Best Revisionist History episodes upvoted by the community

Puzzle Rush

June 20, 2019 • 39m

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?

The Big Man Can't Shoot

June 30, 2016

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 things? To learn more about the topics covered in this episode, visit www.RevisionistHistory.comLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dave Hill and the Epistemology of Norwegian Black Metal

December 18, 2018 • 39m

Malcolm Gladwell sits down with comedian, guitarist, and legendary metalhead Dave Hill, as he recounts how an email exchange between his alter ego Lance and a Norwegian black metal impresario named Saiitham (pronounced “satan”) led to the formation of the darkest metal band of all time. Dave Hill also performs a mediocre rendition of “Hammer Smashed Face,” plus we debut his single "Are You Ready (to Black Metal)?"Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Tortoise and the Hare

June 27, 2019 • 40m

A weird speech by Antonin Scalia, a visit with the 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.

Revisionist History Presents: Deep Background with Noah Feldman

February 12, 2020 • 30m

Could we really fix gridlock in the Senate by creating new states? Malcolm revisits the "Divide and Conquer" episode from Season 3 in an interview on Deep Background with Noah Feldman, the newest podcast from Pushkin Industries.  "Divide and Conquer" covered Texas's right to divide into 5 separate states. What if Washington, D.C. -- a non-state territory -- tried to divide their city into 127 separate states? A recent anonymous note in the Harvard Law Review proposes just that. It's just the kind of bananas idea Malcolm loves to dissect, and Noah Feldman, a Harvard Law Professor and Constitutional law expert is the perfect foil. Noah's podcast, Deep Background with Noah Feldman, is available wherever you get your podcasts.

Revisionist History Presents: The Happiness Lab

October 01, 2019 • 42m

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/.

The Road to Damascus

June 22, 2017

What happens when a terrorist has a change of heart?Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Analysis, Parapraxis, Elvis

July 19, 2018

The one song The King couldn’t sing.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Generous Orthodoxy

August 11, 2016

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.comLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

General Chapman’s Last Stand

June 14, 2018

Good fences make good neighbors. Or maybe not.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Miss Buchanan’s Period of Adjustment

June 29, 2017

A landmark Supreme Court case. A civil rights revolution. Why has everyone forgotten what happened next?Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Burden of Proof

May 24, 2018

“He called to wish me ‘Happy Birthday.’ Then he said, ‘I’m failing everything.’”Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Revisionist History Presents: The Last Archive

May 21, 2020 • 50m

This week we're featuring the second episode of The Last Archive, a new podcast hosted by Harvard historian and New Yorker staff writer Jill Lepore. When a young black man is charged with murder under unusual circumstances in 1922, he trusts his fate to a strange new machine: A lie detector. It was invented by the man who went on to create Wonder Woman, and whose whole life was a strange blur of fact and fiction. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Powerball Revolution

July 02, 2020 • 50m

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

Revisionist Revisited: Analysis, Parapraxis, Elvis

April 02, 2020 • 61m

We're gearing up to launch Season 5 of Revisionist History soon. In celebration, we are revisiting some of our favorite episodes from past seasons. Malcolm is kicking this off with his favorite Revisionist History episode: Analysis, Parapraxis, Elvis from Season 3. Help us choose your favorite episodes! Visit www.pushkin.fm and follow the link at the top of the page to vote. We'll be rolling out the top three episodes with extra commentary and behind-the-scenes material in the coming weeks.

The Hug Heard Round the World

June 21, 2018

Q: Was there a period where you felt you had something to prove? A: The first 45 years of my life.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

McDonald’s Broke My Heart

August 10, 2017

They made the world’s greatest French Fry. Then they threw it away.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Rock’s Taxonomy

July 25, 2019 • 43m

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.

A Good Walk Spoiled

June 15, 2017

Rich people and their addiction to golf: a philosophical investigation.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Foot Soldier of Birmingham

July 06, 2017

“Oh, Mac. What did you do?”Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices