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Wild Thing

"Ancient Aliens" with David Anderson—S2 Bonus Interview

Wild Thing

Foxtopus Ink

Society & Culture, Science

4.83.8K Ratings

🗓️ 3 March 2026

⏱️ 31 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Wild thing is re-releasing its bonus interviews! David Anderson likes the idea of aliens but he’s not a big fan of the TV show Ancient Aliens. The archeologist has real problems with how the show portrays his chosen field and diminishes human achievements. But, he says, while the show is misguided, he also understands why these ideas about “pseudoarchaeology” are so appealing.

Transcript

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0:00.0

David Anderson has strong opinions about the television series Ancient Aliens, so strong, in fact, that his Twitter name is David, hashtag cancel ancient aliens Anderson.

0:12.8

You see, he's an archaeologist, and he takes real issue with how the show portrays his chosen field.

0:18.9

In this extra episode of Wild Thing, he explains his reasoning

0:22.1

and shares some of the history of the ancient aliens themes, many of which, no surprise,

0:28.1

have their roots in science fiction. And he understands why these ideas are so appealing to people,

0:33.6

because when he first started out, they appealed to him, too.

0:36.6

The real trigger point, though, that I've talked with people about over the last several years is that when I was 18 and going off to college, I still didn't know what I wanted to do.

0:46.5

And I picked up a book in my local bookshop called Fingerprints of the Gods by a man named Graham Hancock.

0:54.1

And the short story is it's all

0:57.1

about this lost civilization from about 12,000 years ago that the mainstream archaeologists sort of

1:04.7

are too stuck up or too hidebound or narrow-minded to recognize is really there and exists. And

1:10.3

I lapped that up.

1:12.3

I thought it was absolutely amazing.

1:13.9

And so I instantly started taking archaeology classes, and I loved them.

1:18.9

But at the same time, this narrative that he had woven about this hidebound, narrow-minded

1:24.6

academia, I was there.

1:26.5

I'm like, I'm going to overthrow that crap.

1:28.3

I'm going to show them how wrong they are and how there's all these really interesting

1:31.1

things.

1:31.5

And then, and, you know, as I started to study archaeology, none of this stuff he had written

1:36.5

proved true.

1:37.8

And so like this whole facade of hidebound academy and quote-unquote evidence for a lost civilization just all crumbled as I

...

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