Origin Story
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Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Origin Story episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Origin Story for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Origin Story episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
Centrism: Stuck in the middle with you
Origin Story
06/06/22 • 60 min
Centrism has become an all-purpose term of abuse but what does it actually mean? And what does Centrism want? Dorian and Ian journey to the centre of the middle, dropping in on Tony Benn, William Rees-Mogg, the crises of the 70s, Trotsky, fascism, communism, Clinton, Blair, and the guillotine....
Help Ian and Dorian move NOT LEFT, NOT RIGHT, BUT FORWARD by supporting their Origin Story research on Patreon: www.Patreon.com/originstorypod
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Centrism: A Reading List
From Ian:
The Oxford History of the French Revolution by William Doyle. The single best all-in-one history of the French revolution. And one of my favourite history books of all time – a rare instance in which the author combines pace, thoroughness and impeccable research.
John Stuart Mill, Victorian Firebrand by Richard Reeves. Decent, if slightly pedestrian biography of the great liberal philosopher.
John Maynard Keynes trilogy by Robert Skidelsky. The best work on Keynes.
The Third Way by Anthony Giddens. Nowhere near as good as it should be, nor as I expected it to be. Surprisingly vacuous.
From Dorian:
The Vital Centre by Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. Fascinating post-war argument for the importance of the radical centre
Independent Nation: How Centrists Can Change American Politics by John Avlon. Solid history of those who sought to occupy the centre of American politics.
Toward a Radical Middle by Renata Adler. New Yorker writer’s 1969 manifesto for radical centrism in a fractious time.
Life in the Centre by Roy Jenkins. The arch-centrist’s juicy memoir.
Safety First: The Making of New Labour by Paul Anderson and Nyta Mann. A first-draft history of New Labour from 1997.
Blair and Brown: The New Labour Revolution. Satisfying BBC documentary series on iPlayer, with contributions from all the key players.
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- “When centrism is so hard to define, like nailing jelly to the wall, you have to ask does it even deserve to be called an ism at all?” – Ian
- “Trotsky says Centrism is parasitic, opportunistic, vain, uninterested in theory, and harder on the left than the right... and those criticisms are still levelled at centrists today.” – Dorian
- “The thing is, Centrism is often popular with voters but unpopular with people who are very interested in politics. Because it’s not passionate.” – Ian
- “I myself am an ideologue, an ideologue for liberalism, so it’s possible I feel threatened by something which essentially isn’t ideological.” – Ian
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Written and presented by Dorian Lynskey and Ian Dunt. Audio production by Alex Rees. Music by Jade Bailey. Logo art by Mischa Welsh. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Origin Story is a Podmasters production
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3 Listeners
Conspiracy Theory: What they’re not telling you
Origin Story
05/30/22 • 74 min
How did conspiracy theory grow from a fringe belief to a quasi-religious movement capable of toppling democracies? Ian and Dorian chart the rise of the tinfoil mindset in a wild historical ride that takes in the Illuminati, 9/11, Karl Popper, Watergate, Hitler, QAnon, Oliver Stone’s JFK, and Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn’s secret society.
And chillingly, they explain why the tinfoil fringe isn’t just on the fringe any more.
Help Ian and Dorian DO THEIR RESEARCH by supporting Origin Story on Patreon: www.Patreon.com/originstorypod
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Conspiracy Theory: A Reading List
From Dorian:
Voodoo Histories by David Aaronovitch. Sharp and readable overview of the history and psychology of conspiracy theories.
The United States of Paranoia by Jesse Walker. A provocative history which argues that paranoia permeates mainstream American politics, not just the fringes.
Among the Truthers by Jonathan Kay. A reporter’s journey through contemporary conspiracy theories.
The Paranoid Style in American Politics by Richard Hofstadter. This brilliant diagnosis of the conspiracist mentality still holds up.
The Hitler Conspiracies by Richard J Evans. Evans uses case studies including the Reichstag fire and the stab-in-the-back myth to illustrate the importance of conspiracy theories to the Nazi era. Very good on The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and the difference between event theories and systemic theories.
The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon. The classic novel of American paranoia and the only Pynchon novel you can read in less than a week.
The Coming Storm. Superbly reported BBC podcast series, presented by Gabriel Gatehouse, explores the 90s roots of QAnon.
On JFK the movie:
JFK: The Book of the Film by Oliver Stone and Zachary Sklar. The heavily annotated screenplay plus reams of press coverage of Stone’s movie, much of it hostile.
Reclaiming History by Vincent Bugliosi. Elephantine takedown of every single JFK conspiracy theory. There are no survivors.
Christopher Hitchens on JFK and conspiracy theories in general.
And from Ian:
Conspiracy Theories by Quassim Cassam. The case for a political analysis. Worthwhile, but flawed.
The Psychology of Conspiracy Theories by Jan-Willem van Prooijen. Decent little overview of the psychological work into the area. Also worthwhile, also flawed.
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- “The very fact that it’s not proper scholarship makes conspiracy theory so much more exciting to read — and satisfying to write.” – Dorian
- “JFK is the most powerful argument I’ve seen yet that you should be able to sue for libel after you’re dead.” – Ian
- “According to Hitler, the fact that the Protocols Of The Elders Of Zion had been called fake proved they were true...” – Dorian
- “Certain people believe that the CIA invented conspiracy theory in order to discredit people who criticised the Warren Commission. So that means that conspiracy theory is a conspiracy theory...” – Dorian
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Written and presented by Dorian Lynskey and Ian Dunt. Audio production by Jade Bailey and Alex Rees. Music by Jade Bailey. Logo art by Mischa Welsh. . Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Origin Story is a Podmasters production
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2 Listeners
05/19/22 • 74 min
What are the real stories behind the most misunderstood ideas in politics? Ian Dunt and Dorian Lynskey explore the histories of concepts you thought you knew. In this first episode: McCarthyism. Was it really a crusade against communists or just a grifter’s opportunity that got out of hand? How did a witch-hunt morph into a way to denounce any critic, no matter who? And did Joe McCarthy really write the rulebook for Trumpism?
Help Dorian and Ian dig deeper into other criminally misrepresented ideas by supporting Origin Story on Patreon at patreon.com/originstorypod
Or if you're listening via Apple Podcasts, you can access a premium subscription in the app: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/origin-story/id1624704966
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McCarthyism: A Reading List
From Ian:
Demagogue: The Life and Long Shadow of Senator Joe McCarthy by Larry Tye. Dense, but readable and very thorough account of McCarthy's life. Tye is perhaps a little too fair to his subject, but he paints a full portrait.
High Noon: The Hollywood Blacklist and the Making of an American Classic by Glenn Frankel. Beautiful biography of the film, in which the subject matter and the background oppression go hand-in-hand. Film criticism as political science.
A Conspiracy So Immense: The World of Joe McCarthy by David A Oshinsky. The classic McCarthy biography, full of anecdotes and ideas. Fun fact: this is one of the books that inspired REM’s ‘Exhuming McCarthy’.
From Dorian:
Reds by Ted Morgan. An exhaustive account of various Red Scares and what McCarthyism meant beyond McCarthy himself. Particularly good on the importance of the Venona intercepts.
Trumbo by Bruce Cook. Terrifically vivid biography of Dalton Trumbo with much to say about the Hollywood blacklist in general. Much better than the movie.
The Crucible by Arthur Miller. The essential contemporary allegory.
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- “In a way, McCarthyism is actually the origin story of Donald Trump.” – Ian Dunt
- "If you say it loudly and aggressively enough, it becomes the truth.” – Peter Fraser
- “The victims were the people who are always victims in moments of national paranoia: gay people, Jews, free thinkers and liberals.” – Ian Dunt
- “McCarthy hacked the media... It was as if a restaurant served poisoned food and it was up to the diner to refuse it.” – Dorian Lynskey
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Written and presented by Dorian Lynskey and Ian Dunt. Audio production by Jade Bailey and Alex Rees. Music by Jade Bailey. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Origin Story is a Podmasters production.
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2 Listeners
Churchill part 2: Inside the Enigma Machine
Origin Story
05/29/23 • 74 min
Dorian Lynskey and Ian Dunt explain the most misunderstood ideas and people in politics.
This time: part 2 of their Winston Churchill deconstruction. The pair chronicle the turbulent decade that defined Churchill's political legacy. From Munich and his unexpected elevation to power, from the Bengal Famine to victory over Hitler, his surprise defeat in the 1945 election and his long, gloomy decline, they look at a life which still casts a shadow over Britain. And they even read Boris Johnson’s Churchill book, so you don’t have to.
Churchill craved greatness. Did he live up to his ideal? There’s only one way to find out...
Listen to next week’s episode right now when you support Origin Story on Patreon: www.Patreon.com/originstorypod
- “I think what he did was primarily journalism, rather than being a prime minister.” – Ian Dunt
- “People think they can look at Churchill like a lifestyle guru they can replicate without the nuance.” – Dorian Lynskey
- “Churchill personifies the European confusion that has lasted in this country to the present day” – Ian Dunt
Reading List:
Churchill by Roy Jenkins
The Churchill Factor by Boris Johnson
Churchill: Military Genius or Menace? By Stephen Napier
Churchill and Orwell: The Fight for Freedom by Thomas E. Ricks
Churchill: Walking with Destiny by Andrew Roberts
Oblivion or Glory: 1921 and the Making of Winston Churchill by David Stafford
Churchill’s Shadow by Geoffrey Wheatcroft
Free Thinking: Churchill's Reputation – BBC Radio 3
Written and presented by Dorian Lynskey and Ian Dunt. Audio production and music by Jade Bailey. Logo art by Mischa Welsh. Lead Producer is Anne-Marie Luff. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Origin Story is a Podmasters production.
https://twitter.com/OriginStorycast
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1 Listener
Freedom of Speech: Censors working overtime
Origin Story
12/19/22 • 80 min
“We surely live in the stupidest possible era of debate about free speech,” says Ian Dunt. When a key arbiter of free expression is the smirking tech bro who owns Twitter, he might be right. How did the right to express yourself freely get hijacked by reactionaries? Are progressives really a threat to freedom of speech?
Dorian Lynskey and Ian delve back in time from the printing press and its early “paper bullets” via the surprisingly racy life of John Stuart Mill right up to the First Amendment of the US Constitution and our current panics over woke, hate speech and cancel culture. How did shouting “free speech” become an instant way to shut down debate?
Support Origin Story to get extra episodes and more at https://www.patreon.com/originstorypod
- “If somebody tries to make their point about freedom of speech by using a cartoon on the internet, they’ve probably simplified it a bit.” – Dorian Lynskey
- “There is a choice not between order and liberty, it is between liberty with order and anarchy without either.” – Justice Robert H Jackson
- “The whole story of free speech is the story of doubt.” – Ian Dunt
Reading List
From Ian
Jacob Mchangama – Free Speech: A Global History From Socrates To Social Media
John Rees – The Leveller Revolution
John Stuart Milll – On Liberty
The Complete Works Of Harriet Taylor Mill – Editor Jo Ellen Jacobs
Richard Reeve – John Stuart Mill: Victorian Firebrand
From Dorian
Anthony Lewis — Freedom for the Thought That We Hate: A Biography of the First Amendment
Suzanne Nossel — Dare to Speak: Defending Free Speech for All
Nat Hentoff – Free Speech for Me But Not for Thee: How the American Left and Right Relentlessly Censor Each Other
Stanley Fish — There’s No Such Thing as Free Speech
Samuel P Nelson — Beyond the First Amendment: The Politics of Free Speech and Pluralism
Karl Popper — The Open Society and Its Enemies
Flemming Rose — Tyranny of Silence
PE Moskowitz — The Case Against Free Speech
Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic — Must We Defend Nazis?: Why the First Amendment Should Not Protect Hate Speech and White Supremacy
Henry Louis Gates Jr — Let Them Talk
George Orwell — Freedom of the Park
Herbert Marcuse — Repressive Tolerance
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
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1 Listener
10/09/24 • 46 min
Sex! Violence! Censorship! These days the British Board of Film Classification rarely makes headlines but it was on the cultural frontlines throughout the 20 th century, from Herbert Asquith and the dawn of British cinema to Mary Whitehouse and “video nasties”. Through the turbulent life of one institution, Ian takes Dorian through a century of moral panics, censorship and furious debates about cinema’s influence on the life of the nation. This (literally) cinematic tale ranges from The Birth of a Nation and Nosferatu to Cannibal Holocaust and The Life of Brian, and has an unusually uplifting ending. Won’t somebody think of the children?!
Origin Story will be live at the Tabernacle in London on the 7th of November for a special post-US election show. Tickets here.
Get exclusive extras like supporter-only Q&A editions when you back Origin Story on Patreon.
Reading List
The Miracle Of The Movies by Leslie Wood, Burke Publishing 1915
Obscenity and Film Censorship: An Abridgement of the Williams Report edited by Bernard Williams
The British Board of Film Censors: film censorship in Britain, 1896-1950 by James Robertson, Dover, N.H. 1985
Censoring the moving image by Phillip French Seagull Books, 2007
See no evil: Banned films and video controversy by David Kerekes, Headpress 2000
Ban The Sadist Videos: 2005 Documentary
Mark Kermode interview with Robin Duval: Guardian 2004
Written and presented by Ian Dunt and Dorian Lynskey. Produced by Simon Williams. Music by Jade Bailey. Art by Jim Parrett. Logo by Mischa Welsh. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Origin Story is a Podmasters production
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1 Listener
Ayn Rand: The ego has landed
Origin Story
11/14/22 • 74 min
A new series of the podcast that explains the most misused ideas in politics. This time: In a rage against her impoverished Soviet childhood, writer Ayn Rand evangelised for radical selfishness and the glories of unfettered capitalism. Is the most influential political novelist of the 20th Century just the darling of the “neoliberal theatre of cruelty”, a benzedrine-addled monster whose books licence toxic egoism, a creator of thick-skinned heroes for a cult of thin-skinned losers... or is there more to her?
Will Ian Dunt and Dorian Lynskey be won over to Rand’s theory of Objectivism by her surprisingly strong writing? Who enjoyed The Fountainhead? Is Rand a fascist? Think for yourself. No-one can make up your mind except YOU.
Get next week’s episode right now and help moochers Ian and Dorian develop the series when you back Origin Story on Patreon: www.Patreon.com/originstorypod
- “When you look at the ruins of Rand’s life, it’s a moral parable of the danger of believing in complete systems.” – Ian Dunt
- “You can see why millionaires like her, but there’s also a huge appeal to losers... to people who want to be Howard Roarke and never will.” – Dorian Lynskey
- “Her version of capitalism is exactly what you’d expect from a young old girl trapped in Communist Russia, watching Hollywood movies.” – Ian Dunt
- “For Rand the idea that the world is complex is a scam that the second-handers pull on you.” – Dorian Lynskey
- “Atlas Shrugged reads like the novel Lex Luthor would have written.” – Ian Dunt
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
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The War on Drugs: The smack of firm government
Origin Story
12/12/22 • 68 min
Drugs won the War on Drugs decades ago, so why are governments still squandering billions on this unwinnable battle? Where did the idea come from? Can we even agree on what drugs are? Dorian Lynskey and Ian Dunt delve into the tortuous evolution of the futile battle against narcotics. From morphine users Jules Verne and Bismarck and cocaine fan Sigmund Freud to the Opium Wars, the Red Scares, the Jazz Panic, Richard Nixon’s declaration of war on narcotics in 1971 up to Nancy Reagan’s “Just say no”, the War on Drugs becomes a justification for racism, a proxy assault on the ’60s – and an immovable block on evidence-based policy.
Support Origin Story to get extra episodes and more at https://www.patreon.com/originstorypod
Thank you to drugs expert Steve Rolles for his assistance with this episode.
- “This is about as profound a policy failure as any you can find anywhere on Earth.” – Ian Dunt
- “If the hideous monster Frankenstein came face-to-face with the monster Marijuana he would drop dead of fright.” – Harry J Anslinger, Federal Bureau of Narcotics director
- “When they say ‘war on drugs’ what they mean is, war on some things we don’t like.” – Ian Dunt
- “By accident or design, the drugs war had evolved into a race war.” – Mike Gray, author of Drug Crazy
- “Drugs function like pornography or the military do with technology. They drive forward rapid change.” – Ian Dunt
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
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The Suffragettes – Part one – Deeds not words
Origin Story
10/23/24 • 67 min
This week we begin the tumultuous story of the suffragettes. In 1903, Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst founded the Women’s Social and Political Union. Sick of waiting in vain for women’s suffrage, they decided to secure it by hook or by crook. By 1906, the so-called suffragettes were the most exciting, audacious activists in the land, with their banners of purple, white and green. They then took on the might of the British state with ingenious protests and hunger strikes before agreeing to an uneasy two-year ceasefire while parliament wrestled over whether to give women the vote. We conclude part one at the end of 1911, with political failure and the dawn of a new phase of militancy.
Who were the Pankhursts and their inner circle? How did they interact with Millicent Fawcett’s moderate suffragists? Why were Liberal politicians so determined to deny women the vote? And could it all have worked out very differently?
It’s a fiery story of courage, conflict and missed chances, as British women found their political voice for the first time.
Origin Story will be live at the Tabernacle in London on the 7th of November for a special post-US election show. Tickets here.
Get the Origin Story books on Fascism, Centrism and Conspiracy Theory
Get exclusive extras like supporter-only Q&A editions when you back Origin Story on Patreon.
Reading List
Diane Atkinson – Rise Up Women!: The Remarkable Lives of the Suffragettes (2018)
Helen Lewis – Difficult Women: A History of Feminism in 11 Fights (2020)
Joyce Marlow (editor) – Suffragettes: The Fight for Votes for Women (2015)
Glenda Norquay (editor) – Voices and Votes: A Literary Anthology of the Women’s Suffrage Campaign (1995)
Christabel Pankhurst – Pressing Problems of the Coming Age (1924)
Christabel Pankhurst – Unshackled: The Story of How We Won the Vote (1959)
Sylvia Pankhurst – The Suffragette: The History of the Women’s Militant Suffrage Movement 1905-10 (1911)
Sylvia Pankhurst – The Suffragette Movement: An Intimate Account of Persons and Ideals (1931)
Mary R. Richardson – Laugh a Defiance (1953)
Fern Riddell – ‘Sanitising the Suffragettes’ (2018)
Written and presented by Dorian Lynskey and Ian Dunt. Produced by Simon Williams. Music by Jade Bailey. Art by Jim Parrett. Logo by Mischa Welsh. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Origin Story is a Podmasters production
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Woke: The word that splits the world
Origin Story
06/20/22 • 67 min
Who turned Woke from a badge of African-American pride into a hammer to beat liberals with? How does it relate to PC? And what are Erykah Badu, Piers Morgan, the weaponisation of African-American slang against black people, Julie Burchill and Google’s salad emoji doing in the eye of the Culture War storm?
Ian and Dorian investigate another world-changing concept you thought you knew.
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Woke: A Reading List
From Dorian:
The War of the Words by Sarah Dunant. Fascinating 90s collection of essays about political correctness from writers across the political spectrum. We are still having many of the same arguments.
Debating PC by Paul Berman. As above but American.
Political Correctness: A History of Semantics and Culture by Geoffrey Hughes. A serious attempt at a history of PC.
The Culture of Complaint by Robert Hughes. Extremely opinionated and entertaining 1994 polemic against censors and heresy-hunters on both left and right.
The Myth of Political Correctness by John Wilson. This forensic examination of the original anti-PC backlash reveals how many of the key case studies were exaggerated or invented, and the role that right wing think tanks played in drumming them up. Sounds familiar.
The Closing of the American Mind by Allan Bloom. Of historical interest only. The cranky jeremiad that became a colossal bestseller and kickstarted America’s obsession with political correctness.
And from Ian:
Wake Up by Piers Morgan. Don’t read this.
Welcome To The Woke Trials: How Identity Killed Progressive Politics by Julie Burchill. Don’t read this.
The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure by Jonathan Heidt and Greg Lukianoff. Don’t read this, but if you’re really going to insist on reading one of these, I guess make it this one.
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- “Even racists seem to want to appropriate MLK. Maybe if you’re woke and dead you’re OK?” – Dorian Lynskey
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Written and presented by Dorian Lynskey and Ian Dunt. Audio production by Jade Bailey and Alex Rees. Music by Jade Bailey. Logo art by Mischa Welsh. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Origin Story is a Podmasters production.
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FAQ
How many episodes does Origin Story have?
Origin Story currently has 64 episodes available.
What topics does Origin Story cover?
The podcast is about News, Society & Culture, News Commentary and Podcasts.
What is the most popular episode on Origin Story?
The episode title 'Centrism: Stuck in the middle with you' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on Origin Story?
The average episode length on Origin Story is 62 minutes.
How often are episodes of Origin Story released?
Episodes of Origin Story are typically released every 7 days.
When was the first episode of Origin Story?
The first episode of Origin Story was released on May 17, 2022.
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