Thrilled that Heavyweight has found a home at Pushkin!! It is one of the best.

I just love you Malcolm. All your books. Everything you do. Keep doing what you do.

If it’s a bad review, they will mention politics. If it’s a good review they will mention everything except politics. History is unique in that way. We hear exactly what we wanted to hear or our worst fears. So while the world debates if the coin was heads up or tails down, it’s good to hear someone say, it was made in 1976 and it’s worth 25 cents. Then, proceed to discuss why any of that matters. 1976 years from what? Who designed it? Why golf is the real antichrist and what that means in regard to inflation and that quarter. Enjoy yourself.

I have enjoyed this podcast for many seasons - until the middle of the Hitler’s Olympics series in season 11, when a new voice took over as host. Ben does not have the experience, diction, or charisma to make what he relays engaging and believable. Please bring Gladwell back as primary speaker or find a replacement who can mirror his presence.

True follower of your remarkable casts. Fixed income widow that can’t afford “Bonus”. Also can’t afford helping my granddaughters to attend the “ Big Three “ So ironic on your part. Maybe you could provide us a contest, please not tennis or rowing as I am 75. Miss my listening privilege. Hopefully you may see this. Mums, my grandma name.

I really enjoy listening to Gladwell’s podcast. The topics are always so intriguing and thought provoking. Only thing holding back from 5 stars are the ads. Buckle up because there are a lot of them. And when Gladwell narrates the ads, sometimes it is hard to tell the difference from the podcast.

I put RH into my History podcast rotation last fall. I started at Season 1 and am now in Season 8. I usually wait until I’m caught up to the current season to write a review, but too many things about Malcolm and this podcast trouble me so I couldn’t wait. 1. The foul language is unnecessary and offensive. I understand that Malcolm can’t control what his guests say - so why not bleep out their offensive words? Malcolm also resorts to gutter talk himself by regularly using the F-word without bleeping it out. Why? 2. Malcolm repeatedly likes to lionize his home country, Canada, and he regularly criticizes America while rarely praising it. Malcolm, if Canada is so perfect and America is so imperfect, why live here? 3. Finally, and most importantly, Malcolm’s worldview is so leftist that it frames his podcast prism for nearly every single issue that he discusses. A recent example for me was in Season 8 Episode 6, where Malcolm said that Douglas Murray is against the Islamization of the UK and then concludes that this is because Murray “is one of those English people, white English people who objects to the number of non-white people who have moved to England in the last 50 years.” NO MALCOLM, MURRAY IS CONCERNED ABOUT THE NON-ASSIMILATION OF MUSLIM IMMIGRANTS TO THE UK AND EUROPE AND ITS RAMIFICATIONS COUPLED WITH RISING ISLAMIC TERRORISM IN THE UK AND EUROPE. Malcolm’s leftist worldview compelled him to castigate Murray as a racist. Malcolm, do you have the capacity to even explore and / or explain an opinion that is contrary to your own? I’m not sure whether I’ll make it to the current season. Malcolm, if you read this, please circumspectly consider what I’ve said and I sincerely wish you the best.

Just started listening and I’m already hooked. A great thought provoking look into a number of issues and ideas. Great concept to dive into some stories that we would not normally give a thought to. Wonderfully insightful!

Malcolm Gladwell is certainly one of the most clear-eyed thinkers and writers living today. RH is nuanced and highly informative. No stretch to say he's a hero.

I could listen to Malcolm Gladwell explain a grocery list. I love his approach. Even episodes I’m considering passing up turn out to be interesting.

Can’t get enough of this podcast! Love Malcom’s narration too

Best explanations for the stories.

Enjoyed the episodes, I just think Malcolm got a little too start struck with the attorneys and the defendant. I agree Georgetown was certainly not a victim - the real victims are the millions of hard working students busting their butts to get good grades & do a million extra-curricular tasks & their parents struggling to make ends meet and take out loans so their kids can afford to go to a school like Georgetown which as you know will then give their kids a leg up on getting a better job. I don’t know if the prosecution just missed that point or what but there were MANY victims of Mr Khoury’s actions and I found it disingenuous and distasteful that Malcolm and his attorneys were so gleeful when he got off. Her dad paid Georgetown’s coach to get his daughter on the team and & in the school & someone lost that spot. Period. Whether she knew it or not (I find it very hard to believe she thought she could get in on her own and play D1 tennis) her dad bribed the coach to get her in. Guilty.

When I first started listening to Revisionist History, I was completely captivated. The stories were intriguing, and of course, Gladwell’s narration and satirical humor made it an absolute delight to listen to. From Elvis stories to French fry anecdotes, all the episodes were meticulously crafted and expertly performed. Back then, I would have given it a perfect score—a 10 out of 10! Five stars! Whatever the highest rating they had, I would have given it that. However, over the years, what made it so great gradually started to fade away. It was first replaced by cleverly disguised advertisements, like the podcasts with Rick Ruben. Then, it became full-blown 45-minute ads for various services and companies, such as the Tide cold water washing machine podcast or the five-part podcast on WWII, which was essentially an advertisement for a then Gladwell’s upcoming book. This season has become almost entirely an ad for Gladwell’s new book, Tipping Point Revisited. While some of the episodes are still interesting, they are, in fact, just extended advertisements. To add insult to injury, there are also random episodes or “extras” that are just recordings of some random panel discussion held at the downtown YMCA. Frankly, the luster of the old episodes has worn off, just like how the flavor of the old McDonald’s fries was far superior to the new ones. In my humble opinion, Gladwell has lost his shine as a podcaster. Now, “Cautionary Tales” is the best Pushkin podcast, and it’s even starting down the same ad-disguised-as-podcast road that Revisionist History has found itself on.

I tried listening but the reader was uninspiring and quite frankly boring. It sounded so scripted and monotone that I gave up after 5 minutes. Malcolm I hope you return soon. The podcast needs your energy and voice. John S

I was first turned onto Malcolm when listening to a car podcast. I loved his insights and observations. He’s also got an amazing voice. Talented storyteller and remarkably way of engaging with listeners. So, when I found out about his own podcast about investigating another side of a story, I did not hesitate to download. From the first five minutes of the first episode, I was hooked. Malcolm and team, you are brilliant, insightful, and engaging. My heroes.

An excellent podcast. Gladwell‘s approach, which includes bringing many (at times unusual) contextually relevant elements into a given situation, is excellent. He sees thing in ways most mere mortals cannot.

I like listening to Gladwell’s hypotheses because they’re compelling with a touch of poetry. Unfortunately when you stop and take a closer look at his arguments, you find gaping flaws. I believe he lands on a concept which has some truth to it, and then confirmation bias kicks in and he loses the ability to accurately parse the information in front of him. One very brief example: in the very first episode he uses the election of Australia’s first female prime minister as an example of a group of sexist politicians doing something positive so they can then excuse their future bad behavior. He calls it showing their “bona fides”. This certainly seems like a thing, and I can think of examples from my own experiences where I would think this might be at play, but his example completely misses the mark. He portrays it as though the very people who elected her are then treating her horribly and embracing their misogyny. The story culminates in her famous “misogyny speech” in which she calls out the transgressions of the opposition party and its leader on live TV. But do you see the flaw? The reality is, the opposition party, and certainly its leader, did not vote for her. They did not “show their bona fides” as a way to excuse their future treatment of her. They were the party she beat and they were subsequently angry about it, no bona fides in sight. While she’s making her speech you can hear her own party members echoing her words in support of her message against the opposition party. These flaws continue through the series, with the Toyota story being a particularly egregious example in which he posits that a rash of fatal accidents were not Toyota’s fault, but rather the drivers’ misperceptions on how they were driving. Again, sounds compelling until you ask very basic questions: why did this suddenly start happening? Why only Toyota vehicles? Why only certain models? And why did it suddenly stop? Not sure what Toyota paid him, but it was interesting listening.

I have listened to nearly every episode. The early years drew me in because of his unique approach to ideas. While I have never always agreed I appreciated the perspective. Now he has replaced insight with insulting our intelligence with trivial arguments. Seldom does he even engage a thoughtful other position. In the past 5 stars - prediction for the future 1.

I love Malcolm and this show. But after listening to season 6 episode 8 on laundry I need to leave a comment! He makes a good case about lowering carbon footprints while doing laundry but leaves out one of the most important parts - REUSING YOUR WATER!! You can use grey water catchment systems (which can be as simple as a bucket) to capture and save your water for other purposes. This goes beyond the simple idea of lowering our carbon footprint and actually conserving and saving a scarce and precious resource - water! I really wish he dug deeper into this because it’s so important.

So enjoy listening to this and the stories that are told. Reminds me of NPR driveway moments where you sit in car just listening despite pulling into your driveway. Check it out.

I think Malcolm has gone woke. Like all human beings, he sees the things he wants to see. He should maybe update “broken windows theory”, which he’s walked away from, with “tent city/feces theory”. I’m tired of buying toothpaste locked behind plexiglass.

T mobile t mobile

If there is only one thing I ever take from this podcast it is Charles. Hitchcock. Sherrill. I doubt it will be but I definitely learned so much about someone I never knew I need to know so much about. 😂 Love the podcast!!

Five stars for the main episodes. 2 stars for bonus episodes. Negative 50 stars for the ads!!! 5 minutes of show and 5 minutes of intro, outro and next time one 25 minutes of ads! Wait for a full series to come out, pay for the ad free episodes on the website, listen to the 5 minute long ad free episodes and unsubscribe same day.

I’m all for advertising to support your podcast and to make a living, but doing multiple FULL-LENGTH sponsorcasts is such an incredible turnoff for me. I could let one slide, but 20 minutes into the second advertorial, I knew that Revisionist History, or perhaps more aptly titled the T-mobile for Business Podcast, has veered so far off course for me that I needed to unsubscribe. Best of luck, and I hope the team is able to right the ship to get back to its roots of unbiased, third-party storytelling.

There is certainly a lot of information in this episode worth knowing. But as has happened in prior episodes, I’m scratching my head a little…the thesis of the podcast feels exaggerated and contrived. Maybe Long didn’t help as Owens described. But we certainly know from videos, photos and his letter that he responded in a genuinely human way, and befriended Owens, which no doubt did not sit well with Hitler and had repercussions. This isn’t really recognized in this telling; As a result, it’s hard for me to consider myself a “fan” of this pod.

The debate performance explanation episode is perhaps the most embarrassing thing anyone has ever published. He even brings his mom on to explain that he lost because Malcolm is so great, and also because everyone involved besides him is a racist.

Story telling, not truth telling.

Mr. Gladwell I’m a big fan, I have all your books and listen to 80% of your podcasts. I believe that your comments in the conclusion of the Olympics series is unjustified. You are and have spoken about the difference between Stan and a bystander. When it comes to good and evil to follow that ideal. I am a white South African, who lived through the apartheid era and witnessed the rioting prior to democracy.

We cannot hold our nose in 1936 looking back and say let’s go to Berlin because we really want to preserve the Olympics. There’s no excuse to support this level of human atrocity, especially in a revisionist mode. At the time, I’m sure it was not clear to Americans the level of murderous behavior by the Nazis because it was largely kept from them. But looking back, Malcolm should not be advocating for holding our nose and attending those Olympics.

I have enjoyed the series. I was a little disappointed in the episode on Jesse Owens and Luz Long. I was glad you set the record straight on Luz giving advice to Owens. However, you did not admire Long for walking arm in arm with Jesse after the completion in the stadium. That took great courage (as Owens said) to do that in front of all Germany (and Hitler knew about it). And there are photos to prove it. I realize it deviates from the narrative but it is the truth.

Great content but way too many ads!

For hitlers Olympics, maybe you’ll cover it in future episode but with Malcolm being the track fan and historian he is, yearning for story of the great Marty Glickman a sprinter on the 1936 US Olympic team who was supposed to run the 4x100 relay and was told at last minute he could not run. He was convinced it was antisemitism. Needs to told in more detail…

It’s difficult to stay engaged with the episodes with so many ads.

Interesting stuff, but it’s hard to listen to when there are 5 minutes of ads to start the episode and every 10 minutes.

Facsinating! Typical, brillant Gladwellian storytelling. For the past 40 years, I’ve been watching and reading about and then editing stories and writing newspaper headlines about the Olympics. The parallels and throughlines this series draws are fantastic, along with thoughtful arguments over the perils of purist absolutism or realpolitik when making the go-no go decisions. Like most people, I knew about the basic narrative of the 1936 Games, but have loved having my preconceptions shattered and assumptions challenged. And having just finished watching the Paris games pretty much nonstop for two weeks, I was blown away by the ending of the last episode — phenomenally well-told and prescient. I won’t spoil it, but you’ll be blown away.

I was so excited to listen to episode 3 discussing, among other things, the refusal by most basketball players to shot free throws underhanded despite the statistics supporting them. Then I saw Canyon Barry in the Olympics and recognized him by his dad’s underhanded free throw!! Fingers crossed for men’s 3-on-3!

Malcolm Gladwell is my favorite writer and now my favorite podcaster! His attention to detail and ability to tell a capitulating story is beyond what I have heard or read before! I am always looking for new material that he produces!

I pay to listen to Pushkin podcasts ad free. But there are so many ads on some shows. I’m tried of listening to Malcom flogging for t mobile. The Olympic Games episodes are the worst. No reason to have a subscription!

I come here for Malcolm so when he let Ben take over the last few episodes I was disappointed. They did the same thing with Jill Lepore’s podcast. Nothing against Ben, just give him his own show at this point! I hate that they just hand the host reins over to someone else when I come expecting to hear Malcolm specifically. It’s not like it is a live show that must go on if they are unavailable. Kind of a bummer

The ratio of ads to content is many times greater with Pushkin than with any other podcast series. Content is great and I get that ads pay for it. But - out of balance in my opinion. Thanks for listening.

Oh my god. I just finished the Blue Seattle episode, and I’m shook. That was wildly touching and so beautiful. I don’t have anything else to say.

I binge listened to the vast majority of this podcast and loved so very much of it. One sticking point would have to be the painfully one sided take on the public’s reaction to the handling of covid, in particular around the idea of “vaccine deniers.” I’m looking forward to the revisionist history episode on the Covid pandemic. Where we can finally hear main stream voices taking seriously the point of view of the part of our population that isn’t super eager to trust billion dollar corporations. Especially ones rushing to market intravenous chemicals. I find it odd that in many an episode we can call into question the morality of industry in any number of social interfaces, but some how never spare a glance at the billions being made in the name of “scientific progress” by pharmaceutical companies. As though the only bad guys are those making painkillers, and the good news is, we got ‘em. To quote Malcom himself, “give me a break!”

Malcolm, I’ve been a fan of yours for a while. I’ve excitedly listened to many of your episodes on this podcast. I was disappointed though when you lowered yourself to using the term “white privilege”. Yes, I am white. In spite of that I think that the term “white privilege” is lazy and is beneath you. I expected more.

I follow Revisionist History with the blind faith of any good disciple😂. Seriously, it’s simply the best podcast, incisive, educational, sometimes mind-warping or, at least, thankfully challenging our accepted sense of truth, and with a perfect dose of sarcastic humor. Just love it.

The new season is BRILLIANT. Such a smart and unexpected take on the 1936 Olympics told with humor and some crazy discoveries along the way. Best season in a long time!

Simple… great content. Commercials length and frequency make it unlistenable. Not wanting to fast forward every 5 minutes during exercise. Do better

Malcom Gladwell tries to sound smart, but he’s nothing but a politically partisan HACK. Just search for his performances on debate stages with real intellectuals.

RH was one of the best shows on the scene when it arrived. Just a few episodes every summer, and each was thought-provoking. I still get chills thinking of the end of the first episode of season…was it two?…when Malcolm framed the upcoming season as “climbing over the fence” of that Beverly Hills country club. Just great stuff. But lately, there’s been a decline in quality matched with an incline of advertising. Product placement masquerading as content. (“But why does there have to be a distinction?!” I can hear all the marketers shout.) The feed was overtaken by episodes of other shows, Malcolm interviewing T-Mobile (or some other telecom) executives about 5G data collection in F1 racing… even the advertisements in the show itself became arduously long-winded. Props to everyone at Pushkin for making money — good for you! You deserve it! But right now, things feel unbalanced, tilted too far in favor of ad revenue. It’s not a great look/listen.