{"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":"The General Strike – The Revolution That Wasn’t","slug":"the-general-strike-the-revolution-that-wasn-t","published_at":"2026-04-08T03:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/origin-story-5452720/the-general-strike-the-revolution-that-wasn-t","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/origin-story-5452720","url":"https://pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.megaphone.fm/NSR5462853222.mp3?updated=1775573274","audio_url":"https://pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.megaphone.fm/NSR5462853222.mp3?updated=1775573274","summary":"Hello and welcome to another bonus episode. It’s the centenary of the General Strike of May 1926, the most important industrial dispute in British history, but what really happened and did it really change Britain? One strange thing about the General Strike is that it happened when industrial relations, which had reached their fiery nadir before and after the First World War, seemed to be cooling down. But tensions between coal miners and mine owners got so bad that the Trades Union Congress had no choice but to join the fight, even though its leaders did not expect to win. It was a showdown that very few people wanted. The strike began at one minute to midnight on 3 May. The following nine days were intense, exciting and unprecedented. Future Labour leader Hugh Gaitskell and future fascist Oswald Mosley backed the workers, Evelyn Waugh and the Mitford sisters joined the army of volunteers trying to keep Britain moving, and Virginia Woolf just complained. In some places, the strike became a proxy war between communists and fascists. Meanwhile, the BBC faced the first existential crisis of its short life, struggling to maintain impartiality while under the threat of a government takeover. The cast of characters is a kind of Origin Story all-stars, including prime minister Stanley Baldwin, chancellor and propagandist Winston Churchill, Labour leader Ramsay MacDonald, trade union heavyweight Ernest Bevin, BBC chief John Reith and Liberal peace-maker Herbert Samuel. The strike ended on 12 May because the TUC surrendered, to the dismay of many workers. At the time, it seemed like an unmitigated defeat for the unions, a humiliation for the Labour Party and a vindication for Baldwin’s Tories. But the long-term consequences were unpredictable and the strike’s legacy is still u…","meta_description":"Hello and welcome to another bonus episode. It’s the centenary of the General Strike of May 1926, the most important industrial dispute in British history…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":5113,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/origin-story-5452720/episodes/the-general-strike-the-revolution-that-wasn-t/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/the-general-strike-the-revolution-that-wasn-t.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}