Longyearbyen: A Bipolar City

Read Time:10 Minute, 45 Second

Bipolar (adj): 1. Having or relating to two poles or extremities; 2. psychiatric characterized by both manic and depressive episodes, or manic ones only.
– Oxford English Dictionary

The opening minutes intermix interviews with a few Longyearbyen residents and grainy black-and-white footage from “Nanook of the North.” Which means this documentary isn’t just distancing itself from stereotypical portrayals of the town – it’s ridiculing them.

About Post Author

Mark Sabbatini

I'm a professional transient living on a tiny Norwegian island next door to the North Pole, where once a week (or thereabouts) I pollute our extreme and pristine environment with paper fishwrappers decorated with seemingly random letters that would cause a thousand monkeys with a thousand typewriters to die of humiliation. Such is the wisdom one acquires after more than 25 years in the world's second-least-respected occupation, much of it roaming the seven continents in search of jazz, unrecognizable street food and escorts I f****d with by insisting they give me the platonic tours of their cities promised in their ads. But it turns out this tiny group of islands known as Svalbard is my True Love and, generous contributions from you willing, I'll keep littering until they dig my body out when my climate-change-deformed apartment collapses or they exile my penniless ass because I'm not even worthy of washing your dirty dishes.

marksabbatini@yahoo.com

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