Dorktales Storytime
Be the hero of your own story with Dorktales Storytime, the award-winning podcast for kids and their pop culture loving grownups. Enter their Once Upon a Time world where hosts, Jonathan Cormur and Mr. Reginald T. Hedgehog, take you on a storytelling journey of curiosity and acceptance. You’ll explore reimagined fairytales and fables with social emotional themes, discover inspiring stories of history’s hidden heroes, and experience imaginary tales of boundless possibilities.
Recognized by Common Sense Media as outstanding entertainment with an official seal for quality and impact. Common Sense Selections include age-appropriate media with the potential to spark family conversations, entertain families of all kinds, and have a positive, lasting effect on society.
Reach out to us at dorktalesstorytime@gmail.com
Dorktales Storytime
Alan Turing, Hidden Hero of History
A tale of secret codes and early computers! Alan Turing was a British mathematician and thinker who helped turn the tide of World War II for the United Kingdom and its allies. His groundbreaking work also laid the foundation for much of the technology we use today. As a child, Alan loved solving puzzles—like tracking the patterns of bees—and as a teen, he spent many late nights working through challenging math problems. From imagining the Turing Machine to cracking the uncrackable Enigma Code, Alan’s story is one of brilliance, perseverance, and bravery. He didn’t always fit in, but his unique way of thinking changed the world.
Go to the episode webpage: https://jonincharacter.com/alan-turing/
Get a free activity guide on Alan Turing: https://dorktalesstorytime.aweb.page/ep112freePDF
If you enjoyed this story about Alan Turing, you may also enjoy learning about Mary Golda Ross, another STEM hero of history whose early work in space exploration helped put humans into space: https://jonincharacter.com/mary-golda-ross/
CREDITS: Hidden Heroes of History is a Jonincharacter production. Today’s story was written by Rebecca Cunningham, edited and produced by Molly Murphy and performed by Jonathan Cormur. Sound recording and production by Jermaine Hamilton at Pacific Grove Soundworks.
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Now, go be the hero of your own story and we’ll see you next once-upon-a-time!
JONATHAN CORMUR: Hello Dork Squad. I'm Jonathan Cormur and you're listening to Dorktales Storytime, the podcast for kids and their pop culture-loving grown-ups, and this is an inspiring story about a hidden hero of history.
THEME SONG: It's a beautiful day for a story, adventure and glory, new friends and old ones too. It's an excellent day to get swept away in a tail, so let us regale you.
Redge and Jonathan are climbing up stairs.
REDGE
Jonathan! I shant make it one more step. You must go on without me. Tell my story. Remember me fondly!
JONATHAN
Oh, come on, Redge. It’s one more flight. I can see the Archival Wing from here.
REDGE
Carry me. Pweeeeease.
JONATHAN
We’re almost there!
REDGE
Fiiiiine.
JONATHAN
You can do it, Redge. And here – we — are.
REDGE collapses—gasps for air.
JONATHAN
You good?
REDGE
(breath) Ship. (breath) Shape.
JONATHAN
Great. Now. Where are those original manuscripts by Quilliam Shakespeare you were talking about? Gotta be under S.
REDGE
Maybe down this aisle here. (Cough. cough.) The Archival Wing of Once Upon a Library is rather dusty.
JONATHAN
Yeah, it’s like no one’s been up here in a hundred years.
REDGE
Uh … Jonathan. Do you see what I’m seeing?
JONATHAN
What is it?
REDGE
That book in the S to T aisle is… glowing. I don’t think books are supposed to do that.
JONATHAN
Woah. Should we go pick it up?
REDGE
You first.
JONATHAN
Scaredy-hog.
REDGE
I am what I am.
JONATHAN
Okay, easy does it. Just gonna pick it up really gently.
REDGE
What does it say?! What does it say?!
JONATHAN
(Reading) The Private Journal of Alan Turing. Alan Turing? The British mathematician? Code breaker? Computer pioneer?
REDGE
Whoever he is, that says private. Best we put it back. Not meant for our eyes or ears. I think it’s time we go home.
JONATHAN
Yeah, you’re probably right, woah
SFX the book opens, pages flutter.
JONATHAN
It opened by itself!
REDGE
Ah! Books are definitely not supposed to do that.
JONATHAN
It says here … “Tell my story. My name is Alan Mathison Turing. I was born in London, England to Julius and Ethel Turing. I had a brother named John. People say I was very smart and very athletic. They also thought I was different but I don’t think that’s such a bad thing.”
SFX the page suddenly turns.
REDGE
Bah! The page turned all by itself!
JONATHAN
Wait. This isn’t just a book. It’s a wheel of some kind. Like a cipher!
REDGE
A what now?
JONATHAN
It’s a code, and I think we’re supposed to solve it.
REDGE
Ooo! That’s sort of fun. I’ll do it.
JONATHAN
Wait, Redge. I think we should–
SFX The cipher starts to move on its own. Like gears turning.
REDGE
The spinny-wheely-bob is moving Jonathan.
JONATHAN
Yeah, I see that. And now all of Once Upon a Library is glowing too.
SFX Time Warp sounds. Zips. Boops. Bops. Music.
JONATHAN / REDGE
Woahhhhhhhhhh!
SFX Jonathan and Redge crash land with an…
JONATHAN / REDGE
Oomph.
EXT - SCOTLAND - MORNING
JONATHAN
Toto, I’ve got a feeling we’re not in Once Upon a Time Land anymore.
REDGE
Toto. Who’s Toto? I’m Reginald. Jonathan, where are we?
JONATHAN
Okay. Deep breaths. We just got sucked into this cipher and traveled through space and time. Happens everyday. Right?
REDGE
Not to me! (to himself) Ehhh, there’s no place like home. There’s no place like home.
SFX Bees start buzzing around them.
REDGE
Bah! Bees! Not the bees! Save me Jonathan!
JONATHAN
It’s alright, Redge. Just stay calm. They’ll leave you alone if you leave them al–oof.
SFX Young Alan bumps into Jonathan as he’s walking.
JONATHAN
Ay! Watch where you’re walking!
REDGE
What a very rude child. Just walking along following those bees and writing down notes in his notepad. It’s like he didn’t even see you.
JONATHAN
You’re right, Redge. I don’t think he did see me. (calling out to Alan) Hey! Hey you!
REDGE
He’s not responding. He just keeps following those bees.
JONATHAN
Yeah, he definitely can’t hear us. We must be invisible. Redge, I think that’s Alan Turing.
REDGE
How do you know?
JONATHAN
Well, this is his journal. We opened it and started reading it. Then we traveled through time and space and landed here. He’s following bees. We’re in Scotland!
REDGE
The math isn’t mathing.
JONATHAN
Oh, it’s mathing alright. That right there is one of the greatest mathematicians to have ever lived! Except right now, we’re seeing him at 7-years-old and we’re with him on his family holiday in Scotland. Today is the day that Alan uses math to study the flight paths of the honey bees and — just give him a second —- yep. He just located the beehive.
REDGE
Huzzah! And he used math to do that?
JONATHAN
He sure did.
REDGE
Oo! It looks like he found some honey.
JONATHAN
Yes, it does.
REDGE
It doesn’t look like he likes it very much.
JONATHAN
No it does not, but what he did love was learning, even if the people around him didn’t always understand him.
REDGE
How do you mean?
JONATHAN
He wasn’t like a lot of the other boys he knew, which made it hard for him to make friends. He loved math and science, which was seen as odd in England at the time. He liked books more than play wrestling or pretend sword fighting. He had a high-pitched voice and didn’t always pick up on things like sarcasm. If someone said, “Wow, nice job,” but didn’t mean it, he’d still take it seriously. A lot of experts today think Alan might’ve been autistic. Like me!
REDGE
Well, if he’s like you then he must be pretty awesome!
JONATHAN
Aw, thanks, Redge. But back then, people just thought he was strange.
REDGE
Jonathan, is this a Hidden Heroes of History story?
JONATHAN
I think it is Redge. Except this time … we’re inside of it.
SFX The cipher starts to move again.
REDGE
Uh-oh.
JONATHAN
Here we gooooooooooo!
SFX Time warp sounds. Beeps. Boops. Music. Then crash landing.
EXT - SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - MORNING
REDGE / JONATHAN
Oof.
REDGE
Right on my bum.
JONATHAN
My bum too. Ah.
SFX A kid on a bicycle whizzes by them.
REDGE
Hey! Watch where you’re going human child riding a bicycle! Who do you think you are? Leader of the bippity-boppity-bicycle club?
JONATHAN
Uh … Redge? Remember he can’t hear you?
REDGE
Oh, yes. I was just testing you, Jonathan.
JONATHAN
Right.
REDGE
Was that Alan again?
JONATHAN
I think so. And given how fast he’s going, I think Alan is now 13-years-old. We must be in Southampton, England, on his first day of boarding school.
REDGE
Boarding school?
JONATHAN
That’s a school where students study and live. His boarding school is sixty miles away from Southhampton, but there’s a train strike today and he found out at the last minute, so he has to ride a bicycle the whole way there. But don’t worry. He’ll make it on time.
REDGE
Sixty miles?! And making it on time? He really is athletic.
JONATHAN
He sure is. Alan will go the rest of his life riding a bicycle everywhere he can. He actually almost made it onto the British Olympic team.
REDGE
Marvelous.
JONATHAN
Mm-hmm. When Alan grows up, he’ll ride a bicycle every day to work. A very old bike actually. One with a chain that falls off while he’s riding it, and he’ll have to stop, fix it, and get his hands all greasy. But instead of getting a new bike, he really enjoys trying to figure out why it keeps breaking.
REDGE
Let me guess. He uses his math skills to figure it out.
JONATHAN
Precisely. That’s just the way Alan’s brain worked. He loved puzzles.
REDGE
Speaking of puzzles. It looks like the cipher is moving. Here we go again.
SFX Time warp sounds. Beeps. Boops. Music.
INT - BOARDING SCHOOL LIBRARY - NIGHT
SFX Crash landing.
REDGE
(Sigh.) All this time travel is making me nauseous.
JONATHAN
It looks like we’re in a library!
REDGE
Are we back in Once Upon a Library?
JONATHAN
No, this is different. And, hey, there’s Alan over there at that table. He must be a few years older. It looks like he’s working on a very large math equation.
REDGE
Who’s that sitting next to him?
JONATHAN
That must be Christopher Morcum, Alan’s very best friend. Christopher was the first person in the world who Alan thought truly understood him. Christopher loved math and science almost as much as Alan and they’d spend nights working on difficult math equations together.
REDGE
How lovely that they found one another.
JONATHAN
It certainly was. Alan will develop a crush on Christopher.
REDGE
Oh, sweet!
JONATHAN
Yeah, I think so too. But this was another thing that made Alan feel different. It wasn’t seen as acceptable for boys to have crushes on other boys at this time. Actually, it was illegal to act on those feelings! Alan was gay and he had to hide that from the world.
REDGE
That’s terribly sad and unjust!
JONATHAN
Yes, and the story gets sadder I’m afraid. In just a few years, Christopher will die from a disease called tuberculosis.
REDGE
That must be devastating for Alan! To lose the one person in the world who understood him! I can’t imagine!
JONATHAN
It was devastating, but he was determined to honor his memory. Alan did not give up his work in math and science. He kept on studying and doing what he loved.
REDGE
That’s beautiful. But what did he do with all of that knowledge?
JONATHAN
After graduating, Alan will go on to study at the University of Cambridge, one of the best universities in the entire world. Then he’ll go to Princeton University, another top-notch school in the United States.
REDGE
What does he do at Princeton?
JONATHAN
That’s where he gets his PhD, or doctorate, which is the highest degree you can earn in school. He’ll also develop something called The Turing Machine there.
REDGE
He makes a whole machine?
JONATHAN
Well, he never really makes it, but he works on the idea. It’s a machine that’s able to decode and perform any instructions you give it.
REDGE
Sort of like a computer?
JONATHAN
Exactly! This idea that Alan has at Princeton leads to the computers people use all over the world today.
REDGE
Alan is so impressive. What does he do next?
SFX Gears turning.
JONATHAN
I think the cipher is about to tell us.
SFX Time warpy sounds and music. Redge and Jonathan land on their feet.
INT - BLETCHLEY PARK - DAYTIME
REDGE
I think I’m getting used to these transitions. Where are we now? Everyone looks very serious working at their desks. And they’re all working on math problems and listening on headphones. That looks like Alan over there!
JONATHAN
Ah, yes. I believe we’re in Bletchley Park in Bletchley, England and the year is 1939. World War II has broken out and this will be Alan’s biggest challenge yet.
REDGE
What challenge is that?
JONATHAN
Remember how I told you Alan is very good at deciphering codes?
REDGE
I do.
JONATHAN
During World War II, there were many countries, including England fighting a very bad group called the Nazis in Germany. The Nazis used jumbled messages to talk to one another over machines. This was called The Enigma Code. It was Alan’s job to figure out what they were saying, so that he could help Britain and the Allied Forces win the war.
REDGE
How did he do it?
JONATHAN
He and another mathematician named Gordon Welchman worked together to invent a machine called The Bombe. And it worked! They decoded the Nazis super secret messages.
REDGE
Well done, Alan!
JONATHAN
By 1945, the war will be over and the Allied Forces will win. That’s in large part due to Alan’s hard work.
REDGE
Incredible. They must have celebrated Alan all over for the hero that he was.
JONATHAN
I wish I could say that was true.
REDGE
What do you mean?
JONATHAN
As I was saying before, it was illegal to be gay in the United Kingdom at the time. In 1952, he would be arrested for having a romantic relationship with a man.
REDGE
That’s awful!
JONATHAN
It was. Alan was given two options, he could go to prison or receive medical treatment that doctors claimed would make him no longer gay.
REDGE
Can medicine really do that?
JONATHAN
No, it cannot. Being gay is something you’re born being. You can’t change it.
REDGE
And you shouldn’t want to!
JONATHAN
Absolutely! But at the time, it didn’t seem possible to be proud of who you were because other people didn’t understand. Alan went with the medical treatment which caused him to be very sad. It also meant he lost his job.
REDGE
But he loved working!
JONATHAN
He did. It was incredibly unfair. Alan deserved to be celebrated while he was alive but he never saw that happen. He died in 1954.
REDGE
But things are different now aren’t they, Jonathan?
JONATHAN
In many ways, yes. It’s no longer illegal to be gay in the United Kingdom. In 2013, Alan received a Royal Pardon from Queen Elizabeth herself. And Alan’s face is now on the 50-pound note! Children visit Bletchley Park on field trips and learn all about the incredible impact Alan Turing had on the world!
REDGE
Huzzah! You know, Alan Turing was different in so many ways. But I think that’s what made him brilliant.
JONATHAN
That’s right, Redge. He changed the world, not in spite of who he was, but because of it.
SFX The cipher glows one last time. Time warp. Music. Boops. Beeps.
INT. - ONCE UPON A LIBRARY – MORNING
Redge and Jonathan land back in the Archival Wing.
REDGE
My bum. Again. Oh look! We’re back in Once Upon a Library in the (cough cough) dusty old Archival Wing.
JONATHAN
It seems we are! And it seems like Alan thought it was important that we tell his story. So much so that he built this cipher for us to find and see his life.
REDGE
Quite right. And next time I want to complain about climbing stairs, I’ll remember Alan biking sixty miles to school.
…But I still want you to carry me next time.
JONATHAN
Deal.
CREDITS: New Rebecca credits (Previously recorded in Shirley Chisholm episode)
This has been a Jonincharacter production. This Hidden Hero of History story was written by Rebecca Cunningham, edited and produced by Molly Murphy, and performed by Jonathan Cormur. Sound recording and production by Jermaine Hamilton at Pacific Grove Soundworks. We love hearing from you! Contact us at dorktalesstorytime@gmail.com or try our one-way text feature as a safe way to reach out. You can find even more ways to reach us in the show notes.
Now, go be the hero of your own story and we’ll see you next once-upon-a-time!
JONATHAN CORMUR: This has been a Jonincharacter production. This Hidden Hero of History story was written by Rebecca Cunningham, edited and produced by Molly Murphy, and performed by Jonathan Cormur. Sound recording and production by Jermaine Hamilton at Pacific Grove Soundworks. We love hearing from you! Contact us at dorktalesstorytime@gmail.com or try our one-way text feature as a safe way to reach out. You can find even more ways to reach us in the show notes.
Now, go be the hero of your own story and we’ll see you next once-upon-a-time!
THEME SONG: So gather your squad for all to see. It's a universe that we've imagined. There's twists and turns and lessons learned. This is where the unexpected happens. Join our humble hosts and hit the trails of the wonderful, wacky, wild world of Dorktales.
© Dorktales Storytime 2025
