Revisionist History
179 episodes - English - Latest episode: 8 days ago - ★★★★★ - 57.5K ratingsRevisionist History is Malcolm Gladwell's journey through the overlooked and the misunderstood. Every episode re-examines something from the past—an event, a person, an idea, even a song—and asks whether we got it right the first time. From Pushkin Industries. Because sometimes the past deserves a second chance.
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Episodes
Blue Seattle with Cameron Crowe | Development Hell
April 11, 2024 04:01 - 49 minutes - 45.3 MBIn 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 beh...
Labor of Love with M. Night Shyamalan | Development Hell
March 28, 2024 04:01 - 35 minutes - 32.1 MBBefore 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 S...
I Am Superman with Patty Jenkins | Development Hell
March 21, 2024 04:01 - 40 minutes - 36.8 MBBetween 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 ...
Happy World Happiness Day!!!!
March 20, 2024 05:01 - 48 minutes - 44 MBTo mark International Day of Happiness and the release of the annual World Happiness Report, Dr Laurie Santos talks to fellow Pushkin podcasters Dr Maya Shankar, Tim Harford and Malcolm Gladwell about the happiness topics that they would like to see raised on this day of global wellbeing awareness. The discussion ranges from how to quiet your inner monologue; through to the misery of running in a Canadian winter; to the happiness lessons to be learned from a colonoscopy. See omnystud...
Pushkin Hosts Celebrate World Happiness Day
March 20, 2024 05:01 - 48 minutes - 44 MBThe Happiness Lab’s Dr. Laurie Santos brings together other Pushkin hosts to mark the International Day of Happiness. Revisionist History’s Malcolm Gladwell talks about the benefits of the misery of running in a Canadian winter. Dr. Maya Shankar from A Slight Change of Plans talks about quieting her mental chatter. And Cautionary Tales host Tim Harford surprises everyone with the happiness lessons to be learned from a colonoscopy. Hear more of The Happiness Lab HERE. See omnystudio.com/lis...
The Birthday Party with Charles Randolph | Development Hell
March 14, 2024 04:01 - 43 minutes - 39.7 MBBefore 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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Bubbles with Isaac Adamson | Development Hell
March 07, 2024 05:01 - 41 minutes - 38.3 MBThis 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.” See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Oscar Season with Talk Easy
March 05, 2024 17:00 - 1 hour - 70.9 MBDevelopment Hell will return on Thursday with an all-new episode about a chimpanzee. In the meantime, here's a Hollywood-related episode from our friends at Talk Easy. Host Sam Fragoso talks with the New York Times critic Wesley Morris about all things Oscars, his career, and the state of the film industry. Find more Talk Easy at talkeasypod.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The Variable Man with Gary Goldman and Angus Fletcher | Development Hell
February 29, 2024 04:55 - 40 minutes - 36.8 MBGary 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. See omnystudio.com/liste...
Blink with Stephen Gaghan | Development Hell
February 29, 2024 04:50 - 42 minutes - 38.7 MBIt’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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Welcome to Development Hell
February 23, 2024 10:00 - 3 minutes - 3.45 MBAbandon 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! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Revisionist History LIVE with Nate Berkus
February 15, 2024 05:01 - 35 minutes - 32.3 MBMalcolm 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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The IT Revolution
February 01, 2024 05:01 - 28 minutes - 25.9 MBThe 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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Board Game Season
December 21, 2023 05:01 - 48 minutes - 44.4 MBA 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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
A New Day at the Races
December 04, 2023 05:00 - 33 minutes - 30.8 MBRevisionist 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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This Is Your Captain Speaking
November 16, 2023 05:00 - 43 minutes - 39.7 MBWhat 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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The Bear Was Poked With Maria Konnikova
November 02, 2023 04:00 - 32 minutes - 29.7 MBMaria 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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Oil and Blood: The Osage Murders from Cautionary Tales
October 31, 2023 04:00 - 42 minutes - 38.6 MBToday, 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...
Unlocking Hidden Potential with Adam Grant
October 26, 2023 04:00 - 43 minutes - 40.1 MBMalcolm 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 Bill...
Silicon Valley on the Couch
October 19, 2023 04:00 - 46 minutes - 42.3 MBWhy 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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Introducing: The Dream
October 10, 2023 04:00 - 29 minutes - 26.7 MBWhat's it like to hand your life over to someone who claims they’ll make it better? That’s what The Dream, a podcast from Pushkin Industries and Little Everywhere, is exploring this season. Enjoy this episode from the show. Jessie Lee Ward, the self-proclaimed “#1 network marketer in the world,” charges her coaching clients thousands of dollars for a trip to Colombia that's described like a work retreat. The reality is more like a brutal 15 hour hike, with late night hypothermia. Is this wh...
Guns Part 6: “Sin is the failure to bother to care”
October 05, 2023 04:30 - 29 minutes - 26.9 MBAbdullah 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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Five Burning Travel Questions with Malcolm Gladwell
October 03, 2023 04:00 - 23 minutes - 21.3 MBRevisionist 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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Guns Part 5: The Footnote
September 28, 2023 04:00 - 38 minutes - 34.9 MBAt 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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Guns Part 4: Moral Hazard
September 21, 2023 04:00 - 43 minutes - 39.5 MBRobert 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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Guns Part 3: A Shooting Lesson
September 14, 2023 04:00 - 39 minutes - 36.5 MBMalcolm 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? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Guns Part 2: Getting out of Dodge
September 07, 2023 04:00 - 43 minutes - 39.7 MBThe 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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Guns Part 1: The Sudden Celebrity of Sir John Knight
August 31, 2023 04:00 - 47 minutes - 43.3 MBIn 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! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Doctors, Guns, and Money
August 17, 2023 04:00 - 11 minutes - 10.2 MBComing 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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Taxonomy of the Modern Mystery Story
July 27, 2023 04:00 - 46 minutes - 42.7 MBToday, 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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Acting Out
July 06, 2023 04:00 - 36 minutes - 33.5 MBMalcolm 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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
A Good Circle
June 29, 2023 04:00 - 37 minutes - 34.7 MBThis 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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Feeling A Bit Attacked with Maria Konnikova
June 22, 2023 04:00 - 42 minutes - 39.3 MBMaria 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 Pushki...
The Pushkin Prize for Egregiously Deceptive Self-Promotion
June 08, 2023 04:30 - 41 minutes - 38.1 MBConsider 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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy ...
The Crisis in Girls’ Sports with Lauren Fleshman and Linda Flanagan
May 25, 2023 04:30 - 55 minutes - 50.9 MBIn 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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The Mystery of Mastery with Adam Gopnik
May 18, 2023 04:00 - 37 minutes - 34.2 MBIn 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 ...
Introducing: So Many Steves, A New Audiobook from Steve Martin and Pushkin
May 03, 2023 04:00 - 10 minutes - 9.88 MBToday, 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 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Malcolm Goes to Debate School
April 13, 2023 04:00 - 44 minutes - 40.4 MBWhat do you do after you've been humiliated at the Munk Debates? You call in the A-Team. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Higher Animals with Michael Specter
April 06, 2023 04:00 - 34 minutes - 31.2 MBMalcolm 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...
Started From The Bottom with Justin Richmond
March 16, 2023 04:00 - 43 minutes - 39.9 MBToday, 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 pe...
Rodents and Red Wine with Maria Konnikova
March 09, 2023 05:00 - 42 minutes - 38.7 MBAuthor, 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 t...
A Treat for the Die-Hards
February 16, 2023 05:00 - 30 minutes - 27.9 MBEvery 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. 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...
From Broken Record: Rick Rubin in Conversation with Malcolm Gladwell
January 26, 2023 05:00 - 1 hour - 56.9 MBIn 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. 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. ...
The Cadillac LYRIQ: Malcolm Gladwell meets an Electric Icon - Part Two
December 20, 2022 13:00 - 10 minutes - 9.33 MBIn 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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The Cadillac LYRIQ: Malcolm Gladwell meets an Electric Icon – Part One
November 22, 2022 23:00 - 10 minutes - 9.2 MBNot 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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
From Inside Voice: Lake Bell and the Sexy Baby Voice Phenomenon
November 01, 2022 07:00 - 26 minutes - 23.9 MBMalcolm'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...
The Creative Power of Misfits
October 20, 2022 04:00 - 40 minutes - 37.5 MBSharing something from our friends at the TED Audio Collective—an episode of WorkLife with Adam Grant. Adam talks about harnessing the power of frustrated people to shake up the status quo — just like Pixar did. If you'd like to hear more, they've got a brand new podcast out called Re: Thinking with Adam Grant. On the show, get a peek into the minds of some of the world's most creative people. This season they've got entrepreneur Mark Cuban, bestselling author Celeste Ng, Oscar-winning actor...
The Mennonite National Anthem
October 06, 2022 04:00 - 31 minutes - 29.1 MBLester 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. If you’d like to keep up with the most recent news from this and other Pushkin podcasts, be sure to ...
The Rise of the Guinea Pigs
September 29, 2022 04:00 - 42 minutes - 39 MBThe 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. 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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The Department of Physiological Hygiene
September 22, 2022 04:00 - 31 minutes - 29.1 MBIn 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. 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 ...