“It is about reconnecting people with nature and make them feel, because you only fight for what you love. This planet is our home and it is the only home we have. If we fuck this up we have no where else to go. What makes the arctic so special is that is where you see global warming first and you see it very clear. The message and the image is very simple; when ice turns to water – even a child understands that. And then on top of the Arctic food chain you have this beautiful, amazing creature, the King of the Arctic: the Polar bear. The most powerful being on the planet – but at the same time the most vulnerable”
I stumbled upon a fantastic Instagram account about two years ago. Enchanting pictures of the majestic polar bear in the unique and threatened arctic regions north of Svalbard. The account belonged to producer Fredrik Granath and after a while I decided to contact him – and when we finally got the chance to meet up in Stockholm we sat down to record this interview at the acast studio.
Both me and Fredrik are Swedish but since most of the work he is doing together with his German partner Melissa Schäfer is in English and since the majority of their audience is international we decided to do it all in English. And quite frankly: their mission concerns the entire planet.
We talk a bit about Fredriks upbringing, moving from the nothern countryside to Stockholm, starting a prestigious life as an Adman and about leaving all of that life behind him. About reconnecting and finding something new as he went snorkeling with Orcas in northern Norway. About life on the ice, about our future on this planet and a Polar bears sense of humour.
> All photos © Melissa Schäfer
If you still don’t use the acast podcast app this episode might be a good reason to give it a try since I will post some of Melissa and Fredriks amazing photos from Svalbard during the interview.
Check out the previous publication Vanishing World: The Endangered Arctic.
If you like this interview please check out the rest of the Husky International series such as an interview with freeskier Jackie Paaso, with american runner Max King, with The North Face athletes David Göttler, Jez Bragg and Simone Moro, with legend Gary Fischer, or Lebanese adventurer Maxime Chaya.
Please subscribe to the podcast Husky, or the Husky International series, in your favourite podcast app. If you are using acast you will be rewarded with pictures, links and videos while listening to the interview.
Husky is produced with support from Naturkompaniet and the new Holiday Club Åre.
Cover photo © Melissa Schäfer / hubbaproductions.com
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