New Series – RGS Presents: The Future of Exploration
How is exploration changing? Why does it matter now more than ever before?
The Royal Geographical Society's new podcast series asks what it means to explore in a rapidly changing world. Across ten episodes, host Matt Pycroft interviews a leading thinker, scientist or explorer to examine the practical and the philosophical questions that define modern discovery.
Episodes are released every two weeks starting Tuesday 30 June 2026.
RGS Presents: The Future of Exploration is available in both audio and video formats on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Audible, Amazon or wherever you get your podcasts.
Episode 1 - Bruce Parry
Renowned explorer, documentarian and Indigenous rights advocate Bruce Parry joins host Matt Pycroft to explore how the meaning of exploration is shifting in a time of environmental crisis and increasing global connection.
Release date: Monday 15 June exclusively on YouTube. Tuesday 30 June on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
Episode 2 - Tom Allen
What does it mean to explore a world that already feels mapped? In this conversation, Tom Allen, explorer, author, and the Society’s current Expeditions and Fieldwork Manager, frames the future of exploration as curiosity in action – the ongoing practice of looking closer, asking better questions, and sharing what we find.
Release date: Tuesday 30 June on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
Episode 3 - Oliver Steeds
How much of our own planet have we truly explored? Ocean explorer Oliver Steeds explains why we’ve discovered only a fraction of life beneath the waves, and why understanding it may be critical to tackling climate change, protecting biodiversity and securing the future of our planet.
Release date: Tuesday 14 July on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
Next live recording - Tim Marshall
On Wednesday 29 July, award-winning journalist and author Tim Marshall joins Matt Pycroft for a live recording at the Society. In this conversation, attention turns beyond Earth, exploring the emerging geopolitics of space.
As nations and private companies race to expand their presence beyond our planet, what does exploration mean in this new frontier?
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