4.4 Real-Life Succession

The world is on fire, and either because of that or in spite of that, we found ourselves consumed with the details of the Murdoch family d-r-a-m-a that were unsealed in court documents last month. We dig into all the things that shocked us (Rupert Murdoch has Asian daughters?), the bizarreness of Succession impacting the family that inspired it, and the potential ramifications of this family feud on our rapidly disintegrating democracy. Whether it's an escape from the more serious calamities happening around the world or schadenfreude from seeing these toxic forces thwarted, we hope this conversation gives you a little juice today. Plus, our top five signs that we're middle-aged. We're in our eating-probiotics, buying-clothes-from-Costco, recording-an-entire-episode-about-the-Murdoch-family-drama era, and we're leaning all the way in. ✌️If you'd like to get caught up to speed, here are our primary texts:"'You've Blown a Hole in the Family': Inside the Murdochs' Succession Drama" by Jonathan Mahler and Jim Rutenberg, The New York Times, February 13, 2025"Growing Up Murdoch" by McKay Coppins, The Atlantic, February 14, 2025facebook.com/topfivepodInstagram: @topfivepodArt by Colin Turnbull (colinpturnbull.com)Music by Origami PigeonThe opinions shared here do not necessarily reflect those of our employers!