Behind the History Mysteries

04/09/25 • 47 min

EPISODE 134 | Behind the History Mysteries

Guest: Neil Laird, Emmy-nominated TV producer (Discovery, BBC, PBS, History, National Geographic), author of the Prime Time novel series

TV has so many of these Secrets of..., Mysteries of... shows, you have to wonder how they keep the stories fresh and compelling. Well, wonder no more, as Emmy-nominated producer Neil Laird takes us behind the camera on some of the many shows he's produced to kick off the start of our sixth year.

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SECTIONS

02:18 - How he got into the biz, how it works,
08:37 - You need a hook, the business is dying, In Search of..., don't ignore the woo crowd
19:07 - What on Earth?, structuring the shows, History's Greatest Mysteries, Errol Morris changes documentaries, reenactments in docs, "JFK" uses documentary techniques for fiction, cinéma vérité vs. direct cinema, Blair Witch
26:27 - How can we trust what we see?, the industry is getting democratized but many people lose their jobs, modern hybrid docuseries with fictional techniques in reenactments (Rise of Empires: Ottoman, etc.), after the hook you live or die on the story you tell, no one wants to watch a textbook
32:43 - Blowing Up History (Unearthed) and using computer reconstructions, video games like Assassin's Creed and Mafia as educational tools, get the audience to trust the journey, conspiracy belief is emotional and personal, the audience responds with fact-checking, don't forget Israel on your maps
38:59 - The future of docuseries, streaming needs less content than network, formats are changing, the How to Become a.... trilogy, a specific point of view instead of objective distance, the Prime Time series and Gay Ancient History

Music by Fanette Ronjat

More Info

Neil Laird on IMDb
Neil Laird on TikTok
Neil Laird website

Follow us on social:

Other Podcasts by Derek DeWitt

DIGITAL SIGNAGE DONE RIGHT - Winner of a 2022 Gold Quill Award, 2022 Gold MarCom Award, 2021 AVA Digital Award Gold, 2021 Silver Davey Award, 2020 Communicator Award of Excellence, and on numerous top 10 podcast lists.
PRAGUE TIMES - A city is more than just a location - it’s a kaleidoscope of history, places, people and trends. This podcast looks at Prague, in the center of Europe, from a number of perspectives, including what it is now, what is has been and where it’s going. It’s Prague THEN, Prague NOW, Prague LATER

EPISODE 134 | Behind the History Mysteries

Guest: Neil Laird, Emmy-nominated TV producer (Discovery, BBC, PBS, History, National Geographic), author of the Prime Time novel series

Like what we do? Then buy us a beer or three via our page on Buy Me a Coffee. Review us here or on IMDb.

And seriously, subscribe, will ya?

SECTIONS

02:18 - How he got into the biz, how it works,
08:37 - You need a hook, the business is dying, In Search of..., don't ignore the woo crowd
19:07 - What on Earth?, structuring the shows, History's Greatest Mysteries, Errol Morris changes documentaries, reenactments in docs, "JFK" uses documentary techniques for fiction, cinéma vérité vs. direct cinema, Blair Witch
26:27 - How can we trust what we see?, the industry is getting democratized but many people lose their jobs, modern hybrid docuseries with fictional techniques in reenactments (Rise of Empires: Ottoman, etc.), after the hook you live or die on the story you tell, no one wants to watch a textbook
32:43 - Blowing Up History (Unearthed) and using computer reconstructions, video games like Assassin's Creed and Mafia as educational tools, get the audience to trust the journey, conspiracy belief is emotional and personal, the audience responds with fact-checking, don't forget Israel on your maps
38:59 - The future of docuseries, streaming needs less content than network, formats are changing, the How to Become a.... trilogy, a specific point of view instead of objective distance, the Prime Time series and Gay Ancient History

Music by Fanette Ronjat

More Info

Neil Laird on IMDb
Neil Laird on TikTok
Neil Laird website

Follow us on social:

Other Podcasts by Derek DeWitt

DIGITAL SIGNAGE DONE RIGHT - Winner of a 2022 Gold Quill Award, 2022 Gold MarCom Award, 2021 AVA Digital Award Gold, 2021 Silver Davey Award, 2020 Communicator Award of Excellence, and on numerous top 10 podcast lists.
PRAGUE TIMES - A city is more than just a location - it’s a kaleidoscope of history, places, people and trends. This podcast looks at Prague, in the center of Europe, from a number of perspectives, including what it is now, what is has been and where it’s going. It’s Prague THEN, Prague NOW, Prague LATER

Previous Episode

Cult Pop Suicide: Japanese Cults

EPISODE 133 | Cult Pop Suicide: Japanese Cults

Japan is a land of many contradictions - very forward-looking but also retrograde. And when it comes to the spiritual side of things, quite a few people seem to fall for various cults, scammers and charlatans. And just offbeat beliefs, like that Jesus' brother died on the cross while He moved to Aomori Prefecture in northern Honshu, where he married and taught and lived until 106.

Like what we do? Then buy us a beer or three via our page on Buy Me a Coffee. Review us here or on IMDb.

And seriously, subscribe, will ya?

SECTIONS

04:52 - Hey Mister Banjo - The Yamagishi Society
07:28 - Hotaru no Hikari (Light of the Fireflies) - Mahikari, the World True Light Civilization Religious Organization
10:34 - Nagaragawa Enka (The Enka of the Nagara River) - Life Space Movement, shakty pat and a mummy
15:44 - Katatsumuri Samba (Snail Samba) - Ho No Hana Sanpōgyō, the Flower of Buddhist Teaching; Hogen Fukunaga and Yogesh Gandhi donate money to the DNC, kick off Chinagate
23:54 - Orokamono (Fool) - Pana-Wave Laboratory, electromagnetic waves, Tama-chan the arctic seal, a police standoff and the end of the world
33:50 - Doctor Head's World Tower - Happy Science, EL Cantare, gods from Venus, Komei No Kai sells water, Happy Science gets political, sets records, gets in beefs and embraces MAGA, pioneers "spiritual vaccines"
43:41 - Lunatic Doll: Ansatsu Keikoku (Assassination Warning) - Aum Shinrikyo has a real bad attitude, the sarin gas attacks of March 20, 1995 plus other crimes before and after
54:26 - Japanese police are unprepared for NRMs, online suicide cults, hikikomori

Music by Fanette Ronjat

More Info

Expo 2025 website
Apples, boogie and shamisen: A Brief look at Japanese Popular Music during the Allied Occupation
Kazuya Kosaka & the Wagon Masters - Hey Mister Banjo
‘Rokabiri’: The Music That Shook Japan on Japan Nakama
Glow of the Fireflies/Hotaru no hikari song
Japanese Enka Music
Nagaragawa Enka song performed by Junko Ishihara
Katatsumuri Samba song by Onyanko Club
Orokamono song by Masahiko Kondo
The World Tower song by Flipper's Guitar
Black Hole song by Mari Hamada
Keeping the Faith: Christ’s Tomb in Aomori and Japanese Religion on Nippon.com
The Grave of Jesus Christ on Travel Japan
The 5 Scariest Japanese Cults on Japan Daily
10 Bizarre Japanese Cults You’ve Probably Never Heard Of on Listverse
Rise of Japanese cults on BBC
Japanese Society and Religion on the Eve of the 21st Century by MAEKAWA Michiko
Whatever happened to Yamagishi? in Japan Times
The Yamagishi Association: successful, moneyless, leaderless network of communes in Japan and elsewhere on Lowimpact.org
Sukyo Mahikari North America website
World Divine Light website

Next Episode

On Shakey Ground: More Shakespeare Authorship

EPISODE 135 | On Shakey Ground: More Shakespeare Authorship

Guest: Scott Jackson, Mary Irene Ryan Executive Artistic Director of Shakespeare at the University of Notre Dame, current president of the Shakespeare Theatre Association (STA), stage actor and director

On the anniversary of Shakespeare's life and death (both), a look at some of the more fringe of fringe theories as to who "really" wrote the plays and sonnets attributed to the "Man from Stratford".

Like what we do? Then buy us a beer or three via our page on Buy Me a Coffee. Review us here or on IMDb.

And seriously, subscribe, will ya?

SECTIONS

02:56 - A recap of the Oxfordian Theory, the film "Anonymous", the Declaration of Reasonable Doubt, people asking questions
11:48 - The Prince Tudor Theory, Parts 1 & 2, most people don't take any of this seriously
20:32 - Shakespeare was Italian - Crollalanza/Scrollalanza/M. Florio, John Florio
25:22 - S. was Sicilian, most plots existed before, S. was Jewish, paintings as proof, S. was both Italian and Jewish, shades of Shylock, the performance approach; S. was Cervantes, S. had a weak chin, S. was Irish (Patrick O'Toole or William Nugent), S. was an Arab (Shaikh Zubayr)
37:06 - S. was a woman (Queen Elizabeth, Mary Queen of Scots, Anne Whateley, Anne Hathaway, Mary Sidney Herbert, Emelia Lanier/Aemilia Bassano), the Dark Lady of the Sonnets, Shakespeare CTs are like fan fiction
44:08 - A committed Stratfordian because it was a single hand