Ancient Geeks episode 73: Raiders Of The Lost Ark

You can hear the soundtrack start to play in your head already... No history of early geekery would be complete without Raiders Of The Lost Ark. In this episode, we talk about the roots of this movie in serials like Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon, in the pulp magazines like Weird Tales and Argosy, and in radio dramas like The Shadow and Suspense. And of course, we talk about the movie. What did we expect, when we heard that a high adventure movie was coming soon, from both George Lucas and Steven Spielberg? What was it like to see it for the first time, in the theaters, along with everyone else? What lasting impact did it have, not only on young geeks like ourselves, but in that intersection between geek culture and popular culture? And why were the imitators so reliably inferior to the original? Snakes! Nazis! Questionable academic practices! Fantastic filmmaking! And is this more of a Spielberg or a Lucas movie?   Ancient Geeks is a podcast about two geeks of a certain age re-visiting their youth. We were there when things like science fiction, fantasy, Tolkien, Star Trek, Star Wars, D&D, Marvel and DC comics, Doctor Who, and many, many other threads of modern geek culture were still on the fringes of popular culture. We were geeks before it was chic! For feedback, contact [email protected]. You can also find us on Facebook, Reddit, and Bluesky. Also, check out the Ancient Geeks blog on Substack! And if you like what you hear, please tell a friend. Also, we always appreciate a review on the podcast platform of your choice. © 2026 Tom Grant and Steven Taylor