Part Two: Percy Fawcett: Real-Life Indiana Jones, or Deluded Psychic Racist?

August 27, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

Percy Fawcett, the British explorer often cited as the real-life inspiration for Indiana Jones, was also a man who believed he was psychic, used a Ouija board to try to locate German artillery during World War I, and was convinced the Amazon jungle hid a portal to an Atlantean city of wizards. The popular image of Fawcett as a rugged, scientifically-minded adventurer is largely a myth he cultivated himself, one that was amplified by modern books and films. The reality, as detailed in this episode of Behind the Bastards, is that Fawcett was a deeply credulous occultist whose delusions directly led to the deaths of his own son and his son’s friend.

The Making of a Mystic, Not an Explorer

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What you'll learn

1 Part Two: Percy Fawcett: Real-Life Indiana Jones, or Deluded Psychic Racist?
2 Timestamped Outline
3 (00:34) **Return to Ceylon and Occult Turn** - Fawcett's deepening obsession with Buddhism, Theosophy, and the occult shapes his worldview
4 (07:57) **The Prophecy of Jack** - Fawcett claims Buddhist soothsayers predicted his son's birth and special destiny
5 (11:08) **Racist Pseudoscience About Jack** - Fawcett's bizarre racial claims about his own son
6 (13:27) **The Royal Geographic Society Calls** - Sir George Taubman Goldie recruits Fawcett for Amazon surveying
7 (16:29) **The Myth vs. Reality of Fawcett's First Expedition** - Fawcett's self-mythologizing and the Hollywood distortions

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

Robert concludes the tale of Percy Fawcett by discussing how he came to believe a hidden jungle portal would turn his son into a god (spoiler: they died horribly).

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