Origin Story is back. The critically-acclaimed podcast uncovering the hidden histories of concepts, people and events you thought you knew.

To kick off Series 4 Ian Dunt and Dorian Lynskey turn their sights on Jordan B Peterson, the bestselling author, diehard culture warrior and, allegedly, the most influential intellectual in the western world. In part one they discuss Peterson’s life up to the publication of 12 Rules for Life in 2018, from his childhood in rural Canada to his first book, Maps of Meaning, his role as a star professor at the University of Toronto and his first taste of public controversy.

How did an obscure academic come to the brink of global celebrity? Why did a young left-leaning activist grow into a ferocious conservative? And what ideas led him to his multi-million-dollar 12 rules? Featuring Nietzsche, Karl Jung, the absence of God and nightmares about the end of the world. Buckle up, bucko.

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Reading list:

Books:

Ben Burgis, Conrad Hamilton, Matthew McManus and Marion Trejo — Myth and Mayhem: A Leftist Critique of Jordan Peterson, 2020

Jordan B Peterson — Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief, 1999

Jordan B Peterson — 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos, 2018

Jordan B Peterson — Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life, 2021

Sandra Woien, ed. — Critical Responses to Jordan Peterson, 2022

Online:

Jason McBride — ‘The Pronoun Warrior’, Toronto Life, 2017

https://torontolife.com/city/u-t-professor-sparked-vicious-battle-gender-neutral-pronouns/

David Brooks — ‘The Jordan Peterson Moment’, The New York Times, 2018

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/25/opinion/jordan-peterson-moment.html

Dorian Lynskey — ‘How dangerous is Jordan Peterson, the rightwing professor who “hit a hornets’ nest”?’, The Guardian, 2018

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/feb/07/how-dangerous-is-jordan-b-peterson-the-rightwing-professor-who-hit-a-hornets-nest

Kelefa Sanneh — ‘Jordan Peterson’s Gospel of Masculinity’, The New Yorker, 2018

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/03/05/jordan-petersons-gospel-of-masculinity

Pankaj Mishra — ‘Jordan Peterson & Fascist Mysticism’, The New York Review of Books, 2018

https://www.nybooks.com/online/2018/03/19/jordan-peterson-and-fascist-mysticism/

Nellie Bowles — ‘Jordan Peterson, Custodian of the Patriarchy’, The New York Times, 2018

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/18/style/jordan-peterson-12-rules-for-life.html

Vinay Menon — ‘Jordan Peterson is trying to make sense of the world — including his own strange journey’, Toronto Star, 2018

https://web.archive.org/web/20191219104703/https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2018/03/16/jordan-peterson-is-trying-to-make-sense-of-the-world-including-his-own-strange-journey.html

Bernard Schiff — ‘I was Jordan Peterson’s strongest supporter. Now I think he’s dangerous’, Toronto Star, 2018

https://web.archive.org/web/20200115120600/https:/www.thestar.com/opinion/2018/05/25/i-was-jordan-petersons-strongest-supporter-now-i-think-hes-dangerous.html

Johanna Thomas-Corr — ‘Jordan Peterson, Agent of Chaos’, The New Statesman, 2021

https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/books/2023/02/jordan-peterson-agent-chaos-psychology

James Marriott — ‘Beyond Order by Jordan Peterson review’, The Times, 2021

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/beyond-order-by-jordan-b-peterson-review-qnhtgs2zj

Helen Lewis — ‘What Happened to Jordan Peterson?’, The Atlantic, 2021

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/04/what-happened-to-jordan-peterson/618082/

Written and presented by Dorian Lynskey and Ian Dunt. Audio production by Simon Williams. Music by Jade Bailey. Logo art by Mischa Welsh. Lead Producer is Anne-Marie Luff. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Origin Story is a Podmasters production.

https://twitter.com/OriginStorycast

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Maps for Meaning

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