Malcolm Gladwell

My experience of you is dramatically different than your experience of me. I am forced to find alternate means of recognition. What those of us who have impairment in this area do is we get obsessed with all the other possible cues that we can use to identify somebody. And because they're not as reliable as the face, we're always getting into trouble.

That is really beautiful.

That is really beautiful.

Lucy? That is, you are Lucy, right?

Lucy? That is, you are Lucy, right?

I changed my shirt, but it's still me. This has been a lot of fun.

I changed my shirt, but it's still me. This has been a lot of fun.

Don't forget, listen to Fiasco, Iran-Contra, for the story of a not-so-secret scandal that captivated the United States. Fiasco is available where you're listening right now.

Don't forget, listen to Fiasco, Iran-Contra, for the story of a not-so-secret scandal that captivated the United States. Fiasco is available where you're listening right now.

This is an iHeart Podcast.

This is an iHeart Podcast.

I was a fan of John McWhorter long before I met him for the first time. McWhorter is a linguist at Columbia University and a music lover and a New York Times columnist, basically a Renaissance man. It was maybe 2019 when we first spoke. At the time, I was working on something about Tom Bradley, who was mayor of Los Angeles from 1973 to 1993.

I was a fan of John McWhorter long before I met him for the first time. McWhorter is a linguist at Columbia University and a music lover and a New York Times columnist, basically a Renaissance man. It was maybe 2019 when we first spoke. At the time, I was working on something about Tom Bradley, who was mayor of Los Angeles from 1973 to 1993.

And while I listened to old tapes of Bradley, I was struck by something I heard. Listen.

And while I listened to old tapes of Bradley, I was struck by something I heard. Listen.

There is nothing there to hide. I want everybody to know that Tom Bradley's life has been an open book, and this is another demonstration of that.

There is nothing there to hide. I want everybody to know that Tom Bradley's life has been an open book, and this is another demonstration of that.

Tom Bradley is black, born in Texas, grew up in South Central Los Angeles. So I went to see McWhorter, went to his rabbit warren of an office, played him that bit of tape and said, explain this to me. Why does a black guy whose parents were sharecroppers from Texas sound like Cary Grant? And for an hour of the most wonderful conversation, he explained to me exactly why he did.

Tom Bradley is black, born in Texas, grew up in South Central Los Angeles. So I went to see McWhorter, went to his rabbit warren of an office, played him that bit of tape and said, explain this to me. Why does a black guy whose parents were sharecroppers from Texas sound like Cary Grant? And for an hour of the most wonderful conversation, he explained to me exactly why he did.

Fast forward a few years, I was doing our series on the 1936 Olympics, and I got obsessed with Dorothy Thompson, who was one of the most important journalists in the world in the 1930s. And I heard some old tapes of her, and she sounded like she was the Duchess of York, only, do you know where she grew up? Buffalo.