Good news, everyone! You will be able to watch me on TV on Monday, March 2 at 10 PM ET when the American Heroes Channel debuts the “Ancient Astronauts” episode of Codes and Conspiracies, which will examine the history of the ancient astronaut theory and some of the shady elements of Erich von Däniken’s criminal past. I shot commentary for the show back in September, and unless producers were happy to throw out all the money they spent coming out to Albany to film (and pay) me, I should actually be in this episode. Here is the episode description:
This morning I did an interview with a production company making a documentary about the Caucasus Mountains for BBC Radio Three. We talked about my book, Jason and the Argonauts through the Ages and the role that the Jason myth played in framing the Western understanding of the Caucasus. We also discussed the way pseudoscientists have attempted to rope the Caucasus into everything from Bible giants to the ancient astronaut theory to Noah’s Ark. I don’t know when the program will air, but I’m supposed to get a head’s up before it is on later this year. Speaking of Jason and the Argonauts, did you know that the Jason myth is still really profitable? I didn’t until I learned this week that you can now go on a two-week Legendary Voyage of Jason and the Argonauts cruise to visit the supposed route of the Argonauts (apparently the one proposed by Apollonius of Rhodes) for the rock-bottom price of between $8,000 and $12,000 per person. The cruise ship has 26 rooms, of which 24 are double occupancy, yielding a gross of at least $500,000 each way since they are running the ship from Greece to Georgia and back again for two cruises. A million bucks is a pretty nice prize for a month’s cruise. Obviously, after expenses the cruise won’t profit a million dollars, but I imagine expert consultants Nina Tumarkin (an expert in Russian and Soviet history) and Mary Lefkowitz (a Classical scholar) will come out the other side with a pretty hefty sum for essentially a paid vacation. I’m in the wrong line of work: My Jason book has made me virtually nothing in royalties; in fact, the biggest payout I got from the book was licensing one of the maps I made for its website to another publisher. A single photograph earned me more than writing and selling the book. On the plus side, I still have another eight months as the only major recent study of the Argonaut myth; Classical scholar Helen Lovatt’s In Search of the Argonauts, originally scheduled for publication last year, has been delayed until October. It will be interesting to see how her book does or does not agree with mine. While we’re on the subject of scholars, I saw an interesting article about resident Ancient Aliens folklorist Sabina Magliocco, who admitted Cal State Northridge’s Sundial that she knows Ancient Aliens misrepresents her and her work but thinks that the twisted truths on the show still serve to educate audiences. Magliocco told the newspaper that she knew from the first episodes of Ancient Aliens in 2010 that they were intentionally twisting her words to make her look like she supports the ancient astronaut theory. She says she raised objections but has continued participating for five years anyway, reminding them each time that she doesn’t believe in the ancient astronaut theory: This is something that I have told them on camera a million times but they never put it in. […] I am completely opposed to the show’s theory. As an anthropologist, it’s important to understand that our ancestors were as smart as we are today. There are all kinds of symbolic explanations for pictures and representations that don’t have to involve aliens. Magliocco added that she loves being on television. “When I find a producer that I like to work with, I will consider doing more television.” After five years, it’s pretty clear she likes Ancient Aliens and its producers despite her opposition to the very core of the show.
It’s something I can’t quite understand. How can someone be “completely opposed” to a media product, know that its producers will twist and misrepresent you to support a preconceived agenda you claim to loathe, and still spend five years contributing to that show?
43 Comments
Walt
2/19/2015 07:01:27 am
That's the same reason I always say you're doing more harm than good by killing episodes in which you were invited to appear. Everytime you don't appear, you miss an opportunity to spread the truth, however small it may be. Sure, you prevent some show about a silly topic from ever airing so nobody new starts believing, but you also prevent 10, 100, or 1000 other people from disovering all of your other excellently researched work.
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EP
2/19/2015 08:45:22 am
It's like no matter the issue, you never fail to take the position, no matter how implausible, that is most directly or indirectly in support of AA...
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Walt
2/19/2015 09:35:30 am
I'm not a supporter of AA, not a fan, dont watch it, don't remember ever saying anything in support of it., and have consistently said that Jason is wasting his and everyone else's time by covering every AA episode and alien conference. It's a complete waste of resources for everyone involved, and Jason isn't doing any good whatsoever by reviewing it, despite what he thinks. I've consistently said all of that, so how you believe I always end up being supportive of AA is beyond me. Out of everyone here, I have to be the least supportive of the entire topic. I'd say I'm dismissive of everyone involved, including Jason.
Shane Sullivan
2/19/2015 05:35:16 pm
"I do say it's just a TV show that doesn't have to stick to facts just because it happens to air on a network named "History", but that'd be the end of my support, and has much more to do with governing laws of commercial television than the topic covered."
Reductio
2/20/2015 04:20:34 am
Walt said, "Jason is wasting his and everyone else's time by covering every AA episode and alien conference. It's a complete waste of resources for everyone involved, and Jason isn't doing any good whatsoever by reviewing it, despite what he thinks."
Mike
2/20/2015 05:31:40 am
Walt, I think the issue some people have with the shows lying on air is that they are presenting themselves as telling the truth. And it's not just that the network is called "History" but that they, in general, present themselves as a factual, educational, network.
Rlewis
2/20/2015 01:57:04 am
Yes, I think we should encourage people to smoke. That way other people will see how bad it is for them.
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EP
2/20/2015 05:29:50 am
I SHALL DOX YOU ALL!!! :D
EP
2/20/2015 05:35:01 am
The above comment is a reply to a post that has been deleted.
RLewis
2/19/2015 07:33:31 am
Did you give the secret M hand single as a shout out to SW?
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Richard Neimeyer
2/19/2015 07:52:20 am
I can only say for now I love that photo of Sabina and that stange looking skull. It looks like a model rather than a real skull. Something out of Star Trek or Stargate?
Reply
2/19/2015 07:58:19 am
It's her mockup of a Grey alien skull that she discusses in the article.
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Richard Neimeyer
2/20/2015 11:05:06 am
Yeah, I really have to read the articles first then comment.
EP
2/19/2015 08:30:50 am
Are these people "expert consultants"? I thought they just gave lectures on board the cruise. But hey, Mary Lefkowitz, at least, deserves all the paid vacations she wants as reward for standing up to Afrocentrist pseudohistory.
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spookyparadigm
2/19/2015 09:28:35 am
I was going to comment on Dr. Magliocco's attitude towards scholarship, but as I don't work for a tv production company, there isn't much point, is there?
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EP
2/19/2015 09:46:03 am
I'd like to hear it, actually. Besides, it's not like she says she *only* likes TV producers :)
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spookyparadigm
2/19/2015 01:28:48 pm
The above more or less is my comment.
EP
2/19/2015 01:45:04 pm
Good thing you're not a producer, then. Because I doubt Dr. Magliocco would want to work with you :)
spookyparadigm
2/19/2015 01:53:54 pm
To be fair, I know her book at least a little (I think I used to own it), and I'm not casting aspersions on her actual scholarship.
EP
2/19/2015 02:04:05 pm
"like many of her generation of anthropologists she is fixated on reflexivity."
spookyparadigm
2/20/2015 01:56:09 am
Well, that's the thing. You see this a lot with some anthropological and even archaeological responses to pseudoarchaeology. Theoretical arguments, some that now seem old hat (the statement you quote would at one point have been quite controversial, but not for some time) others that are quite vibrant (multivocality in interpretation, aka why are all the interpretations of the past made by outsiders who are a small elite within their own society) get misapplied in the case of pseudoarchaeology. Go check out, for example, Cornelius Holtorf. I like his book Archaeology is a Brand!, but in other writings he somewhat gleefully challenges the idea that archaeology should be challenging stuff like von Daniken. He argues instead that acting like such is too close to being a crusader attacking heretics (he uses those terms, find an article by him in World Archaeology from 2005), and that all of the stuff Jason covers is within the spectrum of archaeology.
EP
2/20/2015 07:27:45 am
My reply is below.
Shane Sullivan
2/19/2015 09:55:29 am
I'd mark in a reminder for the show right now, but my on-screen guide is only showing me the schedule up to the 1st. I'll do so as soon possible.
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Only Me
2/19/2015 01:18:02 pm
This may be the only episode of Codes and Conspiracies I'll watch! I hope they don't mangle your interview, but, we'll see.
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EP
2/19/2015 01:45:46 pm
"nihilistic attitude that sometimes finds its way to this blog"
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spookyparadigm
2/19/2015 01:55:55 pm
Nothing matters, it's just a tv show/idea/thing. Nothing matters in the end. It.just.doesn't.matter. :)
EP
2/19/2015 02:04:52 pm
Oh, you mean Walt? Gotcha. ;)
Walt
2/19/2015 03:32:38 pm
Hey I started off good suggesting Jason shouldn't turn down interviews no matter how bizarre the topic because he doesn't know how many people will ultimately be helped by that appearance.
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EP
2/19/2015 03:42:47 pm
The joke. On you it is.
Walt
2/19/2015 04:04:01 pm
I just can't believe you haven't figured out who I am yet, EP. tsk tsk. The joke is most certainly not on me.
EP
2/19/2015 04:12:46 pm
If this is some kind of weird sex fetish game you're playing, then I'll have you know, good Sir, that I'm a Christian youth prayer group leader, and I've not had these urges for over two months thanks to the prayers of everyone at the deprogramming camp.
EP
2/20/2015 05:30:33 am
If any of them ever had you for a patient, that would explain quite a few things...
EP
2/20/2015 05:31:33 am
(The above comment is in response to something that has since been deleted.)
Only Me
2/19/2015 08:46:52 pm
Let me see if I understand you, Walt.
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Bob Jase
2/20/2015 04:02:27 am
I look forward to the show. Myth Hunters is pretty good and started out skeptical but has been drifting towards woo & endorsement of Christian myth asa history - expect its due to pushback from the conservatives out there who reject reality.
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Joe Scales
2/20/2015 04:19:33 am
Ancient Aliens has always taken plausible and generic commentary from academics and surrounded it with that from the resident lunatics to make it appear as if they were all on the same boat. Quite simply put, I suppose the true academics do it for the money and exposure; hoping those with a discerning eye realize what they're not saying.
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Mike
2/21/2015 05:27:51 am
It may well be for that, though they also may think that their statements will not be taken out of context (at least if they are new to the show). It's good for Ancient Aliens cause they can have the occasional actual scientist with a real title and education, rather than all their speakers have "Wrote some book about woo" under their name.
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Joe Scales
2/21/2015 01:17:21 pm
"However over time they have on several occasions edited the statements to take them out of context. This is the point when the experts who are speaking have become part of the problem, and if they are aware that this is going on the responsible thing to do is not to keep going back."
EP
2/20/2015 07:24:48 am
@ spookyparadigm
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EP
2/20/2015 07:27:23 am
Oops, some bits are missing...
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spookyparadigm
2/20/2015 12:19:46 pm
I'm not going to defend Magliocco's arguments because yeah, they're kind of warmed over, which I think makes sense in the context of the interview. I will respond that
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EP
2/20/2015 12:36:57 pm
And once you combine it with something like "appropriation of voice", then abandon all hope ye who enter here...
intelligentheating
2/21/2015 02:05:31 pm
"Caucasus Mountains for BBC Radio Three"
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AuthorI am an author and researcher focusing on pop culture, science, and history. Bylines: New Republic, Esquire, Slate, etc. There's more about me in the About Jason tab. Newsletters
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