Captain Frederick Cook was the first person to reach the North Pole by ship in the early twentieth century. At least, that’s what he claimed when he got home. But the critical journalist Philip Gibbs didn’t believe it, and wrote it – carefully at first and soon bluntly – in the newspaper. Because what evidence was there? Had anyone ever seen that? Gibbs’ arguments quickly turned vicious: after all, the sweat on his brow had to show that Cook was lying! And did you see how skittish his eyes looked? The second to last episode of Cautionary Tales describes the emergence of polarization, with a social discussion that literally concerned a pole. It is typical for the podcast that approaches reality almost like a fairy tale.
A version of this article also appeared in the newspaper on September 2, 2023.