Unfolding Maps

Imagine standing on a mountain, right at the edge of a cliff. Below you, the ground drops steeply. Then you take a step forward— and let yourself fall. You spread your arms and – after a few seconds – begin to fly. This feeling of flight is what many base jumpers and wingsuit flyers yearn for. They risk their lives for these moments of complete freedom, as base jumping and wingsuit flying are among the most dangerous sports in the world. What drives athletes to voluntarily plunge into the depths under such life-threatening conditions? Is it a reckless, selfish pursuit of adrenaline, or a profound desire to feel alive? What fascinates them about this sport? And how do couples cope with the fear for each other’s lives? These questions are explored in the new National Geographic documentary "FLY"—and in this episode of Unfolding Maps. We talk with the Emmy-award-winning directors Shaul Schwarz and Christina Clusiau, who spent seven years documenting three couples immersed in the world of base jumping and wingsuit flying. We also speak with wingsuit athletes Amber Forte and Espen Fadnes. Amber Forte is currently the No. 1 female wingsuit flyer in the world and holds the world record for the fastest woman in a wingsuit. Espen Fadnes is a pioneer in wingsuit base jumping and has won numerous competitions. If you're interested in watching the documentary after this episode and live in the USA, you can find it on Disney+ and Hulu.Production: Miriam Menz Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Steep rock faces, surrounded by vast glaciers and massive icebergs floating far below on the ocean - Greenland's nature is truly unique. Not only in terms of the landscape but also because Greenland’s glaciers and ice caps play a crucial role in climate change. However, exploring their condition can be extremely difficult as they are almost inaccessible due to their remote location. Our two guests in this episode faced this challenge. French glaciologist Dr. Heïdi Sevestre researched the effects of climate change in remote regions of Greenland, supported by a team of scientists and three of the world's best climbers. One of these climbers is Alex Honnold. He gained worldwide fame through the Oscar-winning documentary "Free Solo," which is about his free solo climb of El Capitan in California's Yosemite National Park. His goal in Greenland was to make the first ascent of one of the highest unclimbed rock walls of the world while also contributing to science. Thus, he embarked on a memorable expedition with Heïdi and a team of climbers and local experts. The expedition was documented in the three-part series "Arctic Ascent with Alex Honnold" by National Geographic. In this episode, Alex and Heïdi give us insights into the challenges of a first ascent in Greenland’s rugged nature, the on-site research work, and the impact of climate change on a wilderness which is crucial for the future of the planet.Heïdi's website: https://www.heidisevestre.comAlex's website: http://www.alexhonnold.comThe Three-Part Series premiered on National Geographic and is available for streaming on Hulu and Disney+.Production: Miriam Menz Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What does real success really mean? How can we effectively fight against climate change and for nature? And what to make of the protests of the "last generation"? Jane Goodall, Ph.D., DBE talks about all this and more in this episode of Unfolding Maps. She also reflects on her earliest animal-related childhood memories, explains what growing up during World War II taught her for life, and explains some of the biggest challenges we humans face right now – and where possible solutions lie. So: a wide-ranging conversation with one of the world's foremost behavioral scientists and environmental activists – and a continuation of her first appearance on Unfolding Maps in episode 24, in which she talked about her research in Tanzania and the beginnings of her involvement as an activist. She explained why she is not afraid to work with even perceived opponents, and revealed why she has never lost hope despite the many crises we face around the world. Jane Goodall, Ph.D., DBE is the founder of the Jane Goodall Institute, an internationally recognized animal and conservation organization. She is also a United Nations Messenger of Peace and an honorary member of the World Future Council. In 1991, she founded the non-governmental organization Roots & Shoots to bring together youth from preschool to college age to address environmental, conservation and humanitarian issues. Time Magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Learn more about Dr. Jane Goodall and the work of the Jane Goodall Institute:●     www.janegoodall.global●     www.instagram.com/janegoodallinst/●     www.facebook.com/janegoodallinst Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This time at Unfolding Maps - not a climber, not a cyclist, not a desert photographer, but: Hollywood's most famous and beloved villain! Danny Trejo was shot, stabbed, decapitated, blown up, hanged, flattened by an elevator and lost his life in some even less appetizing ways that I'd rather leave unmentioned here. He's been the record holder as the world's most killed actor for years now - and he's steadily extending his lead. Danny has starred in over 400 films: blockbusters like Machete, Desperado, Heat, From Dusk till dawn, Con Air and Spy Kids, as well as countless B-movies and series like Breaking Bad, Sons of Anarchy and Modern Family. He has the status of a legend in Hollywood. He owns a chain of taco restaurants, his own beer and coffee brands, cafes and donut stores. In L.A., where he was born and lives, he is so popular that there is even an official Danny Trejo Day here. But those successes aren't why we have invited him to Unfolding Maps. Occasionally, we take the liberty of broadening our show's range of topics a bit by not just talking to people who have gotten to know the world through special journeys and expeditions, but to people whose LIFE journey is a very special one. And that definitely applies to Danny Trejo. Because he does not only PLAY the bad guy over and over again, but he WAS that bad guy: He spent his early years on a criminal career full of crime and drug addiction, and he served time in all of California's prisons for years. Eventually, he battled his demons, and upon his release, earned unexpected fame in Hollywood as a bad-boy actor with a heart of gold. Meanwhile, he has worked for decades not only as an actor but also as a drug counselor. In Los Angeles, he is as well known for his work in addiction and rehabilitation as he is for his acting. In the neighborhood of his childhood and youth, which he once terrorized with armed robberies and sheer violence, murals of his face now adorn the facades of entire buildings because people are so proud that he is one of them. It is the ultimate journey from gangster to movie star, a story about a man who changes himself and his destiny. Danny, who is now 78 years old, talks about all of this openly in his autobiography "Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption, and Hollywood” – and in this episode of Unfolding Maps. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this very special episode, we welcome a real survival icon: Bear Grylls has become known worldwide as one of the most recognized faces of survival and outdoor adventure.Trained from a young age in martial arts, Bear went on to spend three years as a soldier in the British Special Forces, as part of the 21 SAS Regiment. It was here that he perfected many of the survival skills that his fans all over the world enjoy, as he pits himself against the worst of Mother Nature.Bear originally starred in Discovery's hit TV series “Man vs. Wild” across seven seasons, before hosting the NBC & National Geographic Channel series “Running Wild with Bear Grylls”. This show has seen him take global stars such as Julia Roberts, Ben Stiller, President Obama & Prime Minister Modi of India on adventures into the wild.Bear has also hosted over six seasons of the BAFTA award-winning Channel 4 series “The Island with Bear Grylls”, as well as the Emmy Award-nominated series Hostile Planet for National Geographic and "You Vs Wild" for Netflix.He has authored 20 books, including the #1 best-selling autobiography “Mud, Sweat & Tears” and the current sequel, “Never give up”.In this episode, Bear and Erik talk about Bear’s very first adventures, the ups and downs of being famous and what being out in the wild can teach us.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“I just think back to that first time I got a proper look at Antarctica: There was something about the simplicity and the beauty and the perfectness of it all that made me want to scoop it all up and somehow contain it in me.” That's a quote from our guest, Polar explorer, Antarctic scientist, author, speaker and expedition leader Felicity Aston MBE. And that is exactly what she did: She preserved Antarctica (and the polar regions) within herself. She spent a continuous period of two and a half years (including two consecutive winters) at Rothera Research Station on the Antarctic Peninsula. These first experiences in Antarctica then led to numerous expeditions to remote places around the world (but particularly to the Polar Regions): She led record-breaking international teams to the North and South Poles, worked on a nuclear-powered icebreaker at the North Pole, led the first British Women’s crossing of Greenland, skied along a frozen river in Siberia, traversed the winter ice of Lake Baikal, raced in the Canadian Arctic, drove 35,000km across Eurasia to the coldest inhabited place in the world … and in 2012 she became the first woman to ski alone across Antarctica. It was a journey of 1744 km that took her 59 days to complete. With this, she set a world record. And she was not only the first woman to master this tour, but also the first person – male or female – to do so alone and with her own muscle power. Felicity reports on her experiences in four books and regularly produces articles for various publications in the UK and abroad. She has been elected Fellow of both the Royal Geographical Society in London and The Explorers Club in New York, and received many more awards.In this episode, she talks about the challenges she had to face during her Antarctic crossing – and the beauty of it all! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode the tables are turned. Instead of asking them, Erik answers questions – such as: What can we learn from travel? How can storytelling change the world? How do we experience adventures and what does that do to us? How can we travel in times of climate change? And what opportunities do we see within the challenges of the current pandemic? A few weeks ago, photographer and filmmaker Bastian Fischer asked Erik such and similar questions for his podcast "Yellow Van Stories". They talked about Erik’s experiences in writing, podcasting, traveling … and much more! ⁠ Thank you very much for the invitation, Bastian! ⁠ Find out more about Yellow Van Stories:https://www.yellowvanstories.com/https://www.instagram.com/yellowvanstories/https://www.facebook.com/yellowvanstories Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

60 years of research on social and family interactions of wild chimpanzees. And decades of commitment to animal welfare and environmental protection. This episode’s guest is the world-famous British ethologist and environmental activist, Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE. Originally, she has been best known for her long-term study of wild chimpanzees in Tanzania in the 1960s. During that study she discovered that chimpanzees make and use tools – a discovery that transformed the way we understand primates and wildlife, and that redefined the relationship between animals and humans. Today, her legacy goes far beyond that. She is the founder of the Jane Goodall Institute, an international animal and environmental protection organization that is widely recognized for its conservation and development programs. She is also a United Nations Messenger of Peace and an honorary member of the World Future Council. And she does not show any signs of slowing down, despite being 87 years old now. If there is no pandemic preventing her from doing so, she travels an average of 300 days per year to advocate for the causes that she believes in, meeting with people from children and youth groups to powerful politicians, striving to promote a new kind of relationship with nature. Time magazine named her as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. In this episode, Dr. Goodall talks about her research in Tanzania and the beginnings of her involvement as an activist. She explains why she is not afraid to work even with supposed opponents, and reveals why she has never lost hope despite the many challenges we face around the world. More information on Dr. Jane Goodall and the work of the Jane Goodall Institute: https://www.janegoodall.org/https://www.instagram.com/janegoodallinst/https://www.facebook.com/janegoodallinst Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Maureen (Mo) Beck was born without her left hand, but that didn’t stop her from starting to climb at the age of 12 – to prove everyone wrong, who thought this sport might not be for her. By now she has won multiple titles, including a gold medal at the 2014 Paraclimbing World Championships in Spain and a gold medal at the 2016 World Championships in Paris. In 2019, Maureen was named one of National Geographic’s Adventurers of the Year.Maureen Beck starred in the 2017 movie “Stumped” which has won numerous awards and toured hundreds of cities all over the world. In the 2019 movie “Adaptive” she went with Jim Ewing – a fellow adaptive climber – on her first alpine expedition to the Northwest Territories in Canada’s Nahanni National Park where they attempted climbing the legendary Lotus Flower Tower in the Cirque of the Unclimbables.www.moinmountains.comwww.instagram.com/mo.in.mountains Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

She was a successful CEO of the clothing manufacturer Patagonia and played a decisive role in building the company. And then left everything behind to move to the wilderness of the actual Patagonia in Chile. For nature conservation – and for love.Our guest in this episode is Kristine Tompkins, an environmentalist and the president of Tompkins Conservation. She has been working tirelessly for three decades to protect the environment. And what she and her late husband Doug Tompkins have achieved is truly amazing.Like Kristine, Doug himself was very successful in the outdoor clothing market in his first life, co-founding the brands "The North Face" and "Esprit".When Kristine and him eventually sold their shares, they began to buy up private land in Chile and Argentina, to restore it at great effort, to combine it into protected areas, and to finally hand it over to the government as national parks to protect this land forever.Thanks to the work of Kristine and Doug, new national parks with an area larger than that of the whole of Switzerland have been established in Chile alone. The couple is considered as some of the most successful national park-oriented philanthropists in history.Currently, Kristine – as President of Tompkins Conservation – is overseeing a number of projects in Chile and Argentina aimed at creating even more national parks and reserves and halting the extinction of species by reintroducing native species that are threatened or locally extinct – such as the jaguar. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sitting in a snow-covered tent, surrounded by a pretty harsh environment where no horizon can be seen, in the arctic circle. Cooking with reindeer blood and learning the fascinating Sami language.Photographer Erika Larsen experienced all this when she lived with the Sami people in Scandinavia for a total of four years. She had been looking for people who lived in unity with nature and were able to interpret “their” landscapes for the rest of the world. Erika was able to gain unprecedented access into the lives, work and culture of the Sami community.Her monograph ‘Sami-Walking with Reindeer’, a reflection of her time living in the Scandinavian Arctic, was published in 2013.Erikas work has been shown all over the world, for instance in the National Geographic magazine, the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery in Washington and the United States Embassy in Oslo. In 2020 she was the Eliza Scidmore Award recipient for immersive storytelling.What did she learn about Sami culture? And what does the oldest tradition in the world - storytelling - mean to her? That's what she talks about in this episode. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

(Rerelease of previously published Weltwach episode.) Eric Adams is world famous as the singer of the legendary American heavy metal band Manowar. Besides music however, another passion shapes his life: his love for nature, wildlife and hunting.This is what this episode of Weltwach is about: Eric Adams tells how his father once showed him the wilderness for the very first time, remembers his most curious hunting experiences and talks about the quiet magic of a dawning day in the forest. He also discusses with Erik Lorenz what he understands as responsible hunting – and which memories are most dear to him when thinking back to his four decades-long career with Manowar. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.