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Brandon and Toby welcome back Pedro Mendez to dissect Steven Spielberg's 1977 UFO classic. They dig into the film's chaotic family dynamics, aliens with a grudge against kitchen appliances, and a guy who abandons his kids to board a spaceship without a second thought. Plus: how the movie helped cement modern UFO lore and whether Spielberg should maybe think twice before going full disclosure on late night TV. More Like Ancient Failiens is a Grab Bag Collab production. Subscribe to GBC to get this great show's episodes early and ad-free, hear bonus episodes, and access other great GBC podcasts. Visit GBC here: https://www.grabbagcollab.com/Or get all of Grab Bag Collab's great shows including Failiens content here: https://grabbag.supportingcast.fm/bundle

Is your boss an alien? Probably not out of the question, right? Anyway, Jesse Plemmons thinks his boss is an alien and decides the best course of action is to kidnap her (this is not an endorsement). Toby and Brandon are joined by Failiens producer Gabby Lombardo to talk about the Yorgos Lanthimos movie, Bugonia. If you are considering getting your hair cut in a moving car, watch this movie first! For more about Gabby Lombardo, visit https://www.instagram.com/gabby.lombardo More Like Ancient Failiens is a Grab Bag Collab production. Subscribe to GBC to get episodes early and ad-free, hear bonus episodes, and access other great GBC podcasts. Visit GBC here: https://www.grabbagcollab.com/Sign up to listen here: https://grabbag.supportingcast.fm/more-like-ancient-failiensOr get all of Grab Bag Collab's great shows including Failiens content here: https://grabbag.supportingcast.fm/bundle

Remember how useless 4th grade math seemed? Well, who’s laughing now because Aliens have made contact by beeping prime numbers at us? Oh yeah, and they also sent a Hitler video. Anyway, we’re talking the 1997 movie Contact with special guest Janet Varney. Matthew McCounaghey’s mane has never been finer. Follow Janet on Instragram: https://www.instagram.com/thejvclub/?hl=en More Like Ancient Failiens is a Grab Bag Collab production. Subscribe to GBC to get episodes early and ad-free, hear bonus episodes, and access other great GBC podcasts. Visit GBC here: https://www.grabbagcollab.com/Subscribers can also get a bonus episode with more from Janet Varney! Sign up to listen here: https://grabbag.supportingcast.fm/more-like-ancient-failiensOr get all of Grab Bag Collab's great shows including Failiens content here: https://grabbag.supportingcast.fm/bundle

Was there a more iconic duo in the 1990s than Fox Mulder and Dana Scully? Toby and Brandon don’t think so, and they’re talking about the X-Files, perhaps the most popular television series about UFOs and the paranormal. To look at the show, they discuss the much-beloved episode Jose Chung’s From Outer Space (season 3, episode 20), a comedic nesting doll of UFO tropes and stories, starring Hollywood Squares legend Charles Nelson Reilly. More Like Ancient Failiens is a Grab Bag Collab production. Subscribe to GBC to get episodes early and ad-free, hear bonus episodes, and access other great GBC podcasts. Visit GBC here: https://www.grabbagcollab.com/ This week's bonus just for subscribers:  If you wonder how much of a pain in the ass it is to be a former president, look no further than the furor over an offhand comment Obama made about aliens being real. He later explained that he didn’t think those aliens had actually ever visited Earth, but maybe he’d just jumpstarted DISCLOSURE. Brandon and Toby talk about this unfortunate incident and the recent prediction market bullishness about President Trump releasing the government’s UFO files. Sign up to listen here: https://grabbag.supportingcast.fm/more-like-ancient-failiens Or get all of Grab Bag Collab's great shows including Failiens content here: https://grabbag.supportingcast.fm/bundle

A group of plucky kids with emotionally stunted fathers battle an alien who’s just looking for a little empathy. Yes, we are discussing JJ Abrams’s Super 8 with special guest Alex Steed. We’re not going to bother listing the themes at play, but let’s just say we touch on making movies as a kid, how the actor who vomits all the time in this movie grew up to play JD Vance, and prominent directors’ UFO credulity. Also, mashed potatoes. Mountains of them.  For more about Alex Steed, visit: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/alexsteed/?hl=en⁠More Like Ancient Failiens is a Grab Bag Collab production. Subscribe to GBC to get episodes early and ad-free, hear bonus episodes, and access other great GBC podcasts. Visit GBC here: https://www.grabbagcollab.com/

Are we humans really smart enough to come up with the GENIUS STUFF? The Ancient Astronaut Theorists have their doubts and, despite themselves, stumble upon some interesting ideas. Toby and Brandon are joined by Stuff They Don’t Want You To Know host Matt Frederick in a wide-ranging discussion that’s sort of about The Genius Factor (Season 9, Episode 4). We have Hammurabi’s thoughts on divorce, a repository of all the wisdom of humans or perhaps the Universe, and mushrooms that make you see elves! You can find Matt on Stuff They Don’t Want You To Know: https://podcasts.apple.com/es/podcast/stuff-they-dont-want-you-to-know/id732915228 You can also find the show on Netflix by searching for “Stuff They Don’t Want You To Know” You can find More Like Ancient FAILiens early and ad-free along with many other great podcasts at Grab Bag Collab! Visit grabbagcollab.com to join. Also!!!! We have a Failiens bonus episode out today at www.grabbagcollab.com, just for subscribers! In this unhinged bonus hang, Brandon, Toby, and special guest Matt Frederick spiral from Ancient Aliens nonsense into “can we trust reality anymore?” while dunking on deepfakes, internet slop, and the very concept of truth.

Brandon and Toby are joined by John Hodgman for part two of their look at Chariots of the Gods, a look at the movie made from the Erich von Daniken book that started the Ancient Aliens craziness. Huge desert drawings in Peru! Questionable use of drinking water during a desert expedition! And synths! Subscribe to hear this and other great podcasts early and ad free at ⁠grabbagcollab.com⁠. For more about John Hodgman, visit: ⁠https://www.johnhodgman.com/

What if the entities that ancient peoples called gods were in fact aliens? Mind blown, right? It all started with Chariots of the Gods, the book by Erich von Daniken and then the film based on that book. Comedian John Hodgman joins Brandon and Toby to discuss the movie version and so much more. Witness the birth of the gods were aliens weirdness as the Ancient Astronaut Theorists did, with B-roll and weird 70s music. Subscribe to hear this and other great podcasts early and ad free at ⁠grabbagcollab.com⁠. For more about John Hodgman, visit: ⁠https://www.johnhodgman.com/⁠

On Saturday, January 10, the Godfather of Ancient Astronaut Theorists, Erich Von Daniken, died at the age of 90. In this episode of More Like Ancient Failiens, Toby and Brandon look at EVD’s life, from his time as a hotelier and embezzler to the successes of Chariots of the Gods and its sequels, to the final form of Ancient Astronaut Theory, Ancient Aliens. We look at the ups and downs, the dubious claims, and the short-lived theme park that was not as exciting as the Alps. We also have some exciting news about where we’re taking our show in 2026. We’re calling it The Pivot, and it basically means we’ll be reviewing movies, TV shows, and crappy ‘89s docs about UFOs to show just how deep (or high) this whole thing really goes. Subscribe to hear this and other great podcasts early and ad free at grabbagcollab.com. “Erich Von Daniken’s Genesis” in the New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/1974/03/31/archives/erich-von-danikens-genesis.html“Scholars Will Call it Nonsense” in Expedition Magazine: https://www.penn.museum/sites/expedition/scholars-will-call-it-nonsense/Erich Von Daniken Explained: https://everything.explained.today/Erich_von_D%C3%A4niken/Short History Channel video on Erich Von Daniken:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dc1QUbSN9uo

Part two of Brandon and Toby’s discussion with journalist Keith Kloor about the documentary film, The Age of Disclosure. In this episode, we discuss Lu Elizondo and The Observables (not a band, alas), the time Keith made Lu sad, and bubbles that warp both space and time. Plus, the culinary delights of roadkill. You can read Keith’s reporting about issues we talk about here:https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2021/ufos-once-consigned-to-conspiracy-theories-have-landed-in-mainstream-american-journalism/https://www.wired.com/story/will-the-new-york-times-ever-stop-reporting-on-ufos/https://gen.medium.com/americas-enduring-obsession-with-ufos-b582ca8f86cbhttps://issues.org/ufos-wont-go-away/https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/ufos-keep-appearing-in-the-news-heres-why-we-cant-quit-them/https://www.spytalk.co/p/star-drek-ufo-crank-luis-elizondohttps://theintercept.com/2019/06/01/ufo-unidentified-history-channel-luis-elizondo-pentagon/https://keithkloor.substack.com/p/why-ufos-will-never-ever-go-away More Like Ancient Fail-iens is published early and ad-free over at www.grabbagcollab.com Follow Grab Bag Collab on Instagram and Facebook.

What is "The Age of Disclosure" and why is legacy media so obsessed with it? Toby and Brandon venture into a space that's slightly less ancient, but no less alien, than "Ancient Aliens" as they dig into the new documentary by Dan Farah, "The Age of Disclosure." With the help of freelance journalist Keith Kloor, we ask why so many government figures are so gaga for UFOs, why everyone from The New York Times to CNN is so uncritically gaga for the documentary, and why "Disclosure" is now mainstream enough to include Stephen Spielberg and the Epstein Files. Turn off your nuclear missiles and tune in to us!Check out Keith's work at https://substack.com/@keithkloorMore Like Ancient Fail-iens is published early and ad-free over at www.grabbagcollab.comFollow Grab Bag Collab on Instagram and Facebook.

Have you ever gone metal detecting and found a twisted piece of wire? Well, Giorgio Tsoukalos has and it was at a skip site near Roswell, NM! I know, right? Toby and Brandon are joined by podcaster Michel Gagne to get a handle on the Ancient Aliens episode “The Relics of Roswell” (S15:E2). This one has it all: a budding love story, some industrial grade aluminum and explosive cratering! Plus a dramatic Zoom call…For more about Michel, visit: ⁠https://www.paranoidplanet.ca/More Like Ancient Fail-iens is published early and ad-free over at www.grabbagcollab.comFollow Grab Bag Collab on Instagram and Facebook.

Not satisfied with small floods or even big floods? How about a great flood? Polymathic Canadian Pedro Mendes returns to the show to help Toby and Brandon bail water on the Ancient Aliens episode “The Great Flood” (S9:E8). Yes, we’ve got Gilgamesh. Yes, fallen angels once again seduce “our girls.” Yes, there are microbeads. No, it’s still not clear how it all fits together. But we don’t want God or aliens or whoever to wash us away again so board the ark with the Failiens gang and float to safety.https://m.youtube.com/@PedroMendesMiniatureMore Like Ancient Fail-iens is published early and ad-free over at www.grabbagcollab.comFollow Grab Bag Collab on Instagram and Facebook.

What is it like to be an academic, talking about your legitimate research only to have it woven into a story of extraterrestrial interference in human history? This bonus episode features two conversations that Brandon and Toby had with experts featured on Ancient Aliens who aren’t ancient astronaut theorists! First, they talk with Jonathan Young, the curator of the Joseph Campbell Archives. In the second interview they chat with Dominic Steavu, associate professor of East Asian Languages and Cultural Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. You can learn more about our guests here: Jonathan YoungWebsite: folkstory.comHis congregation: LiveOakGoleta.orgMythological Studies: Pacifica.eduCampbell archives: opusarchives.org/joseph-campbell-collection/Joseph Campbell Foundation: jcf.org Dominic SteavuFaculty page: eastasian.ucsb.edu/people/faculty/dominic-steavu/

Let's finally just ask the big question: Just exactly how does Bigfoot fit into this whole doggone UFO thing? That's what we're answering once and for all in our exploration of the Ancient Aliens episode "Aliens and Bigfoot" (S4:E7). Luckily Toby and Brandon get help from journalist and documentarian David Farrier, creator of such wild and fascinating dives into culture as the doc Tickled and the Netflix series Dark Tourist. Not to mention a whole podcast on mysterious critters called The Cryptid Factor. So we were well-prepared to figure out if Bigfoots are hybrids of humans and apes, or if humans are hybrids of Bigfoots and aliens, or if ... aliens are ... hybrids of Bigfoots and ... humans? Okay so we lost our way in the forest, but that's no reason not to listen, because after all, the greatest threat in the woods may not be Bigfoot ... it may be us.Find David's work here: www.webworm.coMore Like Ancient Fail-iens is published early and ad-free over at www.grabbagcollab.comFollow Grab Bag Collab on Instagram and Facebook.