Revisionist History

Andy Warhol. War. Smaug the Dragon. And, as always, digressions of great importance.

Launching June 18 from Pushkin Industries.

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Malcolm has been writing about race and policing for a very long time, going back to the killing of Amadou Diallo in 1999. Sometimes, it is useful to take a step back and consider policing in a broader context. Here we present a chapter from Malcolm's book David and Goliath, which includes an analysis of a riot in Northern Ireland in 1970. Many miles and many years away. About divisions of religion and class and not divisions of race. But the core questions to be asked in 1970 and 1999 and today are the same: if you have power, what does it mean to use it, and use it wisely? And what are the consequences if you don't?

David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits and the Art of Battling Giants was published in 2013 by Little, Brown and Company. Audiobook production by Hachette Audio.

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On February 24, 1996, Cuban fighter jets shot down two small planes operated by Brothers to the Rescue, an organization in Florida that tried to spot refugees fleeing Cuba in boats. A strange chain of events preceded the shoot-down, and people in the intelligence business turned to a rising star in the Defense Intelligence Agency, Ana Montes. Montes was known around Washington as the “Queen of Cuba” for her insights into the Castro regime. But what Montes’ colleagues eventually found out about her shook their sense of trust to the core. (In this excerpt from Malcolm Gladwell’s forthcoming audiobook Talking to Strangers, we hear why spy mysteries do not unfold in real life like they do in the movies.)

To preorder a copy of Talking to Strangers and check out Malcolm Gladwell's book tour, visit www.gladwellbooks.com.

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Throughout the 1960s, a biologist named Howard Temin became convinced that something wasn’t right in science’s understanding of viruses. His colleagues dismissed him as a heretic. He turned out to be right — and you're alive today as a result.  Season Four ends with a bedtime story about how we should be freed by our doubts, not imprisoned by them.

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You thought that there was only one kind of chutzpah. Wrong. There’s two. Revisionist History tells the story of the Mafia’s showdown with a legendary Hollywood producer, in a battle of competing chutzpahs.

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Two seasons after its investigation of the decline of McDonalds french fries, Revisionist History returns to fast-food’s high-tech test kitchens. This time the subject is cultural appropriation. The case study is Taco Bell. Oh, and Pat Boone is involved.

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An unarmed man is shot to death by police. How does the Jesuitical idea of “disordered attachments” help us make sense of what happened? Part three of three.

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John Rock was the co-inventor of the birth control pill — and a committed Catholic. He wanted his church to approve of his invention. What happens when a layman takes on the Vatican? Part two of three.

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Revisionist History tries to make sense of the conundrum of PED use in baseball, using the 500-year-old philosophical techniques of St. Ignatius. Part one of a three-part series on the moral reasoning of the Jesuit order.

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If you disagree with someone — if you find what they think appalling — is there any value in talking to them? In the early 1970s, the talk show host Dick Cavett, the governor of Georgia Lester Maddox, and the singer Randy Newman tried to answer this question.

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Bohea, the aroma of tire fire, Mob Wives, smugglers, “bro” tea, and what it all means to the backstory of the American Revolution. Malcolm tells the real story on what happened in Boston on the night of December 16, 1773.

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A weird speech by Antonin Scalia, a visit with some serious legal tortoises, and a testy exchange with the experts at the Law School Admissions Council prompts Malcolm to formulate his Grand Unified Theory for fixing higher education.

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Malcolm challenges his assistant Camille to the Law School Admissions Test. He gets halfway through, panics, runs out of time, and wonders: why does the legal world want him to rush?

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Jesuits. Chess masters. Mafiosi. Lawyers. And a little bit of tire fire. 

Launching June 20th from Pushkin Industries. 

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The one song The King couldn’t sing. 

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“She was Joan of Arc, Madame Curie, and Florence Nightingale—all wrapped up in one.”

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Epidemics of fear repeat themselves. The first time as tragedy. The second time as farce. Margit Hamosh? Definitely farce. 

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Crucial life lessons from the end of hockey games, Idris Elba, and some Wall Street guys with a lot of time on their hands.

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Q: Was there a period where you felt you had something to prove? A: The first 45 years of my life. 

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Good fences make good neighbors. Or maybe not.

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"Sorry dude, I don't remember you being on my aircraft."

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An early morning raid, a house-full of Nazis, the world’s greatest harmonica player, and a dashingly handsome undercover spy. What could possibly go wrong?

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“He called to wish me ‘Happy Birthday.’ Then he said, ‘I’m failing everything.’”

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The complete, unabridged history of the world’s most controversial semicolon. 

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In a special live taping at the 92nd Street Y in New York, Malcolm talks with WorkLife’s Adam Grant about how to avoid doing highly undesirable tasks, what makes an idea interesting, and why Malcolm thinks we shouldn't root for the underdog.

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Malcolm Gladwell is back with season three of Revisionist History: harmonica players, mass delusion, semicolons, and a constitutional crisis. Launching May 17th on Panoply.

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What is a son’s obligation to his father?

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They made the world’s greatest French Fry. Then they threw it away.

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Arrested, arraigned, indicted, tried, convicted, and sentenced to die in the electric chair in 24 hours.

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“Nobody was interested in justice.”

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Why country music makes you cry, and rock and roll doesn’t: A musical interpretation of divided America.

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The friendship that changed the course of World War II.

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“Oh, Mac. What did you do?”

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A landmark Supreme Court case. A civil rights revolution. Why has everyone forgotten what happened next?

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What happens when a terrorist has a change of heart?

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Rich people and their addiction to golf: a philosophical investigation.

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From bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell, season two of Revisionist History launches June 15th.

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In the political turmoil of mid-1990s Britain, a brilliant young comic named Harry Enfield set out to satirize the ideology and politics of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. His parodies became famous. He wrote and performed a vicious sendup of the typical Thatcherite nouveau riche buffoon. People loved it. And what happened? Exactly the opposite of what Enfield hoped would happen. In an age dominated by political comedy, “The Satire Paradox” asks whether laughter and social protest are friends or foes. 

To learn more about the topics covered in this episode, visit www.RevisionistHistory.com

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A 98-year-old minister takes on his church over the subject of gay marriage—and teaches the rest of us what it means to stand up in protest.

To learn more about the topics covered in this episode, visit www.RevisionistHistory.com

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In the summer and fall of 2009, hundreds of Toyota owners came forward with an alarming allegation: Their cars were suddenly and uncontrollably accelerating. Toyota was forced to recall 10 million vehicles, pay a fine of more than $1 billion, and settle countless lawsuits. The consensus was that there was something badly wrong with the world’s most popular cars. Except that there wasn’t. What happens when hysteria overtakes common sense?

To learn more about the topics covered in this episode, visit www.RevisionistHistory.com

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How does genius emerge? An exploration of different types of innovation—through the lens of Elvis Costello’s extraordinary song “Deportee,” once utterly forgettable and then, through time and iteration, a work of beauty and genius.

If you're looking to go deeper into the subjects on Revisionist History, visit Malcolm's collection on iBooks at http://www.apple.co/MalcolmGladwell -- iBooks will update the page every week with new recommendations.

To learn more about the topics covered in this episode, visit www.RevisionistHistory.com

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In the early ’90s, Hank Rowan gave $100 million to a tiny public university in Glassboro, New Jersey: not Harvard, not Yale, not even to his alma mater, MIT. What was Rowan thinking? And why has it proven so difficult for other philanthropists to follow his lead?

To learn more about the topics covered in this episode, visit www.RevisionistHistory.com

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Bowdoin College and Vassar College are two elite private schools that compete for the same students. But one of those schools is trying hard to address the problem of rich and poor in American society—and paying a high price. The other is making that problem worse—and reaping rewards as a result.

To learn more about the topics covered in this episode, visit www.RevisionistHistory.com

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Of the tens of thousands of talented, low-income students who graduate from high school every year in the United States, most never make it to universities appropriate to their gifts. America leaves an enormous amount of talent on the table every year. “Carlos Doesn’t Remember” explains why.

To learn more about the topics covered in this episode, visit www.RevisionistHistory.com

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Wilt Chamberlain’s brilliant career was marred by one, deeply inexplicable decision: He chose a shooting technique that made him one of the worst foul shooters in basketball—even though he had tried a better alternative. Why do smart people do dumb things?

To learn more about the topics covered in this episode, visit www.RevisionistHistory.com

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In the early 1960s the Pentagon set up a top-secret research project in an old villa in downtown Saigon. The task? To interview captured North Vietnamese soldiers and guerrillas in order to measure the effect of relentless U.S. bombing on their morale. Yet despite a wealth of great data, even the leaders of the study couldn’t agree on what it meant.

To learn more about the topics covered in this episode, visit www.RevisionistHistory.com

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In the late 19th century, a painting titled The Roll Call, by a virtually unknown artist, took England by storm. But after that brilliant first effort, the artist all but disappeared. Why? And what does The Roll Call tell us about the fate of those first through the door?

To learn more about the topics covered in this episode, visit www.RevisionistHistory.com

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Coming soon, a new podcast series from bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell.

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