Punk

This episode will be available to listen to for free on 15th June 2026. You can listen to it right away by subscribing to Noiser+. Head to www.noiser.com/subscriptions for more information.

By the mid-1970s, many young British people felt locked out of life. The country was struggling, the future uncertain, and for a generation coming of age, there was a growing sense that no one was listening. In cities across the nation, and in parallel scenes in America and beyond, young people decided to make themselves heard. Picking up instruments with little training and forming bands with no expectation of success, they created something raw, fast and confrontational. Punk was a movement that burned brightly, fractured quickly, and left a legacy that far outlived its brief, explosive heyday.

But why did Punk resonate so powerfully with a generation that felt shut out? Who were the artists and activists who drove it, and the fans who embraced it? And how did something so chaotic and short-lived go on to reshape music, culture and identity for decades to come?

This is a Short History Of Punk.

A Noiser podcast production. Hosted by John Hopkins. With thanks to Matthew Worley, a British academic and author of No Future: Punk, Politics and British Youth Culture.

Written by Sean Coleman | Produced by Kate Simants | Production Assistant: Chris McDonald | Exec produced by Katrina Hughes | Sound supervisor: Tom Pink | Sound design by Mirianna Pitman-Latham and Matthew Peaty | Assembly edit by Dorry Macaulay | Compositions by Oliver Baines, Dorry Macaulay, Tom Pink | Mix & mastering: Cody Reynolds-Shaw