380. Captain Cook: History’s Greatest Explorer

The greatest sea explorer of all time, James Cook was born to a humble Yorkshire family, and first stood out for his talents as a cartographer for the Royal Navy in Newfoundland. He would go on to lead three epic voyages to the Pacific during the 18th century, as part of history’s first ever scientific research team, accompanied by Joseph Banks, two cats, a dog and a goat. First sent to track the transit of Venus, he would go on to encounter a new continent, Terra Australis… Join Tom and Dominic in the first part of our series on Captain Cook, as they explore the life of a man who embodied the tensions and complexity of the Enlightenment, and its relationship with the wider world.

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Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

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