It’s fair to call University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysicist Carl Benson one of the school’s superstars. A veteran of World War II, he joined the university in 1960. His former student and now colleague and friend Matthew Sturm and I decided to capture some of Carl’s memories this past summer. Over five conversations, at first by phone and then Zoom, what emerged was an arresting portrait, not just of one researcher but of how science in the North has changed. This is the first in a periodic series of shows based on those conversations.

I also want to mention that Matthew has a new book out from UA Press – A Field Guide to Snow. I plan to talk separately with Matthew about it in the near future.

Finally, Chris Lott in Katexic Clippings explores the claim that Eskimos have fifty words for snow.