ORIGINS OF OCEANIA THAT #PRC AIMS TO CONQUER: 1/4: Voyagers: The Settlement of the Pacific by Nicholas Thomas (Author)
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
4.5 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 4 December 2023
⏱️ 11 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
https://www.amazon.com/Voyagers-Settlement-Pacific-Nicholas-Thomas/dp/1541619838/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3TWNZZ00KO4TU&keywords=NICHOLAS+CLARK+VOYAGERS&qid=1674136652&sprefix=nicholas+clark+voyagers%2Caps%2C124&sr=8-1
The islands of Polynesia, Melanesia, and Micronesia stretch across a huge expanse of ocean and encompass a multitude of different peoples. Starting with Captain James Cook, the earliest European explorers to visit the Pacific were astounded and perplexed to find populations thriving thousands of miles from continents. Who were these people? From where did they come? And how were they able to reach islands dispersed over such vast tracts of ocean? In Voyagers, the distinguished anthropologist Nicholas Thomas charts the course of the seaborne migrations that populated the islands between Asia and the Americas from late prehistory onward. Drawing on the latest research, including insights gained from genetics, linguistics, and archaeology, Thomas provides a dazzling account of these long-distance migrations, the seagoing technologies that enabled them, and the societies they left in their wake.
1930 HONOLULU
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | This episode is brought to you by Pepsi Max. Christmas is great, but there's loads of ways to make it better. |
| 0:08.0 | Like sneaking some chili into the gravy for some extra oomps, or building a playlist that will even get your |
| 0:14.8 | none up on the table or just cracking open an ice cold Pepsi Max. |
| 0:20.1 | Christmas. |
| 0:23.0 | Better with Pepsi Max. This is CBS Eye on the World. Here's John Bachelor. |
| 0:37.0 | I welcome a great privilege. |
| 0:40.0 | Professor Nicholas Thomas, Professor of Historical Anthropology at the University of Cambridge, |
| 0:44.7 | Director of the Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, to help me with his new book, |
| 0:50.6 | Wonderful story about the Pacific Rim Basin, where I've been several times in my life |
| 0:56.2 | ignorant of the questions I didn't know existed, about where this wonderful culture came |
| 1:01.6 | from that I visited in Hawaii, where it's going now in the 21st century |
| 1:06.8 | given its history. The new book is Voyagers, the settlement of the Pacific. |
| 1:11.8 | Professor, a very good evening to you. |
| 1:13.7 | Thank you very much. |
| 1:14.7 | Congratulations. |
| 1:16.1 | And I take you to a moment in your explication |
| 1:19.9 | of the vastness of this landscape called Oceania. This is I believe 1821 a missionary |
| 1:27.3 | John Williams is deploying Christianity throughout the islands, the Cook Group, if I read correctly. |
| 1:36.6 | And at one point he comes across a chief, Rongo Matani, who offers to demonstrate to him how to sail to the next point, where he wants to go. |
| 1:47.5 | And herein lies the secret of the vast voyages across the Oceania. What do we need to know about what Rongo Matani told |
| 1:56.2 | John Williams said he recorded so dutifully in the early 19th century? Good evening, |
| 2:00.8 | professor. Good evening, and it's a pleasure to talk to you. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from John Batchelor, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of John Batchelor and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.