Society & Culture

Origin Story

by Podmasters

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Where it charts

Today’s combined position on our country charts.

United Kingdom · Society & Culture

#44

Pulse 22

Australia · Society & Culture

#140

Pulse 5

Ranking history

Society & Culture, United Kingdom Society & Culture, Australia

History builds daily. We started tracking this show on the Society & Culture chart recently, so the trend line appears after a second day of data.

About the show

What are the real stories behind the most misunderstood and abused ideas in politics? From Conspiracy Theory to Woke to Centrism and beyond, Ian Dunt and Dorian Lynskey dig into the astonishing secret histories of concepts you thought you knew. Want to support us in making future seasons? There are now two ways you can help out: • Patreon – Get early episodes, live Zooms, merchandise and more from just £5 per month. • Apple Podcasts – Want everything in one place with one easy payment? Subscribe to our premium feed on Apple Podcasts for ad-free shows early and bonus editions too. From Podmasters, the makers of Oh God, What Now?, American Friction and The Bunker.

Latest episodes

Ayn Rand: The ego has landed – Origin Story Revisited

October 7, 2026 · 1 hr 21 min

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…
The Battle of Cable Street – Origin Story Revisited

September 30, 2026 · 45 min

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…
John Rawls – Philosopher king of the 20th Century

September 23, 2026 · 1 hr 5 min

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…
Origin Story Live at Union Chapel

September 8, 2026 · 2 hr 7 min

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…
Section 28 – Anatomy of a Moral Panic

August 26, 2026 · 1 hr 22 min

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…
The Duke of Buckingham – How a queer love story predicted modern politics

August 12, 2026 · 1 hr 18 min

Welcome to another bonus episode of Origin Story, where we look at the short and extraordinary life of the Duke of Buckingham (1592–1628). It's a bizarre, tragic tale which weaves together queer history, courtly romance, unending war and…
Origin Story live show announcement!

July 22, 2026 · 3 min

Tickets are flying out of the door for Ian and Dorian’s biggest live show yet at the stunning Union Chapel in London’s sophisticated Islington on Tue 1 Sept. A spectacular Gothic Revival church on Upper Street, the Union Chapel is a…
Starmer Revisited – Where Did It All Go Wrong?

July 17, 2026 · 1 hr 28 min

Welcome to a bonus episode of Origin Story. For the first time, we’re revisiting an earlier episode to ask what we got right and what we got wrong about the subject. Just before the July 2024 election we profiled Labour’s PM-in-waiting…