Dan Brown

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Brief dismissive reference to Dan Brown's theory that the Merovingian bloodline continued to the present day, alluding to his conspiracy thriller works

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A passage is read (from the audiobook narrated by Ian McKellen) discussing the Merovingian bloodline and its supposed connection to Christ's lineage. The hosts explicitly identify this as 'The Da Vinci Code' by 'the acclaimed novelist, renowned novelist, Dan Brown.'

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Explicitly mentioned as a book containing Christmas-themed claims by the character Sir Lee Teabing about Christian icons being derived from pagan traditions

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Mentioned alongside Holy Blood and Holy Grail as promoting the theory that the Holy Grail represents the bloodline of Christ.

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Mentioned twice as a humorous comparison—first when the hosts joke that Francis Bacon's The New Atlantis is 'not the Da Vinci Code' in terms of exciting characterization, and second when describing the Swedish scholar Rudbeck's methodology of starting with a desired conclusion and working backward to find supporting evidence.

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Referenced throughout the episode series as the starting point for discussing Cathar conspiracy theories, including the idea of the Cathars as a secret society protecting the bloodline of Jesus and Mary Magdalene

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Referenced as a book discussed in the previous episode, connected to conspiracy theories about the Cathars and the Priory of Zion

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The central subject of the entire episode, discussed extensively on the occasion of its 20th anniversary (published 2003). The hosts read aloud from the opening passage, analyze Dan Brown's prose style, discuss his factual claims about the Priory of Sion and Jesus's bloodline, and trace the chain of influences that led to the novel. It sold 81 million copies and was outsold only by a Harry Potter book.

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Mentioned as Dan Brown's first book featuring the character Robert Langdon, the Harvard symbologist.