Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Erling Kagge discusses his expeditions to the North Pole, the South Pole, and the top of Mount Everest, and what these adventures taught him about living a good life.
Do we all need a bit more silence in our daily lives?
We tend to look for ways to make our lives easier. But explorer and philosopher Erling Kagge argues one way to find meaning is to deliberately make your life harder. He has lived out this philosophy by being the first to walk alone and unsupported to the South Pole, the first to walk unsupported to the North Pole, and, having climbed Everest, the first to reach all three on foot. In this interview, he explains the origins of gratitude, talks about his encounter with a polar bear, and explains what he learnt from 50 days of silence in Antarctica.
#adventure #northpole #philosophy #polarbear #climbing
Erling Kagge is a Norwegian explorer, philosopher, and writer who has spent his life testing the limits of the physical world and human mind. He is the first person in history to reach the North Pole, South Pole and the summit of Mount Everest on foot. He has also sailed across the Atlantic twice, rounded Cape Horn, and sailed to Antarctica and back.
After his record-breaking feat, Kagge founded a publishing house which went on to acquire one of Norway's oldest publishing companies. In 2021, Kagge sold his publishing company and in 2025 he left his position as publisher. His writing on exploration and philosophy has appeared in the Financial Times, The New York Times, and the Guardian.
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Erling Kagge discusses his expeditions to the North Pole, the South Pole, and the top of Mount Everest, and what these adventures taught him about living a good life.
Do we all need a bit more silence in our daily lives?
We tend to look for ways to make our lives easier. But explorer and philosopher Erling Kagge argues one way to find meaning is to deliberately make your life harder. He has lived out this philosophy by being the first to walk alone and unsupported to the South Pole, the first to walk unsupported to the North Pole, and, having climbed Everest, the first to reach all three on foot. In this interview, he explains the origins of gratitude, talks about his encounter with a polar bear, and explains what he learnt from 50 days of silence in Antarctica.
#adventure #northpole #philosophy #polarbear #climbing
Erling Kagge is a Norwegian explorer, philosopher, and writer who has spent his life testing the limits of the physical world and human mind. He is the first person in history to reach the North Pole, South Pole and the summit of Mount Everest on foot. He has also sailed across the Atlantic twice, rounded Cape Horn, and sailed to Antarctica and back.
After his record-breaking feat, Kagge founded a publishing house which went on to acquire one of Norway's oldest publishing companies. In 2021, Kagge sold his publishing company and in 2025 he left his position as publisher. His writing on exploration and philosophy has appeared in the Financial Times, The New York Times, and the Guardian.
The Institute of Art and Ideas features videos and articles from cutting edge thinkers discussing the ideas that are shaping the world, from metaphysics to string theory, technology to democracy, aesthetics to genetics. Subscribe today! iai.tv/subscribe?utm_source=YouTube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=erling-kagge-studio
For debates and talks: iai.tv
For articles: iai.tv/articles
For courses: iai.tv/iai-academy/courses
