Revisionist History

Jim Balsillie, the one time co-CEO of Research in Motion, reflects on the mistake that led to the downfall of BlackBerry, once named the fastest growing company in the world.

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In light of our current series on mistakes, we're sharing an episode from Cautionary Tales—a podcast that’s all about mistakes and what we can learn from them. This story is about a poet—some say the worst poet in the world–William McGonagall. McGonagall's works were full of jarring meter, banal imagery, and awkward rhymes. They made him a laughing stock in 19th Century Scotland and are still derided to this day.

What can we learn from such a disastrous poet? And it is possible we’ve misunderstood McGonagall all along?  

We'll be back with a new mistake next week.

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Years ago a music producer named Irv Gotti–a hitmaker for Jay-Z, Ja Rule, and Ashanti–was tapped by Sony Music to make a record with Jennifer Lopez. They wanted a big hit. And Irv delivered. But then he made the biggest mistake of his career.

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General David Goldfein, former Chief of Staff of the US Air Force, and Dr. Heather Wilson, former Secretary of the Air Force, tell the story of the worst day in their professional careers and what it taught them about leadership. 

You can find their book, Get Back up: Lessons in Servant Leadership, here.

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We've just begun our series around mistakes and last week, you heard Michael Lynton, former head of Sony Pictures Entertainment, share how he found himself at the center of one of the most devastating corporate hacks in history. This week, we're sharing a preview of another podcast that looks at notorious Hollywood mistakes and the difficulties of movie-making, What Went Wrong. The Shawshank Redemption is the highest rated movie on IMDb. It’s held that position for nearly as long as the site has existed, yet its history is far more troubled than most people know. Hosts Lizzie Bassett and Chris Winterbauer explore the journey the movie took from big screen disappointment to near universally beloved American classic. Find more episodes of What Went Wrong wherever you get your podcasts.

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The former head of Sony Pictures Entertainment, Michael Lynton, tells Malcolm about a time he made a really big mistake: greenlighting a film that would lead to an international incident.  

You can learn more about Michael Lynton and Josh Steiner’s book, From Mistakes to Meaning, here.

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Richard Pryor redefined comedy by telling the truth, even when it scorched him. And today, we’re sharing a preview of a new podcast, Big Lives, and a special episode about Pryor. Every week on Big Lives, hosts Kai Wright and Emmanuel Dzotsi dig into the BBC archive to explore the story behind the icons who shape our culture—trailblazers like David Bowie, George Michael, Muhammed Ali, and Tina Turner—and better understand how each legend set the stage for our contemporary cultural landscape. In this preview, Kai and Emmanuel look at how Richard Pryor rose from a Peoria, Illinois brothel to become a comedic great, only to then wrestle with racism, fame, desire, and self‑destruction.

If you like what you hear, find more episodes of Big Lives wherever you get podcasts.

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Since Andrew Jarecki’s latest documentary The Alabama Solution debuted on HBO, it has stunned viewers with a story about a group of men seeking justice. The film shows the egregious abuse and systemic failure of Alabama’s prison system, largely through footage shot by incarcerated men on contraband cellphones.

In this conversation, Malcolm sits down with Andrew Jarecki to discuss the making of the Oscar-nominated film and how it resonates with The Alabama Murders, the seven episode series Revisionist History released last year. 

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Did Disney make an anti-Disney movie? Ben and Malcolm engage in a bit of literary sleuthing to find out.

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Screenwriter Gary Goldman claimed the creators of the Disney franchise Zootopia stole his story. Malcolm investigates. 

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Valley of Shadows is a new Pushkin true crime podcast that digs into a nearly 30-year old secret buried in the California desert. On June 11, 1998, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputy Jon Aujay went for a run in California’s Devil’s Punchbowl park...and never came back. Nearly 30 years later, the mystery surrounding his disappearance has only deepened. Some say Aujay is just another missing hiker, claimed by the inhospitable landscape of the Southern California desert. Some say he took his own life out there. But there’s another theory that many of Aujay’s friends and LASD colleagues are convinced is true—that he was the victim of foul play, and that his own department is covering it up. Through exclusive interviews, revealing wiretaps, and buried police files, investigative reporters Hayley Fox and Betsy Shepherd uncover vestiges of the Wild West in a small California town, where outlaw biker gangs crank out methamphetamine and local cops operate on both sides of the law.

Find Valley of Shadows wherever you get podcasts.

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Despite his disdain for birthdays, Malcolm finds himself celebrating ten years of Revisionist History by looking back on the making of the show with producers past and present. And, of course, his mother.

Referenced Episodes:

Season 1, Episode 5: Food Fight

Season 6, Episode 10: The Dog Will See You Now

Season 2, Episode 4: The Foot Soldier of Birmingham

Season 9, Episode 5: Guns Part 5: The Footnote

Season 11, Episode 9: Hitler's Olympics, Part 9: A Plague on Both Your Houses.

Season 14, Episode 1: The Alabama Murders - Part 1: The True Church

Season 1, Episode 6: My Little Hundred Million

Season 3, Episode 10: Analysis, Parapraxis, Elvis

Season 11, Episode 6: Hitler's Olympics, Part 6: The Jiggle & the Giddy Up

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A journalist reporting from some far-flung remote location. A massive blackout. Ticketless entry to a huge sporting event. Behind some of the most technologically complex scenarios is a network making it possible to connect. 

Malcolm sits down with Mo Katibeh, the Chief Marketing Officer for T-Mobile for Business, Guy Griggs, the CNN Senior Vice President of Ad Sales and Client partnerships, and Siemens Energy Senior Vice President Steve Douglas to learn more about this invisible infrastructure. This episode is brought to you in partnership with T-Mobile for Business, and recorded live at the iHeart Studios in New York City.

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Malcolm recently went on the podcast of one of his favorite comedians, Hasan Minhaj. He enjoyed the experience so much, he wanted to share the conversation with you! Enjoy.

On Hasan Minhaj Doesn't Know, the two-time Peabody Award-winning comedian sits down with the biggest names in politics, culture, and tech with questions that are as thought-provoking as they are absurd. It’s a dumb show for curious people who are looking for answers but can’t find them, not even from their host. Because, ultimately, Hasan Minhaj Doesn’t Know!

Find more episodes of Hasan Minhaj Doesn’t Know wherever you get podcasts.

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Today, we bring you our holiday epic from last year.

When Arnold Schwarzenegger decided he wanted to direct a feature film, the choice of material was obvious: He would remake a 1945 holiday classic. Easier said than done.

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For nearly 200 years, we have credited the most famous poem of the Christmas season to Clement Clarke Moore. But what if we got the wrong man?

This holiday season: A centuries old family feud, a bold claim from an English professor, and the true meaning of Christmas.

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Malcolm and Liliana Segura, a criminal justice reporter at Intercept, sat down for an episode of The Intercept Briefing to discuss The Alabama Murders, the inherent cruelty of the death penalty, and the concerning rise of executions in America.

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Holman Correctional Facility. January 2024. Over three decades after the murder of Elizabeth Sennett, the failure cascade comes to an end, but not before claiming one more life.

Get early, ad-free access to the full season of The Alabama Murders by subscribing to Pushkin+ on Apple Podcasts or Pushkin.fm. Pushkin+ subscribers can access ad-free episodes, full audiobooks, exclusive binges, and bonus content for all Pushkin shows.

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Manhattan, NY December. 2022. What do you do, after the state has tried to execute you, but failed? Kenny Smith’s legal team calls Kate Porterfield. A psychologist who specializes in trauma.

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Holman Correctional Facility. November 2022. The State of Alabama tries to execute Kenneth Smith.

Get early, ad-free access to the full season of The Alabama Murders by subscribing to Pushkin+ on Apple Podcasts or Pushkin.fm. Pushkin+ subscribers can access ad-free episodes, full audiobooks, exclusive binges, and bonus content for all Pushkin shows.

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Holman Correctional Facility. June 2010. John Forrest Parker is put to death by lethal injection. He didn’t appear to suffer. But did he?

Get early, ad-free access to the full season of The Alabama Murders by subscribing to Pushkin+ on Apple Podcasts or Pushkin.fm. Pushkin+ subscribers can access ad-free episodes, full audiobooks, exclusive binges, and bonus content for all Pushkin shows.

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Colbert County. May 1989. One of the men charged with Elizabeth Sennett’s murder stands trial. But the prosecution’s case has  problematic inconsistencies. His fate comes down to the jury’s decision –– at least at first.

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Florence, Alabama. 1988. After a horrifying murder takes place, an anonymous caller names three young men as suspects. But speculation swirls about the victim’s husband.

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In a small town in the northwest corner of Alabama, a cascade begins with a man and an affair.

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Florence, Alabama. 1988. A preacher has an affair. A woman is murdered. One death cascades into more, stretching across decades and leaving no one untouched — victims, bystanders, perpetrators, and those just trying to help. Eventually, the consequences lead to the center of a hot national debate on who should be allowed to live, who should die, and how the state should execute them.

On The Alabama Murders, Malcolm Gladwell asks: why, in our efforts to alleviate suffering, do we so often make it worse?

Pushkin+ subscribers can binge the entire season of Revisionist History: The Alabama Murders early and ad-free. Sign up on the Revisionist History show page or at pushkin.fm/plus.

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Wrapping up our summer music series, the Memphis-born, East Nashville-based singer songwriter Drew Holcomb talks with Malcolm in front of a live audience at the Cherry Lane Theater in Greenwich Village. Drew plays original songs and a few covers you might recognize on this exploration of his journey to Americana music.  

For more interviews like this, check out Pushkin’s Broken Record podcast. For more Drew Holcomb visit his website, drewholcomb.com.

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In 2019, Malcolm just wanted an excuse to hang out with Randy Newman so they sat down at the piano together and tried to answer the question: If you disagree with someone — if you find what they think appalling — is there any value in talking to them?

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Malcolm’s habit of reading footnotes leads him to the psychologist Alan Elms, which leads him to the one song Elvis couldn’t sing. We revisit this 2018 episode as part of our encore music series.

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Why does country music make you cry, but rock and roll doesn’t? We revisit a musical interpretation of a divided America in this episode from 2017.

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How does genius emerge? 

Kicking off our summer series, Malcolm digs into the Revisionist History archive to revisit Elvis Costello’s song “Deportee” and explore the power of innovation. 

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Starting next week, we revisit four of Malcolm’s favorite episodes from the Revisionist History archives, all about music.

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In our season finale, we team up with the Culinary Institute of America to reverse engineer the secret recipe for Thomas’s English Muffins.

You can read our top secret muffin recipe here.

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Seven people knew the recipe for a half-a-billion dollar muffin. Then, one of them tried to leave.

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What if we picked the wrong animal?

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Malcolm and Lucie discover that they experience something very differently.

If you suspect you might have a problem recognizing faces and you want to get involved in the research they’re doing at Dr. Joe DeGutis’s lab, go to: www.faceblind.org

And if you’re curious about your own facial recognition abilities, these online tests are a good place to start: 

https://www.troublewithfaces.org/test-yourself-1 https://www.bbk.ac.uk/psychology/psychologyexperiments/experiments/facememorytest/startup.php

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Malcolm sits down with the linguist John McWhorter, to discuss his new book, Pronoun Trouble: The Story of Us in Seven Little Words. Among other things in their wide-ranging conversation, John makes an impassioned case for the return of “thou.”

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The world's most famous interviewer has a problem with interviewing. Revisionist History is here to help.

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Malcolm investigates the origins of what the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services believes (and doesn’t believe) about viruses.

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You might think unbelievably loud, shrill sirens on ambulances and fire trucks are just a fact of life. But what if we got the facts all wrong?

In this episode we ask how we got here in the first place. It’s a story involving a TV show from the 1970s, hearses serving as ambulances, and a dog with a big voice.

You can see a list of the sources we consulted while making this episode here.

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PAW Patrol is in trouble. Like Ryder and the pups, Malcolm comes to the rescue.

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Five years ago a police officer tried to stop Derek Chauvin from murdering George Floyd. Why didn’t he try harder?

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Five years ago the entire world watched Derek Chauvin murder George Floyd. What did we miss?

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For more from Dr. Gary Klein, check out his Masterclass in Practical Decision Making.

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Revisionist History will be back with an all-new season starting March 13th. We’ll be investigating everything from Paw Patrol to the secret behind English muffins to Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Plus much, much more. To start, a two-part series that revisits the death of George Floyd in 2020. That’s next week – stay tuned.

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We are thrilled to welcome the acclaimed narrative series Heavyweight to the Pushkin network. In each episode Jonathan Goldstein sets out to help someone confront their past and heal old wounds. Today we’re sharing their very first episode, “Buzz.” 

And because we couldn’t only pick one segment to share, here’s a list of the Revisionist History team’s favorite episodes:

#2 Gregor

#33 Bobby

#46 Dan

#52 Lenny

#40 Barbara

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In this Valentine’s Day special from Pushkin Industries, Malcolm breaks down the perfect break up song. But first, Broken Record hosts Justin Richmond and Leah Rose make their cases: is R&B the undisputed sound of love? Are sad songs more romantic? Can country win the day?

Plus, Ben Naddaff-Hafrey writes a love song of his own, and the legendary songwriter Babyface talks about how young love shaped his most enduring ballads.

Whether you're mid-swoon or nursing a broken heart, this episode is Pushkin’s Valentine to you.

Listen to Broken Record’s interview with Babyface. 

Listen to a Revisionist History episode about sad songs.

And hear more from Ben’s band, Rookin.

Plus, our battle of the playlists continues… here’s Leah’s sad songs playlist. And Justin’s for love songs. Pick your fighter and… enjoy!

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How is technology transforming the healthcare space? Malcolm sits down with Diogo Rau, the Chief Information and Digital Officer at Eli Lilly and Company, to discuss the ways his company is innovating to deliver care to customers who need it. Rau also previews some new products Eli Lilly is especially excited about.

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Rachel Botsman, Oxford University Lecturer and author of the new Pushkin audiobook How to Trust and Be Trusted, joins Malcolm to talk about how to make smart decisions about trust. Then, a preview of How to Trust and Be Trusted, which is available on Spotify, Audible or wherever you get your audiobooks.

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What happens when the biggest movie star in the world directs the smallest Christmas film on basic cable? A holiday miracle. 

Today on the show: The never-before-published, extremely bizarre story of the making of ‘Christmas in Connecticut’... the remake.

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Michael Lewis, host of Against the Rules and author of Moneyball, The Big Short, Liar’s Poker, and Going Infinite, joins Malcolm to talk about the wild world of sports betting. Then, a preview of Against the Rules season 4, which is legal in New Jersey (listen to find out why), or wherever you get your podcasts. 

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In the 1960s, a right-wing organization led by a former candy tycoon rose to fame in America for their anti-communist campaigns. They called themselves the John Birch Society. Then, they tried to take over the Parent-Teacher Association. This week, what the battle between the two organizations tells us about the fate of American politics, and the history of your Halloween candy.

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How is 5G powering the use of AI to revolutionize life-saving solutions? Malcolm sits with T-Mobile for Business CMO Mo Katibeh, 3AM Innovations COO Ryan Litt, and the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine's Dr. Azizi Seixas to find out in this special episode of Revisionist History. Brought to you in partnership with T-Mobile for Business, and recorded live from the Mobile World Congress in Las Vegas.

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In The Tipping Point, Malcolm helped popularize a controversial approach to policing called “Broken Windows Theory” that is often credited for keeping crime rates down. Now, 25 years later, he goes back and audits his chapter on crime. Did he get it right? 

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On the very first stop of the Revenge of the Tipping Point book tour, Malcolm sat down with David Remnick, editor of the New Yorker, at the 92Y in New York City. The old friends and former colleagues discuss Malcolm’s past work, his new book and how he traces his love of storytelling back to playing endless games of Monopoly as a child.

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What exactly constitutes a bribe? The Georgetown Massacre continues, and the defense calls a surprise witness. 

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In the ‘Varsity Blues’ college admissions scandal, the government indicted more than 50 people. Business leaders. Celebrities. Actors. Rich people accused of paying millions of dollars to get their children into elite universities. The Department of Justice was successful in all but one case: U.S. v. Khoury. What we’re calling: The Georgetown Massacre.

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Today, we’re sharing an exclusive preview of the audiobook of Revenge of the Tipping Point. All about bank robbers and doctors. Find Revenge of the Tipping Point wherever you get audiobooks. 

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In the season finale, we turn back the clock four years, take a side trip to Alabama, meet an extraordinary man named Billy Garland, and ask: What is the right way to reconcile something pure with the messiness of the real world?

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In the early 1930s, a young German law student spent a year in Arkansas, studying American “race law.” The fight over the 1936 Games provided Americans with a chance to study Nazi Germany. But it turns out the Nazis were studying us too. 

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Jesse Owens spent the rest of his life retelling the story of the 1936 games and his encounter with Luz Long. We trace the evolution of a tall tale, discovering the hidden life of one of America’s iconic sports heroes.

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The most famous athlete in Berlin was the American sprinter Jesse Owens, and one of the most famous stories from those Games was the unexpected, heartwarming encounter Owens had with the German long jumper Luz Long. The friendship between the two athletes would serve as a symbol of how sports can overcome national antagonisms. We wonder: What really happened at the long jump pit that day? 

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Legends are made at the Olympics and this summer shows across the Pushkin network are bringing their unique takes to Olympic stories. This special episode includes excerpts from a few: a Cautionary Tale about underestimating female marathoners, a Jesse Owens story from Revisionist History’s series on Hitler’s Olympics, and—from What’s Your Problem—the new technology that’s helping Olympic athletes get stronger.

Check out other show feeds as well, the Happiness Lab and A Slight Change of Plans are also going to the Games.

Sylvia Blemker of Springbok Analytics on What’s Your Problem

The Women Who Broke the Marathon Taboo on Cautionary Tales

Hitler’s Olympics from Revisionist History

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A German Jewish high-jumper is determined to get her shot at Olympic greatness. And an idealist faces an existential choice. In the fifth episode of Hilter’s Olympics, Avery Brundage faces the reality for Jewish athletes in Nazi Germany and makes a critical decision.

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The cheerleader-in-chief for the American Olympic movement was a brilliant, self-made Chicago tycoon named Avery Brundage. Brundage did more to ensure the success of the Berlin Games than anyone except Hitler. But what exactly were his motivations? We meet the man behind the curtain and witness his secret shame.

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With the fate of the Olympics on the line, Charles Sherrill travels to Germany to take up the question of Jewish athletes directly with the Führer. We dig through a dusty archive to uncover a long-buried account of their meeting. The wolf met with the chicken. Guess who won? 

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Charles Sherrill was everything a gentleman of his generation was supposed to be: rich, handsome, charming, Ivy-Leagued. He was impossibly well connected and extravagantly mustachioed. He was also the person who, as much as anything, decided whether American athletes would participate in the 1936 Olympics. Faced with one of the great moral dilemmas of the day, America needed the wisdom of Solomon. Instead, it got the wisdom of Sherrill. 

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In the early 1930s, Adolf Hitler granted a rare interview to the American journalist Dorothy Thompson. When Hitler later came to power, and prepared to stage the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Thompson’s warning about the man she’d met would frame the central debate over the games: Should we go? 

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Adolf Hitler swept to power in Germany in the early 1930s and soon set out to stage the most extravagant and spectacular summer Olympics yet: the 1936 Berlin Games. And countries around the world dutifully put together their teams and made the trip to Germany. Why?

In this new nine-part series Hitler’s Olympics, Malcolm Gladwell and Ben Naddaff-Hafrey explore the games behind the Games, the most consequential Olympics in history. Along the way, they meet a collection of the world’s daffiest aristocrats. A couple of American construction moguls. A legendary triple-jumper. And one discerning journalist.

Heroes and villains. The clear-eyed and the deluded. All of them going to Hitler’s Olympics.

Hitler’s Olympics launches June 27th. Subscribe to Pushkin Plus now to hear the first five episodes on launch day, or listen for new episodes every Thursday for the next nine weeks.

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Malcolm recently sat down with friend and award-winning theologian Lee C. Camp to discuss his journey on the acclaimed podcast No Small Endeavor. In this episode, they explore a host of Malcolm's stories – from receiving permission from his mother to cut class to spending three days a week in Freudian therapy as a young adult – all which contributed to who he is today.

Produced by Great Feeling Studios and PRX, No Small Endeavor brings thoughtful conversations with bestselling authors, artists, theologians and philosophers – like Hollywood legend Rob Reiner, and Civil Rights hero Reverend James Lawson – about what it means to live a good life.

Listen to more episodes of No Small Endeavor here: https://link.chtbl.com/LN08h4po?sid=RevisionistHistoryEpisode 

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In 1986, Cameron Crowe, the film director, and Nancy Wilson, of the rock group Heart, got married. They honeymooned in a little cabin in the Pacific Northwest, and while they were there decided to write a musical, about Elvis as a cab driver in Seattle. They wrote and recorded demos of all the songs, and called it “Blue Seattle.” It became a lost masterpiece that never saw the light of day. In our Development Hell season finale, Cameron joins Malcolm to share the songs and tell the story behind “Blue Seattle” for the very first time.

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Before M. Night Shyamalan became a household name for his mind bending thrillers like “The Sixth Sense” and “Signs”, he was just a young screenwriter in love. And during those blissful early years of marriage he wrote a love story. The screenplay for “Labor of Love” sold right away, and over the next 30 years or so there would be numerous attempts to make it into a movie. There was a major studio, there were A-list directors, Shyamalan even found his perfect star. In this episode, M. Night Shyamalan tells Malcolm about the script that haunts him. 

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Between her big hits, “Monster” and “Wonder Woman”, Patty Jenkins wrote an R-rated fairy tale, starring a dog. She hoped that the dog would deliver such a great performance that the Academy would — for the first time — give the Best Actor award to an animal. The story was about a dog program in a prison, a perfect set-up for a story of both canine and human redemption, right? Wrong. That’s the kind of story Hollywood loves, but not the kind of story Jenkins wanted to tell. Enter development hell.

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Before Charles Randolph won an Oscar for writing “The Big Short,” he adapted a memoir called “The Birthday Party”: the true story of a white man kidnapped by three young Black men. Is there a way to bring a story like that to screen, in a way that's honest and authentic? Randolph gives us a masterclass on a screenwriter's many minefields.

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This is the story behind a biopic about a chimpanzee named Bubbles, sidekick to the King of Pop. Malcolm talks with the writer, Isaac Adamson, about the project’s rise and fall. Netflix optioned the script, a director was attached, and then… everything fell apart. In the episode, Isaac reads from his 2015 Black List winning script, and he and Malcolm consider whether now is the time for “Bubbles.”

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Gary Goldman was a writer on “Total Recall”, a Philip K. Dick adaptation directed by Paul Verhoeven and starring Arnold Schwarzeneger. It was a big hit. So why do Gary and his writing partner, Angus Fletcher, have so much trouble selling another Philip K. Dick adaptation? They tell Malcolm that it all came down to a roller coaster ride of plot twists that even A-List action actors couldn’t stomach, and an early attempt at AI that was too dumb to pick a smart script.

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It’s the mid-2000s, Malcolm and writer/producer Stephen Gaghan (“Traffic”, “Syriana”) are running around Hollywood pitching their scripted adaptation of Blink. This conversation starts with a failed vampire love story, takes a ride in Leonardo DiCaprio’s Prius, before making an unexpectedly heartbreaking turn that leads Stephen to walk away from the project forever.

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Abandon hope, all ye who enter here. On February 29th, Revisionist History is returning with Development Hell, a series of untold stories about Hollywood projects that never left the page. There's a Philip K. Dick adaptation with a twist too shocking for the studios, a biopic about an exotic pet, and Malcolm’s own misadventure trying to adapt his bestselling book, Blink. Coming soon!

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Malcolm Gladwell sits with interior design legend Nate Berkus in a live conversation covering everything from travel, to their moms, prestige TV, and finding the places that can cure us of melancholy. This episode was recorded at the AC Hotel New York Times Square, and is brought to you by AC Hotels.

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The digital revolution has been happening for a while now, but with 5G, it’s about to reach a whole new level. IT departments are about to rule the world. So in this paid partnership with T-Mobile for Business, Malcolm sits with leaders in the world of retail and healthcare to discuss how their industries are changing.

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A young family nearly lost everything in the 1970s farm crisis. Then, they invented a board game. Today on the show, producer Ben Naddaff-Hafrey shares a story about how life shows up in games and what games teach us about risk, life, love, and in this case ... farming.

For more episodes like this, check out Pushkin’s The Last Archive podcast.

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Revisionist History heads to Las Vegas for the Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix, courtesy of T-Mobile for Business. Malcolm talks with T-Mobile and Las Vegas Grand Prix executives about how 5G technology is changing professional sports — from how athletes compete, to how fans watch and even find their seats.

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What does a pilot sound like? Malcolm and Ben Naddaff-Hafrey take off on a long, strange investigation that takes them from Las Vegas to Family Guy to the airspace over the Mojave desert and the cold waters of the Hudson river.

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Maria Konnikova returns as Revisionist History’s ombudsman. Today, she talks with Malcolm about assault rifles, tales of the two Matt Dillons, moral hazard, localized mortgage rates, and possible solutions to America’s gun problem.

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Today, we’re bringing you an episode from another Pushkin show, Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford. This episode is based on Killers of the Flower Moon, with permission from its author, David Grann.

Minnie Smith grew sick quite suddenly. She had been young, fit and healthy; the doctors were baffled when she died. "A peculiar wasting illness," they called it. Then, her sister Anna went missing. She was found a week later, dead, with a gunshot wound to her head. When a third sister, Rita, died in an explosion at her home, the grim pattern was clear: the family was under attack.

Lawman Tom White came to town to investigate, and uncovered a vicious plot.

This episode is the first of two cautionary tales produced in association with Apple Original Films. The Killers of the Flower Moon movie is in theaters now. It's directed by Martin Scorsese, and stars Robert DeNiro, Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone.

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Malcolm Gladwell hosts a rollicking live discussion about Adam Grant’s new book, “Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things,” which is available now. They explore why we overemphasize innate talent, how Adam grappled with impostor syndrome as a writer and perfectionism as an athlete, and how to chart a path toward achieving greater things. They also discuss the evidence on affirmative action — and riff on topics ranging from humility to psychoanalysis to whether Lions or Bills fans suffer more.

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Why is Silicon Valley where it is? How did a narrow valley in California become the epicenter of the computer age? People usually say it’s because of Stanford, or the weather. But the answer may be something much more … Freudian. In this episode, Malcolm puts William Shockley—inventor of the transistor, winner of the Nobel Prize, father of Silicon Valley—on the couch.

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Abdullah Pratt grew up in one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in America, then returned to be an ER doctor in his neighborhood hospital. At the end of Revisionist History’s series on everything Americans get wrong about guns, we offer a final lesson on the obligations and costs of compassion.

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Revisionist History hits the road, courtesy of Airbnb. Malcolm shares some travel tips, including music for poolside relaxation, how to find your way around the Carolinas, and what to do about inclement weather. Then, Di Zock and Michael Specter talk about the pros and cons of traveling with your dog.

The finale of our series on guns in America airs this Thursday. Please write in with your comments at revisionisthistory.com.

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At the end of a forgotten study of convicted murderers, the author left a devastating footnote.  We travel to an old plantation house outside Montgomery Alabama to hear his story — and what it tells us about American gun violence.

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Robert Kennedy was killed by an assassin's bullet in 1968, ending his presidential run. Had he been shot today, would he have lived? A what-if story about homicides and medical care and the moral consequences of a world where trauma surgeons have gotten really, really good at what they do. 

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Malcolm goes to a shooting range in the woods of North Carolina to get a tutorial on the AR-15. It’s scary. It’s ugly. It’s at the center of the gun control debate. But what exactly makes it worse than other guns? 

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The longest running television series of the 20th century was Gunsmoke, a western set in the notorious Dodge City, Kansas. Malcolm sweeps away mountains of legal scholarship to make a bold claim: The simplest explanation for the Supreme’s Court’s puzzling run of gun rights decisions may be that the justices watched too much Gunsmoke when they were growing up. 

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In the battles over gun rights, a shadowy English nobleman from the 17th century has unexpectedly taken center stage. Who was he? What did he do that has — 300 years later — endeared him to a generation of legal scholars? Revisionist History explores the cult of personality around the mysterious Sir John Knight. 

Sign up for Pushkin+ on the Revisionist History Apple Show page or at Pushkin.fm to binge the entire series now!

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Coming soon – a six-part series from Revisionist History about everything Americans get wrong about guns. 

The series will air weekly, starting Thursday, August 31st. You can binge listen to all six episodes early and ad-free by subscribing to Pushkin Plus on Apple Podcasts, or by visiting: pushkin.fm/plus. 

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Today, another episode from the Revisionist History Live universe. It's an old fashioned lecture, recorded at the New Orleans Book Festival at Tulane University. Malcolm talks about a totally real thing he made up—a taxonomy of the modern mystery story—with a focus on murder mysteries and police procedurals. From Dragnet, to John Grisham, to Sherlock Holmes, it's all in there...and all connected to how we view real policing. 

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Malcolm talks with Ben Naddaff-Hafrey, host of The Last Archive, about the forgotten origins of a major social science, the missing chapter in Ella Fitzgerald’s life, and what it all has to do with the prison just down the street from Malcolm’s office. Listen, and check out the brand new season from Pushkin’s The Last Archive.

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This season, Malcolm's covered a lot of the problems in higher education. Today on the show: A solution. A big idea being tested at a little school on the shores of Lake Michigan. A school called Hope College, believe it or not, with an idea so crazy it just might work.

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Maria Konnikova, Revisionist History’s ombudsman—who's also an author, psychologist and professional poker player—is back for another round. This time she reads letters from the audience on the power of debate, and whether or not certain four letter words belong in Pushkin’s podcasts. Maria and Malcolm also look at the Columbia cheating scandal from a different angle, and hand out one more sparkling Pushkin Prize.

If you’d like to keep up with the most recent news from this and other Pushkin podcasts, be sure to sign up for our email list at Pushkin.fm.

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Consider this your invitation to the greatest award show no one’s ever heard of: the Pushkin Prizes, created to honor the giants of the American education system. This year, Malcolm is celebrating one prominent university that decided to play the US News & World Report at its own dirty rankings game—and smeared themselves in the process. Featuring an eagle-eyed math professor, our favorite data scientist, and the legend of one disgraced congressman. 

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In a live conversation taped at the 92nd Street Y in New York City, Malcolm and his Martian friend consult athletes Linda Flanagan and Lauren Fleshman on how to level the proverbial playing field. What would they ban from youth sports: Coaches? Parents? Uniforms? Whatever it takes to bring the love of the game to everyone.

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In a live conversation taped at the 92nd Street Y in New York City, Malcolm chats with his old friend and New Yorker magazine colleague, Adam Gopnik, about Adam’s latest book, The Real Work: On the Mystery of Mastery. In the book, Adam follows numerous masters of their craft to find out just how they do what they do—and discovers that there is mastery all around us. In this episode, Malcolm and Adam highlight a few of the folks from the book, and what they have to teach us. You can purchase the audiobook version of The Real Work: On the Mystery of Mastery at Pushkin.fm

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Today, we’re bringing you a preview of Pushkin's new audiobook, “So Many Steves.” Steve Martin is more candid than he’s ever been about his creative life in this engrossing audio-biography centered around a series of conversations recorded over many afternoons at home with his friend and neighbor, writer Adam Gopnik. You can get “So Many Steves,” an audio-exclusive, now at Audible: http://audible.com/stevemartin

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What do you do after you've been humiliated at the Munk Debates? You call in the A-Team. 

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Malcolm talks with his old friend, the brilliant science writer Michael Specter, about the future of life on Earth. Michael's response to the Covid-19 pandemic was to create a new audiobook on how the mRNA vaccines have sparked a biotechnology revolution: Higher Animals: Vaccines, Synthetic Biology, and the Future of Life. He and Malcolm talk about how this scientific revolution is bigger than many that came before it, about the promise of heritable vaccines for endangered species, and about how a smallpox infection could genuinely have wiped out New York in 1947. Also, we share a portion of Higher Animals' first, thrilling chapter. To purchase your own, complete copy of Michael Specter's Higher Animals, visit Pushkin.fm.

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Today, we dig into the fascinating life of someone Malcolm knows very well: fellow Pushkin host Justin Richmond. Malcolm and Justin talk about being the product of biracial marriages, surviving racist bullies, and Justin's chance dinner with a megastar that changed his life. 

Justin created his newest show, Started from the Bottom, to talk with successful people who grew up as outsiders about how they made it against the odds. Origin stories of mostly men and women of color and brilliant people who others counted out. How they climbed their way up the ladder, and the obstacles they overcame along the way.

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Author, psychologist and professional poker player Maria Konnikova joins the show as Revisionist History’s first ombudsman. Maria advocates for the audience, reading letters from listeners and challenging Malcolm on matters great and small. They discuss how iodized salt is changing lives, the ethics of the Minnesota starvation experiments, and the ever-changing guidance around drinking alcohol. If you’d like to keep up with the most recent news from this and other Pushkin podcasts, be sure to sign up for our email list at Pushkin.fm. 

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Every writer, podcaster and storyteller obsesses about how they begin a story. But they rarely pay enough attention to endings. Nothing matters more. Malcolm and Mike Birbiglia solve endings for you.

From our first-ever Revisionist History: LIVE events at the Town Hall in New York City and the Fillmore Philadelphia, Malcolm revisits how he’s tried to land the narrative plane.

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In which Malcolm reunites with his colleague, friend and fellow host of Broken Record (not to mention a music icon in his own right), Rick Rubin.

This month Rick released his first book, called "The Creative Act: A Way Of Being." In it he shares practical principles on how anyone can generate creative authenticity and ultimately find their voice.

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In part two of our special series with Cadillac, we test whether the all-electric Cadillac LYRIQ can keep up with the demands of a 21st-century helicopter parent, put a baby to sleep, and impress a collector of immaculate old-school Caddies. Join Malcolm on a test ride like you’ve never been on before. Part two of two. 

This episode is sponsored by Cadillac.

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Not long ago, we got a call at Pushkin Headquarters from Cadillac. They knew that Malcolm takes cars very seriously… so they asked if he’d heard of the all-electric Cadillac LYRIQ and if he’d like to borrow one for a few days to put it to the test. Yes, yes he did. What resulted was a series of road tests, blindfolded experiments, and head-to-head comparisons. Part one of two. 

This episode is sponsored by Cadillac. 

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Malcolm's friend, actress/writer/director/producer Lake Bell, is obsessed with voice. Malcolm is a little obsessed with Lake. This excerpt from Lake's new Pushkin audiobook Inside Voice: My Obsession with HowWe Sound, showcases Lake and Malcolm's conversation about the phenomenon of the sexy baby voice (think Paris Hilton or any Real Housewife). Inside Voice is a deep dive into what our voices mean and what they say about us. Go buy yourself a copy at insidevoiceaudiobook.com, Audible, Apple Books, Spotify, or anywhere audiobooks are sold. 

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Lester Glick’s year in the Minnesota Starvation Experiment cost him his hoped-for career and also left him with an eating disorder for the rest of his life. But like many of the other volunteers, he said he would have done it again in a heartbeat. Revisionist History explores the scientific legacy of this experiment, and asks whether it’s time to reimagine our understanding of sacrifice. 

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The Minnesota Starvation Experiment could never be done today. No scientist could get permission to starve 36 healthy people for close to a year. But why? Revisionist History tries to follow the strange logic that governs our thinking about medical experiments. 

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In the final year of the Second World War, 36 men spent a year in a dingy set of rooms under the University of Minnesota football stadium. They were part of an experiment none of them would ever forget. What happened in the Department of Physiological Hygiene? Revisionist History uncovers a forgotten box of interviews in the archives of the Library of Congress. 

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Did Malcolm Gladwell blow it in his bestselling book Outliers? What if all he did was write a primer for neurotic helicopter parents? To find out, Revisionist History descends on the University of Pennsylvania to run a roomful of eager students through a mysterious experiment, complete with Sharpies, huge white stickers, and a calculator. It does not end well.

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Revisionist History returns on September 15th with a saga about self-sacrifice. Plus, Malcolm offers a mea culpa for an unintended consequence of a chapter he wrote in Outliers.

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We’ll be back in September with new episodes of Revisionist History. In the meantime, I got to sit down with my good friend and host of Cautionary Tales, Tim Harford.

We discuss his recent trilogy about the epic race between two explorers to the South Pole and all the challenges they encounter along the way. We draw parallels between the 1920s explorers and Silicon Valley startups, and of course, who of the two explorers we’d prefer to have dinner with. Enjoy!

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Malcolm tells the story of how his parents and their friends sponsored three Vietnamese refugees, in the aftermath of the Vietnam War. And wonders: do we underestimate the value of ordinary acts of kindness?

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You thought the antics of Will, Grace, Jack and Karen were just harmless fun. Oh please. Revisionist History dives deep into a television sitcom that you may not have realized even had a deep end. 

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A legendary Hollywood mogul, a famous author, a fatal drunk driving accident, and a brilliant bit of screenwriting, left on the cutting room floor. Revisionist History engages in a pop culture what-if experiment about the 1937 version of A Star is Born. 

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A mystery that begins with the half-baked idea of an obscure California bureaucrat in the 1930’s and ends with one of the worst public crises in American history. Chicken Little said the sky was falling. And sometimes Chicken Little is right. 

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A century ago, a mysterious and disfiguring disease was finally cured by an experiment in Akron, Ohio . . . with a condiment. We ask: it is time to return to Akron, and try the same trick again? Ay, oh, way to go, Ohio.

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What if you could design any experiment you wanted? Without worrying about money, ethics, logistics, or even the laws of nature? Revisionist History kicks off the season by giving some of the world’s smartest scientists a magic wand to create the experiment of their dreams. We hear about the best twins study ever, how to test the effects of iPhone vs Blackberry, and a bizarre plan to get Americans into shape.

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Revisionist History is back! And obsessed with ... experiments. Natural experiments. Thought experiments. Failed experiments. Experiments that end up in salt factories and file drawers filled with carbon copies. Not to mention experimental endings to Hollywood classics and a deep dive involving the sitcom Will and Grace. Season 7 gets underway June 30, with episodes available a week early for Pushkin+ subscribers. Find out more at Pushkin.fm. 

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Sharing a new Pushkin show, Legacy of Speed. When two Black sprinters raised their fists in protest at the 1968 Olympic Games, it shook the world. More than 50 years later, the ripple effects of their activism are still felt. Host Malcolm Gladwel tells the stories of the runners who took a stand, and the coaches and mentors who helped make them fast enough — and brave enough — to change the world.

In this episode, we hear how coach Bud Winter took what he learned from working with fighter pilots in World War II and created a system for training sprinters at San Jose State. His “Relax and Win” methods used breathing, visualization and other unconventional coaching techniques to create a powerhouse track program. Another thing that made him unique at the time? His focus on recruiting Black athletes to a mostly white school.

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Sharing special previews of Pushkin’s show Bad Women: Ripper Retold and this month’s Pushkin+ episode, ‘The Dog-tor WIll See You Now’  

You know the story: In 1888, five female prostitutes were brutally murdered in a London slum-- attacks so violent the killer earned a nickname: Jack the Ripper. For centuries, we have assumed these women were indeed “Bad Women,” ...but what if everything we know about them is wrong?

Historian Hallie Rubenhold has uncovered the true stories of the Ripper’s victims. Polly, Annie, Elizabeth, Catherine and Mary Jane all struggled against the misogyny that thrived in Victorian England, until they found themselves in the path of one of the most vicious killers in history. 

Bad Women is rich in historical detail and suspenseful enough to satisfy any true crime fan. You can binge the entire season now at https://link.chtbl.com/revisionistbadwomen

Plus, a sneak peek at the fourth in our series of subscriber episodes, an ode to the powerful pups who can sniff out the toughest of viruses worldwide–even at a Metallica concert. To hear the rest, subscribe to Pushkin+ by visiting our show page in Apple Podcasts or at Pushkin.fm/plus.

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In this month’s subscriber-only episode, the Pushkin staff have something to say about Malcolm’s portrayal of their laundry habits. Plus, an unbiased expert answers our most pressing clothes queries.

This is a sneak peek at the third in our series of subscriber episodes. To hear the rest, subscribe to Pushkin+ by visiting our show page in Apple Podcasts.

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In this month’s subscriber-only episode, a look at the complicated and possibly cursed career of Helen Levitt’s other half.

This is a sneak peek at the second in our series of subscriber episodes. To hear the rest, subscribe to PushNik by visiting our show page in Apple Podcasts.

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If recent times have shown us anything, it’s that many problems can not be fixed by humans alone. In the season 6 finale, Revisionist History turns to another species for a little help.

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The best way to prepare for the unexpected may not be to make plans, or predictions, but to play games. Revisionist History explores imaginary worlds and the people who love finding out what they don’t know.

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Is there a right way to do your laundry? Of course there is. A long look at the science of cleaning your clothes.

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Revisionist History presents: The Little Mermaid...our way. The grand finale of our three-part series. Featuring the voices of Jodie Foster, Glenn Close, Dax Shepard, Brit Marling, and many more.

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The quest to revise The Little Mermaid continues. This week, we call in the experts. Part two of three.

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Revisionist History takes on The Little Mermaid: a deep dive into a world where merpeople present us with a series of vexing moral conundrums. Part one of three.

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Helen Slote Levitt was on her way to the good life in 1950s Hollywood. Then one day, her name appeared on a list. The story of an ordinary woman whose world was upended by extraordinary times.

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A historically Black university in New Orleans is beloved by everyone – except the US News best colleges rankings. We hack our way back into the algorithm and show how Dillard University can rise to the top. Part two of a two-part series.

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For 30 years, US News & World Report has been using a secret formula to rank the best colleges and universities in the United States. As a public service to our listeners, we hack the algorithm and discover the dirty little secret of the rankings game.

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Revisionist History travels to Phoenix, Arizona to learn about the future of the automobile. It’s not what you think. It’s much better.

Warning: Some of the actions depicted in this episode are dangerous. Do not imitate Malcolm! 

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The sixth season of Revisionist History is underway, and Malcolm’s finally out of the house. We play chicken with cars, war games with wonks, and travel deep under the sea. Season six of Revisionist History launches June 24th from Pushkin Industries.  

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Whenever Malcolm and Adam Grant cross paths on the book tour circuit, it's always a good time. Here are pieces of two conversations from Clubhouse: one about Malcolm's The Bomber Mafia and another about Adam's Think Again.

Find out more at bombermafia.com and adamgrant.net.

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We're back in Atlanta - this week with jaunts to Jamaica, Kenya, court-side NBA games, and a deep dive into fine art forgery. Plus, Malcolm finally gets his big break in the advertising industry. LISTENER NOTE: No editors were involved with the writing of this episode of Revisionist History. Proceed at your own risk. Happy Holidays, everyone! 

Text Malcolm: 917-423-6439. Get Revisionist History updates first by signing up for our newsletter at pushkin.fm.

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Revisionist History takes a trip to Malcolm's favorite city and gets a tour of Emory University, meets 3000 non-human primates and 8000 rodents, and dusts off an old TV pilot for a dramatic reenactment. Oh, and a season three guest returns, but you'll just have to listen to find out who. 

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This episode features “Dare To Be Me” by Kaci Bolls feat. The Happy Racers

© 2020 SpinBoxClub / Clashing Plaids (ASCAP) / Plaid Pajamas Music (BMI) / Drunk On A Binge (BMI) – Administered by Bluewater Music Services Corp. Used By Permission. All Rights Reserved.

This bonus episode is sponsored by Emory University.

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Lessons from the world’s most perfect memorial.

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A billionaire turned recluse befriends a minor novelist. Together they seize the public’s imagination. Kind of. The true story behind the greatest autobiography you’ve never read.

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The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

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The delicate science of hiring nihilism, examined in five deeply-personal case studies.

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How do we remember one of the deadliest nights in human history? We don't. Part four.

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The arguments, accidents, cold-blooded logic and sheer serendipity that led to the longest night of the Second World War. Part three.

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Basement laboratories. Mad scientists. Sticky gels, and a bake-off in the desert. The strange story behind Curtis LeMay’s weapon of choice. Part two.

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On the eve of the Second World War, a band of visionaries at Maxwell Air Force Base tried to reimagine modern warfare. They failed. Part one on the extraordinary life of the Air Force General Curtis LeMay.

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In Bolivia, a political activist radically reforms the voting process for... student council elections. Who else does he convince? Revisionist History. And maybe a fancy private school in New Jersey. Get Revisionist History updates first by signing up for our newsletter at pushkin.fm.

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An escape from war-torn Germany. Lavish dinners with Hollywood royalty. A Swedish baron and a dime-store heiress: we explore the long journey of a Van Gogh still life — and what it says about the real value of the things we treasure.

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Dragons hoard treasure, deep in their lairs. They don’t show it off to their neighbors. Revisionist History applies dragon psychology to the strange world of art museums, with help from Andy Warhol, J.R.R. Tolkien, a handful of accountants and the world’s leading hoarding expert. 

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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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