Annie Jacobsen

And to really think about this idea, I looked at the oldest known archaeological site in the world in Turkey, which is called Gobekli Tepe. And it's really fascinating to me because I interviewed one of the two archaeologists who first found this site in the early 90s. And the lead archaeologist was a guy named Klaus Schmidt, and Michael Morsch was the young graduate student who was with him.

And Morsch's description of, like, coming upon this, like, rumored-to-be site—there was something called a wishing tree on the site, which I just found so human and perfect that it was this magical place— And it was locatable because there was a wishing tree on a hill and it's where people went to wish and to hope that their wishes came true. I mean, how human is that, right?

And Morsch's description of, like, coming upon this, like, rumored-to-be site—there was something called a wishing tree on the site, which I just found so human and perfect that it was this magical place— And it was locatable because there was a wishing tree on a hill and it's where people went to wish and to hope that their wishes came true. I mean, how human is that, right?

And Morsch's description of, like, coming upon this, like, rumored-to-be site—there was something called a wishing tree on the site, which I just found so human and perfect that it was this magical place— And it was locatable because there was a wishing tree on a hill and it's where people went to wish and to hope that their wishes came true. I mean, how human is that, right?

And that is where beneath the wishing tree, kind of like in the shadow of the wishing tree, there was a tep, which is a hill. And beneath that, there is the oldest known civilization in the world. 12,000 years ago, a group of hunter-gatherers built this site. Why? We don't know.

And that is where beneath the wishing tree, kind of like in the shadow of the wishing tree, there was a tep, which is a hill. And beneath that, there is the oldest known civilization in the world. 12,000 years ago, a group of hunter-gatherers built this site. Why? We don't know.

And that is where beneath the wishing tree, kind of like in the shadow of the wishing tree, there was a tep, which is a hill. And beneath that, there is the oldest known civilization in the world. 12,000 years ago, a group of hunter-gatherers built this site. Why? We don't know.

But I imagined when, through Morse's descriptions of coming upon, like, you know, he tripped on a rock, he told me, right? He tripped over a stone that turned out to be The top part of a 12,000-year-old sculpted man, giant pillar, right? And he talked about coming upon that. And then no one knows really what Gobekli Tepe was for.

But I imagined when, through Morse's descriptions of coming upon, like, you know, he tripped on a rock, he told me, right? He tripped over a stone that turned out to be The top part of a 12,000-year-old sculpted man, giant pillar, right? And he talked about coming upon that. And then no one knows really what Gobekli Tepe was for.

But I imagined when, through Morse's descriptions of coming upon, like, you know, he tripped on a rock, he told me, right? He tripped over a stone that turned out to be The top part of a 12,000-year-old sculpted man, giant pillar, right? And he talked about coming upon that. And then no one knows really what Gobekli Tepe was for.

And that makes my mind try and answer the question you asked me internally, right? just as like a human who's here on Earth for the amount of time I'm here. If there were a nuclear war, what would it be like? What would it be like when someone in the future, would we become archaeologists one day? Would civilization rebuild? Would we develop computers? Who knows? It's interesting to think about.

And that makes my mind try and answer the question you asked me internally, right? just as like a human who's here on Earth for the amount of time I'm here. If there were a nuclear war, what would it be like? What would it be like when someone in the future, would we become archaeologists one day? Would civilization rebuild? Would we develop computers? Who knows? It's interesting to think about.

And that makes my mind try and answer the question you asked me internally, right? just as like a human who's here on Earth for the amount of time I'm here. If there were a nuclear war, what would it be like? What would it be like when someone in the future, would we become archaeologists one day? Would civilization rebuild? Would we develop computers? Who knows? It's interesting to think about.

I hope we never have to.

I hope we never have to.

I hope we never have to.

But I think, for me, the idea of what is buried Becomes very interesting and very human and in a strange way optimistic and positive. Because if you can visualize that wishing tree, and I have a picture of it in the book from one of the archaeologists who work on that, right? You think, what were they wishing? What were they wishing for, right?

But I think, for me, the idea of what is buried Becomes very interesting and very human and in a strange way optimistic and positive. Because if you can visualize that wishing tree, and I have a picture of it in the book from one of the archaeologists who work on that, right? You think, what were they wishing? What were they wishing for, right?

But I think, for me, the idea of what is buried Becomes very interesting and very human and in a strange way optimistic and positive. Because if you can visualize that wishing tree, and I have a picture of it in the book from one of the archaeologists who work on that, right? You think, what were they wishing? What were they wishing for, right?

And then you think of your own self, what do I wish for in this world, right? Because, you know... I do think all things come from what happens, you know, metaphorically around the dinner table, right? Like what people put their eyes on becomes interesting and expands what people talk about.