In mid to late 1500s Dutch navigator and respected cartographer Willem Barentsz looked at how explorers were trying to get to India by sailing around Africa or sailing west only to hit the Americas, but Barentsz looked to the north of Europe and figured he could close the gap by simply sailing through the North Pole waters. 

While on a paper map it looks like a great idea, but in a very real spherical world that doesn't work out so well. Nothing behaves as it should. Ice has a mind of it's own, polar bears are shockingly hard to deal with, the cold makes everything made of metal super weak, and it's not uncommon for your ship to get stuck for months on end. 

So come join Ed and Kara as they discuss the early days of human exploration of the oceans where Murphy's Law says, "Hold my beer and watch this..." as Barentsz and crew set out to redefine maritime navigation.