Episodes

  • Rupert Murdoch – Part One – Empire of The Sun

    Rupert Murdoch – Part One – Empire of The Sun
    Oct 28 2026
    Hello and welcome to season 10 of Origin Story. Thanks for listening and supporting our work. We kick off with the world-shaking, century-spanning story of Rupert Murdoch. No single person has ever dominated, and changed, the media landscape like Murdoch. Starting out with an inheritance of a single newspaper in Australia, within three decades he had built a global media empire through his relentless desire to win and had become the most envied, feared and hated man in the business. In part one we cover the period from 1931 to 1989. Despite being the Oxford-educated scion of Australia’s most famous journalist, Murdoch always felt like an outsider, at war with a faceless enemy called “the establishment”. As a young man, he became a major force in Australian newspapers through a combination of brute force, cunning and seemingly impossible deals. In 1968, he came to Britain to snap up the News of the World and the Sun and revolutionised tabloid newspapers with his killer instinct for what readers really wanted, however ugly. Moving to America, he applied the same populist impulse to the New York Post and inspired outrage: one critic called the paper a “force for evil”. Murdoch had a tabloid soul but craved broadsheet prestige. His purchase of the Times and Sunday Times in 1981 set off a series of dramas: the firing of beloved editor Harold Evans, the Hitler Diaries hoax and war with the print unions at Wapping. Ruthlessly unsentimental, he took the gambles and fought the battles that nobody else had the stomach for. It was in the decade of Reagan and Thatcher, both of whom he loudly supported, that Murdoch expanded his empire in all directions: a movie studio, a publishing house, satellite television stations and more. Rivals like Ted Turner and Robert Maxwell loathed him but emulated him. Even when one of his deals failed, it changed the game. He built the world’s first cross-media, intercontinental dominion. But as the 1990s dawned, this precariously funded spending spree brought Murdoch to the edge of bankruptcy. How did Rupert Murdoch’s Australian origins inform his worldview? What enabled him to consistently outwit his rivals and foes? How did he first change both the tone and the business of newspapers and then globalise the media industry? What led the New York Times to call him “the most vilified press mogul in the world today”? Why did his immense power never mute his underdog resentment? Why was it never enough? • Support Origin Story on Patreon to help the podcast AND get merch and extra material too. Reading list • Neil Chenoweth – Rupert Murdoch: The Untold Story of the World’s Greatest Media Wizard (2001) • Peter Chippindale and Chris Horrie – Stick It Up Your Punter! The Uncut Story of the Sun Newspaper (2013) • Harold Evans – Good Times, Bad Times (1983) • Robert Harris – Selling Hitler (1986) • Simon Jenkins – The Market for Glory: Fleet Street Ownership in the Twentieth Century (1986) • Andrew Marr – My Trade: A Short History of British Journalism (2004) • Andrew Neil – Full Disclosure (1996) • John Preston – Fall: The Mystery of Robert Maxwell (2021) • William Shawcross – Murdoch (1993) • Gabriel Sherman – Bonfire of the Murdochs: How the Epic Fight to Control the Last Great Media Dynasty Broke a Family — and the World (2026) • Michael Wolff – The Man Who Owns the News: Inside the Secret World of Rupert Murdoch (2010) Articles and podcasts • Anonymous, ‘The Battle for New York’, Time (17 January 1977) • Ken Auletta – ‘The Pirate’, New Yorker (6 November 1995) • Julian Barnes – ‘Union Blues’, New Yorker (14 April 2003) • McKay Coppins – ‘Growing Up Murdoch’, Atlantic (14 February 2025) • Clyde Haberman — ‘Roger Ailes, Who Built Fox News Into an Empire, Dies at 77’, New York Times (18 May 2017) • Hendrik Hertzberg – ‘Topless Tabloids of Gotham’, New Yorker (15 February 1999) • Joseph Lelyveld – ‘Murdoch Savors His British Coup’, New York Times (2 March 1986) • Jonathan Mahler and Jim Rutenberg – ‘How Rupert Murdoch’s Empire of Influence Remade the World’, New York Times (3 April 2019) • Jane Martinson – ‘“We’re clearly heading towards collapse”: why the Murdoch empire is about to go bang’, Observer (22 February 2025) • Andrew O’Hagan – ‘How the Murdoch Family Built an Empire — and Remade the News’, New Yorker (2 February 2026) • David Shaw – ‘Making of a Megamogul’, New York Times (26 May 1985) • Gail Sheehy – ‘A Fistful of Dollars’, Rolling Stone (14 July 1977) • Slow Burn: The Rise of Fox News, written and presented by Josh Levin, Slate (2024) Written and presented by Ian Dunt and Dorian Lynskey. Producer: Simon Williams. Music by Jade Bailey. Art by Jim Parrett. Logo by Mischa Welsh. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Origin Story is a Podmasters production www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. ...
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    1 hr and 37 mins
  • Anti-vaxxers – Herd impunity – Origin Story Revisited

    Anti-vaxxers – Herd impunity – Origin Story Revisited
    Oct 21 2026
    Hello Origin Story listeners. We’re launching season 10 in the second half of October and to mark that milestone we thought it would be fun to revisit some of our old episodes under the name Origin Story Revisted. Somehow we’ve recorded over 150 episodes so we’ve chosen four of our favourites to reissue with new introductions where we discuss making them and reflect on how subsequent events have changed how we think about these stories. For our final Revisited before Season 10 begins, we look again at anti-vaxxers. Vaccine resistance is as old as vaccines themselves but not until the 2000s did a toxic compound of junk science and media credulity give rise to a serious anti-vax movement. Since we made this episode in June 2024, that movement has gained power in the US with an anti-vaxxer President (Trump) and Health Secretary (Robert F Kennedy Jr). The dreadful result is not just an immediate spike in measles cases but the stifling of preparations for the next pandemic. Here’s the story of how crank paranoia and industrialised ignorance came to jeopardise one of the greatest achievements in the history of public health. • Support Origin Story on Patreon Written and presented by Ian Dunt and Dorian Lynskey. Producer: Simon Williams. Music by Jade Bailey. Art by Jim Parrett. Logo by Mischa Welsh. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Origin Story is a Podmasters production www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hr and 25 mins
  • Russell Brand – Confidence man – Origin Story Revisited

    Russell Brand – Confidence man – Origin Story Revisited
    Oct 14 2026
    Hello Origin Story listeners. We’re launching season 10 in the second half of October and to mark that milestone we thought it would be fun to revisit some of our old episodes under the name Origin Story Revisted. Somehow we’ve recorded over 150 episodes so we’ve chosen four of our favourites to reissue with new introductions where we discuss making them and reflect on how subsequent events have changed how we think about these stories. This week we’re returning to our October 2024 episode about Russell Brand, who is back in the news this week because jury selection has begun in his trial on multiple sexual-offence charges. Obviously we can’t discuss legal proceedings but we can talk about how his rise and fall represents a very modern narrative of radicalisation and/or opportunism. From ubiquitous celebrity to left-wing hero to right-wing conspiracy theorist, Brand is a creature of 21st century media and a warning to the gullible. • Support Origin Story on Patreon Written and presented by Ian Dunt and Dorian Lynskey. Producer: Simon Williams. Music by Jade Bailey. Art by Jim Parrett. Logo by Mischa Welsh. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Origin Story is a Podmasters production www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hr and 29 mins
  • Ayn Rand: The ego has landed – Origin Story Revisited

    Ayn Rand: The ego has landed – Origin Story Revisited
    Oct 7 2026
    This week, while we research a two-parter on the history of libertarianism, we're revisiting the story of the political novelist Ayn Rand. In this episode from 2022 — the first time we chose to focus on an individual rather than an abstract idea — we explore how Rand's extreme views on the self versus the society inspired a whole school of thought but somewhat ruined her life. And we read some very long novels. Enjoy • Support Origin Story on Patreon Written and presented by Dorian Lynskey and Ian Dunt. Audio production and music by Jade Bailey. Logo art by Mischa Welsh. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Origin Story is a Podmasters production www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hr and 21 mins
  • The Battle of Cable Street – Origin Story Revisited

    The Battle of Cable Street – Origin Story Revisited
    Sep 30 2026
    Hello Origin Story listeners. We’re launching season 10 in the second half of October and to mark that milestone we thought it would be fun to revisit some of our old episodes under the name Origin Story Revisited. Somehow we’ve recorded over 150 episodes so we’ve chosen four of our favourites to reissue with new introductions where we discuss making them and reflect on how subsequent events have changed how we think about these stories. Our first Revisited episode is The Battle of Cable Street from August 2024. It’s not just because the 80th anniversary of that event falls on 4 October. In light of the emergence of Patriot Platform and other forms of far-right intimidation, it’s a good time to look again at the day a vast anti-fascist alliance stood up to Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists in the East End, and at how popular resistance can spur state action. Hope you enjoy it. • Support Origin Story on Patreon Written and presented by Ian Dunt and Dorian Lynskey. Producer: Simon Williams. Music by Jade Bailey. Art by Jim Parrett. Logo by Mischa Welsh. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Origin Story is a Podmasters production www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    45 mins
  • John Rawls – Philosopher king of the 20th Century

    John Rawls – Philosopher king of the 20th Century
    Sep 23 2026
    This week we dive into the life and ideas of John Rawls, the most celebrated liberal philosopher of the post-war period. Even in his own lifetime he was compared to Plato and Hobbes, becoming the only figure of our era to enter the canon of Western thought alongside the greatest figures in the philosophical tradition. Rawls' work was a deadly surgical attack on neoliberalism and a rigorous defence of a more progressive form of liberalism, grounded in equality, rights and social justice. His notion of the veil of ignorance is perhaps the single most influential philosophical idea of the 20th Century and one of the most beautiful concepts in political theory. He provided a systematic justification for a centre-left worldview and policy programme, with a firm moral grounding and extremely radical repercussions. We trace his life story, from early childhood tragedy, through the battlefields of the Second World War, to a long and distinguished career in Harvard. We find a quiet, shy, unassuming man, uncomfortable in large groups and immune to self-importance, who nevertheless shook the philosophical world to its foundation. As his libertarian opponent Robert Nozick admitted: "Political philosophers must either work within Rawls' theory or explain why not." We then delve into Rawls' political philosophy, providing a concise explanation of a foundational idea in the history of progressive thought. If you've ever wondered what the limit of the market should be, or how much inequality we should allow, or why people should be entitled to rights, Rawls will provide the explanation. Join us for an inspiring story of a world-changing idea. • Support Origin Story on Patreon Reading list • Daniel Chandler - Free and Equal: What Would a Fair Society Look Like? (Penguin, 2024) • Thomas Pogge - John Rawls: His Life and Theory of Justice (Oxford University Press, 2007) • John Rawls - Political Liberalism (Columbia University Press, 2005) • John Rawls - Theory of Justice (Harvard University Press, 1999) Written and presented by Ian Dunt and Dorian Lynskey. Producer: Simon Williams. Music by Jade Bailey. Art by Jim Parrett. Logo by Mischa Welsh. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Origin Story is a Podmasters production www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hr and 5 mins
  • Origin Story Live at Union Chapel

    Origin Story Live at Union Chapel
    Sep 8 2026
    Hello listeners. This week’s episode is an audio recording of our live show at the Union Chapel in London on 1 September 2026. This time we did something different and made a live show out of a classic Origin Story narrative. It’s the story of how the Daily Telegraph’s deterioration from grey citadel of High Toryism to feral troll farm mirrors the cognitive decline of conservatism in Britain. In part one we tell the story of the Telegraph. Founded in 1855 by a crank army colonel to pursue an obscure vendetta, it was soon bought by the Levy-Lawson family, who turned into Britain’s liveliest newspaper and the world’s largest. During the 20th century, it became the heart of British conservatism: solidly — sometimes alarmingly — right-wing yet respectable and conscientious. It was proud to be boring: a safe harbour in a changing world. “Was, is, and will be,” its masthead boasted. The Telegraph took a strange turn after 2004, with its acquisition by the Barclay brothers and the rise of online journalism. Drawing more of its editors and energy from the Daily Mail, it began platforming more extreme voices in the hunt for clicks. By the time of Brexit in 2016, the viciousness and paranoia that characterised its online output had colonised the newspaper itself. Could its recent purchase by Germany’s Axel Springer trigger a return to normality? In part two we play headline tennis with some of the Telegraph’s barmiest articles, dig into the feverish, apocalyptic world view of columnist-editor Allister Heath, and explore what the paper’s decline says about the crumbling of the Tory mind. Then we take questions from the audience. Hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed doing the show. Reading list Books Lord Burnham – Peterborough Court: The Story of The Daily Telegraph (1955) Colin Coote – Editorial: The Memoirs of Colin R. Coote (1965) W. F. Deedes – Dear Bill: A Memoir (2005) Duff Hart-Davis – The House The Berrys Built: Inside The Telegraph (1990) Max Hastings – Editor: A Memoir (2002) Jane Martinson – You May Never See Us Again: The Barclay Dynasty: A Story of Survival, Secrecy and Succession (2023) Peregrine Worsthorne – Tricks of Memory: An Autobiography (1993) Articles Stephen Bates – ‘Sir Peregrine Worsthorne obituary’, Guardian (5 October 2020) Jason Cowley – ‘The lost magic of England’, New Statesman (11 February 2016) Bryan Curtis – ‘Paper Tiger’, Slate (25 October 2006) Allister Heath – ‘Vast forces are mobilising to stop Britain’s only real chance of survival’, Telegraph (18 February 2026) Allister Heath – ‘The Fall of Britain: A tragedy in three horrifying acts’, Telegraph (19 April 2026) Liz Truss – ‘Trump has been proven right about pretty much everything’, Telegraph (14 April 2025) Jim Waterson – ‘“Toxic” Telegraph made me feel nauseous, says Graham Norton’, Guardian (7 October 2019) Peregrine Worsthorne – ‘The “Daily Telegraph”: No other British institution has been so badly degraded’, Independent (21 November 2005) Written and presented by Ian Dunt and Dorian Lynskey. Producer: Simon Williams. Music by Jade Bailey. Art by Jim Parrett. Logo by Mischa Welsh. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Origin Story is a Podmasters production www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    2 hrs and 7 mins
  • Section 28 – Anatomy of a Moral Panic

    Section 28 – Anatomy of a Moral Panic
    Aug 26 2026
    Hello and welcome to a bonus episode of Origin Story. This time we tell the story of Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988, the legislation that prohibited local councils from funding the “promotion” of homosexuality and cast a chilling shadow over the lives of gay men and lesbians in the UK for the next 15 years. How did it come about, what were the consequences, and is something similar happening to trans people today? The 1980s were a decade of rampant homophobia, fed by conservative anxieties about progressive education, “loony left” councils and the emergence of HIV/AIDS. One book (Jenny Lives with Eric and Martin) and one London council (Haringey) became the focus of a moral panic that spread like wildfire through the right-wing press and Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government, with all the hysteria, bigotry and misinformation you would expect. Opposition to children learning about homosexuality in any way featured in the 1987 election campaign and led to the amendment that became Section 28: local authorities were forbidden to “intentionally promote homosexuality,” whatever that meant. While nobody was ever prosecuted under Section 28, these few vague and provocative lines created a climate of fear and self-censorship, from schools to broadcasters, and effectively legitimised homophobia. But the campaign against it mobilised gay men and lesbians like never before. Figures such as Ian McKellen, Michael Cashman and Peter Tatchell initiated a new era of activism, including the foundation of Stonewall, to ensure that something like this never happened again. Tony Blair’s Labour government finally repealed Section 28 in 2003, amid a slew of progressive reforms, and multiple Tory leaders apologised for ever supporting it. Now, though, government guidelines on the teaching of gender identity are echoing the intolerant logic of Section 28 and the media’s moral panic around trans people feels grimly familiar. How did a single copy of a Danish picture book lead to the most homophobic legislation in a century? Was the newspapers’ vicious campaign against the “loony left” Britain’s first experience of an “anti-woke” culture war? Who were the politicians, many of them still around today, who supported and opposed Section 28? How did the battle over it give birth to modern LGBTQ activism? How did Section 28 damage ordinary lives and why did it take so long to repeal? And why are some of the people who fought so hard against Section 28 now supporting its transphobic equivalent? • Find out if you’re owed on car finance at⁠ refundclub.co.uk/originstory⁠ • Refund Club is a trading style of Sandsford Law Limited, authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA no. 8008114). Checking is free. A fee is payable only if your claim is successful. Eligibility: car finance taken out in the UK between 2007 and 2021. The average claim is around £829 per agreement; this is an average and not a guarantee of the amount you will receive. You can also claim yourself for free by contacting your lender or the Financial Ombudsman Service. ⁠refundclub.co.uk/originstory⁠ •⁠ ⁠⁠⁠See Origin Story live at the Union Chapel⁠⁠, London on September the 1st • Support Origin Story on⁠ ⁠Patreon⁠⁠ Written and presented by Ian Dunt and Dorian Lynskey. Producer: Chris Jones. Music by Jade Bailey. Art by Jim Parrett. Logo by Mischa Welsh. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Origin Story is a Podmasters production ⁠⁠www.podmasters.co.uk⁠⁠ Books and articles Paul Baker – Outrageous! The Story of Section 28 and Britain’s Battle for LGBT Education (2022) Susanne Bosche – ‘Jenny, Eric, Martin… and Me’, Guardian (31 January 2000) Faye Brown – ‘Claims of oral sex and choking lessons prompt government review into sex education critic says is “politically motivated”’, Sky News (8 March 2023) Michael Cashman – One of Them: From Albert Square to Parliament Square (2020) Colin Clews – Gay in the 80s: From Fighting for Our Rights to Fighting for Our Lives (2017) James Curran, Ivor Gaber and Julian Petley – Culture Wars: The Media & the British Left (2005) Ryan Gilbey – It Used to Be Witches: Under the Spell of Queer Cinema (Faber, 2025) Audrey Gillan – ‘Section 28 gone… but not forgotten’, Guardian (17 November 2003) Chris Godfrey – Section 28 protesters 30 years on: ‘We were arrested and put in a cell up by Big Ben’, Guardian (27 May 2018) Ian Lucas – OutRage! An Oral History (1998) Kelly Ann Cecilia McGhee – ‘The Destruction Caused by Clause 28’, Glasgow Women’s Library Adam Mars-Jones – ‘The book that launched Clause 28’, Index on Censorship, Vol. 17, Issue 8 (September 1988) Michelle O’Toole – ‘I’m a trans woman who grew up under section 28 — I worry it could make a comeback’, the i Paper (11 May 2020) Ruth Pearce – ‘Labour’s Section 28 is here — act now’, ...
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    1 hr and 22 mins