Things Fell Apart
Strange Stories from the History of the Culture Wars
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Things Fell Apart
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Narrated by:
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Jon Ronson
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By:
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Jon Ronson
About this listen
Jon Ronson delves into the extraordinary history of our current cultural conflicts.
From taking the knee to transgender rights, wedge issues are everywhere in modern life - dividing opinions, polarising debate and tearing friendships and families apart. Even something as seemingly innocuous as wearing a facemask can provoke vicious disagreement. But how did we get here, and what does it mean for society going forward? In this gripping series, acclaimed writer and journalist Jon Ronson searches for the origin stories of the hostilities - the pebbles thrown in the pond, creating the ripples that led to where we are today.
His quest leads him from the Swiss Alps in the 1970s to contemporary Michigan, as he tracks down the cultural warriors involved in shaping some of the defining ideological battles of our era. Among them are filmmaker Frank Schaeffer, whose debut documentary triggered the explosive abortion rows that still rage over 40 years later; AIDs activist Steve Pieters, who prompted a crisis of conscience for televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker; Kelly Michaels, a day-care worker embroiled in America's 'Satanic panic'; and Brad Templeton, who shared a joke on a message board in the early days of the internet - and became the very first person to be publicly shamed for something they did online.
Surprising, nuanced and full of unexpected twists, these amazing human stories shed new light on our most ferocious cultural clashes, illuminating how we got caught up in them - and what we can learn from them.
NB: Contains language which some may find offensive and deals with adult themes.
Cast and credits:
Written and presented by Jon Ronson
Produced by Sarah Shebbeare
Assistant Producer: Sam Peach
Original music by Phil Channell
Mixed by Bob Nettles
Editor: Philip Sellars
With Frank Schaeffer, Amanda Robb, Rev Rusty Thomas, Alice Moore, Rev Jim Lewis, Roger McGough, Rev Ron English, Christian Gregory, Jay Bakker, Steve Pieters, Bob Larson, Jon Trott, Kelly Michaels, Brad Templeton, Luisa D'Amato, Brian Reid, Eric Charles, John Sack
With thanks to Trey Kay.
Archive from the PTL network's 'Tammy's House Party' and the 'PTL Club'
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 9 November - 28 December 2021
©2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2022 BBC Studios Distribution LtdListeners also enjoyed...
Critic reviews
"A thoroughly satisfying listen." (Miranda Sawyer, The Guardian)
What listeners say about Things Fell Apart
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Shaolin_monkey
- 15-12-23
A calm account of collective insanity
These episodes ran together perfectly, showing how easy it is to incite a mob, online or off, and how ideology and belief always seems to usurp the facts of the matter, to the detriment of so many.
Ronson takes us through several examples with his usual calm demeanour, with an overarching point to be made.
I was transfixed, and maybe saw a bit of myself in what he discussed. Highly recommended.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- J Fleming
- 03-04-22
Wish it was longer
Really enjoyed it. I Love everything Jon Ronson does. I just wish it was longer.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- Alex F
- 05-01-23
ffull of valuable insights
An engaging series full of fascinating stories which explain the origins of some of the most controversial culture wars of the last few years. Absolutely brilliant.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- Pt
- 12-09-23
Substantial, important, worthwhile: A+++
I loved this book and have been a fan of JR for many years. In a world of sensationalism, pithy hot takes and immovable viewpoints, he approaches sensational - and important - topics with intelligence, thoughtfulness, kindness and nuance. The difficult issues of our times will not be resolved by people out-shouting each other on social media but by people reminding us of the above qualities.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- L. Fuchs
- 05-10-22
can't believe people leave a one star review...
...when what they are supposed to be reviewing is an excellent podcast. I agree it is odd that Audible are charging for this and it is good to let folk know they can get it for free but it is desperately unfair on Jon Ronson to mark the actual product down. Whether you pay for it or not, this is a brilliant listen by the ever-excellent JR.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- D. Bateman
- 12-09-23
Really good
Pretty much as with most of Jon’s stuff, I found this to be interesting and well read.
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 27-04-22
Available for free on BBC Sounds app
I know because I listened to it recently, all for free without ads. Also check out his old series on there called Jon Ronson On.
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9 people found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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- Amazon Customer
- 28-03-22
It's free everywhere and audible charge!
BBC sounds, Spotify, Castbox. All free! Can't believe they are charging. Don't buy! Get it elsewhere
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6 people found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- johnnie mcaleney
- 13-06-22
Is it true this is a free podcast?
Is it true this is a free podcast?
That’s so greedy if it’s true, as if audible listeners don’t spend enough money with audible!!!!
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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- JB R
- 16-03-22
this is a free podcast
can't believe audible charge for this- it's a free podcast, available everywhere online at no charge.
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22 people found this helpful