Revisionist History

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...

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...