Explore: A Canadian Geographic podcast

NOTE: This special episode of Explore is being re-released to mark an important moment in Canadian history: the original 1670 Hudson’s Bay Company Royal Charter is being sold at auction. But thanks to a joint purchase by the Thomson and Weston families, the charter will remain in Canada, ensuring this remarkable artifact of colonial history stays in public handsIn 2020, the Hudson’s Bay Company marked its 350th anniversary. At this time, podcast host David McGuffin headed deep into the HBC vault with Amelia Fay, curator of the HBC Collection at the Manitoba Museum. Together, they unpacked the story and the symbolism of the Royal Charter granted by King Charles II in 1670, a document that established what was then known as “The Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading into Hudson’s Bay.”Fay describes the charter in vivid detail, from its shimmering vellum pages to its exceptional state of preservation, and explains how this corporate decree laid out the governance structures and sweeping territorial claims that would shape the future of northern North America. Their conversation explores the charter’s complex legacy: how it empowered the HBC to act as a government, shaped settlement and trade across a vast section of the continent and how it is inseparable from the Doctrine of Discovery and the harmful concept of terra nullius, both of which displaced and ignored the sovereignty of Indigenous nations.With the charter now back in the public spotlight (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/hbc-charter-joint-bid-sale-9.7000626#:~:text=Bid%20by%20Thomson%2C%20Weston%20families,donation%20for%20preservation%2C%20Indigenous%20consultation&text=Two%20of%20Canada's%20richest%20businessmen,source%20confirmed%20to%20CBC%20News.) through its historic sale, this episode offers timely context on why the document remains both foundational and deeply problematic, and why understanding its legacy is essential to understanding Canada today.

Few Canadians have been closer to the front lines of global climate action than Catherine McKenna, Canada’s former Environment Minister. And this week on Explore, she opens up about what she’s learned from the fight.Joining podcast host David McGuffin, McKenna discusses her new book Run Like a Girl: A Memoir of Ambition, Resilience, and Fighting for Change. She reflects on how a childhood insult became a personal rallying cry, how competitive swimming shaped her approach to tough political battles and what it actually felt like inside the high-pressure rooms of the Paris climate negotiations. McKenna also talks frankly about online abuse targeting women in public life and why she remains a realistic optimist about climate action.Speaking candidly about the online harassment she faced, including being dismissed as “Climate Barbie” by a Conservative MP in 2017, and why these experiences only strengthened her commitment to supporting women in public life. Despite the noise, she remains a realist and an optimist about where climate action can go next.McKenna served as Canada’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change from 2015 to 2019 and Minister of Infrastructure and Communities from 2019 to 2021, helping negotiate the Paris Agreement and introducing Canada’s first national climate plan. An honorary RCGS Fellow, she is now the founder and CEO of Climate and Nature Solutions (https://www.climateandnature.com/), leads Women Leading on Climate (https://www.womenleadingonclimate.org/) and chairs a UN expert group advising the Secretary-General on credible net-zero commitments.Run Like a Girl is her first book, and, as listeners will hear, the culmination of a career spent pushing for a better, faster, fairer climate future.

On this episode of Explore, host David McGuffin is joined by Arctic explorer and elementary school teacher Dave Greene. Earlier this year, Greene completed his fourth RCGS-flagged expedition (https://canadiangeographic.ca/podcasts/canoeing-across-the-arctic-with-dave-greene/) across northern Quebec’s Ungava Peninsula. As the leader of this ski expedition, Greene shares his experience, traversing the harsh landscape alongside teammates Chris Giard and Lee Fraser.Skiing hundreds of kilometres through -40°Celsius temperatures, the goal of the expedition was to reach the spectacular Pingualuit Crater, a 450-million-year-old meteor impact site. Greene shares stories of extreme cold, frostbite, whiteouts and life above the tree line, as well as the moments of awe and resilience that define Arctic travel.As a Nova Scotia teacher and a new CanGeo Education board representative, Greene also brought the expedition into the classroom, connecting students to Canada’s North with live updates, weather tracking and daily Arctic haikus.Follow Greene on Instagram @greeneradventures (https://www.instagram.com/greeneradventures/)

In this episode of Explore, podcast host David McGuffin speaks with Canadian climber and expedition leader Shira Biner, who led the first female-plus team to establish a new 600-metre route on Eglinton Tower in the remote fjords of Baffin Island. Biner recounts the 2025 expedition, which was partly funded by The Nat Gillis Adventure Photography Expedition Grant awarded by the Royal Canadian Geographical Society.Over 29 days, the team travelled entirely under human power, skiing 150 kilometres across Arctic sea ice with teammates Kelly Fields, Heather Smallpage and Nathalie Afonina to reach the towering granite walls of Eglinton Fjord.From navigating crevassed ice and polar-bear country to sleeping on narrow ledges high above the fjord, Biner shares the physical and emotional demands of exploratory climbing at the edge of the world.Through her work as an expedition leader and a climber, Biner explores the intersection of human-powered travel, alpine climbing and geographic discovery. Based in Squamish, B.C., she approaches mountaineering as both an athletic pursuit and a form of storytelling. In 2023, Biner received an RCGS Expedition Grant to support an alpine rock-climbing journey on the east coast of Baffin Island. In 2025, she received the RCGS Nat Gillis Adventure Photography & Expedition Grant, recognizing her leadership and visual storytelling in the North.Topics covered:* The 2025 Baffin Island expedition and first female-plus ascent of Eglinton Tower* Skiing and hauling gear 150 kilometres across Arctic sea ice* Climbing with Kelly Fields, Heather Smallpage and Nathalie Afonina* Team dynamics, leadership and risk management in remote climbing* The legacy of the late Natalie Gillis and women-led exploration* Why human-powered travel remains central to adventure and storytelling

“From 1875 to 1975, there were 6,000 shipwrecks on the Great Lakes — one a week for a century. Everyone remembers one: the