meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
The Next Big Idea

SUCCESSION: The True Story Behind the Hit Show

The Next Big Idea

Next Big Idea Club

Science, Social Sciences, Education, Society & Culture

4.41.3K Ratings

🗓️ 30 March 2023

⏱️ 45 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

So "Succession" is back. The Emmy Award-winning series returned to HBO for its fourth and final season last Sunday. The show, if you haven't seen it, centers on Logan Roy, the aging CEO of a media conglomerate called Waystar Royco, and his three gigantically entitled, dazzlingly profane children, each of whom believe they are the rightful heir to daddy's throne. Like many viewers, we always assumed that Logan's character was based on Rupert Murdoch, the News Corp mogul who famously dangled the keys to his kingdom in front of his kids. But Jesse Armstrong, the creator of "Succession," has said that Murdoch was one of several tyrannical tycoons who inspired the show. Another? Sumner Redstone, the billionaire owner of CBS and Viacom. Like Logan, he refused to pass the torch to his children. Then, in a stranger-than-fiction twist, he got tangled up in a love triangle — in his 90s! — and nearly lost control of the empire he had worked his whole life to build. Today on the show, our producer, Caleb, sits down with New York Times reporter Rachel Abrams, co-author of the recent bestseller "Unscripted: The Epic Battle for a Media Empire and the Redstone Family Legacy," to talk about the empire Sumner Redstone built, the scandals that nearly brought it down, and how his daughter, Shari, managed to win the game of succession.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

LinkedIn presents.

0:06.3

I'm Caleb Bissinger, and this is the next big idea.

0:31.0

So, succession is back.

0:36.0

What are people?

0:39.0

Like...

0:41.0

They're economic units.

0:43.0

I'm 100 feet tall.

0:45.0

These people are piglets.

0:47.0

But...

0:49.0

Together...

0:51.0

...from a market.

0:53.0

Right?

0:55.0

What is the present?

0:57.0

It has values and aims.

0:59.0

But it operates in a market.

1:02.0

Marriage market.

1:04.0

Job market, money market.

1:07.0

Market for ideas and so on and so forth.

1:13.0

So everything is a market?

1:17.0

Everything I try to do, people turn against me.

1:22.0

Nothing tastes like a used to buzzing.

1:25.0

Nothing is the same as it was.

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Next Big Idea Club, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Next Big Idea Club and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.