TED on Tuesday: Curiosity, Cinema, and a Trek to the South Pole

Last week in my regular TED on Tuesday post, Ben Saunders -  Trek to The North Pole or Stay at Home? I featured two inspiring talks by Ben Saunders, an English adventurer who has pushed his body to the limits while trekking to both the North and South Poles. In that post I only included his TED Talk recounting his trek on skis to the North Pole. In todays post I have decided to include his talk recounting the extreme challenges he and his companion faced trekking to the South Pole

To the South Pole and Back [17.00]

This year, explorer Ben Saunders attempted his most ambitious trek yet. He set out to complete Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s failed 1912 polar expedition — a four-month, 1,800-mile round trip journey from the edge of Antarctica to the South Pole and back. In the first talk given after his adventure, just five weeks after his return, Saunders offers a raw, honest look at this “hubris”-tinged mission that brought him to the most difficult decision of his life.

More Information

At TED: To The South Pole and Back... 

Online: Home: bensaunders.com  Wikipedia: Ben Saunders  Twitter: @polarben

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TED on Tuesday: Curiosity and Cinema: The Story of “The Eagle Huntress”

The second talk is by Otto Bell, the film maker behind the highly successful documentary, The Eagle Huntress. My review of this film, At The Movies: The Eagle Huntress, has been quite popular since I first posted it, and I thought readers would be interested to learn the story behind the film from the director himself.

In this TEDx talk at Wake Forest University, Otto Bell explains just how curious he was about the Kazakh culture and why he felt the need to document the Kazakh way of life.

Bell is the director of more than 15 documentary films, which have taken him all over the world. Most recently, he directed “The Eagle Huntress,” a documentary about a 13-year-old Mongolian girl who challenges the male-dominated Kazakh tradition of male eagle hunters. This film, which won eight awards and 18 nominations, is being remade as an animated feature at 20th Century Fox, and was recently named to the Oscar documentary feature shortlist. Bell holds and maintains a Green Card for “Outstanding Contribution to American Arts and Media.” 

This talk was given at a TEDx event at Wake Forest University using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

TED on Tuesday: Ben Saunders - Trek to The North Pole or Stay at Home?

Ben Saunders is one of those all too rare individuals who has taken life ‘by the horns’, to use a well-known phrase, and pushed his mind, body and spirit to what the rest of us would consider to be the limits of human endurance. To Ben Saunders, his monumental treks to both the North and South Poles were about testing himself and his ability to live his life to its fullest.

The two TED talks below complement each other well. The first talk, Why did I ski to the North Pole?, was filmed in 2005, the year following this successful venture. In the second TED talk, Why bother leaving the house?, recorded in 2012, Saunders explains the reasons for embarking on his epic Arctic and Antarctic treks.

There are lessons in both these talks for everyone, and maybe the most important one of all is that we are all capable of far more than we have ever allowed ourselves to image. It is certainly true that the vast majority of the human race uses just a fraction of the huge potential inherent in each of us—and yes, I am including myself in this assessment.

Ben Saunders urges audiences to consider carefully how to spend the “tiny amount of time we each have on this planet.” And while we may never aspire to push ourselves to the same limits that Saunders has tested his own abilities, I hope these talks will inspire you (as they have me), to challenge yourself to do, and be more than you ever thought you could possibly be.

Ben Saunders is an explorer of limits, whether it's how far a human can be pushed physically and psychologically, or how technology works hundreds of miles from civilization, his message is one of inspiration, empowerment and boundless potential.

“Humbly framed as the ambitious undertakings of an ardent athlete, [Ben's treks offer] visceral first-hand accounts of just how much things are changing in the Arctic -- the 'barometer of global climate change.'” — Worldchanging.com

At TED: https://www.ted.com/talks/ben_saunders_skis_to_the_north_pole

At TED: https://www.ted.com/talks/ben_saunders_why_bother_leaving_the_house

Home: bensaunders.com  Wikipedia: Ben Saunders  Twitter: @polarben