Revisionist History (podcast)
Revisionist History is a podcast by Malcolm Gladwell produced through Panoply Media. It began in 2016, and has aired four 10-episode seasons.
| Revisionist history | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Presentation | |
| Hosted by | Malcolm Gladwell |
| Genre | History |
| Format | MP3 |
| Language | English |
| Updates | Weekly |
| Length | 30–40 mins |
| Production | |
| No. of seasons | 4 |
| No. of episodes | 41 (as of December 2019) |
| Publication | |
| Original release | June 16, 2016 – present |
| Provider | Cadence 13 |
| Website | revisionisthistory |
Gladwell, who was already a successful author and essayist, was convinced to create a podcast by his friend Jacob Weisberg, editor-in-chief of Slate Group, which includes the podcast network Panoply Media. Seasons 1 to 3 of Revisionist History were produced by Panoply Media. In September 2018, Gladwell announced he was co-founding a podcast company with Weisberg, later named Pushkin Industries, which produced season 4 of the series.
Each episode begins with an inquiry about a person, event, or idea, and proceeds to question the received wisdom about the subject.
Episodes
Season 1 (2016)
| No. in season | Title | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Lady Vanishes" | June 16, 2016 | |
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Central Topic: The Roll Call, an 1874 oil-on-canvas painting by Elizabeth Thompson Themes Explored: How success by a member of a minority group does not alleviate discrimination, but perpetuates it. | |||
| 2 | "Saigon, 1965" | June 23, 2016 | |
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Central Topic: Leon Gouré, Konrad Kellen and the RAND Corporation's recommendations regarding the Vietnam War Themes Explored: How personal bias can lead to people drawing different conclusions from the same data. | |||
| 3 | "The Big Man Can't Shoot" | June 30, 2016 | |
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Central Topic: Wilt Chamberlain, Rick Barry and the underhand free throw Themes Explored: Why smart people sometimes refuse to accept the best ideas. | |||
| 4 | "Carlos Doesn't Remember" | July 7, 2016 | |
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Central Topic: Meritocracy in American schools Themes Explored: How America is making use of its human capital. | |||
| 5 | "Food Fight" | July 14, 2016 | |
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Central Topic: Bowdoin College, Vassar College, and the budgetary choices of colleges Themes Explored: How colleges get rewarded for distorting the educational system. | |||
| 6 | "My Little Hundred Million" | July 21, 2016 | |
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Central Topic: The record-breaking Hank Rowan donation to Glassboro State University Themes Explored: The ideologies behind educational philanthropy. | |||
| 7 | "Hallelujah" | July 28, 2016 | |
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Central Topic: Deportee by Elvis Costello and Paul Cézanne, Pablo Picasso, and Leonard Cohen Themes Explored: The role of time and repetition in the creation of works of genius. | |||
| 8 | "Blame Game" | August 4, 2016 | |
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Central Topic: The 2009–11 Toyota vehicle recalls Themes Explored: Human perception and misconception, our fraught relationship to technology, media dishonesty. | |||
| 9 | "Generous Orthodoxy" | August 11, 2016 | |
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Central Topic: Chester Wenger, the Mennonite minister who confronted his own church Themes Explored: Effective ways of dissent. | |||
| 10 | "The Satire Paradox" | August 18, 2016 | |
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Central Topic: Harry Enfield and his creation of the Loadsamoney character Themes Explored: How satire with the aim of social protest can backfire. | |||
Season 2 (2017)
| No. in season | Title | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "A Good Walk Spoiled" | June 14, 2017 | |
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Central Topic: Golf and golf clubs Themes Explored: Property taxes, real estate, CEO productivity. | |||
| 2 | "The Road To Damascus" | June 21, 2017 | |
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Central Topic:The CIA's use of former terrorists as informants; the relationship between a security service and a free press Themes Explored: Forgiveness and second chances; transparency vs. security. | |||
| 3 | "Miss Buchanan's Period Of Adjustment" | June 28, 2017 | |
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Central Topic: Brown v. Board of Education Themes Explored: The "persistent" legacy of racism in American schools. | |||
| 4 | "The Foot Soldier of Birmingham" | July 5, 2017 | |
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Central Topic: A sculpture, The Foot Soldier, by Ronald McDowell as based on a photograph by Bill Hudson Themes Explored: Artistic license, sanitizing of history. | |||
| 5 | "The Prime Minister and the Prof" | July 12, 2017 | |
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Central Topic: The friendship between Winston Churchill and Lord Cherwell; the 1943 Bengal famine Themes Explored: How friendships affect people in power. | |||
| 6 | "The King of Tears" | July 19, 2017 | |
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Central Topic: Country Music as illustrated by an interview with prolific song writer Bobby Braddock Themes Explored: Sad country songs, as compared to general levity of the rock and roll genre. | |||
| 7 | "State v Johnson" | July 26, 2017 | |
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Central Topic: Black Americans and the US justice system Themes Explored: Institutional racism, power dynamics. | |||
| 8 | "Mr. Hollowell Didn't Like That" | August 2, 2017 | |
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Central Topic: Black Americans and the US justice system via an extended interview with Vernon Jordan about his work with Donald L. Hollowell Themes Explored: Institutional racism, power dynamics. | |||
| 9 | "McDonald's Broke My Heart" | August 9, 2017 | |
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Central Topic: McDonald's decision to stop frying its french fries in beef tallow Themes Explored: The link between saturated fats and heart disease, the power of individual persistence. | |||
| 10 | "The Basement Tapes" | August 16, 2017 | |
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Central Topic: Dr. Ivan Frantz's "Minnesota Coronary Experiment" on the effects of vegetable oil in cholesterol reduction and on general health Themes Explored: Medical effects of animal fats/vegetable and corn oil, Father and Son relationships | |||
Season 3 (2018)
| No. in season | Title | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Divide and Conquer" | May 17, 2018 | |
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Central Topic: The complete, unabridged history of the world's most controversial semicolon Themes Explored: The impact of grammar in interpretation of law, law reviews by Michael Stokes Paulsen. | |||
| 2 | "Burden of Proof" | May 24, 2018 | |
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Central Topic: The story of college football player Owen Thomas and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy Themes Explored: Why we should sometimes act before having concrete proof. | |||
| 3 | "A Polite Word for Liar (Memory Part 1)" | May 31, 2018 | |
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Central Topic: Harmonica player Larry Adler's recollections of his eventful life Themes Explored: The unreliable nature of memory. | |||
| 4 | "Free Brian Williams (Memory Part 2)" | June 7, 2018 | |
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Central Topic: TV Anchor Brian Williams's fall from grace after inaccuracies appear in some of his reporting reminiscences Themes Explored: The unreliable nature of memory. | |||
| 5 | "General Chapman's Last Stand" | June 14, 2018 | |
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Central Topic: The impact of General Leonard Fielding Chapman Jr. in securing the borders of the United States Themes Explored: American immigration policy; whether good fences make good neighbors. | |||
| 6 | "The Hug Heard Around The World" | June 21, 2018 | |
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Central Topic: Sammy Davis Jr. and his relationship with Richard Nixon Themes Explored: Race and tokenism, especially in public figures. | |||
| 7 | "Malcolm Gladwell's 12 Rules for Life" | June 28, 2018 | |
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Central Topic: The mathematics of 'pulling the goalie' in hockey and its application in life Themes Explored: Self-help manuals, disagreeableness | |||
| 8 | "The Imaginary Crimes of Margit Hamosh (Scientific Fraud Part 1)" | July 5, 2018 | |
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Central Topic: Suspected scientific fraud in the work of Professor of Medicine Margit Hamosh, and the policing of scientific research by the Office of Scientific Integrity Themes Explored: Mass sociogenic illnesses, also known as fear epidemics. | |||
| 9 | "Strong Verbs, Short Sentences (Scientific Fraud Part 2)" | July 12, 2018 | |
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Central Topic: The battle between Bernadine Healy, director of the National Institutes of Health, and congressman John Dingell Themes Explored: The policing of scientific research by the Office of Scientific Integrity; fear epidemics. | |||
| 10 | "Analysis, Parapraxis, Elvis" | July 19, 2018 | |
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Central Topic: Statistical analysis of lyrical lapses in Elvis' performances and what they tell us about his state of mind Themes Explored: Parapraxis (Freudian Slip), Elvis Presley, the psychology of performing. | |||
Season 4 (2019)
| No. in season | Title | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Puzzle Rush (Education Part 1)" | June 20, 2019 | |
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Central Topic: The LSAT and its ability to judge potential law students Themes Explored: How to judge human ability, standardized tests. | |||
| 2 | "The Tortoise and the Hare (Education Part 2)" | June 27, 2019 | |
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Central Topic: Malcolm Gladwell’s Grand Unified Theory for fixing American Higher Education Themes Explored: Meritocracy, standardized tests, the Tortoise and the Hare. | |||
| 3 | "Tempest in a Teacup" | July 4, 2019 | |
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Central Topic: The Boston Tea Party’s actual relationship to the American Revolution Themes Explored: Rhetoric vs. reality in national history, crime and its political influence. | |||
| 4 | "Good Old Boys" | July 11, 2019 | |
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Central Topic: Randy Newman's album Good Old Boys, and its message about race and civil rights in America Themes Explored: The value of discourse with people we disagree with; how conflict inspires creativity. | |||
| 5 | "The Standard Case" | July 18, 2019 | |
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Central Topic: Andy Pettitte’s baseball career and maritime fines, examined using Jesuit problem-solving (casuistry) Themes Explored: How we deal with novel problems. | |||
| 6 | "Dr. Rock's Taxonomy" | July 25, 2019 | |
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Central Topic: Dr. John Rock, his invention of the birth control pill, and his Catholic views on birth control Themes Explored: How we deal with novel problems, Casuist rationalizations. | |||
| 7 | "Descend into the Particular" | August 1, 2019 | |
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Central Topic: The Jesuitical idea of “disordered attachments”, applied to the shootings of Michael Brown, Angel Navarro, and other police-involved shootings in the United States Themes Explored: How we deal with novel problems; the importance of narratives. | |||
| 8 | "In a Metal Mood" | August 8, 2019 | |
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Central Topic: Elvis Presley’s cultural appropriation of black music, compared to Pat Boone's album In a Metal Mood; Taco Bell and its relationship to Mexican food Themes Explored: The difference between cultural appropriation and inspired innovation. | |||
| 9 | "Chutzpah vs. Chutzpah" | August 15, 2019 | |
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Central Topic: The phenomenon of chutzpah, and its definitions in America and Israel. Case studies included. Themes Explored: Audacity vs. shamelessness, as defined by chutzpah. | |||
| 10 | "The Obscure Virus Club" | August 22, 2019 | |
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Central Topic: The scientists, particularly Howard Martin Temin, who discovered rous sarcoma virus and other retroviruses, the discovery of HIV/AIDS as a retrovirus, and the effect of those discoveries on the central dogma of molecular biology Themes Explored: The power of persistence, the effect of dogma on scientific progress. | |||
| N/A | "The Queen of Cuba" | August 29, 2019 | |
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Central Topic: How espionage plays off of human nature, common misconceptions about deception through a case study of Ana Montes and the 1996 Hermanos al Rescate incident; TIm Levine's studies of deception, and the Milgram experiment Themes Explored: How human nature influences our interactions with strangers, truth-default theory, and the nature of deception. Note: This episode is a chapter from the audiobook version of Malcolm Gladwell's 2019 book Talking to Strangers. | |||
Reception
Revisionist History has received positive reviews from critics. In Podcast Review, Nic Dobija-Nootens called it "perplexing, frustrating, and always worth a second look".[1] The New York Times's Amanda Hess praises the show's impact, crediting it for creating a "podcast micro-genre ... [of] history-bending show[s]".[2]
Further reading
- Bausells, Marta (June 20, 2016). "Malcolm Gladwell launches a podcast – to 'finally make people cry'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077.
- Sawyer, Miranda (July 3, 2016). "The week in radio: Woman's Hour; 5 Live News; World at One; Adrian Durham; Today; Revisionist History". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077.
- Sawyer, Miranda (August 21, 2016). "The week in radio: Revisionist History; Beautiful Stories from Anonymous People". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077.
- Johnson, Eric (June 16, 2016). "Malcolm Gladwell wants his new podcast to make you cry". Recode. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
- Stelter, Brian (June 3, 2016). "Malcolm Gladwell unbound: His next work will be a podcast". CNNMoney. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
- Locke, Charley. "Smarten Up and Get Right With the 5 Best Podcast Episodes of the Week". WIRED. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
- Locke, Charley. "5 Great Podcasts to Listen to While Watching the Olympics". WIRED. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
- Dockterman, Eliana. "The 50 Best Podcasts Right Now". Time. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
- Locke, Charley. "Stephen King's Batman Story and 4 More Podcasts You Must Hear". WIRED. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
- Smith, Erin Geiger (June 10, 2017). "Malcolm Gladwell Polishes His Podcast in a Brooklyn Studio". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331.
- Smith, Erin Geiger (March 24, 2017). "Welcome to the Podcast. First, a Word From Our Celebrity". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331.
gollark: ARing it on my speshul AR thing now.
gollark: I'm amazed that I can occasionally get rares and that sort of thing despite my slow reflexes and 160ms ping to dragcave.
gollark: It happens surprisingly often.
gollark: I need reds in vast quantities for my AP egg grabbing addiction.
gollark: ~~not if I can get the reds before you can get the magis~~
References
- "The World Through Malcolm Gladwell's Eyes". Podcast Review. 2018-07-31. Retrieved 2019-05-18.
- Hess, Amanda (2017-12-15). "You Know Your History? These Podcasts Aren't So Sure". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-05-18.
External links
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