Revisionist History

About this podcast

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.iHeartMedia is the exclusive podcast partner of Pushkin Industries.

Revisionist History

Episodes

Season 5
A Memorial for the Living
Lessons from the world’s most perfect memorial. Get Revisionist History updates first by signing up for our newsletter at pushkin.fm. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
August 20, 2020
45 min
"Oh Howard, You Idiot!”
A billionaire turned recluse befriends a minor novelist. Together they seize the public’s imagination. Kind of. The true story behind the greatest autobiography you’ve never read. Get Revisionist History updates first by signing up for our newsletter at pushkin.fm. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
August 13, 2020
52 min
Hamlet Was Wrong
The delicate science of hiring nihilism, examined in five deeply-personal case studies. Get Revisionist History updates first by signing up for our newsletter at pushkin.fm. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
August 6, 2020
44 min
Goodbye, Farewell and Amen
How do we remember one of the deadliest nights in human history? We don't. Part four. Get Revisionist History updates first by signing up for our newsletter at pushkin.fm. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
July 30, 2020
45 min
Bombs-Away LeMay
The arguments, accidents, cold-blooded logic and sheer serendipity that led to the longest night of the Second World War. Part three. Get Revisionist History updates first by signing up for our newsletter at pushkin.fm. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
July 23, 2020
46 min
May the Best Firebomb Win
Basement laboratories. Mad scientists. Sticky gels, and a bake-off in the desert. The strange story behind Curtis LeMay’s weapon of choice. Part two. Get Revisionist History updates first by signing up for our newsletter at pushkin.fm. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
July 16, 2020
43 min
The Bomber Mafia
On the eve of the Second World War, a band of visionaries at Maxwell Air Force Base tried to reimagine modern warfare. They failed. Part one on the extraordinary life of the Air Force General Curtis LeMay. Get Revisionist History updates first by signing up for our newsletter at pushkin.fm. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
July 9, 2020
38 min
The Powerball Revolution
In Bolivia, a political activist radically reforms the voting process for... student council elections. Who else does he convince? Revisionist History. And maybe a fancy private school in New Jersey. Get Revisionist History updates first by signing up for our newsletter at pushkin.fm. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
July 2, 2020
47 min
Hedwig’s Lost Van Gogh
An escape from war-torn Germany. Lavish dinners with Hollywood royalty. A Swedish baron and a dime-store heiress: we explore the long journey of a Van Gogh still life — and what it says about the real value of the things we treasure. Get Revisionist History updates first by signing up for our newsletter at pushkin.fm. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
June 25, 2020
46 min
Dragon Psychology 101
Dragons hoard treasure, deep in their lairs. They don’t show it off to their neighbors. Revisionist History applies dragon psychology to the strange world of art museums, with help from Andy Warhol, J.R.R. Tolkien, a handful of accountants and the world’s leading hoarding expert. Get Revisionist History updates first by signing up for our newsletter at pushkin.fm. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
June 18, 2020
47 min
Return to the 404
We're back in Atlanta - this week with jaunts to Jamaica, Kenya, court-side NBA games, and a deep dive into fine art forgery. Plus, Malcolm finally gets his big break in the advertising industry. LISTENER NOTE: No editors were involved with the writing of this episode of Revisionist History. Proceed at your own risk. Happy Holidays, everyone! Text Malcolm: 917-423-6439. Get Revisionist History updates first by signing up for our newsletter at pushkin.fm. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
December 17, 2020
42 min
Druid Hills
Revisionist History takes a trip to Malcolm's favorite city and gets a tour of Emory University, meets 3000 non-human primates and 8000 rodents, and dusts off an old TV pilot for a dramatic reenactment. Oh, and a season three guest returns, but you'll just have to listen to find out who. Text Malcolm: 917-423-6439. Get Revisionist History updates first by signing up for our newsletter at pushkin.fm. This bonus episode is sponsored by Emory University. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
December 10, 2020
34 min
Revisionist History Presents: Axios Today
Pushkin Industries and Axios are joining forces to produce a daily news podcast that gets audiences smarter, faster on the most pressing topics of the day. Start your morning with news that matters in just 10 minutes. Host Niala Boodhoo and a team of award-winning journalists will bring you the latest scoops from the White House and Congress, analysis on the economy and insight into the trends shaping your world—from China to AI, and all the forces shaping the next five years. And it’s all delivered in Smart Brevity—a clinical, concise coverage style that respects your time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
June 23, 2020
12 min
Introducing Revisionist History Season 5
Andy Warhol. War. Smaug the Dragon. And, as always, digressions of great importance. Launching June 18 from Pushkin Industries. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
June 4, 2020
3 min
Season 4
Revisionist History Presents: The Pushkin Industries Holiday Variety Show
Malcolm Gladwell debuts his first fireside chat, answering burning questions from Revisionist History listeners in this bonus episode. He lets us listen in on a conversation with Conan O’Brien and supplies tasty tidbits of new shows on the Pushkin Industries roster. Plus, hear what’s in the works with Michael Lewis, Laurie Santos and other Pushkin hosts. Join MC Malcolm for this new holiday tradition. For more information and to sign up for the Pushkin newsletter, visit https://www.pushkin.fm.
December 2, 2019
38 min
Revisionist History Presents: The Happiness Lab
Malcolm Gladwell presents the newest podcast from Pushkin Industries: The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos. To listen to all episodes of The Happiness Lab, visit https://megaphone.link/CAD5602975937 or www.happinesslab.fm/.
October 1, 2019
42 min
Malcolm Gladwell on Oprah's SuperSoul Conversations
Malcolm Gladwell speaks with Oprah Winfrey about his new book Talking to Strangers, the one mystery he hopes might be resolved in our lifetimes, and the ways we could all benefit from a little more patience and humility when judging people we don’t know.
September 19, 2019
40 min
The Queen of Cuba
On February 24, 1996, Cuban fighter jets shot down two small planes operated by Brothers to the Rescue, an organization in Florida that tried to spot refugees fleeing Cuba in boats. A strange chain of events preceded the shoot-down, and people in the intelligence business turned to a rising star in the Defense Intelligence Agency, Ana Montes. Montes was known around Washington as the “Queen of Cuba” for her insights into the Castro regime. But what Montes’ colleagues eventually found out about her shook their sense of trust to the core. (In this excerpt from Malcolm Gladwell’s forthcoming audiobook Talking to Strangers, we hear why spy mysteries do not unfold in real life like they do in the movies.) To preorder a copy of Talking to Strangers and check out Malcolm Gladwell's book tour, visit www.gladwellbooks.com.
August 29, 2019
64 min
The Obscure Virus Club
Throughout the 1960s, a biologist named Howard Temin became convinced that something wasn’t right in science’s understanding of viruses. His colleagues dismissed him as a heretic. He turned out to be right — and you're alive today as a result. Season Four ends with a bedtime story about how we should be freed by our doubts, not imprisoned by them.
August 22, 2019
40 min
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.
August 15, 2019
42 min

Revisionist History

About this podcast

Categories

About this podcast

Categories

Revisionist History

Episodes

A Memorial for the Living

"Oh Howard, You Idiot!”

Hamlet Was Wrong

Goodbye, Farewell and Amen

Bombs-Away LeMay

May the Best Firebomb Win

The Bomber Mafia

The Powerball Revolution

Hedwig’s Lost Van Gogh

Dragon Psychology 101

Return to the 404

Druid Hills

Revisionist History Presents: Axios Today

Introducing Revisionist History Season 5

Revisionist History Presents: The Pushkin Industries Holiday Variety Show

Revisionist History Presents: The Happiness Lab

Malcolm Gladwell on Oprah's SuperSoul Conversations

The Queen of Cuba

The Obscure Virus Club

Chutzpah vs. Chutzpah