A Holiday Tribute: Celebrating Graham Hancock’s Triumphs

By Chance Gardner

Hey FOLKS!

A quick holiday thought: If you find yourself with excess love and regard, if you find you actually brought more best wishes and heartfelt encouragement than the situation called for, and now you have all this surplus that you have to carry around with no clear idea of what to do with it, I would like to offer a suggestion.

John Anthony West’s and my longtime colleague and friend, the remarkable Graham Hancock, has had a year that could be described as one of those “be careful what you wish for” kind of years. He has dramatically risen to a place of global visibility thanks to his show’s placement on Netflix and has blown up quicker than I’ve ever seen anyone do in my lifetime in the studio system. It’s the classic story of an artist or author working tirelessly for 30 years and then becoming an “overnight success.”

What many might not realize is that with such an exponential rise in fame and stepping into such a huge global profile comes a host of its own nightmares and demons—not to mention outrageous slings and arrows from some of the nastiest, pettiest, most jealous, and bloodthirsty people alive. Some have pretty big bully pulpits and can really cast their invective far and wide.

So, in a spare moment, if the fog of revelry clears for a fleeting second or two during your holiday celebrations, please stop and spare a kind thought and word for our pal Graham. He not only succeeded in getting a show placed in the highest-profile content distribution system on earth, but he did something that, in my opinion, is far more important and far-reaching.

John Anthony West was allowed to break through once—and that was it. Some voice from way high up, compounded by a sea of cries from those whose worldview he had just invalidated, all banded together to make sure the networks were clear that this kind of thinking, these ideas, were NOT welcome and were NOT acceptable mental fodder for society at large. Why? Why indeed.

Since John Anthony West’s triumphant appearance on national TV, on one of the “big three” networks at the time, and his subsequent decisive expulsion from the public eye for daring to speak the truth, there has been at least a 20-year drought of esoteric/alternative history/forbidden history programming on any far-reaching public platform. Those of us who chose this mode or genre as their primary obsession have had to get by on table scraps, living in obscurity, marginalized by the desire to tell the truth, and relegated to niche obscurity and the life of an outsider.

The unsung twin triumph Graham has accomplished is that by breaking through in the modern day, to the “big boy’s table” of public offering and mass content projection, he has pulled the entire genre and topic of ancient mankind—and the lost chapters and traditions of humanity—into the light of “acceptable and legitimate programming, fit for public consumption.”

As for myself, and I would imagine anyone who plans to live and work in this space, doing this kind of research, a great debt of gratitude is owed to Graham. The price he has paid for breaking through has been tainted by a never-ending avalanche of abuse, misplaced ridicule, personal attacks, and general intellectual slander—all part of the expected response of any organism trying to maintain homeostasis. And society is certainly a living organism. It loves to change, but it also hates to change. Novelty is the currency of the universe, but there are forces that would prefer things stay the same—those sitting at the apex of various power structures, for example, and all those whose identity is tied up in being an unquestionable authority on their academic or religious beliefs.

If you’ve ever been to an Asian market and seen the iconic image of a barrel full of crabs, you’ll have noticed something that perfectly mirrors society. The crabs lower down in the barrel HATE it when another crab might finally climb out. They’re constantly pulling on the legs of the ones closest to escaping, pulling them back down, only to be replaced by others. What does this scenario remind you of?

So, all I’m saying is that although anyone who gets famous or whose global visibility makes such a sudden, exponential leap might be the object of envy or even hatred, like that Morrissey song, Graham, who is, after all, a living, conscious human being, feels every one of those slings and arrows. It might seem like such a great accomplishment would be the ultimate analgesic, but for any person—especially artists and authors—who makes their living by consulting the feelings and vibes of the public, it can be overwhelming. Abuse sucks. It can be a lot. For a lesser person, I can see how massive public scorn and envy could eventually break them, leaving scars that never fully heal.

One time, I got a bad review, and I peed blood for four days afterward. Just saying.

So, what solution is there for this grievous injustice? If you were touched, expanded, entertained, or otherwise positively impacted by Graham’s work, take a moment to let him know. For every hater, naysayer, or evil clown trying to wrest the spotlight back, there are thousands of people who love and appreciate what he did to bring his show to light and to mainstream public awareness.

Every one of us in this space owes Graham a great and eternal debt of gratitude for breaking the doors open and storming the capital—of public ideas, not the other stormable capital.

Take a moment to find a thumbs-up or comment window wherever you can provide input—on Netflix, YouTube, or wherever—to let Graham and his detractors know who’s who. A little nod or a quiet cough from the cheap seats can make all the difference.

We’re all in this together, and none of us can stop—or would stop—until the world knows the difference between our actual past and the Orwellian curation that passes for modern Western conceptions of history.

Thank you for your attention to this matter, and please share if you appreciate him too. Let’s share the love for Graham this holiday!

You may now feel free to resume your holiday hijinks.