Info

Malcolm Gladwell on the tragic consequences of misreading strangers

Sep. 13, 2019 Books

Malcolm Gladwell speaks about "capitalization" of human potential within different regions and cultures in 2008. Photo credit: Kris Krüg/Pop!Tech via Flickr

Malcolm Gladwell's latest book explores why people struggle to understand strangers, and the negative (and even tragic) consequences when we don’t. He looks at the cases of Sandra Bland, Jerry Sandusky, Bernie Madoff, Neville Chamberlain and Adolf Hitler. The book is based on the "default to truth theory."

From this Episode:

Who do black women voters support in the 2020 election?

Black women comprise a key voting block that the 2020 presidential candidates are trying to court. They reliably and overwhelmingly for Democrats in every recent election.

12 min

Does Andrew Yang's $1000 promise violate campaign finance laws?

During the third presidential debate on Thursday night in Houston, candidate Andrew Yang raised a lot of eyebrows when he said, "My campaign will now give a freedom dividend...

8 min

Malcolm Gladwell on why we're bad at reading strangers, which can produce tragic outcomes

Malcolm Gladwell's latest book explores why people struggle so much to understand strangers, and the negative (and even tragic) consequences when we don’t.

15 min

Jennifer Lopez deserves an Oscar for 'Hustlers,' says critic

Our critics review "The Goldfinch," an adaption of Donna Tartt’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name, in which the main character loses his mother in a terrorist...

13 min