Origin Story
Episodes
Churchill part 2: Inside the Enigma Machine
29 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Dorian Lynskey and Ian Dunt explain the most misunderstood ideas and people in politics. This time: part 2 of their Winston Churchill deconstruction. ...
Churchill part 1: Rebel Without A Cause
22 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
New Series! Explaining the most misunderstood ideas and people in politics. This time: Winston Churchill is caricatured as either a bigoted villain or...
Special: Gary Lineker, Free Speech and the Nazis
15 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A between-seasons special: The Lineker Affair didn’t just expose the BBC’s fear of the Government. It triggered a flood of bad takes on whether it...
New podcast: Mugshots with Michael Crick
13 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
New series preview: How much do we really know about the people who make the headlines? In a provocative new series the acclaimed journalist Michael C...
A taster of JAM TOMORROW with Ros Taylor – our new documentary podcast
19 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A taster of our new series. Search for Jam Tomorrow in your favourite podcast app or visit https://kite.link/JTS1 Episode One: Every Day Is Like D-Day...
Freedom of Speech: Censors working overtime
19 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
“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 t...
The War on Drugs: The smack of firm government
12 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Fascism: The fraternity of violence
05 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Few terms are thrown about as freely now as “Fascist” but what does the ultimate political condemnation really mean? Where did Fascism come from? ...
Satire: Laughter in the dark
28 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
“But it’s satire!” says every Twitter lout, demagogue or disinformationist to justify their abuse, pile-ons or straight-up lies. But what IS sat...
Culture War: Inside the rage machine
21 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Culture war: it’s been around way longer than Fox News raging against drag queens or The Last Jedi. Dorian Lynskey and Ian Dunt trace the history of...
Ayn Rand: The ego has landed
14 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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 A...
Neoliberalism: Everything’s for sale
27 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Neoliberalism has become an all-purpose insult, but what does it actually mean? In the final episode of Series 1, Dorian and Ian tell the extraordinar...
Woke: The word that splits the world
20 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Superheroes: Truth, justice and the outsider way
13 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It had to happen! Superheroes have shaped our shared culture – both popular and political – but where did the idea of the “good superman” co...
Centrism: Stuck in the middle with you
06 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Conspiracy Theory: What they’re not telling you
30 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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 th...
McCarthyism: How one grifter still poisons America
19 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
What are the real stories behind the most misunderstood ideas in politics? Ian Dunt and Dorian Lynskey explore the histories of concepts you thought y...
Trailer
17 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Origin Story - out May 23rd May Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices