The Gregory Circle by Murray Leinster Episode #139
Murray Leinster | November 3, 2023-
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The Gregory Circle by Murray Leinster Episode #139
Murray Leinster
THE GREGORY CIRCLE
Episode #139 · Written by Murray Leinster · Narrated by Scott Miller
A quiet mountain town hides a force powerful enough to rewrite the laws of physics. One man realizes the truth just in time—if he can convince the only person who can stop it.
Bud Gregory lives a life of magnificent ease, running a small repair shop in the mountains and fixing machines only when the mood strikes him. He is known for repairs that seem impossible—jobs completed in minutes that should take days. While he naps in the sun, strange events ripple outward across the country: sudden illnesses, dead wildlife, failing instruments, and inexplicable recoveries.
Dr. David Murfree, a physicist working quietly for the government, begins to connect the dots. What appears to be chaos is instead a single pattern growing more dangerous by the day. Following data, instinct, and urgency, Murfree heads into the Smokies, unaware that the greatest scientific threat of the era is not a machine or a laboratory—but a man who doesn’t know what he’s done.
The Gregory Circle unfolds as a mounting investigation into unintended power. Leinster presents a terrifying idea: that absolute capability, combined with innocence and convenience, can be more dangerous than malice. The story escalates steadily, pairing intellectual wonder with rising dread, as Murfree races to stop a force already reshaping the natural world.
At its heart, this is a story about responsibility. Bud Gregory is not a villain, nor a mad scientist. He simply knows things—intuitively, effortlessly—without understanding their consequences. Leinster explores what happens when brilliance operates without foresight, and when the laws of nature are bent by someone who never meant to change them.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Murray Leinster, born William Fitzgerald Jenkins, was one of the foundational architects of science fiction. His career spanned more than four decades, during which he pioneered concepts ranging from parallel worlds to modern first-contact narratives. He was among the first writers to treat speculative science seriously while keeping ordinary people at the center of extraordinary events.
Leinster’s stories are known for their clarity, momentum, and sense of plausibility. He believed science fiction should feel real even when the ideas were extreme, and The Gregory Circle exemplifies that philosophy. It remains one of his most intellectually daring works—quietly profound, relentlessly logical, and deeply unsettling in its implications.
LISTEN TO THE STORY
Listen to The Gregory Circle by Murray Leinster — a classic science fiction story where quiet genius sparks a global crisis. Vintage sci-fi at its most thought-provoking.
MURRAY LEINSTER SHORT STORIES
Murray Leinster, the pen name of William Fitzgerald Jenkins, was one of the most influential figures in early and mid-century science fiction. Writing across multiple decades, he helped define the structure and pace of modern science fiction storytelling, producing a vast body of work that appeared in the leading pulp magazines of the era.
His stories are driven by clear problems that demand immediate attention. A strange phenomenon appears without warning. A system fails in a way no one expected. A routine mission turns unstable with no obvious solution. Leinster builds tension by forcing his characters to respond in real time, often with limited information and no margin for error.
He had a gift for taking a single idea and pushing it as far as it could go. Rather than slowing the story with explanation, he lets events unfold step by step, each development tightening the situation. His work helped establish the fast-moving, problem-solving style that became a foundation of classic science fiction.
The stories below showcase Murray Leinster’s range—from interconnected Bud Gregory adventures to standalone tales that capture the urgency and imagination of vintage science fiction.
- The Gregory Circle by Murray Leinster
- The Nameless Something by Murray Leinster
- The Deadly Dust by Murray Leinster
- The Seven Temporary Moons by Murray Leinster
- Tanks by Murray Leinster
- The Other Now by Murray Leinster
- Invasion by Murray Leinster
- Nobody Saw the Ship by Murray Leinster
- The Life–Work of Professor Muntz by Murray Leinster
ABOUT THE LOST SCI-FI PODCAST
The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast is the most listened-to vintage science fiction podcast in the world. Ranked the #1 Science Fiction Podcast in 34 countries and heard in more than 190 countries, the show has surpassed 3.8 million listens.
Each episode features carefully selected stories from the Golden Age of science fiction, professionally narrated. Timeless storytelling the way it was meant to be heard.
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Vintage science fiction. Professionally narrated. Carefully curated.
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