Revisionist History

By Pushkin Industries

Society & Culture

What's Revisionist History about?

Revisionist 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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Chutzpah vs. Chutzpah

08.15.2019

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.

Revisionist History episodes:

08.15.2019 Chutzpah vs. Chutzpah 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.
08.08.2019 In a Metal Mood 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.
08.01.2019 Descend into the Particular 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.
07.25.2019 Dr. Rock’s Taxonomy 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.
07.18.2019 The Standard Case 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.
07.11.2019 Good Old Boys 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 ...
07.04.2019 Tempest in a Teacup 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.
06.27.2019 The Tortoise and the Hare 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.
06.20.2019 Puzzle Rush 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?
06.13.2019 Introducing Revisionist History Season Four Jesuits. Chess masters. Mafiosi. Lawyers. And a little bit of tire fire. Launching June 20th from Pushkin Industries.
06.05.2019 Revisionist History Presents: Solvable Revisionist History presents Solvable, a new show from Pushkin Industries and the Rockefeller Foundation that showcases the world’s most innovative thinkers and their ideas about how to solve the world’s most daunting problems. The interviews, conducted by journalists like Malcolm ...
04.09.2019 Revisionist History Presents: Against the Rules with Michael Lewis Malcolm Gladwell presents Ref, You Suck!, the first episode of the newest podcast from Pushkin Industries: Against the Rules with Michael Lewis. Rage at referees is all the rage in professional sports. Michael Lewis visits a replay center that’s trying ...
11.13.2018 Revisionist History Presents: Rick Rubin Revisionist History presents the first episode of a new podcast, Broken Record. It's a conversation between Rick Rubin and Revisionist History host Malcolm Gladwell, covering everything from Rick’s role in the very beginning of hip-hop to his role in introducing ...
11.06.2018 Revisionist History Presents: Broken Record From Revisionist History host Malcolm Gladwell, Rick Rubin, and Bruce Headlam: Conversations. Arguments. Stories. Remembering old music. Discovering new music. Broken Record: Liner notes for the digital age. Revisionist History will be airing the first episode of Broken Record on ...
07.19.2018 Analysis, Parapraxis, Elvis The one song The King couldn’t sing.
07.12.2018 Strong Verbs, Short Sentences “She was Joan of Arc, Madame Curie, and Florence Nightingale—all wrapped up in one.”
07.05.2018 The Imaginary Crimes of Margit Hamosh Epidemics of fear repeat themselves. The first time as tragedy. The second time as farce. Margit Hamosh? Definitely farce.
06.28.2018 Malcolm Gladwell's 12 Rules for Life Crucial life lessons from the end of hockey games, Idris Elba, and some Wall Street guys with a lot of time on their hands.
06.21.2018 The Hug Heard Round the World Q: Was there a period where you felt you had something to prove? A: The first 45 years of my life.
06.14.2018 General Chapman’s Last Stand Good fences make good neighbors. Or maybe not.
06.07.2018 Free Brian Williams "Sorry dude, I don't remember you being on my aircraft."
05.31.2018 A Polite Word for Liar 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?
05.24.2018 Burden of Proof “He called to wish me ‘Happy Birthday.’ Then he said, ‘I’m failing everything.’”
05.17.2018 Divide and Conquer The complete, unabridged history of the world’s most controversial semicolon.
05.10.2018 Bonus: Malcolm Gladwell debates Adam Grant 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 ...
05.03.2018 Introducing Revisionist History Season Three Malcolm Gladwell is back with season three of Revisionist History: harmonica players, mass delusion, semicolons, and a constitutional crisis. Launching May 17th on Panoply.
08.17.2017 The Basement Tapes What is a son’s obligation to his father?
08.10.2017 McDonald’s Broke My Heart They made the world’s greatest French Fry. Then they threw it away.
08.03.2017 Mr. Hollowell Didn’t Like That Arrested, arraigned, indicted, tried, convicted, and sentenced to die in the electric chair in 24 hours.
07.27.2017 State v Johnson “Nobody was interested in justice.”
07.20.2017 The King of Tears Why country music makes you cry, and rock and roll doesn’t: A musical interpretation of divided America.
07.13.2017 The Prime Minister and the Prof The friendship that changed the course of World War II.
07.06.2017 The Foot Soldier of Birmingham “Oh, Mac. What did you do?”
06.29.2017 Miss Buchanan’s Period of Adjustment A landmark Supreme Court case. A civil rights revolution. Why has everyone forgotten what happened next?
06.22.2017 The Road to Damascus What happens when a terrorist has a change of heart?
06.15.2017 A Good Walk Spoiled Rich people and their addiction to golf: a philosophical investigation.
05.26.2017 Introducing Revisionist History Season Two From bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell, season two of Revisionist History launches June 15th.
08.18.2016 The Satire Paradox In the political turmoil of mid-1990s Britain, a brilliantyoung comic named Harry Enfield set out to satirize the ideology and politicsof Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. His parodies became famous. He wrote andperformed a vicious sendup of the typical Thatcherite nouveau ...
08.11.2016 Generous Orthodoxy 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
08.04.2016 Blame Game 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, ...
07.28.2016 Hallelujah 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 ...
07.21.2016 My Little Hundred Million 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 ...
07.14.2016 Food Fight 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 ...
07.07.2016 Carlos Doesn’t Remember 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 ...
06.30.2016 The Big Man Can't Shoot 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 ...
06.23.2016 Saigon, 1965 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 ...
06.16.2016 The Lady Vanishes 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 ...
06.03.2016 Introducing Revisionist History Coming soon, a new podcast series from bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell.