No smartphones. No Starbuck’s. No 7-Elevens.

In their place, strange microbes, uncharted shoals, unknown perils.

Once they left, they were really gone, and they didn’t know when – or if – they were coming back. Now that’s adventure!

Regardless of how you may personally feel about some of the behavior of the great European explorers, you have to admit, they had cojones.

This Thursday morning on WPRB, in advance of Columbus Day, the focus will be on the Age of Exploration, the push, beginning in the late 15th century, toward discovery – and yes, in many cases, conquest and colonization – of new lands.

We’ll hear music inspired by Henry Hudson, Sir Walter Raleigh, Juan Ponce de Leon, Francisco Pizarro, and of course Christopher Columbus. We’ll even include a few works in honor of Icelandic explorer Leif Erikson, who arrived in North America 500 years before Columbus’ first voyage.

As a special treat, Sir Edmund Hillary will narrate “Landfall in Unknown Seas,” composed by Douglas Lilburn to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the arrival of Abel Tasman in New Zealand. From the early years of the 20th century, we’ll travel to the polar regions with Roald Amundsen and Robert Falcon Scott. And to bring us up to the present, we’ll listen to Joaquin Rodrigo’s salute to NASA and its commitment to the final frontier, “In Search of the Beyond.”

For centuries, the great explorers were celebrated as heroes. In more recent decades, the best we can hope for is a more nuanced view. But consider this: without the courage of these bold rascals, where would most of us be? On an overcrowded continent without coffee or potatoes. That sounds like a very cranky existence indeed.

I hope you’ll be able to rise above any personal revulsion to join me for these armchair explorations, this Thursday morning from 6 to 11 EDT, on WPRB 103.3 FM and wprb.com. We’ll provide the suntan lotion and mosquito repellant, on Classic Ross Amico.