The Voynich Ninja

I told the producer that I would NOT comment on particular theories (except Newbold, who is a perfect cautionary tale), precisely to avoid the kind of ad hominem debate that Rene mentioned. That kind of debate and pointed criticism might make for exciting and provocative television, but it's not productive. I was actually quite pleased with how the piece turned out - focusing on the realities of the manuscript as an introduction for a general audience, instead of filling the audience's head with nonsense and infighting.

I was contacted by these particular film makers on several occasions for this documentary, but they ended up running with other talking heads. Makes no difference to me.

The film makers seem to have put all their efforts into editing the documentary to reflect a very narrow range of opinion, as if all the contradictions and paradoxes aren't actually central to the 'Voynich problem'.

The question of how come the Voynich keeps turning so many sensible people into trolls didn't seem to be part of the story they wanted to tell. :-)

Thanks, René.

Yes while we all might disagree about so many things about the Voynich with each other, even fundamental things, I think we mostly agree that it is not helpful in a work such as this. People can then dive into the field if they are interested, and then find their own way.

Charlotte "got it" from the start I think, and made it all work. I still think the 2012 BBC doc is one of the best, if not the best. The 2009 was also very good, and actually pivotal as it had the results of the C14. This is another one... like a "VMs 101".

I forgot to mention... not sure if you all know this... but there was at least on other woman interviewed, before me, but she left before my interview. I was told that she had a more "spiritual" take on the Voynich. I don't know the reasons she doesn't appear in the show, but I would guess it was part of that overall decision to stay with the main paradigm for this outing.

But here is a funny thing: The Travel Channel STILL lists another show, I think. Not sure. If you look here:

https://www.travelchannel.com/shows/worlds-most-unexplained/episodes/the-voynich-manuscript

... you can see that they list it as episode #26 from season #1 of "World's Most Unexplained". But then the version they did show came out already, and was not "stand alone", but shared it with that gold-in-the-piano segment. S01E26 does not have an air date yet. So will it be aired? Will it be the same show, with the gold bit, then the VMs? Or will it be a different version, using the entire 43 minutes or whatever, solely for the Voynich? I'd be surprised if it was all Voynich, and guess the listing simply represents a change in scheduling or somesuch thing. We will see.

It could be a longer version though... stranger things have happened. They've used and reused the ORF doc in many different ways, on Discovery, Discovery Canada, for NatGeo, and so on.

Lisa I'm sorry I was not able to meet you in person. I met Bill down in D.C. when he and René spoke, and of course I've met René on several occasions. I look forward to meeting you, too, at some point, and have no doubt it will happen. I thought you were great in the show, BTW, and in Koen's interview... which I linked to on our forum. I find your insights extremely valuable. I'd love to hear more about your time at the Beinecke back in the day.

Rich.

Thank you, Rich. I look forward to meeting you in real life someday as well!