Florence, Alabama. 1988. A preacher has an affair. A woman is murdered. One death cascades into more, stretching across decades and leaving no one untouched — victims, bystanders, perpetrators, and those just trying to help. Eventually, the consequences lead to the center of a hot national debate on who should be allowed to live, who should die, and how the state should execute them.

On The Alabama Murders, Malcolm Gladwell asks: why, in our efforts to alleviate suffering, do we so often make it worse?

Tune in to the seven-part series on October 2, 2025.

Pushkin+ subscribers can binge the entire season of Revisionist History: The Alabama Murders early and ad-free. Sign up on the Revisionist History show page or at pushkin.fm/plus.

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This week we're sharing an episode from Malcolm's other podcast, Smart Talks with IBM. The episode takes you behind the scenes at L'Oréal’s research center in New Jersey. Malcolm Gladwell delves into the complexities of cosmetic formulation and the AI partnership with IBM. Learn how AI is poised to revolutionize the creation of beauty products, to make them even more sustainable and innovative.

This is a paid advertisement from IBM. The conversations on this podcast don't necessarily represent IBM's positions, strategies or opinions.

Visit us at https://www.ibm.com/think/podcasts/smart-talks

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wrapping up our summer music series, the Memphis-born, East Nashville-based singer songwriter Drew Holcomb talks with Malcolm in front of a live audience at the Cherry Lane Theater in Greenwich Village. Drew plays original songs and a few covers you might recognize on this exploration of his journey to Americana music.  

For more interviews like this, check out Pushkin’s Broken Record podcast. For more Drew Holcomb visit his website, drewholcomb.com.

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In 2019, Malcolm just wanted an excuse to hang out with Randy Newman so they sat down at the piano together and tried to answer the question: If you disagree with someone — if you find what they think appalling — is there any value in talking to them?

Get ad-free episodes to Revisionist History by subscribing to Pushkin+ on Apple Podcasts or Pushkin.fm. Pushkin+ subscribers can access ad-free episodes, full audiobooks, exclusive binges, and bonus content for all Pushkin shows. 

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Malcolm’s habit of reading footnotes leads him to the psychologist Alan Elms, which leads him to the one song Elvis couldn’t sing. We revisit this 2018 episode as part of our encore music series.

Get ad-free episodes to Revisionist History by subscribing to Pushkin+ on Apple Podcasts or Pushkin.fm. Pushkin+ subscribers can access ad-free episodes, full audiobooks, exclusive binges, and bonus content for all Pushkin shows. 

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Why does country music make you cry, but rock and roll doesn’t? We revisit a musical interpretation of a divided America in this episode from 2017.

Get ad-free episodes to Revisionist History by subscribing to Pushkin+ on Apple Podcasts or Pushkin.fm. Pushkin+ subscribers can access ad-free episodes, full audiobooks, exclusive binges, and bonus content for all Pushkin shows. 

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How does genius emerge? 

Kicking off our summer series, Malcolm digs into the Revisionist History archive to revisit Elvis Costello’s song “Deportee” and explore the power of innovation. 

Get ad-free episodes to Revisionist History by subscribing to Pushkin+ on Apple Podcasts or Pushkin.fm. Pushkin+ subscribers can access ad-free episodes, full audiobooks, exclusive binges, and bonus content for all Pushkin shows. 

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Starting next week, we revisit four of Malcolm’s favorite episodes from the Revisionist History archives, all about music.

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Malcolm Gladwell visits Kennesaw State University to learn about Jiwoo, an AI Assistant that helps future teachers practice responsive teaching by simulating classroom interactions with students. Discover AI’s impact on teaching methods to prepare teachers for the classroom.

This is a paid advertisement from IBM. The conversations on this podcast don't necessarily represent IBM's positions, strategies or opinions.

Visit us at https://www.ibm.com/think/podcasts/smart-talks

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In our season finale, we team up with the Culinary Institute of America to reverse engineer the secret recipe for Thomas’s English Muffins.

You can read our top secret muffin recipe here.

Get ad-free episodes to Revisionist History by subscribing to Pushkin+ on Apple Podcasts or Pushkin.fm. Pushkin+ subscribers can access ad-free episodes, full audiobooks, exclusive binges, and bonus content for all Pushkin shows. 

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.