315. Atlantis: Legacy of the Lost Empire 

It's kind of sad that some of Hancock's ideas have been wrapped up in ideas of Atlantis. The idea that history is older than what we acknowledge isn't that radical. The problem seems to be Hancock's insistence that there has to be a super advanced society that is responsible for every society after that. When I first heard the first part I was like yeah I can buy that history is older than what we know but as soon as Atlantis and seeding comes up he losses me completely. Also the idea of established historians not wanting to see anything beyond what they have wrote already isn't far fetched either. But then he goes on to say that all the experts are against him. It's the same old all or nothing argument that infects modern society.

Pretty sure at this point that beyond the pillars of hercules, is about the same as “long ago in a galaxy far far away” before embarking on a fanciful tale…

I enjoyed Tom’s recounting of Plato’s background and lifetime and thought it was spot on. Except he seemed to be saying the Guardians do not appear until Timaeus. In fact they play a very big role in the Republic.

“Know, oh prince, that between the years when the oceans drank Atlantis and the gleaming cities, and the years of the rise of the Sons of Aryas, there was an Age undreamed of, when shining kingdoms lay spread across the world like blue mantles beneath the stars.” Robert E. Howard

great video, seen the whole thing already :P

Eighteen minutes in. Waiting for a reference to Donavan.

Tom's pronunciation of Olof Rudbeck (den äldre - the elder) is weirder than I could even imagine.

On the subject of hubris. The guy who's going to debate Hancock is so confident of winning he's changed his name to Flint Dibble to give Graham a head start. However history shows no good often results from cockiness of this magnitude.

"And he proves it, in very learned tone." Hahahajahaha

I hope Prof. Dibble managd to hold his own

I think if anything at all, Atlantis is north and South America before it drifted away from Europe in some more rapid drift than we’ve modeled based on our current observations’ extrapolations

I'm a huge Fan and Listener of your Podcast. But! I have a Feeling that you as a Historian, have a bit Bias about the Islamic History and the Role of the "Golden Age" preserving the Greek Philosophy and Ancient Text's.

Everything is politics. That's how you get stuff done.

Thanks, guys, for bringing down Hancock. A fact-free conspiratorialist getting Netflix cred should irritate all material historians.

Academics stick together. What a surprise

I would love a whole episode specifically devoted to why Graham Hancock is wrong, and more importantly, how often his ridiculous theories start a pipeline for qanon-ers, flat-earthers, and other such nonsense.

Not saying whether or not GH is correct or not in his theories or that he is or isn't some sort of genius but the scoffing is really sad to listen to and quite immature especially for two grown men. If we didn't have whacky theorists and dreamers to push the boundaries of what we perceive to know to be true, we'd probably still be playing with rocks and sticks when not dragging our knuckles along the ground. We definitely wouldn't have a periodic table and probably still worry that if we travel too far into the horizon, we'd eventually fall all the edge of the world.

Obviously Tom wasn't paying attention when he watched the series, or has been caught up in just clips of Hancocks premise. Or more likely, was just looking for spots to show off his snarky British humour. Yes, he tied Atlantis into an episode or two, but anyone paying attention to the show would have realized he was appealing to the allure of the various Atlantean tales. The core of his theory is that when the Earth went through a meteor shower about 11,000BC, that those struck and destroyed a theoretical advanced civilization, using technology that we yet to discover. He posits that remnants from this culture scattered across the globe, bringing new technologies to the savages. (eg. What if something happened to us today, nuclear strikes, another comet, mega-volcano, our electricity would be wiped, within generations our civilizations would be collapsing, but those peripheral tribes, Amazon, North Sentinel Island, etc.....) Yes, Graham gets excited about the "what if's." Just like JFK theorists. But he's always careful to state that he is tying suppositions together. His basic point, the Younger Dryas wrecked an advanced civilization, and then these other places across the world suddenly evolved agriculture and stargazing. How were some of these structures created, and why were they not replicated after a certain point. They're interesting theories, and just as valid as the grassy knoll gunman. /shrug Overall, this two parter was disappointing. At least 30 minutes of just bad, tabloidesqe denigrating of someone's work that has just been skimmed over.

Love this podcast guys, but I have to disagree with the Graham Hancock bashing.

More “big dirt” propaganda