:19.940 --> 00:21:22.339 as a whole was not without casualty. But the 00:21:22.339 --> 00:21:24.819 survival of the endurance crew under Shackleton's 00:21:24.819 --> 00:21:27.740 direct command is flawless. So he comes back 00:21:27.740 --> 00:21:30.519 to civilization. But the world has changed. It's 00:21:30.519 --> 00:21:33.039 1916. The First World War is slaughtering millions. 00:21:33.579 --> 00:21:36.279 Shackleton returns. And suddenly his survival 00:21:36.279 --> 00:21:40.019 story, while amazing, is overshadowed by the 00:21:40.019 --> 00:21:42.549 massive loss of life in Europe. He felt very 00:21:42.549 --> 00:21:46.349 out of place. He was an Edwardian hero in a modern 00:21:46.349 --> 00:21:49.269 mechanized war. He was too old for conscription, 00:21:49.329 --> 00:21:51.529 though he volunteered. He served in northern 00:21:51.529 --> 00:21:53.490 Russia for a bit during the Civil War intervention 00:21:53.490 --> 00:21:57.170 there. But he was restless. His business ventures 00:21:57.170 --> 00:21:59.910 failed. He was heavily in debt. Terribly in debt. 00:22:00.029 --> 00:22:02.529 He was a man who only really made sense on the 00:22:02.529 --> 00:22:04.230 ice. It's like he couldn't function in normal 00:22:04.230 --> 00:22:06.569 society. He needed the crisis to feel alive. 00:22:06.930 --> 00:22:10.690 Exactly. So in 1921, he launches one last expedition. 00:22:11.390 --> 00:22:14.410 The Quest expedition. It was vague in its goals, 00:22:14.529 --> 00:22:17.190 oceanography, sub -Antarctic islands, but really 00:22:17.190 --> 00:22:19.710 it was just an excuse to go back, to go home 00:22:19.710 --> 00:22:22.170 to the South. But his health was failing. He'd 00:22:22.170 --> 00:22:23.930 been hiding heart problems for years, hadn't 00:22:23.930 --> 00:22:26.470 he? Yes. He had suspected heart issues even back 00:22:26.470 --> 00:22:29.069 in the Nimrod days. On the way south with the 00:22:29.069 --> 00:22:30.950 Quest, he had a heart attack in Rio but refused 00:22:30.950 --> 00:22:34.069 to stop. They arrived at South Georgia, the scene 00:22:34.069 --> 00:22:37.109 of his greatest triumph, on January 4, 1922. 00:22:37.430 --> 00:22:39.230 And there's a poignant conversation with the 00:22:39.230 --> 00:22:43.289 ship's doctor. Yes. Macklin was called to Shackleton's 00:22:43.289 --> 00:22:45.029 cabin in the middle of the night. Shackleton 00:22:45.029 --> 00:22:47.470 was in pain. Macklin told him he needed to change 00:22:47.470 --> 00:22:49.650 his lifestyle to stop overworking to take it 00:22:49.650 --> 00:22:52.430 easy. And Shackleton's response is just perfect. 00:22:52.789 --> 00:22:55.049 It is. He looked at him and asked, You are always 00:22:55.049 --> 00:22:57.069 wanting me to give up things. What is it I ought 00:22:57.069 --> 00:22:59.750 to give up? Macklin said, Chiefly alcohol, boss. 00:23:01.210 --> 00:23:03.329 Moments later, Shackleton suffered a massive 00:23:03.329 --> 00:23:06.730 heart attack and died. He was 47. 47. That is 00:23:06.730 --> 00:23:08.930 incredibly young. He literally gave his heart 00:23:08.930 --> 00:23:11.630 to the Antarctic. His wife, Emily, asked that 00:23:11.630 --> 00:23:14.690 he be buried there on South Georgia. So he lies 00:23:14.690 --> 00:23:16.789 there today among the whalers. It's a fitting 00:23:16.789 --> 00:23:19.210 end. Now let's talk about the legacy. Because 00:23:19.210 --> 00:23:22.049 when he died, he wasn't considered the top explorer, 00:23:22.250 --> 00:23:25.960 right? Scott was the golden boy. For a long time, 00:23:26.079 --> 00:23:28.920 Scott was the Victorian ideal, the tragic hero 00:23:28.920 --> 00:23:31.619 who died for his country. Shackleton was respected, 00:23:31.779 --> 00:23:34.500 but he was seen as a bit of a maverick, maybe 00:23:34.500 --> 00:23:37.819 a bit chaotic. A brilliant failure, maybe. Exactly. 00:23:37.880 --> 00:23:40.039 But in the later 20th century, the narrative 00:23:40.039 --> 00:23:42.460 flipped. We started to learn more about Scott's 00:23:42.460 --> 00:23:45.380 rigidity, his mistakes with the dogs and ponies, 00:23:45.380 --> 00:23:48.680 and simultaneously, we started to value Shackleton's 00:23:48.680 --> 00:23:51.500 adaptability. It's the shift from valuing heroic 00:23:51.500 --> 00:23:55.299 death to valuing survival and emotional intelligence. 00:23:56.119 --> 00:23:59.000 Precisely. Business schools started using Shackleton 00:23:59.000 --> 00:24:01.819 as a case study, how to build a team, how to 00:24:01.819 --> 00:24:04.160 pivot when the strategy fails, how to maintain 00:24:04.160 --> 00:24:07.480 hope. He became the model for modern leadership. 00:24:07.799 --> 00:24:09.779 And there is that quote by Raymond Priestley, 00:24:09.799 --> 00:24:12.119 who knew both men. I teased it in the intro. 00:24:12.259 --> 00:24:14.740 Yes, it's the best summary of all, Priestley 00:24:14.740 --> 00:24:17.839 said. Scott for scientific method, Amundsen for 00:24:17.839 --> 00:24:20.720 speed and efficiency. But when disaster strikes 00:24:20.720 --> 00:24:23.099 and all hope is gone, get down on your knees 00:24:23.099 --> 00:24:24.819 and pray for Shackleton. That gives me chills. 00:24:24.980 --> 00:24:27.019 It's the acknowledgement that when the plan goes 00:24:27.019 --> 00:24:29.480 out the window, you don't want the guy who follows 00:24:29.480 --> 00:24:32.220 the rulebook. You want the guy who can improvise. 00:24:32.299 --> 00:24:34.819 And his legacy has been very tangible recently. 00:24:35.079 --> 00:24:38.200 In 2022, the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust 00:24:38.200 --> 00:24:40.599 found the wreck of the Endurance. It was 3 ,000 00:24:40.599 --> 00:24:43.210 meters down in the Weddell Sea. And it looked 00:24:43.210 --> 00:24:46.269 pristine. I saw the photos. The cold water preserved 00:24:46.269 --> 00:24:48.430 it. You can still read the name on the stern. 00:24:48.589 --> 00:24:50.930 It's incredible. The Antarctic waters don't have 00:24:50.930 --> 00:24:52.869 the wood -eating worms that destroy ships elsewhere. 00:24:53.210 --> 00:24:55.970 It looks like it sank yesterday. And just recently, 00:24:56.109 --> 00:24:59.849 in June 2024, they found the wreck of the quest, 00:25:00.029 --> 00:25:02.569 his final ship, off the coast of Newfoundland. 00:25:02.690 --> 00:25:05.650 Wow. So even the physical remnants of his life 00:25:05.650 --> 00:25:08.509 are resurfacing. It's keeping the story alive. 00:25:08.789 --> 00:25:11.940 It feels like he's still with us, in a way. So 00:25:11.940 --> 00:25:14.099 bringing this all back to the listener, what 00:25:14.099 --> 00:25:16.200 does this mean for us? We aren't stuck on ice 00:25:16.200 --> 00:25:19.460 flows, hopefully, but we all face failures. We 00:25:19.460 --> 00:25:21.819 all have projects that sink. Shackleton teaches 00:25:21.819 --> 00:25:24.440 us that the goal isn't the only thing. He failed 00:25:24.440 --> 00:25:27.500 at the pole. He failed at the crossing. But he 00:25:27.500 --> 00:25:29.480 succeeded at the human element. He brought his 00:25:29.480 --> 00:25:31.579 people home. That was his real success. That 00:25:31.579 --> 00:25:35.240 was his true north. He realized that a live donkey 00:25:35.240 --> 00:25:37.930 is better than a dead lion. It's a lesson in 00:25:37.930 --> 00:25:40.730 redefining success. Sometimes success is just 00:25:40.730 --> 00:25:43.069 surviving the storm with your humanity intact. 00:25:43.470 --> 00:25:46.930 And looking at your own failed projects, maybe 00:25:46.930 --> 00:25:48.769 the business that didn't launch or the career 00:25:48.769 --> 00:25:52.250 path that dead -ended, and asking, did I get 00:25:52.250 --> 00:25:54.470 the people out alive? Did I learn? Was there 00:25:54.470 --> 00:25:56.869 a success hidden inside the failure? Exactly. 00:25:57.170 --> 00:25:59.410 Shackleton proves that you can lose the ship, 00:25:59.609 --> 00:26:01.970 lose the money, lose the race, and still win 00:26:01.970 --> 00:26:04.049 the history books if you lead with empathy and 00:26:04.049 --> 00:26:07.430 resilience. A fascinating figure. A failure and 00:26:07.430 --> 00:26:10.450 a legend. Sir Ernest Shackleton. That's it for 00:26:10.450 --> 00:26:12.710 this deep dive. But before we go, I want to leave 00:26:12.710 --> 00:26:15.279 you with one thought to mull over. We mentioned 00:26:15.279 --> 00:26:17.740 the third man, that presence that guided them 00:26:17.740 --> 00:26:20.259 across the mountains. We usually dismiss it as 00:26:20.259 --> 00:26:22.839 hallucination or stress. But in a world that 00:26:22.839 --> 00:26:26.299 is increasingly data driven and logical, Shackleton's 00:26:26.299 --> 00:26:28.859 story reminds us that there is a spiritual, almost 00:26:28.859 --> 00:26:32.319 mystical component to human endurance. When we 00:26:32.319 --> 00:26:34.339 are at our absolute limit, when we have exhausted 00:26:34.339 --> 00:26:36.660 all our resources, do we tap into something else? 00:26:36.700 --> 00:26:38.799 Was it just brain chemistry or was it the ultimate 00:26:38.799 --> 00:26:41.480 manifestation of the will to live? Something 00:26:41.480 --> 00:26:43.180 to think about next time you're pushing through 00:26:43.180 --> 00:26:45.549 your own. impossible journey thanks for listening 00:26:45.549 --> 00:26:46.670 we'll catch you on the next dive