# CalMeacham Interviewed on the History Channel **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 1, 2009, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calmeacham-interviewed-on-the-history-channel/504934 "2009-08-01T00:23:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calmeacham-interviewed-on-the-history-channel/504934/101 "2009-09-01T17:45:02Z")
> [@](#): > > So Cal, how did the interview process go? Did they ask you leading questions that they wanted you to answer in a certain way? Wide open ones? Could you tell if the interviewers had read your book or not? I’m just wondering if they already had the plot planned, and just spliced in the interview shots that supported/advanced the story, or if they waited till all the interviews were done and then wrote the show. Before we ever got together they sent out a sheet with some question on it that I answered at considerable length in writing. They had a pretty good idea what they wanted to ask. It’s VERY clear to me that they read my book and paid close attention, so presumably they wanted to steer things that way. But as I say above, they emphasized the Athena-turns-Medusa-into-a-monster legend, which i downplay ass a more recent innovation, but which is in many ways more dramatic. So they weren’t slavishly following me. > [@](#): > > And what was with all the Greeks wearing facepaint? Damned if I know. I think they were looking for a dramatic and unique look, so everyone gets blackened eyes and odd face paint. And the Gods get weird contact lenses. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calmeacham-interviewed-on-the-history-channel/504934/102 "2009-09-01T17:58:19Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Did they ask you leading questions that they wanted you to answer in a certain way? Wide open ones? > > I’m just wondering if they already had the plot planned, and just spliced in the interview shots that supported/advanced the story, or if they waited till all the interviews were done and then wrote the show. > > And what was with all the Greeks wearing facepaint? What he said. Er, asked. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calmeacham-interviewed-on-the-history-channel/504934/103 "2009-09-01T19:13:44Z")
> [@swampbear](#): > > Dang! I’m about to go to bed. Ten p.m. is too late for somebody who has to be at work at six a.m. to stay up. I really hope I can get it on Hulu or whatever later. I stayed up to watch it. I’m not really good for much this afternoon. Really enjoyed the show, Cal. I’ll have to get the book - I find your Gorgon/corpse theory quite interesting. ---
**Author:** ![bobkitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c67d28/32.png) [@bobkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobkitty)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calmeacham-interviewed-on-the-history-channel/504934/104 "2009-09-01T21:11:44Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Sorry i didn’t answerr this earlier. You didn’t answer my question either, but I didn’t get an apology. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kickback\_Joe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/cdc98d/32.png) [@Kickback\_Joe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kickback_Joe)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calmeacham-interviewed-on-the-history-channel/504934/105 "2009-09-01T22:09:25Z")
Cal, I want to commend you. I was actually able to get my kids to watch. They were very impressed with the mythology and asked a lot of questions. This dad heartily endorses your work. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calmeacham-interviewed-on-the-history-channel/504934/106 "2009-09-01T22:13:47Z")
Rats - I missed it! Any clue when it will be shown again - or an easy place to check? I’ll check the History Channel’s website right now… ETA: Well I searched on Clash of the Gods and there are listings, but none for Medusa…rats. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calmeacham-interviewed-on-the-history-channel/504934/107 "2009-09-01T23:16:51Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Velikovsky – right. > I’m working on a book about the myth of Phaethon right now. There are a lot of respectable people who think the myth might be inspired by a meteorite fall (I’m not one of them), but I have to keep telling people I’m not a Velikovskian. > > There’s nothing inherently wrong with the idea that celestial events might have an influence on myths (Heck, I argue for just that, although by a far less spectacular method). But Velikovsky doesn’t know how to build a convincing case, and he assumes readers will readily go along with his prejudices and assumptions. He is a fun read … sort of like how the good crappy horror movies are so funny because they are played straight, rather than outright parodies [not that those are bad … but there is something engaging about a movie that is serious and cheesy] Phaethon … maybe not a meteorite, but how about volcanic action? A really bright light over a horizon, followed by ash cloud and a day or so of really dark because of the cloud? If it happened early enough, oral entertainment being oral entertainment, the story spreads because it is a good story, and the gods were originally namechanged to fit the village gods, but then they were just changed to be uniform later sort of like the Illiad and Oddessy, or any other myth? I dont think people looking for sources for myths are automatically fringe, it is more a case of how they may have interpreted something like a common subject like a ley line from a surveyors convenience into serious woo bullcrap. Interpreting celestial events into god myths makes sense. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calmeacham-interviewed-on-the-history-channel/504934/108 "2009-09-01T23:19:28Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Many thanks for the compliment, **Maus Magill**. > Nobody at work seems to have caught it. Family and friends did, though. Finally finished it - did a fantastic job and added your book to my christmas wishlist. I actually have dug out my bullfinches and golden bough and popped them onto my reading stack =) ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calmeacham-interviewed-on-the-history-channel/504934/109 "2009-09-01T23:25:26Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > You can’t really beat the original myths, though. **The Iliad** and **The Odyssey** are both highly readable. I like Fitzgerald’s translations, or Fagles’. I have the latter on audio, and have listened to them more times than I can recall. Try **The Voyage of Argo** by Apollonius of Rhodes, too. If you want an ancient compendium, get Apollodorus’ **The Library**. The only translation I know is the Loeb Classical edition. It’s not beautiful, but he tried to make it consistent and complete. ooo definitely get the audio versions … I love the way the oral cultures used certain repetitive phrases in the epics … wine dark sea so resonates with me from when I lived in a beach house … and sat on the beach late at night. [here](http://librivox.org/the-odyssey-by-homer/) is a free version ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calmeacham-interviewed-on-the-history-channel/504934/110 "2009-09-02T02:44:22Z")
Interesting framing they used on you in the Medusa episode, **Cal**. I’m not really sure what they were going for. (Nothing against you or the series; just something that jumped out at me.) I’m enjoying the series. It points out how little I know about mythology. I’m impressed. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calmeacham-interviewed-on-the-history-channel/504934/111 "2009-09-02T02:56:06Z")
> [@](#): > > Rats - I missed it! Any clue when it will be shown again - or an easy place to check? I’ll check the History Channel’s website right now.. I’ve been looking, but they don’t have much up. I gather nothing is showing this coming weekend on account of the holiday. The following Monday they’re showing the first part of Odysseus, but they don’t list anything beyond that. If the previous episodes are any indication, they’ll be running Medusa several more times, and they’ll probably do a marathon of already-run episodes. Eventually it’ll probably show up in parts on the History website. But it’s not up yet. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calmeacham-interviewed-on-the-history-channel/504934/112 "2009-09-02T05:35:17Z")
It was pretty damn good. You seemed a little nervous, but you also sounded like your really knew what you were talking about. The face make-up on the “Ancient Greeks” was a bit off-putting.😕 ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calmeacham-interviewed-on-the-history-channel/504934/113 "2009-09-02T12:02:36Z")
Ahem. There’s a place…in the intertubes…rhymes with tehBiratePay which may have the episode. Just sayin’. And the only reason I’m seeding it, is that I watched the first half, and neglected to notice it wasn’t recording on the DVR. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calmeacham-interviewed-on-the-history-channel/504934/114 "2009-09-02T14:23:21Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I’ve been looking, but they don’t have much up. I gather nothing is showing this coming weekend on account of the holiday. The following Monday they’re showing the first part of Odysseus, but they don’t list anything beyond that. > > If the previous episodes are any indication, they’ll be running Medusa several more times, and they’ll probably do a marathon of already-run episodes. Eventually it’ll probably show up in parts on the History website. But it’s not up yet. Well, please don’t be shy and let us know via this or a new thread when you find re-broadcasts! ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calmeacham-interviewed-on-the-history-channel/504934/115 "2009-09-02T17:32:08Z")
The episode is now up on [http://www.history.com/video.do?name=ClashoftheGods](http://www.history.com/video.do?name=ClashoftheGods) . It looks like it’s the whole episode split into 5 pieces. BTW, when the narrator says “If looks could kill,” anyone else mentally finish “they probably will” ? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calmeacham-interviewed-on-the-history-channel/504934/116 "2009-09-02T17:55:20Z")
When I try playing it here, it says it’s “unavailable”, but that may be my system blocking it. If they have it up on the screen, it ought to be available soon. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calmeacham-interviewed-on-the-history-channel/504934/117 "2009-09-02T18:55:38Z")
I can definitely see the videos. Commercial, then the video starts. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calmeacham-interviewed-on-the-history-channel/504934/118 "2009-09-03T02:22:44Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > The face make-up on the “Ancient Greeks” was a bit off-putting.😕 I wouldn’t call it off-putting. I’m guessing that the make-up makes the characters more visually interesting than they would be without it. Anyway, they’re gods. Are YOU going to mention it to them? 😛 Unless the ancient Greeks really used such make-up, or their myths describe the gods looking so? As I mentioned, what I don’t know about mythology would – actually does – fill volumes! ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calmeacham-interviewed-on-the-history-channel/504934/119 "2009-09-03T03:28:38Z")
Ooh, it’s online, excellent. I don’t have cable to speak of at the moment, so I will watch it tomorrow. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calmeacham-interviewed-on-the-history-channel/504934/120 "2009-09-03T10:38:54Z")
It worked on my home computer. Now I can see me whenever I want. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calmeacham-interviewed-on-the-history-channel/504934.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calmeacham-interviewed-on-the-history-channel/504934.md?page=7)