what was the jeannette expedition? i did a shift here because as a historian and as an american and someone who fancies himself as a bit of an aficionado of expiration narratives i came out of the background of working for outside magazine for years and years i thought i never heard of this thing the jeannette expedition. it's completely obscure today and along the commander i think if he think if you pulled one of the people you might get one person who has heard of him. historians are constantly looking for the stories that were consequential in their time but are kind of exterior and this fit perfectly. >> host: who is george washington to long? >> guest: george washington delong was the commander of the uss jeannette. he was very ambitious and made a name for himself with an earlier exploration into greenland. he had been able to convince the "playboy" publisher of the "new york herald tribune," excuse me the new york herald who leaders become "herald tribune" to fund this expedition. james gordon bennett the publi