Simon Winchester’s Atlantic World

British author and journalist Simon Winchester is currently researching a new book, which he calls a “biography of the Atlantic Ocean.” And as his research takes him to weird and wonderful parts of the globe, he’s been checking in with us. From the Purple Islands off the coast city of Essaouira in Morocco, to the Sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia, you can revisit Simon’s Atlantic ports of call right here.

Seal colony on Namibia's Skeleton Coast

April 6th, 2009
Simon Winchester’s latest postcard reached us from a perilous stretch of coastline in southern Africa. Cold offshore ocean currents produce dense fog, and a harsh and steady wind drives the surf. That makes going ashore here next to impossible Over the centuries, more than a thousand ships have tried, only to end up smashed on the rocks.

Simon Winchester on the Skeleton Coast (photo gallery)

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South Georgia mountains

March 12th, 2009
In March Simon Winchester sent an audio postcard from the Sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia, where he follows in the footsteps of explorer Ernest Shackleton in 1916. Shackleton’s ship, The Endurance, had sunk, and with two of his crew, Shackleton rowed and sailed for three weeks in a small open boat, and then walked across the glaciers to the whaling station on South Georgia. His first sight of the station, when he knew that at last he and his men would be safe, was a momentous occasion, and Simon Winchester tells us more from the very spot where Shackleton first saw the station:

Simon Winchester on South Georgia (photo gallery)

March 5th, 2009
Anchor Lisa Mullins speaks with Simon Winchester about the Falkland Islands. Winchester visited the British territory 27 years after the United Kingdom and Argentina fought a war over these islands in the South Atlantic. He reflects on the what life is like on this remote Atlantic outpost then (1982) and now.

March 2nd, 2009
This time Winchester sends us an audio postcard from an island that inspired Shakespeare.

Simon Winchester in Morocco: photo Setsuko Winchester

February 2nd, 2009
The Purple Islands (or Iles Purpuraires) played a big role in the history of the Atlantic Ocean dating back as far as the ancient Phoenician civilization. Simon Winchester explains all in an audio postcard that’s postmarked the Purple Islands: