Between 2008 and 2010, Matthew Dentith first joined 95bFM’s Simon Pound, then José Barbosa, on Sunday mornings to talk about conspiracy theories. Listen, as they say, again!
Well, I hope this week’s `ep’ was informative. No trolls yet.
When I gave advance notice of this session’s topic late last week I must say that I wrote a less-than-substantial post on the matter. The whole Celtic New Zealand thing has come at entirely the wrong time; I’m prepping a course, editing a chapter and writing a new one. I don’t really have time to cover the material in anywhere near the depth I’d like to. What I can suggest is that people read Martin Doutré’s responses to both Scott and Edward on the Scoop Review of Books. Doutré shifts his goalposts, metaphorically speaking, and tries (perhaps a little successfully) to get people on the defensive. Fascinating stuff.
Anyway, I’m bound to get drawn into the debate when the link to the interview goes up on Scoop so… we’ll see how it all pans out.
For what it’s worth, the good that is coming out of this is that I’m going to use this little episode as a case study in 2009’s `Conspiracy Theories’ course. I’m also hoping to do something a little special for the radio show when I teach these sessions so that listeners at home get something out of it as well.
Next Time on the Dentith Files: Mumbai. More on the Celtic New Zealand Thesis and some ruminations about Barack Obama’s Birth Certificate
The Dentith Files
The November issue of the Franklin E Local contained within it part three of a series of articles claiming that a pre-Maori, Celtic people, colonised Aotearoa/New Zealand before the arrival of the Polynesians. These articles were endorsed by the editor of the Franklin E Local, Mykeljon Winckel, and they allege not only that Maori are hiding evidence of a Celtic pre-cursor civilisation in Aotearoa/New Zealand but that the academic community is conspiring with them to prevent knowledge of it getting out.
Matthew’s guest on the Dentith Files' is Doctor Scott Hamilton, a former resident of Franklin and a critic of the Celtic New Zealand Thesis. Scott, whose blogReading the Maps’ has covered the issue in some detail numerous times, talks about the political motivations behind the Celtic New Zealand Thesis and how the view that the Celts got here first is not just racist but also plays down just how exciting and unique this country’s real heritage is.
Further reading