{"podcast":{"title":"Origin Story","slug":"origin-story-5452720","podcast_index_feed_id":5452720,"rss_url":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/originstory","website_url":null,"image_url":"https://megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/9e94abb2-d5e6-11ec-ad02-7b0263135b23/image/Show_Cover-Origin_Story.jpeg?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&max-w=3000&max-h=3000&fit=crop&auto=format,compress","author":"Podmasters","episode_count":115,"summary":"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.","last_synced_at":null,"page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/origin-story-5452720"},"episode":{"title":"J.K. Rowling – Part Two – Transparent","slug":"j-k-rowling-part-two-transparent","published_at":"2026-05-27T03:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/origin-story-5452720/j-k-rowling-part-two-transparent","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/origin-story-5452720","url":"https://pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.megaphone.fm/NSR6542167806.mp3","audio_url":"https://pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.megaphone.fm/NSR6542167806.mp3","summary":"Welcome back to Origin Story and part two of the story of J.K. Rowling. In this episode we turn away from her life story towards her public statements and the information she is consuming. In 2020, Rowling publishes her first full-length statement about her gender-critical beliefs and it becomes her defining issue. We unpack some of the phrases she uses and the books she is reading and we explore what the science says about key issues: safety in trans-inclusive spaces, trans women (and women with Differences in Sex Development) in sports, and healthcare provision for gender-questioning youth. Since 2018 trans people in the UK have faced an enormous backlash: rising prejudice, restricted healthcare, political abandonment and obsessive media hostility. And Rowling has put herself in the forefront. Her tone has become more aggressive and her activism more overt, accelerated by Scotland’s Gender Recognition Reform Bill. So when HBO announced its ambitious new Harry Potter TV series last year, in the midst of the Trump administration’s war on trans Americans and the UK Supreme Court’s explosive ruling on gender identity, it became a battleground. It’s hard to separate the art from the artist when supporting the art means funding the artist’s activism. How did Rowling move from the appearance of moderation to explicit militancy and how does that align with her professed values? Are her arguments supported by the research? How did anti-trans sentiment go mainstream so quickly? What are the ethics of continuing to consume Rowling’s work? And is the viciousness of right-wing transphobia causing some people to think twice about the consequences of their beliefs? • Support Origin Story on Patreon • Buy the Origin Stories books on Centrism, Fascism and Conspiracy Theory • Subscrib…","meta_description":"Welcome back to Origin Story and part two of the story of J.K. Rowling. In this episode we turn away from her life story towards her public statements and…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":5251,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/origin-story-5452720/episodes/j-k-rowling-part-two-transparent/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/origin-story-5452720/j-k-rowling-part-two-transparent.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}