Stream now with KPBS+ / Watch Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025 at 9 p.m. on KPBS TV + Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025 at 3 p.m. on KPBS TV. In this two-hour special, renowned paleontologist Kirk Johnson takes us on an epic adventure through time at the polar extremes of our planet. Following a trail of strange fossils found in all the wrong places—beech trees in Antarctica, hippo-like mammals in the Arctic—Johnson uncovers the bizarre history of the poles, from miles-high ice sheets to warm polar forests teeming with life.