The Gregory Circle by Murray Leinster Episode #139

Murray Leinster | November 3, 2023

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.

BUD GREGORY STORIES IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE

ABOUT THE LOST SCI-FI PODCAST

The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast is the most listened-to vintage science fiction podcast in the world. Ranked #1 in 33 countries and heard in more than 190 countries, the show has surpassed 3.2 million listens, introducing classic science fiction to a global audience of devoted fans.

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.