In 1910, a group of inexperienced gold miners bet two cents that they could reach the top of Mount McKinley

In 1910, four Alaskan gold miners set out to climb the highest peak in North America just to show that it could be done. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll tell the surprising story of the Sourdough Expedition, a mountaineering effort that one modern climber calls "superhuman by today's standards."

We'll also hear about a ghoulish tourist destination and puzzle over why a painter would blame himself for World War II.

Show notes

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