Happy new year, Origin Story listeners. We’ll be releasing regular bonus episodes between now and the launch of season seven... more

•Fill in our listener survey for a chance to win an exclusive Origin Story t-shirt. Welcome to part two of the... more

•Fill in our listener survey for a chance to win an exclusive Origin Story t-shirt. Welcome to the season finale of... more

Welcome to part two of the story of the BBC. The Second World War is over, radio is booming and... more

So far this season we’ve had to deal with Russell Brand and Benjamin Netanyahu, and we’ve got the Daily Mail... more

This week we complete the story of Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s most politically successful prime minister — and its most divisive.  We... more

This week we commence the story of Benjamin Netanyahu. The 75-year-old has become Israel’s longest serving prime minister despite never... more

Part two of Ian and Dorian’s post-Presidential Election show at the Tabernacle in West London, recorded on the 7th of... more

Part one of Ian and Dorian’s post-Presidential Election show at the Tabernacle in West London, recorded on the 7th of... more

The final episode of our two-part story of Artificial Intelligence. Having looked at the emergence and development of AI in... more

It can seem like conspiracy theories have travelled at warp speed from the eccentric margins to the heart of modern... more

This week we begin the story of Artificial Intelligence. Since the launch of Chat-GPT in late 2022, we have been... more

This week we finish the story of the suffragettes. We pick up the narrative in 1912, when parliament’s failure to... more

This week we begin the tumultuous story of the suffragettes. In 1903, Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst founded the Women’s Social... more

What the hell happened to Russell Brand? Ten years ago, the comedian and actor was the loudest voice on the... more

Sex! Violence! Censorship! These days the British Board of Film Classification rarely makes headlines but it was on the cultural... more

Emmanuel Macron is one of the most fascinating and infuriating figures in 21st century politics. Seven years ago, the philosopher-statesman... more

Over the past eight years, the word “gaslighting” has transformed from an obscure term in psychiatric literature into a ubiquitous... more

The Battle of Cable Street on 4 October 1936 has been described as “the greatest anti-fascist victory on British soil”.... more

Racist violence has inflamed several British cities this past week. Should we call the events protests, riots or pogroms? Are... more

Couldn’t make it to the Origin Story live show in London on Monday 15 July? Don’t worry, we’ve got audio... more

The final episode of season five covers the Rushdie Affair. On 14 February 1989, the Ayatollah Khomeini’s fatwa against Salman... more

The season five finale coincides with the general election, so we’ve decided to get very topical indeed with the story... more

This episode tells the tale of the anti-vaxxers. The word has only been around since 2001 but inoculation has inspired... more

The war in Gaza has led to accusations of genocide but that word operates on two levels. It’s both a... more

The war in Gaza has led to accusations of genocide but that word operates on two levels. It’s both a... more

Back for season five, Origin Story continues to explore the misunderstood ideas and people that shape our politics today. With... more

Back for season five, Origin Story continues to explore the misunderstood ideas and people that shape our politics today. With... more

Back for season five, Origin Story continues to explore the misunderstood ideas and people that shape our politics today. With... more

Back for season five, Origin Story continues to explore the misunderstood ideas and people that shape our politics today. With... more

We’ve covered ideas, phrases, people and historical events. Now Origin Story profiles its first building: Number 10 Downing Street.  Following Dorian’s... more

• Join Ian and Dorian for Origin Story Live in London on Tue 7 May. They’ll be looking at how the... more

For 1800 years, Western conceptions of the end of the world were dominated by the Book of Revelation: Armageddon, the... more

In the last episode of season four, Ian Dunt and Dorian Lynskey discuss effective altruism. Last month the US entrepreneur... more

In part two of the history of eugenics, Ian Dunt and Dorian Lynskey explain how the pseudo-science of “racial hygiene”... more

This week, Ian Dunt and Dorian Lynskey get started on the history of eugenics, the idea of finding biological solutions... more

Born in Haitian folklore and inadvertently reinvented by director George A. Romero, the zombie is the most flexible metaphor in... more

In Part Two of John Maynard Keynes, Dorian Lynskey and Ian Dunt reconnect with Keynes in the 1930s, as he... more

Ian Dunt and Dorian Lynskey discuss perhaps the most extraordinary individual they have encountered so far: John Maynard Keynes. The... more

This week, Dorian Lynskey and Ian Dunt look at the most powerful and divisive generational cohort of them all: boomers.... more