Over the quiet first months of the pandemic, when gyms were shut down and I began taking long rambling walks, I grew to enjoy listening to podcasts. Freakonomics is one of my regulars and not long ago, there was a fascinating three part series on the whaling industry. From the beginnings in Nantucket, the sociology of the crews, the tools and methods and how those changed, to whale research and what’s going on currently.
Anyhoo, I found it engaging enough to think about a day trip to Nantucket (just 90 minutes by ferry from the Cape). Then I read an article about how the island is now ruled by billionaires crashing their boats and fighting over the best seating in restaurants. Nantucket didn’t seem so charming after all. But Judi suggested that a visit to New Bedford and its Whaling Museum might be a saner choice. (See Grubb’s post “Apologies to Moby”.)
Really, this is a long winded way of saying if you want to get more insights into whales and whaling and aren’t going to be in New Bedford anytime soon, try the Freakonomics podcast, Episodes 550, 551, 552, plus on bonus episode with an interview with a modern whaler.