Hello and welcome to this throwback episode of Our Fake History. This week I'm throwing you back to season one and

episode 14 did gods colonize the Pacific.

A few months ago on the 200th episode of this podcast, I had listeners call in and ask me questions.

Someone asked me what part of the world that I'd covered on our fake history would I want to travel to

Now at the time I said Japan

But upon further reflection I think I should have said the Polynesian Islands, really any Polynesian

Island. I haven't done much traveling in the Pacific at all and I hear those islands are quite nice.

But perhaps more importantly over the course of researching this podcast I've become particularly fascinated with the

history and culture of Polynesian people. One of the series I'm most proud of is a two-part

series I did a few seasons back on the history of Rapa Newi,

also known as Easter Island. I would love to visit Rapa Newi and take in the famous Moai.

As someone that's had a lifelong fascination with boats and sailing, I can't help but

be amazed by the massive oceanic voyages undertaken by the Polynesians.

The peopleing of the Pacific still kind of blows my mind,

especially when you consider how early in human history it took place.

But the immensity of this feat has led to all sorts of historical myths

about how people got to these far-flung islands on the Pacific.

Episode 14 was the first time that I dipped my toe into some of this fake history about the peopleing of the Pacific.

Central to this episode is the Norwegian adventurer Thor Hiredal.

Now listening back to this episode, I think you can hear in my

style of presentation how much affection I have for Thor Heardal. There's something about his audacious style, his sense of

adventure, his willingness to take risks that I can't help but be charmed by.

...