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Draft:Randall Carlson

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Randall W. Carlson
Born (1951-03-26) March 26, 1951 (age 73)
Hennepin County, Minnesota
EducationE. J. Cooper Senior High School
Parent(s)Wayne Irving Carlson and Mary Beth Carlson
RelativesRhoen Carlson
WebsiteRandallCarlson.com

Randall W. Carlson is a general contractor residing in Decatur, Georgia.  He has gained moderate fame as a promoter of fringe geological theories, as the host of the Kosmographia podcast, as a guest on Russia Today (RT), a frequent guest on the Joe Rogan Experience, and as a collaborator with Graham Hancock and other pseudoscientists.

Carlson's YouTube channel for his Kosmographia podcast has nearly 270,000 subscribers. He has been a guest on the Joe Rogan Experience at least 12 times, placing him in the upper quartile of guest appearances. He was a featured speaker at the 2023 and 2024 (and is booked as a speaker for 2025) "Cosmic Summit," a venue that hosts lectures on fringe theories in archaeology and geology and that caters to various conspiratorial beliefs and other fringe ideas.[1] He is a collaborator with, and is frequently cited as an authoritative source by, Graham Hancock. He guest starred in Episode 8 of Hancock's 2022 Netflix series Ancient Apocalypse. Carlson has appeared with Hancock on numerous podcast episodes.[2][3][4]

Education

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Carlson was born in the northwest suburbs of Minneapolis, Minnesota and attended E. J. Cooper Senior High School in New Hope, Minnesota.[5]  Following high school, he received masonry training as part of the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act[6].  In 1993, Carlson took classes in geology[7] at DeKalb College, a community college serving the greater Atlanta area.

Residential/General Contractor

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Carlson was working construction in and around Atlanta, Georgia by 1975.  Between 1986 and 1992 Carlson operated both Arcus Builders, Inc. (with his brother and business partner Rhoen) and Azoth Electric Company, Inc (with his former spouse and father-in-law). From 2003 until 2016 Carlson operated Archetype Builders, Inc[8] with his brother. Carlson now co-owns and operates Archetype Design/Build, LLC in Decatur, Georgia with his brother .

Pseudoscientific Beliefs

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Carlson's beliefs can be generally described as catastrophist in that he attributes catastrophic origins to numerous geological features of the Earth's surface, emphasizes periodicity in mass extinction events, and posits the significance of extraterrestrial impacts as a significant driver of global change[9]. These ideas are not widely accepted by qualified experts in the geological sciences[10][11].

Carlson has advocated for the legitimacy of dowsing in public lectures[12][13] and in his own podcasts[14]

He has also advocated a version of the Mound Builder hypothesis that asserts a connection between mound-building societies in North America and Old World civilizations of Europe and Africa.[15] This hypothesis was discredited by archaeologists in the late 1800s.

Carlson claims that the "[t]he acclaimed 1997 TBS/CNN documentary Fire from the Sky, in which he appeared, was based upon his research into catastrophic Earth change and cosmic impacts."[16] While Carlson appeared briefly in the 60-minute made-for-television film[17], his appearance in the film deals only with his assertion that the 1871 Peshtigo fire was caused by a comet impact. A review of this film by Bad Astronomy concluded that there is insufficient evidence to accept an extraterrestrial impact as the cause of this fire, and there is ample evidence to suggest it was caused by terrestrial factors.[18] A similar conclusion was arrived at by Robert M. Wood in a presentation at the 2004 Planetary Defense Conference.[19]

In his appearances on the Joe Rogan Experience and in his own videos, Carlson has repeatedly asserted false and pseudoscientific claims regarding anthropogenic climate change[20]. He has denied that carbon dioxide is a major factor in climate change[21] and that "there have been natural factors driving climate change over and over and over again [and that he is unaware of] any consensus on what has caused the planet to first go into an Ice Age and come back out of an Ice Age"[22] despite the widely accepted geological consensus of Milankovitch Cycles. Instead, he advocates for something "on a grand cosmic scale...[something] our ancestors probably did understand."[22] In a 2022 appearance on he promoted the false claim that climate scientists have exaggerated data.[23] And, in 2023, Carlson distributed an Instagram post claiming that climate change is not a significant threat to humanity because extreme weather events are becoming less severe.[24]

Carlson is the creator and/or administrator of several Web sites through which he promotes various claims of dubious scientific merit. These Web sites include

In 2020, Camron Wiltshire and Carlson had a falling out. Wiltshire continues to use Sacred Geometry International to promote Carlson's ideas and appearances, but Carlson appears to no longer be associated with the site, preferring to distribute his content from a host of other outlets including channels on YouTube, Rumble, and HowTube.

References

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  1. ^ Matsuoka, Sayaka (2024-06-20). "At the Cosmic Summit, a proliferation of conspiracy theories, distrust in institutions and a yearning for the 'truth'". Triad City Beat. Retrieved 2024-09-25.
  2. ^ PowerfulJRE (2015-11-19). Joe Rogan Experience #725 - Graham Hancock & Randall Carlson. Retrieved 2024-09-27 – via YouTube.
  3. ^ PowerfulJRE (2016-11-16). Joe Rogan Experience #872 - Graham Hancock & Randall Carlson. Retrieved 2024-09-27 – via YouTube.
  4. ^ PowerfulJRE (2024-06-27). Joe Rogan Experience #1897 - Graham Hancock & Randall Carlson. Retrieved 2024-09-27 – via YouTube.
  5. ^ "Ancestry.com. U.S., School Yearbooks, 1900-2016 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc". Ancestry.com. U.S., School Yearbooks, 1900-2016. 2010. Retrieved 2024-09-26.
  6. ^ "Archetype Design-Build: Historical". Archetype D.B. Retrieved 2024-09-25.
  7. ^ "Previous Lectures". Atlanta Geological Society. Retrieved 2024-09-25.
  8. ^ "Archetype Builders: Contact & About Us". Archetype Builders. 2013-08-21. Archived from the original on 2013-08-21. Retrieved 2024-09-25.
  9. ^ Shermer, Michael (2023). "Alternative civilization and its discontents; Analysis of the alternative archaeologist Graham Hancock's claim that an ancient apocalypse erased the lost civilization of Atlantis". Skeptic. 28 (1): 30–39.
  10. ^ Defant, Marc (2023). "Alternative histories that really aren't". Skeptic. 28 (1): 40–50.
  11. ^ Boslough, Mark (2023). "Apocalypse!". Skeptic. 28 (1): 51–59.
  12. ^ "WNC Calendar". Asheville Citizen-Times. 2006-05-19. pp. C2. ProQuest 438686340. Retrieved 2024-09-25.
  13. ^ "May's Speaker: Randall Carlson" (PDF). Wellspring Newsletter (Appalachian Dowsers Society): 1. 2006-05-01.
  14. ^ The Randall Carlson (2023-11-23). LIVE Clip004.2 Dowsing, Water Witching Exposed by Randall Carlson. Retrieved 2024-09-27 – via YouTube.
  15. ^ The Randall Carlson (2024-03-29). Ep108 Moundbuilders Unknown? Practiced an Integrated Science? Kosmographia - Randall Carlson Podcast. Retrieved 2024-09-27 – via YouTube.
  16. ^ "About Randall Carlson".
  17. ^ Christopher Marsh (2015-06-08). Fire from the Sky. Retrieved 2024-09-25 – via YouTube.
  18. ^ "Phil Plait's Bad Astronomy: Bad TV". www.badastronomy.com. Retrieved 2024-09-25.
  19. ^ Wood, Robert M. (2004). "Did Biela's Comet Cause the Chicago and Midwest Fires?". 2004 Planetary Defense Conference: Protecting Earth from Asteroids. doi:10.2514/6.2004-1419. ISBN 978-1-62410-162-5. {{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help)
  20. ^ Westervelt, Amy (2021-09-27). "Podcasts that make the climate crisis personal". Sierra: The Magazine of the Sierra Club. Retrieved 2024-09-26.
  21. ^ "Already embroiled in controversy, Spotify's Joe Rogan platforms another serial climate misinformer". Media Matters for America. 2022-02-09. Retrieved 2024-09-26.
  22. ^ a b Réflexions (2020-12-05). Joe Rogan Experience , Randall Carlson and Graham Hancock discussing the " global warming dogma ". Retrieved 2024-09-26 – via YouTube.
  23. ^ Parry, Roland Lloyd (2022-10-07). "Video falsely claims scientists exaggerated 'hockey stick' climate chart". AFP Fact Check. Retrieved 2024-09-26.
  24. ^ Parry, Roland Lloyd (2023-03-14). "US podcaster promotes false claims about weather, climate change". AFP Fact Check. Retrieved 2024-09-26.
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