VOC Nation Radio Network sent out the following:
Kevin Burns, the Executive Producer and writer of “Ancient Aliens” on the History H2 Channel, joined the VOC Nation Radio Network to discuss his beliefs on the Ancient Astronaut Theory, his vision for the show, and how he sees the future of television content distribution. The entire interview can be heard at http://vocnation.com on the “Searching for Answers” program.
Here are some highlights of Kevin’s interview:
On Internet programming (like the WWE Network) replacing what we know today as cable television: “Yes and no. In my lifetime, I’ve seen a greater and greater democratation of programming. With YouTube and facebook, everyone is becoming their own writer and producer. The challenge is in supporting 24 hours a day. It takes a tremendous commitment. People want varied programming. Some people will watch wrestling 24 hours a day, but not enough people will support it (to make it a huge success).”
On the diverse nature of his filmography: “It’s all good television. It’s entertaining and informative. I just loved TV as a kid; my favorite three shows were ‘Lost in Space’, ‘Batman’, and ’The Munsters’. One way or the other, I just try to figure out how to do great television out of what we do.”
On the notion of Science vs Religion: “To me, science and religion should not be opposing notions. (they) are both seeking answers to the same questions; one uses deductive reasoning, one uses inductive reasoning. Science tends to break down reality to find the answer, and religion tends to take reality and interpolate what the answer could be. If anything, science and religion support each other.”
On human origins and intelligent design: “The Universe is based more on order than chaos. If you (believe) that (creation) is just about the big bang and is accidental, and human beings are just a random assemblage of molecules, then (you) really don’t make much sense. The Universe is much more based on order and balance, and laws of physics and mathematics. Science, in a weird way, proves the notion of religion.”
On his beliefs and how they permeate into the show: “I write the show (and narration) questioning viewers on if (the Ancient Astronaut Theory) is true. Billions of people around the world believe in extraterrestrials. Every religion is based on the notion of life coming here from elsewhere; that’s what an extraterrestrial is. What are angels? What are Gods? What are deities? (they’re extraterrestrial beings). Buddhism, Hinduism, and Judeo-Christianity are all founded on that notion. I take the position of, ‘what if it were true?’ A lot of the evidence is hard to refute. There are always two or three premises in every show that aren’t easily dismissed.”
On whether the show is formed to promote the Ancient Astronaut Theory, and disprove skeptics: “I don’t put forward Ancient Astronaut Theory as fact, but I don’t dismiss it as fantasy. I put it forward as a fascinating theory that may have merit and helps to explain the inexplainable. It doesn’t support any particular religion, but it presents very plausibly that something we cannot explain must have been involved in where we are today. That’s what the show intends to do: To make you think, to make you question, and to open up the sense that there’s a tremendous amount of wonder that should be explored.”
On whether the show was in danger after the death of Philip Coppens: “Not at all. Philip was a great contributor, a great friend, and he was very brilliant, but we have a lot of great contributors to the show. A lot of Philip’s work was inspired from other sources, and also inspired other people. Every season, we bring in a lot of very interesting people, and we’re always looking to expand the voices in the show and the base of the show.
On the rest of season 8 and into season 9 and beyond: “We’re getting into other areas that we’ve never explored before. We are going to tell the story about an archaeologist that was working for the Smithsonian, who discovered an ancient cave with something like a Buddha in the middle of it and a lot of hieroglyphs. It was never published by the Smithsonian, and the area has been off limits ever since. There’s an enormous amount of stories (like that one) to tell. Things are being found every day; they just found a stone hearth in Israel that dates back 300,000 years. They just found a piece of pottery in Iraq that describes Noah’s Ark and how it was built: It was the size of a football stadium, and it was round like a disk. (These things) support the notion that the world is much older than we think.”
