He Woke Up Naked Beside a Polar Bear

Danish explorer Peter Freuchen and his family huddled in a Greenland cave to escape a brutal blizzard in the eatly 1900's. The temperature was thirty degrees below zero. They weren't alone—a polar bear had also sought shelter from the storm. What happened next, according to Freuchen's own account, reveals a moment of pure survival. But the real survival story—the one that actually kept them alive—is nothing like what made Freuchen famous. 00:34 Podcast Intro Setup 02:06 Meet Peter Freuchen 02:27 Copenhagen To Greenland 04:47 Building Thule Trading Post 05:25 Navarana Survival Skills 07:43 Family Expedition Begins 09:34 Blizzard And Cave Shelter 11:28 Polar Bear In The Cave 14:34 Chaos Dogs And Gunshot 16:23 Aftermath And Legend 17:09 Poop Chisel MacGyver Tale 20:37 Navarana Credit And Loss 21:29 Freuchen Later Life Outro

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REFERENCES 

1. Freuchen, Peter. Vagrant Viking (1953)
2. Freuchen, Peter. Arctic Adventure: My Life in the Frozen North (1935)
3. Freuchen, Peter. Book of the Eskimos (1961)
4. Freuchen, Peter. I Sailed with Rasmussen (1958)
5. Wikipedia: Peter Freuchen
6. Kottke.org: Peter Freuchen Profile
7. MeatEater Conservation: "Did Explorer Peter Freuchen Save His Life with a Poop Chisel?"
8. Whether Magazine: "A Frozen Foot and a Fecal Chisel: Life and Times of Peter Freuchen"
9. Badass of the Week: Peter Freuchen
10. Arctic Relations: "Peter Freuchen—The Colonial Adventurer"
11. Field Ethos: "Shit Gets Real in the Arctic: Peter Freuchen"
12. Nunatsiaq News: "Peter Freuchen's Escape from Death"
13. The Vintage News: "Peter Freuchen: A Danish Explorer"
14. Natural Habitat Adventures: "Meet the Intrepid Women Who Inspired Our Expedition Camps"
15. AnOther Magazine: "The Remarkable Life of Peter Freuchen"

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