The Butterfly Effect with Jon Ronson Audiobook By Jon Ronson cover art

The Butterfly Effect with Jon Ronson

Preview
Get this deal Try for $0.00
Offer ends January 21, 2026 11:59pm PT
Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just $0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible Premium Plus.
1 audiobook per month of your choice from our unparalleled catalog.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at $14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Butterfly Effect with Jon Ronson

By: Jon Ronson
Narrated by: Jon Ronson
Get this deal Try for $0.00

$14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime. Offer ends January 21, 2026 11:59pm PT.

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $24.95

Buy for $24.95

LIMITED TIME OFFER | Get 3 months for $0.99 a month

$14.95/mo thereafter-terms apply.

From best-selling writer Jon Ronson and the executive producer behind the TED Radio Hour and Invisibilia, Audible Originals presents a new seven-episode series, The Butterfly Effect with Jon Ronson.

[Contains explicit content] Hear the story of what happened when the tech industry gave the world what it wanted: free porn. Lives were mangled. Fortunes were made. All for your pleasure. Follow writer and narrator Jon Ronson as he uncovers our web of desire.

About Jon Ronson:

Known for exploring the fringes of society, Jon Ronson is a best-selling writer, noted documentarian, and screenwriter – including the award-winning Frank and critically acclaimed Okja. He is the author of international hits So You've Been Publicly Shamed, The Men Who Stare at Goats, and The Psychopath Test, amongst others. A TED Talk favorite, Ronson is also a regular contributor to public radio's This American Life, the New York Times magazine, and GQ magazine.


A Note from Jon:

Hi everyone,

Welcome to The Butterfly Effect. It's sort of about porn, but it's about a lot of other things. It's sad, funny, moving and totally unlike some other nonfiction stories about porn - because it isn't judgmental or salacious. It's human and sweet and strange and lovely. It's a mystery story, an adventure. It's also, I think, a new way of telling a story. This season follows a single butterfly effect. The flap of the butterfly’s wings is a boy in Brussels having an idea. His idea is how to get rich from giving the world free online porn. Over seven episodes I trace the consequences of this idea, from consequence through to consequence. If you keep going in this way, where might you end up? It turns out you end up in the most surprising and unexpected places.

So if you're thinking, why do I want to listen to a show about the tech takeover of the porn industry, I have two things to say:

1. Why wouldn't you want to listen to a show about the tech takeover of the porn industry? That's a great idea for a show.

2. Would you want to listen to a show about three women destroying a mysterious Norwegian man's stamp collection? Well, that happens at the end of episode 2. At the end of Episode 3 a woman becomes convinced that she played a part in a murder committed by an Italian priest. At the end of Episode 4 a boy in Oklahoma is forced to move to a house on the very, very edge of his town.

I hope you like our show,

Jon Ronson

If you don't already have the Audible app, download it now, in the iOS App Store or the Google Play store to listen to The Butterfly Effect.

©2017 Audible Originals LLC (P)2017 Audible Originals LLC
Social Sciences
All stars
Most relevant
Ronson is a fantastic narrator and storyteller. This was touching, strange and beautiful, as well as disturbing at times. definitely worth a listen.

fantastic as always!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I have to admit the only reason why I got this is because it was free. i am so glad I gave this a chance. This podcast, interview, investigative journalism really made me think of what actually happens when porn becomes free. Jon Ronson does a very good job being objective. He not only follows the Grandfather of free porn but also the actors, the victims of free porn, the people who have anxiety becuase of the easy access.

I will never think of Pornhub the same way again.

Pros and Cons of free porn.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

just when you think I know where the story is going you are surprised by the profoundness.

amazing and surprising

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

wasn't sure what to expect, so I got the title and started listening ... found it eye-opening and fun. at times sad, but overall hopeful. definitely recommend this!

fabulous series, unexpected joy!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Would have given it 5 stars but it was only 7 chapters! I wanted more. Very intriguing, well written and narration was great.

Like NPR

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

See more reviews