Pseudo-Archaeology · The Archaeology Podcast Network

Remembering Brian Fagan - Ep 167

·50 min

Dr. Andrew Kinkella memorializes his late professor, Dr. Brian Fagan, on the Pseudo-Archaeology Podcast. Kinkella entered UC Santa Barbara in 1990 planning to be a drama major but switched to archaeology after taking Fagan's Intro to Archaeology course. Fagan, a British archaeologist with a PhD from Cambridge and experience as keeper of prehistory at Livingston Museum in Zambia, taught for 35 years at UCSB using an innovative hybrid format: one lecture per week that functioned as a performance, mixing storytelling hooks, British gravitas, and humor with rigorous scholarship. Fagan authored a dozen textbooks (In the Beginning through 15 editions, People of the Earth, Archaeology A Brief Introduction, Handbook) and dozens of topical books (Egypt, Climate Change, California archaeology, Fish on Friday). Kinkella details how he learned from observing Fagan's teaching style, though emphasizes he wasn't a close friend but rather 'in awe.' He recalls specific moments: Fagan's boat-flipping field trip at his house, visiting him during graduate excavation in Belize, bringing a rare first-edition textbook for signing, and later using Fagan's Archaeology A Brief Introduction as a model for his own intro text. The episode explores how mentorship works through observation and internalized technique rather than close personal relationship.

As heard by us

A quiet remembrance that turns Brian Fagan's influence into a personal archaeology story.

Episode 167 slows down for a remembrance of Brian Fagan after news of his death at 88, and the quieter tone fits. Andrew Kinkella is plainly grateful here. He talks about how Fagan shaped his path into archaeology and, by extension, the work he does now.

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Why you'd press play

A professor's farewell that doubles as a career origin story.

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