Hear all about an expedition to the Arctic Circle and how actually quite silly our brain is – meet the online storytellers

Ever wanted to know what it would be like to sail to the Arctic Circle, or have a fascination with transportation? Or what about a bit closer to home, delving into the intricacies of our brain without all the sugar-coating? Boundless’ online events line-up has got it all.

From an ambitious expedition to the Arctic Circle to a more realistic look at our brain and all its quirks (and mistakes), Boundless’ line-up of online events in the coming months will introduce you to a plethora of interesting individuals with tales to tell.

From the awe-inspiring to the imparting of knowledge, as ever there really is something for everyone. With cooler months surely on the horizon, book on to our upcoming online events and curl up for some diverse subject matters as we close out the year.

Hear the inspiring story behind sailor Ella Hibbert’s bid to complete the first solo circumnavigation of the Arctic Circle

Ella HibbertIn 2025, yachtsmaster Ella Hibbert became the first British woman (and just the 15th person in history) to sail the Northwest Passage around the north coast of Canada, singlehanded.

This summer she’s aiming to take her yacht, Yeva, from Alaska to the UK via the top of Russia and Norway. If she completes this epic voyage through the Northeast Passage, she’ll become the first sailor ever to circumnavigate the Arctic Circle solo.

It will be a colossal achievement but also one tinged with sadness, seeing as Ella’s journey would have been impossible were it not for increased melting of polar ice caused by global warming. In fact, highlighting the impact of climate change was one of her prime motivations for embarking on the expedition.

Ella Hibbert“I had wanted to attempt a non-stop circumnavigation [of the Arctic Circle] in a single season to prove how much the ice has declined and how much more accessible it’s becoming,” says Ella. “From the beginning I said that it would be a bittersweet record to hold because it feels like the whole thing shouldn’t be celebrated at all.”

She was forced to cut last year’s expedition short, when Yeva flooded off the coast of Iceland, sparking an electrical fire on board a few days later. “That caused me to pull into port on an island called Grimsey, which is right on the Arctic Circle,” Ella explains. “Once I decided to no longer pursue it as a non-stop circumnavigation, it meant I could stop off in more communities, and learn more about the lives of the people who live there and call it home. It’s given the campaign, the documentary and, hopefully, the book that might come out of this a bigger perspective than if it was just the sailing adventure I thought it was going to be.”

Along the way, she’s helping to map the sea bed, while also raising money for Polar Bears International and Ocean Conservancy – when the voyage is over, Ella intends to auction off Yeva for charity.

Ella HibbertShe says the biggest challenge of solo sailing is the sleep deprivation: “Sailors that go around the Southern Ocean in things like the Vendée Globe get to sleep for hours at a time down in the Pacific where there’s nothing to hit. But in the Northwest Passage you're never more than half an hour from the nearest iceberg, sandbank or shore, so anytime my boat is travelling through the water I never sleep for more than 20 minutes at a time. I can maintain that for about two weeks as long as I’m getting four hours of sleep in any 24-hour segment.”

But Ella’s also had the opportunity to see wonders of nature most of us can only dream of. “I’ve seen polar bears, narwhals and beluga whales,” she says, “and then there was one really stunning night coming over northern Alaska last year. There was phosphorescence all around the boat, turning the water green at the same time as the Northern Lights were green in the sky above. It was the most magical moment. I don't think I’ll experience anything like that twice.”

Watch Ella in the Arctic talking about her adventure at 7pm on 8 December.

Discover the surprising stories behind 31 Inventions That Built Our World with author Jonn Elledge

Having put his own unique spin on geopolitics in the bestselling A History Of The World In 47 Borders, author and journalist Jonn Elledge is turning his attention to the transformative advances that have made urban living possible.

“It was like, ‘Why don’t I do something similar to the borders, but about the modern city?’” Jonn says of the origin story behind 31 Inventions That Built Our World. “I wanted to do something in the same vein, and I liked the idea of it being a book of relatively short essays on short but connected subjects which, when you put them all together, build into something greater. Then it becomes a bigger story about how humanity interacts with the world around it.”

It’s a subject close to Jonn’s heart. He had the Tube map on his wall as a kid, lives by a railway line and, when he worked for New Statesman magazine, he created CityMetric, a site devoted to urban matters.

“I have always been a bit nerdy about transport,” he admits, “and I think that kind of spun out of my fascination with the Tube map as a kid. This is the book I’ve always wanted to write – it’s nerdy stuff around urban worlds, transport and architecture written for an audience that didn’t necessarily realise they’re interested in these things.”

Jonn has selected an eclectic selection of topics spanning centuries of history, many of which we’ve either forgotten or come to take utterly for granted. While horses may not seem important in the 21st century, for example, they were fundamental before the invention of the car. Urban parks, meanwhile, have become an essential feature of the modern city, but someone first had to decide they were a good idea. Other inventions have facilitated subsequent developments elsewhere – as Jonn points out, “You can’t have skyscrapers without lifts.”

As he did in …47 Borders, Jonn uses each topic as a jumping-off point to dive down rabbit holes exploring history, science and beyond.

“I wanted to do a social history of what the [inventions] were, and how they affect our world today,” he explains. “But I had to go out and find stories to tell, because you can't just write down a bunch of facts. I wanted to make sure that there was a sense of narrative, with diversions and jokes, because that’s the way I write.”

And there’s more to come, because Jonn has another book in the pipeline that will wrap up this unintended trilogy.

“I can’t talk yet about what the next one’s going to be,” he teases, “but conceptually they’ll be three books about the ways humanity has shaped the world around us to suit our own needs. At the point where I was pitching the third, I thought, ‘Well, I can sort of pretend it was always meant to be a trilogy!'"

Watch Jonn’s talk on 31 Inventions That Built Our World at 7pm on 20 October.

Discover the secrets of The Idiot Brain with neuroscientist and author Dr Dean Burnett

When neuroscientist and author Dr Dean Burnett started writing his first book, The Idiot Brain, he wanted to explore the human mind both with a sense of humour, and from a new perspective.

“Every time I read a brain-based book, it approached the brain with a sort of awe and majesty,” he says. “It was like you had to say how brilliant and fantastic it is, but when you’ve been a neuroscientist for any length of time you know it isn’t. It’s full of eccentricities, illogical set-ups, counterproductive parts and inefficiencies. When I pitched the book I explained that the brain is full of glitches and bugs and quirks, and it turned out that was what people wanted to read about. I guess it, ironically, touched a nerve – no pun intended!”

Subtitled “Why your brain gets things wrong and why that’s alright”, the book sets out to explain why we shouldn’t beat ourselves up if – and indeed when – our brains do unexpected or unhelpful things. After all, humans are illogical beings who, despite our best intentions, remember experiences from our own point-of-view, have a tendency to leave important tasks to the last minute, and often let emotions get in the way of rational thought.

“I don’t think that this idea the brain is marvellous is very helpful,” Dean explains. “I think this sets up a lot of expectations which are going to be let down. So when you do something wrong because that’s how your brain works, it feels like something is a fundamental problem when it’s not – it’s just business as usual. I think a lot of people found that really helpful to know, and I think that’s a more healthy and optimistic message to get across.”

It’s now 10 years since The Idiot Brain became a popular science hit around the world. Over the subsequent decade, smartphones and 24/7 access to an internet full of information (and cat videos) have had a profound impact on how we think. But, Dean says, all that staring at devices hasn’t fundamentally altered the structure of the human brain.

“The brain is always changing, that’s how it functions – a brain which can’t change is no good to anyone because it can’t do what it needs to do,” he points out. “But in terms of actual permanent structural changes? We haven’t had anywhere long enough for that to happen. I get asked a lot, ‘What do you think the brain will be like in 100 years time?’ and the answer is, ‘Well, exactly the same.’ But because the brain is so responsive to our experiences, people now will have different parts of the brain adapted in different ways.”

Dean’s next book, published next year, will examine how the modern world exploits our brains’ quirks and eccentricities.

“There’s so much in the wider world which is just bad science, or the science is tweaked to make it seem like something it’s not,” he says. “The new book is an exploration of how our brains work, how the modern world interferes with that and how we are often manipulated as a result.”

Watch Dean’s talk on The Idiot Brain at 7pm on 17 November.