Navigating Politics and Spirituality: A Critical Commentary

What the hell happened to Russell Brand? Ten years ago, the comedian and actor was the loudest voice on the British left as his florid calls for spiritual and political revolution won him the support of politicians and journalists. Now he is a full-time conspiracy theorist and disgraced exile from mainstream culture, conducting prayer meetings with Jordan Peterson and flirting with Donald Trump. The fall of a celebrity is not usually Origin Story material but Brand’s transformation epitomises the political chaos of the last decade: how populism and paranoia scramble conventional notions of right and left to create a volatile third category.

In the first episode of season six, Dorian and Ian reassess Brand’s extraordinary rise to fame in the 2000s in light of recent allegations of sexual misconduct and explore how British culture gave him a free pass. In 2013 Brand swapped sex and fame for a new compulsion, reinventing himself as a flamboyant agitator to great acclaim. In the void between Occupy and Corbynism, his verbose mishmash of self-help and socialism briefly made him a lion of the left. During the pandemic Brand embraced a darker shade of politics, promoting conspiracy theories about Covid-19, Ukraine and much more besides. After the allegations broke last year he went full crank, aligning himself with Robert F Kennedy Jr, Tucker Carlson and Alex Jones in the paranoid space.

What does Brand’s journey to the fringes tell us about the shifting political landscape? Did he really switch sides or were the red flags flying all along? What can the left learn from its haste to turn a motormouth comedian into a radical icon? Is Brand’s latest incarnation sincere or opportunistic, and does it really matter? And which of his tomes makes for the most painful reading today: Revolution or My Booky Wook?

This is a bizarre story of celebrity and conspiracy, addiction and attention, which says a great deal about where we are now.

Get the Origin Story books on Fascism, Centrism and Conspiracy Theory – out 17th Oct

Origin Story will be live at the Tabernacle in London on the 7th of November for a special post-US election show. Tickets here.

Get exclusive extras like supporter-only Q&A editions when you back Origin Story on Patreon.

Reading List

Books

Russell Brand - My Booky Wook (2007)

Russell Brand - Revolution (2014)

Anna Merlan - Republic of Lies: American Conspiracy Theorists and Their Surprising Rise to Power (2019)

Naomi Klein - Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World (2023)

Video and audio

Russell Brand at parliamentary select committee on drug addiction (2012)

Newsnight debate on drug addiction with Peter Hitchens (2012)

Newsnight interview with Jeremy Paxman (2013)

Newsnight interview with Evan Davis (2014)

Brand: A Second Coming, directed by Ondi Timoner (2015)

Russell Brand: In Plain Sight: Dispatches (2023)

Russell Brand podcast archive

Articles

Michael Kelly, ‘The Road to Paranoia’, New Yorker (1995) 

Piers Morgan, ‘Russell Brand’, GQ (2006)

Miranda Sawyer, Brand on the run, The Guardian (2008)

Russell Brand on Margaret Thatcher: “I always felt sorry for her children”, The Guardian (2013)

Russell Brand on revolution: “We no longer have the luxury of tradition”, New Statesman (2013)

Brian Logan, ‘Messiah Complex – review’, Guardian (2013)

Mark Fisher, ‘Exiting the Vampire Castle’, Open Democracy (2013)

Justin Gray, ‘The Sneaky Smarts of Russell Brand’, Vulture (2013)

David Runciman, ‘Revolution by Russell Brand review’, Guardian (2014)

For complete article list see Patreon

Written and presented by Ian Dunt and Dorian Lynskey. Produced by Simon Williams. Music by Jade Bailey. Art by Jim Parrett. Logo by Mischa Welsh. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Origin Story is a Podmasters production

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices