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Godfather
07-30-2017, 09:17 PM
Anyone listened to or read much by Malcolm Gladwell? I'm a bit late to the party but recently discovered this incredible podcast. Very interesting takes on sometimes small or side-stories of larger histories. Often times he looks at one small chapter or sentence in a book and completely expands, exploring often forgotten parts of history. He's a great journalist, researches carefully and has a soothing voice to boot.

A few of my favorites that might get you into

Miss Buchanan's Period Of Adjustment - Brown v Board of Education might be the most well-known Supreme Court decision, a major victory in the fight for civil rights. But in Topeka, the city where the case began, the ruling has left a bittersweet legacy. RH hears from the Browns, the family behind the story.
http://revisionisthistory.com/episodes/13-miss-buchanans-period-of-adjustment

Saigon 1965 - In the early 1960s, the Pentagon set up a top-secret research project in an old villa in downtown Saigon. The task? To interview captured North Vietnamese soldiers and guerrillas in order to measure their morale: Was the relentless U.S. bombing pushing them to the brink of capitulation?
http://revisionisthistory.com/episodes/02-saigon-1965

The Big Man Can’t Shoot - The basketball legend Wilt Chamberlain had only one flaw: he couldn’t shoot free throws. In 1962, Chamberlain switched to making his foul shots underhanded—and fixed his only weakness.
But then he switched back.
http://revisionisthistory.com/episodes/03-the-big-man-cant-shoot

A Good Walk Spoiled - (I know this one sounds boring but it was a great listen) In the middle of Los Angeles — a city with some of the most expensive real estate in the world — there are a half a dozen exclusive golf courses, massive expanses dedicated to the pleasure of a privileged few. How do private country clubs afford the property tax on 300 acres of prime Beverly Hills real estate? RH brings in tax assessors, economists, and philosophers to probe the question of the weird obsession among the wealthy with the game of golf.
http://revisionisthistory.com/episodes/11-a-good-walk-spoiled

RBP
07-31-2017, 04:16 AM
IMHO opinion, some interesting stuff, some pretty slanted politically. Probably prefer Jon Ronson, although I think Ronson thinks Gladwell is the gold standard, so who knows.

RBP
07-31-2017, 04:52 AM
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2017/jul/29/jon-ronson-bespoke-porn-nothing-is-too-weird-all-requests

Godfather
07-31-2017, 04:56 AM
IMHO opinion, some interesting stuff, some pretty slanted politically. Probably prefer Jon Ronson, although I think Ronson thinks Gladwell is the gold standard, so who knows.


Awesome, I'll check out Jon Ronson. I try and avoid the stuff that's too politicized, I'm just in it for the history. Gladwell definitely brings it back around to politics sometimes to bookend certain podcasts, but it's easier to glaze over that as a non-American.