Episodes
Robert Kennedy was killed by an assassin's bullet in 1968, ending his presidential run. Had he been shot today, would he have lived? A what-if story about homicides and medical care and the moral consequences of a world where trauma surgeons have gotten really, really good at what they do.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Published 09/21/23
Malcolm goes to a shooting range in the woods of North Carolina to get a tutorial on the AR-15. It’s scary. It’s ugly. It’s at the center of the gun control debate. But what exactly makes it worse than other guns?  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Published 09/14/23
The longest running television series of the 20th century was Gunsmoke, a western set in the notorious Dodge City, Kansas. Malcolm sweeps away mountains of legal scholarship to make a bold claim: The simplest explanation for the Supreme’s Court’s puzzling run of gun rights decisions may be that the justices watched too much Gunsmoke when they were growing up.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Published 09/07/23
In the battles over gun rights, a shadowy English nobleman from the 17th century has unexpectedly taken center stage. Who was he? What did he do that has — 300 years later — endeared him to a generation of legal scholars? Revisionist History explores the cult of personality around the mysterious Sir John Knight.  Sign up for Pushkin+ on the Revisionist History Apple Show page or at Pushkin.fm to binge the entire series now! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Published 08/31/23
In the battles over gun rights, a shadowy English nobleman from the 17th century has unexpectedly taken center stage. Who was he? What did he do that has — 300 years later — endeared him to a generation of legal scholars? Revisionist History explores the cult of personality around the mysterious Sir John Knight.  Sign up for Pushkin+ on the Revisionist History Apple Show page or at Pushkin.fm to binge the entire series now! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Published 08/31/23
Coming soon – a six-part series from Revisionist History about everything Americans get wrong about guns.  The series will air weekly, starting Thursday, August 31st. You can binge listen to all six episodes early and ad-free by subscribing to Pushkin Plus on Apple Podcasts, or by visiting: pushkin.fm/plus.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Published 08/17/23
Today, another episode from the Revisionist History Live universe. It's an old fashioned lecture, recorded at the New Orleans Book Festival at Tulane University. Malcolm talks about a totally real thing he made up—a taxonomy of the modern mystery story—with a focus on murder mysteries and police procedurals. From Dragnet, to John Grisham, to Sherlock Holmes, it's all in there...and all connected to how we view real policing.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Published 07/27/23
Malcolm talks with Ben Naddaff-Hafrey, host of The Last Archive, about the forgotten origins of a major social science, the missing chapter in Ella Fitzgerald’s life, and what it all has to do with the prison just down the street from Malcolm’s office. Listen, and check out the brand new season from Pushkin’s The Last Archive. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Published 07/06/23
This season, Malcolm's covered a lot of the problems in higher education. Today on the show: A solution. A big idea being tested at a little school on the shores of Lake Michigan. A school called Hope College, believe it or not, with an idea so crazy it just might work. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Published 06/29/23
Maria Konnikova, Revisionist History’s ombudsman—who's also an author, psychologist and professional poker player—is back for another round. This time she reads letters from the audience on the power of debate, and whether or not certain four letter words belong in Pushkin’s podcasts. Maria and Malcolm also look at the Columbia cheating scandal from a different angle, and hand out one more sparkling Pushkin Prize. If you’d like to keep up with the most recent news from this and other Pushkin...
Published 06/22/23
Consider this your invitation to the greatest award show no one’s ever heard of: the Pushkin Prizes, created to honor the giants of the American education system. This year, Malcolm is celebrating one prominent university that decided to play the US News & World Report at its own dirty rankings game—and smeared themselves in the process. Featuring an eagle-eyed math professor, our favorite data scientist, and the legend of one disgraced congressman.  See omnystudio.com/listener for...
Published 06/08/23
In a live conversation taped at the 92nd Street Y in New York City, Malcolm and his Martian friend consult athletes Linda Flanagan and Lauren Fleshman on how to level the proverbial playing field. What would they ban from youth sports: Coaches? Parents? Uniforms? Whatever it takes to bring the love of the game to everyone. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Published 05/25/23
In a live conversation taped at the 92nd Street Y in New York City, Malcolm chats with his old friend and New Yorker magazine colleague, Adam Gopnik, about Adam’s latest book, The Real Work: On the Mystery of Mastery. In the book, Adam follows numerous masters of their craft to find out just how they do what they do—and discovers that there is mastery all around us. In this episode, Malcolm and Adam highlight a few of the folks from the book, and what they have to teach us. You can purchase...
Published 05/18/23
Today, we’re bringing you a preview of Pushkin's new audiobook, “So Many Steves.” Steve Martin is more candid than he’s ever been about his creative life in this engrossing audio-biography centered around a series of conversations recorded over many afternoons at home with his friend and neighbor, writer Adam Gopnik. You can get “So Many Steves,” an audio-exclusive, now at Audible: http://audible.com/stevemartin See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Published 05/03/23
What do you do after you've been humiliated at the Munk Debates? You call in the A-Team.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Published 04/13/23
Malcolm talks with his old friend, the brilliant science writer Michael Specter, about the future of life on Earth. Michael's response to the Covid-19 pandemic was to create a new audiobook on how the mRNA vaccines have sparked a biotechnology revolution: Higher Animals: Vaccines, Synthetic Biology, and the Future of Life. He and Malcolm talk about how this scientific revolution is bigger than many that came before it, about the promise of heritable vaccines for endangered species, and about...
Published 04/06/23
Today, we dig into the fascinating life of someone Malcolm knows very well: fellow Pushkin host Justin Richmond. Malcolm and Justin talk about being the product of biracial marriages, surviving racist bullies, and Justin's chance dinner with a megastar that changed his life.  Justin created his newest show, Started from the Bottom, to talk with successful people who grew up as outsiders about how they made it against the odds. Origin stories of mostly men and women of color and brilliant...
Published 03/16/23
Author, psychologist and professional poker player Maria Konnikova joins the show as Revisionist History’s first ombudsman. Maria advocates for the audience, reading letters from listeners and challenging Malcolm on matters great and small. They discuss how iodized salt is changing lives, the ethics of the Minnesota starvation experiments, and the ever-changing guidance around drinking alcohol. If you’d like to keep up with the most recent news from this and other Pushkin podcasts, be sure to...
Published 03/09/23
Every writer, podcaster and storyteller obsesses about how they begin a story. But they rarely pay enough attention to endings. Nothing matters more. Malcolm and Mike Birbiglia solve endings for you. From our first-ever Revisionist History: LIVE events at the Town Hall in New York City and the Fillmore Philadelphia, Malcolm revisits how he’s tried to land the narrative plane. If you’d like to keep up with the most recent news from this and other Pushkin podcasts, be sure to sign up for our...
Published 02/16/23
In which Malcolm reunites with his colleague, friend and fellow host of Broken Record (not to mention a music icon in his own right), Rick Rubin. This month Rick released his first book, called "The Creative Act: A Way Of Being." In it he shares practical principles on how anyone can generate creative authenticity and ultimately find their voice. If you’d like to keep up with the most recent news from this and other Pushkin podcasts, be sure to sign up for our email list at...
Published 01/26/23
In part two of our special series with Cadillac, we test whether the all-electric Cadillac LYRIQ can keep up with the demands of a 21st-century helicopter parent, put a baby to sleep, and impress a collector of immaculate old-school Caddies. Join Malcolm on a test ride like you’ve never been on before. Part two of two.  This episode is sponsored by Cadillac. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Published 12/20/22
Not long ago, we got a call at Pushkin Headquarters from Cadillac. They knew that Malcolm takes cars very seriously… so they asked if he’d heard of the all-electric Cadillac LYRIQ and if he’d like to borrow one for a few days to put it to the test. Yes, yes he did. What resulted was a series of road tests, blindfolded experiments, and head-to-head comparisons. Part one of two.    This episode is sponsored by Cadillac.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Published 11/22/22
Malcolm's friend, actress/writer/director/producer Lake Bell, is obsessed with voice. Malcolm is a little obsessed with Lake. This excerpt from Lake's new Pushkin audiobook Inside Voice: My Obsession with HowWe Sound, showcases Lake and Malcolm's conversation about the phenomenon of the sexy baby voice (think Paris Hilton or any Real Housewife). Inside Voice is a deep dive into what our voices mean and what they say about us. Go buy yourself a copy at insidevoiceaudiobook.com, Audible, Apple...
Published 11/01/22