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Subscribe to Pushkin+ to binge Malcolm Gladwell's full 6-episode gun series early and ad-free! Your membership also gets you access to exclusive opportunities across Pushkin's full network of podcasts.

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. Because sometimes the past deserves a second chance.

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Most Recent Episode

This Is Your Captain Speaking

What does a pilot sound like? Malcolm and Ben Naddaff-Hafrey take off on a long, strange investigation that takes them from Las Vegas to Family Guy to the airspace over…

The Bear Was Poked With Maria Konnikova

Maria Konnikova returns as Revisionist History’s ombudsman. Today, she talks with Malcolm about assault rifles, tales of the two Matt Dillons, moral hazard, localized mortgage rates, and possible solutions to…

Unlocking Hidden Potential with Adam Grant

Malcolm Gladwell hosts a rollicking live discussion about Adam Grant’s new book, “Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things,” which is available now. They explore why we overemphasize innate…

Silicon Valley on the Couch

Why is Silicon Valley where it is? How did a narrow valley in California become the epicenter of the computer age? People usually say it’s because of Stanford, or the…

Guns Part 6: “Sin is the failure to bother to care”

Abdullah Pratt grew up in one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in America, then returned to be an ER doctor in his neighborhood hospital. At the end of Revisionist History’s…

Guns Part 5: The Footnote

At the end of a forgotten study of convicted murderers, the author left a devastating footnote.  We travel to an old plantation house outside Montgomery Alabama to hear his story…

Guns Part 4: Moral Hazard

Robert Kennedy was killed by an assassin's bullet in 1968, ending his presidential run. Had he been shot today, would he have lived? A what-if story about homicides and medical…

Guns Part 3: A Shooting Lesson

Malcolm goes to a shooting range in the woods of North Carolina to get a tutorial on the AR-15. It’s scary. It’s ugly. It’s at the center of the gun…

Guns Part 2: Getting out of Dodge

The longest running television series of the 20th century was Gunsmoke, a western set in the notorious Dodge City, Kansas. Malcolm sweeps away mountains of legal scholarship to make a…

Guns Part 1: The Sudden Celebrity of Sir John Knight

In the battles over gun rights, a shadowy English nobleman from the 17th century has unexpectedly taken center stage. Who was he? What did he do that has — 300…

Doctors, Guns, and Money

Coming soon – a six-part series from Revisionist History about everything Americans get wrong about guns. The series will air weekly, starting Thursday, August 31st. You can binge listen to…

Taxonomy of the Modern Mystery Story

Today, another episode from the Revisionist History Live universe. It's an old fashioned lecture, recorded at the New Orleans Book Festival at Tulane University. Malcolm talks about a totally real…

Acting Out

Malcolm talks with Ben Naddaff-Hafrey, host of The Last Archive, about the forgotten origins of a major social science, the missing chapter in Ella Fitzgerald’s life, and what it all…

A Good Circle

This season, Malcolm's covered a lot of the problems in higher education. Today on the show: A solution. A big idea being tested at a little school on the shores…

Feeling A Bit Attacked with Maria Konnikova

Maria Konnikova, Revisionist History’s ombudsman—who's also an author, psychologist and professional poker player—is back for another round. This time she reads letters from the audience on the power of debate,…

The Pushkin Prize for Egregiously Deceptive Self-Promotion

Consider this your invitation to the greatest award show no one’s ever heard of: the Pushkin Prizes, created to honor the giants of the American education system. This year, Malcolm…

The Crisis in Girls’ Sports with Lauren Fleshman and Linda Flanagan

In a live conversation taped at the 92nd Street Y in New York City, Malcolm and his Martian friend consult athletes Linda Flanagan and Lauren Fleshman on how to level…

The Mystery of Mastery with Adam Gopnik

In a live conversation taped at the 92nd Street Y in New York City, Malcolm chats with his old friend and New Yorker magazine colleague, Adam Gopnik, about Adam’s latest…

Malcolm Goes to Debate School

What do you do after you've been humiliated at the Munk Debates? You call in the A-Team. The Brooklyn Debate League is a nonprofit organization that supports Speech & Debate…

Higher Animals with Michael Specter

Malcolm talks with his old friend, the brilliant science writer Michael Specter, about the future of life on Earth. Michael's response to the Covid-19 pandemic was to create a new…

Started From The Bottom with Justin Richmond

Today, we dig into the fascinating life of someone Malcolm knows very well: fellow Pushkin host Justin Richmond. Malcolm and Justin talk about being the product of biracial marriages, surviving…

Rodents and Red Wine with Maria Konnikova

Author, psychologist and professional poker player Maria Konnikova joins the show as Revisionist History’s first ombudsman. Maria advocates for the audience, reading letters from listeners and challenging Malcolm on matters…

A Treat for the Die-Hards

Every writer, podcaster and storyteller obsesses about how they begin a story. But they rarely pay enough attention to endings. Nothing matters more. Malcolm and Mike Birbiglia solve endings for…

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