Show Notes
Since Jon Ronson’s first series, new battle lines in the culture wars have been drawn. And many of them are linked by one extraordinary thing: they all snowballed within days of each other, in May 2020, six weeks into lockdown. Millions of us spent our days locked at home with only the internet for company. People lost their jobs. Politicians told us what to do. We lived in fear of an invisible enemy nobody understood. This bizarre experience changed people psychologically. People and institutions fell apart. The pandemic – and lockdown – were to become dangerously fertile ground for conspiratorial thinking, and for new frontlines in the culture wars. And so in Season Two of Things Fell Apart, Jon Ronson again uncovers intriguing and wholly unexpected origin stories, but this time of the culture wars that ignited during lockdown, and now dominate society. Written and presented by Jon Ronson Produced by Sarah Shebbeare Original music by Phil Channell
More from Things Fell Apart
Jon Ronson’s second season of unexpected human stories from the culture wars focused on the divisions that erupted in the wake of the Covid lockdown. It was a number 1 hit podcast and received five star reviews. In a fun, free-flowing live discussion from the Hay Festival in Wales, Jon turns the tables on himself and asks his audience to ask him anything they like. Series Producer: Sarah Shebbeare
In this bonus episode, Jon Ronson's friend and fellow podcaster Adam Buxton chat about the latest season of Things Fell Apart. They discuss their favourite moments from the show and how to best navigate the culture wars, all while also chatting about lockdown, fatherhood, social anxiety and how a rough time at Cardiff High School made Jon Ronson a better journalist.
How a former actor and model, burned by Hollywood and devastated by the death of his brother, has become an important culture warrior, fueling the flames of every story we tell this season. Written and presented by Jon Ronson Produced by Sarah Shebbeare Original music by Phil Channell
How a young man with a novel idea for affordable accommodation, and an Oxford man with a plan for bus lanes, and a Danish woman writing a thought experiment about car rentals, unwittingly became hate figures for conspiracy theorists. Written and presented by Jon Ronson Produced by Sarah Shebbeare Original music by Phil Channell
How a bestselling book about trauma - lockdown’s number one bestseller - helped the culture war over free speech burst out of colleges and into the workplace. A shift some people pejoratively call the Great Awokening. Written and presented by Jon Ronson Produced by Sarah Shebbeare Original music by Phil Channell