The Gray Area with Sean Illing

Malcolm Gladwell’s Stranger Things


Listen Later

Malcolm Gladwell’s work is nothing short of an intellectual adventure.

Sometimes, as in his podcast Revisionist History, he takes something small and mundane — a hockey statistic, a semicolon, a verbal tic — and draws a broad, sweeping conclusion that shatters your worldview.

Other times, as in his new book Talking to Strangers, he takes something big and contentious — the death of Sandra Bland, the wrongful conviction of Amanda Knox, the ponzi scheme of Bernie Madoff — and produces insights that challenge conventional wisdom, leaving you wondering how you missed what he saw all along.

In either case, once you’ve experienced what Gladwell has to say, you can never see things in quite the same way again.

This conversation is an adventure of its own. We cover everything from the secrets behind Gladwell’s creative process to the basic social ingredient that undergirds all of modern society to the story of how an entire field office of the CIA got infiltrated by Cuban spies — and what that teaches us about human nature.

So, tune in and be a part of this adventure with us.

Books recommendations:

Exit, Voice, and Loyalty by Albert Hirschman

The Journalist and the Murderer by Janet Malcolm

The Fall of Heaven: The Pahlavis and the Final Days of Imperial Iran by Andrew Scott Cooper

Want to contact the show? Reach out at [email protected]

News comes at you fast. Join us at the end of your day to understand it. Subscribe to Today, Explained

We are conducting an audience survey to better serve you. It takes no more than five minutes, and it really helps out the show. Please take our survey here

Register to attend the live Ezra Klein Show taping in SF

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

The Gray Area with Sean IllingBy Vox

  • 4.5
  • 4.5
  • 4.5
  • 4.5
  • 4.5

4.5

10,601 ratings


More shows like The Gray Area with Sean Illing

View all
The New Yorker Radio Hour by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

The New Yorker Radio Hour

6,804 Listeners

On the Media by WNYC Studios

On the Media

9,206 Listeners

The Political Scene | The New Yorker by The New Yorker

The Political Scene | The New Yorker

4,041 Listeners

Explain It to Me by Vox

Explain It to Me

7,861 Listeners

Switched on Pop by Vulture

Switched on Pop

2,690 Listeners

Pivot by New York Magazine

Pivot

9,512 Listeners

Gastropod by Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley

Gastropod

3,649 Listeners

Decoder with Nilay Patel by The Verge

Decoder with Nilay Patel

3,139 Listeners

The Daily by The New York Times

The Daily

111,929 Listeners

Good One by Vulture

Good One

1,483 Listeners

Radio Atlantic by The Atlantic

Radio Atlantic

2,275 Listeners

Today, Explained by Vox

Today, Explained

10,220 Listeners

Interesting Times with Ross Douthat by New York Times Opinion

Interesting Times with Ross Douthat

7,219 Listeners

Throughline by NPR

Throughline

16,364 Listeners

Land of the Giants by Vulture

Land of the Giants

2,165 Listeners

Waveform: The MKBHD Podcast by Vox Media Podcast Network

Waveform: The MKBHD Podcast

37 Listeners

Unlocking Us with Brené Brown by Vox Media Podcast Network

Unlocking Us with Brené Brown

23,587 Listeners

A Touch More with Sue Bird & Megan Rapinoe by Vox Media Podcast Network

A Touch More with Sue Bird & Megan Rapinoe

728 Listeners

Hard Fork by The New York Times

Hard Fork

5,526 Listeners

Good Noticings by Vox Media Podcast Network

Good Noticings

6,476 Listeners

The Ezra Klein Show by New York Times Opinion

The Ezra Klein Show

15,867 Listeners

Unexplainable by Vox

Unexplainable

2,305 Listeners

Cover Story by New York Magazine

Cover Story

1,218 Listeners

The Interview by The New York Times

The Interview

1,582 Listeners

Not Just Football with Cam Heyward by Cam Heyward

Not Just Football with Cam Heyward

151 Listeners

On with Kara Swisher by Vox Media

On with Kara Swisher

3,522 Listeners

Networth and Chill with Your Rich BFF by Vivian Tu

Networth and Chill with Your Rich BFF

1,746 Listeners

Prof G Markets by Vox Media Podcast Network

Prof G Markets

1,425 Listeners

The Opinions by The New York Times Opinion

The Opinions

619 Listeners

Bird's Eye View with Sue Bird by Sue Bird

Bird's Eye View with Sue Bird

439 Listeners

Solutions with Henry Blodget by Vox Media Podcast Network

Solutions with Henry Blodget

30 Listeners