Extreme Living is a design inquiry into human isolation, exploring how people live, heal, and adapt in confined and extreme environments, from space stations and Antarctic labs to cancer wards and prisons. Hosted by Anchal, exploring how isolation shapes us.
Extreme Living
Claim This Podcastby Anchal Bhaskar
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7 episodes
Updated Daily
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Podcast Overview
Extreme Living is a design inquiry into human isolation, exploring how people live, heal, and adapt in confined and extreme environments, from space stations and Antarctic labs to cancer wards and prisons. Hosted by Anchal, exploring how isolation shapes us.
Language
🇺🇲
Publishing Since
11/11/2025
1 verified contact email on file for Extreme Living
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Recent Episodes
June 8, 2026
The Forgotten Patient: Healthcare Behind Bars with Dave Redemske
<p>What does it take to deliver real healthcare inside a system built for control?</p><p><br></p><p>Dave Redemske is an architect and healthcare planner with 30+ years of experience designing at the intersection nobody talks about correctional facilities and clinical care. He's walked through mental health crisis rooms that would break a stable mind. He's fought for exam rooms that look like clinics, not cages. And he's made the case that design isn't decoration, it's treatment.</p><p><br></p><p>In this episode, we get into:</p><ul><li>Why prisons became America's default mental health system</li><li>The triangle room under a staircase that says everything about what's wrong</li><li>How trauma-responsive design is quietly changing corrections</li><li>What the Netherlands gets right that the US refuses to try</li><li>The real question: When they walk out, are they better or worse than when they came in?</li></ul><p><br></p><p>This one will change how you see a prison. And maybe, what you think people inside one deserve.</p>
May 1, 2026
Space Architecture: Designing Space Habitats for Human Experience with Michael Morris
<p><br /></p><p>In this episode of Extreme Living, Anchal speaks with space architect Michael Morris, whose work sits at the intersection of human habitation and space exploration.</p><p><br /></p><p>Michael has spent nearly two decades working with NASA on the design of space habitats and is best known for the iconic Mars Ice House concept, a project that challenged the assumption that Martian habitats must be buried underground by proposing light, transparency, and psychological well-being as essential parts of safety.</p><p><br /></p><p>Together, we explore what it means to design for places where there are no site visits, no traditional user groups, and no familiar precedent. Michael shares how architects can contribute to NASA’s engineering-led culture through listening, lateral thinking, and human-centered design. We discuss daylight, plants, color, views, privacy, conflict, sensory monotony, analog environments, and the question of how future habitats can support people not just as operators, but as human beings.</p><p><br /></p><p>The conversation moves from Mars and the Moon to Earth-based lessons from HI-SEAS, Antarctic research stations, underwater habitats, and healthcare environments, asking how extreme environments can teach us to design better spaces here on Earth.</p><p><br /></p><p>At its core, this episode asks: what does it really mean to live well in space?</p><p><br /></p><p>Reference mentioned: NASA’s Moon-to-Mars Planetary Autonomous Construction Technology Project: Overview and Status by Raymond G. Clinton, Jr. et al. The paper discusses MMPACT, NASA’s effort to develop autonomous construction capabilities for lunar infrastructure, including landing pads, habitats, shelters, roadways, berms, and blast shields using lunar regolith-based materials. </p><p><br /></p><p>https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20220013524</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>
March 9, 2026
Living in Antarctica: Designing Polar Research Stations with Hugh Broughton
<p><b>What does it take to design buildings for one of the most extreme environments on Earth and where people may live in isolation for months at a time? </b></p><p><br></p><p>In this episode of Extreme Living, I speak with architect Hugh Broughton, whose work has helped redefine how we design research stations in Antarctica. Best known for the Halley VI Research Station, Hugh’s work marked a shift from buildings designed purely for survival toward environments that consider long-term human habitability and wellbeing.</p><p><br></p><ul><li>We explore how architecture responds when failure is not an option, what it means to design on a moving ice shelf, and how logistics, prefabrication, and environmental constraints reshape the entire design process.</li></ul><p><br></p><ul><li>The conversation also looks beyond engineering challenges to the human experience of confinement and isolation. From sensory deprivation to the importance of small spatial gestures like light, smell, circulation, and quiet spaces, Hugh explains how architecture can support both community and individual resilience in places where the interior effectively becomes an entire world.</li></ul><p><br></p><ul><li>Together, we discuss what lessons polar architecture might offer other extreme environments from space missions to other forms of long-duration isolation.</li></ul><p><br></p><p><b>About the guest</b></p><p><br></p><p>Hugh Broughton is an architect whose work focuses on designing buildings for some of the most remote and environmentally demanding places on Earth. As founder of Hugh Broughton Architects, he has been involved in the design of several polar research stations, including the Halley VI Research Station in Antarctica, a project that helped redefine how architecture supports long-term human habitation in extreme environments.</p><p><br></p><p>His work explores the intersection of climate, logistics, and human experience, developing buildings that must function reliably in isolation while supporting the wellbeing of the people who live and work within them.</p><p><br></p><p>Learn more about Hugh’s work:</p><p><a href='https://hbarchitects.co.uk/'>https://www.hbarchitects.co.uk</a></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p>
7 total episodes available
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This podcast updates daily.
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Yes, this podcast regularly features guests.
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