In a special holiday episode, we travel to the Russian Arctic to meet the "prophet of the permafrost", take an extraterrestrial hike in the tracks of NASA’s Curiosity rover on Mars and meet the researchers cataloguing culture. Kenneth Cukier hosts 

Please subscribe to The Economist for full access to print, digital and audio editions:

www.economist.com/podcastoffer

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.