Episode Details

What if the history we’ve been taught is far more complicated than the stories we tell about it?

Today’s guest is Neil Laird, an Emmy- and BAFTA-nominated filmmaker, author, and historian who has spent roughly three decades making documentaries around the world.

Based in New York, Neil has worked extensively in documentary television, particularly around ancient history, the Middle East, Egypt, Rome, and Greece. He has produced more than a thousand hours of programming and has traveled to more than 70 countries, exploring ancient sites, cultures, tombs, ruins, and shipwrecks.

After decades of making documentaries, Neil has also turned to fiction through his Primetime Traveler series—a satirical series about a modern television crew that travels back in time to ancient civilizations.

In this conversation, we explore:

• Why Neil believes history is much messier than the simple narratives we often hear
• Why humans prefer clean, linear explanations for complicated events
• How modern assumptions can distort our understanding of the ancient world
• What traveling through different cultures taught Neil about how we interpret history
• How later societies have sometimes shaped the historical narratives we inherit
• His experiences researching sexuality and identity in the ancient world
• The story of the Tomb of the Two Brothers at Saqqara and what it made him reconsider
• Why history doesn’t necessarily move steadily toward greater enlightenment
• How streaming and social media have changed documentary filmmaking
• Why Neil believes historical programming has become less fact-checked
• The growing challenge of distinguishing what is real from what has been digitally created
• What makes a great historical story
• Why facts and characters aren’t enough without a compelling mystery
• Göbekli Tepe and the questions it raises about conventional narratives of human development
• Why Neil moved from documentaries into historical fiction
• How the Primetime Traveler novels combine history, satire, time travel, and modern perspectives
• The responsibility storytellers have when presenting history
• Why even historically grounded stories must acknowledge what we don’t know
• What ancient civilizations can teach us about the similarities between human beings across time

At the heart of Neil’s approach is an idea he returns to throughout the conversation:

The more we dig, the less we know.

History isn’t always a straight line. It is full of contradictions, forgotten stories, mysteries, failures, and discoveries that can force us to rethink what we thought we understood.

🌍 Thought Atlas

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🌐 Connect with Neil

Website:
https://neillaird.com/

Neil explicitly gives NeilLaird.com during the closing of the interview and invites listeners to join his newsletter there.

He says the site also provides information about his:

• Books
• Films
• Talks
• Tours

He also mentions his cruise-ship talks and tours.

📚 Neil’s Books

Neil says his books are available on Amazon.

He specifically identifies his fiction as the Primetime Traveler series.

He also mentions that his third novel, Primetime Troy, was scheduled to come out at the end of July 2026.

He confirms at the end that listeners can get his books through Amazon and Kindle.

🔎 Finding Neil

Neil also says listeners can search:

“Neil Laird film tours”

and says that searching for Neil Laird together with his films, tours, or books should bring up his work.