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Adventure, Biography, History, Journalism, Non Fiction, Writers on Writing

May 27: Triumph, Tragedy, and History’s Greatest Arctic Rescue with Buddy Levy

May 27, 2026

“Gripping account of a fatal polar adventure.” ~ Kirkus Reviews

Realm of Ice and Sky with author Buddy Levy

National Outdoor Book Award winner Buddy Levy returns to Conversations Live with Vicki St. Clair, and takes us somewhere few people have survived to describe.

Realm of Ice and Sky: Triumph, Tragedy, History’s Greatest Arctic Rescue isn’t just a polar adventure. As Buddy explains, this is the history of an idea. The audacious, dangerous dream of reaching the North Pole by airship. If it worked, it would mark a seismic shift in exploration – out with dog sleds and frostbitten toes, and in with airborne travel.

Spoiler alert: The Arctic had other plans.

We explore a nearly forgotten chapter of history: A dramatic 19th-century rescue mission that pushed three extraordinary explorers to the edge of human endurance. We follow their journeys, hubris, heartbreak, and barely-believable heroism. And Buddy shares how he stitched these lost stories together into narrative that reads like a thriller.

P.S. Hear our previous conversation on Buddy’s earlier book, Empire of Ice and Stone here.

Meet Buddy Levy

Buddy Levy is the author of nine books. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, NPR, and USA Today. TV audiences may know him from 25 episodes of HISTORY Channel’s Brad Meltzer’s DECODED, or as an on-camera expert in The Frontiersmen: The Men Who Built America, the four-part HISTORY series executive produced by Leonardo DiCaprio.

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Adventure, Exploration, Historical, Non Fiction, Writers on Writing

Feb 19: Outdoor Adventure Author Buddy Levy with Realm of Ice & Sky

February 19, 2025

Triumph, Tragedy, and History’s Greatest Arctic Rescue

Realm of Ice and Sky with author Buddy Levy

Winner of 2023’s National Outdoor Book Award, Buddy Levy, returns to Conversations Live with Vicki St. Clair, this time to talk about his latest Arctic survival book, Realm of Ice and Sky: Triumph, Tragedy, and History’s Greatest Arctic Rescue.

  • “The gripping account of a fatal polar adventure. Hair-raising suffering and heroism in the Arctic.” ~ Kirkus Reviews

Levy says it’s not the history of one voyage. It’s the history of one TYPE of voyage – trying to reach the north pole airborne, in an airship. If successful, it would signal a changing of the guard – from dog and sled travel, to the new technology of airborne travel.

We explore “the greatest Arctic rescue” – a dramatic, nearly forgotten 19th-century mission that tested human resilience, ingenuity, and survival in one of the most unforgiving environments on Earth. We also discuss the journeys of the three key explorers; their challenges, failures, and successes. And Buddy shares how he pieced together these 19th century adventures to make a riveting story.

Meet Buddy Levy

Buddy Levy is the author of nine books including Realm of Ice and Sky, and Empire of Ice and Stone: The True Story of the Canadian Arctic Expedition That Went Horribly Wrong. [Hear that PODCAST.] His work has been featured or reviewed in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, NPR, USA Today, The Washington Post, and many other outlets. He was the co-star, for 25 episodes, on HISTORY Channel’s hit docuseries Brad Meltzer’s DECODED. In 2018 he was an on-camera expert on the 4-part TV Series THE FRONTIERSMEN: The Men Who Built America (HISTORY, Executive Producer Leonardo Di Caprio).

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