Revisionist History Season 7: The Experiment Experience

Episode Summary

Malcolm Gladwell introduces season 7 of his podcast Revisionist History, which will focus on experiments. The episodes will examine thought experiments, what-if scenarios, natural experiments, and "magic wand experiments." Gladwell says this season is devoted to experiments because there is still much we don't know, and experiments are the only way to address our unknowns. The season promises to take listeners everywhere, from a factory near Canada and the set of the original A Star is Born, to a forgotten laboratory under a football stadium and a party in Beverly Hills. There will be a particular focus on Ohio. Gladwell says the episodes won't worry about being wrong, because the point is to test hypotheses and find answers. He encourages listeners to join the "Revisionist History experiment" when the season drops on June 30, or June 23 for Pushkin Plus subscribers.

Episode Show Notes

Revisionist History is back! And obsessed with ... experiments. Natural experiments. Thought experiments. Failed experiments. Experiments that end up in salt factories and file drawers filled with carbon copies. Not to mention experimental endings to Hollywood classics and a deep dive involving the sitcom Will and Grace. Season 7 gets underway June 30, with episodes available a week early for Pushkin+ subscribers. Find out more at Pushkin.fm

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Episode Transcript

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And in season seven of my podcast, Revisionist History, we throw off the shackles of convention and go where no podcast has dared to go before. We don't see his boyfriend. SPEAKER_04: No. SPEAKER_05: No. What other podcast puts a magnifying glass to the early 1990s made for TV movie, Doing Time on Maple Drive? Is Doing Time, is it comic in the Aristotelian sense? Do they resolve? SPEAKER_01: Yes, yes, it is comic in the Aristotelian sense. All television movies are. SPEAKER_05: Season seven never sleeps. We take you everywhere. A factory way up near the Canadian border. The set of the original A Star Is Born movie. A forgotten laboratory under the seats in the old University of Minnesota football stadium. A swanky party in Beverly Hills. SPEAKER_03: My husband tapped me on the shoulder because I was so busy eating these mini quiche. And he said, put your food down. Fatty. Put your food down, fatty. SPEAKER_05: Oh, and we go to Ohio. We spend lots of time in Ohio. SPEAKER_01: I have my own hypothesis, but I can't. Oh, come on. SPEAKER_00: What if I'm wrong? SPEAKER_05: This is all about being wrong. Oh, we don't worry about being wrong, not this season. Because every episode is about an experiment. Thought experiments. What if experiments? Natural experiments. A little something I call magic wand experiments. Why a season devoted to experiments? Because if we're honest about ourselves, the list of things we don't know is longer than the list of things we do. And the only way to fix that problem is to put our unknowns to the test. Come join the Revisionist History experiment starting June 30th. Or if you can't wait a moment longer, June 23rd for Pushkin Plus subscribers. Find Pushkin Plus on the Revisionist History Show page in Apple Podcasts or at pushkin.fm. Somebody step up. Come and feed me. Eyes are closed. I have no idea whether I'm having a bowl on the left or a bowl on the right. With a spoon? 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