Malcolm Gladwell

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.

So who do I go to see to explain how people from Buffalo end up sounding like English royalty? You guessed it, John McWhorter. My point is that there is a certain kind of question about language, about race, about why we speak the way we speak, for which the only answer is, let's call up John McWhorter. I love John McWhorter.

So who do I go to see to explain how people from Buffalo end up sounding like English royalty? You guessed it, John McWhorter. My point is that there is a certain kind of question about language, about race, about why we speak the way we speak, for which the only answer is, let's call up John McWhorter. I love John McWhorter.

And when he said he had a new book coming out called Pronoun Trouble, I asked him, could I interview you about it? And lucky for me, he said yes. My name is Malcolm Gladwell. This is Revisionist History, my podcast about things overlooked and misunderstood. In this episode, we're going to run the conversation I had with John McWhorter this spring at the 92nd Street Y, which was delightful.

And when he said he had a new book coming out called Pronoun Trouble, I asked him, could I interview you about it? And lucky for me, he said yes. My name is Malcolm Gladwell. This is Revisionist History, my podcast about things overlooked and misunderstood. In this episode, we're going to run the conversation I had with John McWhorter this spring at the 92nd Street Y, which was delightful.

I did this interview with John right after finishing up the Joe Rogan episode of Revisionist History. If you listen to it, you'll know that I spent a lot of time talking about how to properly interview someone, how hard it is and how Joe Rogan could learn a lot from someone like Oprah.

I did this interview with John right after finishing up the Joe Rogan episode of Revisionist History. If you listen to it, you'll know that I spent a lot of time talking about how to properly interview someone, how hard it is and how Joe Rogan could learn a lot from someone like Oprah.

And that episode was very much on my mind as I was interviewing the quarter because I was thinking, oh, am I going to measure up? Where do I land on the Oprah-Joe Rogan continuum? I'll let you be the judge of that. Although I will say this is not exactly a fair test. The degree of difficulty with interviewing someone as charming as John McWhorter is very, very low. Hello, everyone.

And that episode was very much on my mind as I was interviewing the quarter because I was thinking, oh, am I going to measure up? Where do I land on the Oprah-Joe Rogan continuum? I'll let you be the judge of that. Although I will say this is not exactly a fair test. The degree of difficulty with interviewing someone as charming as John McWhorter is very, very low. Hello, everyone.

Thanks for coming. John, thank you for... agreeing to join us tonight. Malcolm, thank you for having me. I was thinking back when I first met you, and I think it was I called you up or went to see you because I was doing something on the first... black mayor of Los Angeles, Tom Bradley.

Thanks for coming. John, thank you for... agreeing to join us tonight. Malcolm, thank you for having me. I was thinking back when I first met you, and I think it was I called you up or went to see you because I was doing something on the first... black mayor of Los Angeles, Tom Bradley.

And I was listening to tapes of him speaking, and he sounded like the whitest guy I could imagine.

And I was listening to tapes of him speaking, and he sounded like the whitest guy I could imagine.

And you gave... Wait, tell me a little... Before we even get into this, it was so much fun, your answer. Explain to me why that would be so...

And you gave... Wait, tell me a little... Before we even get into this, it was so much fun, your answer. Explain to me why that would be so...

Yeah. Didn't I say that? I think you said something along that lines. And we were, the thing, the fascinating question is when that, did that stop? It stopped. Yeah. He doesn't sound like that if he's the mayor of Los Angeles today.

Yeah. Didn't I say that? I think you said something along that lines. And we were, the thing, the fascinating question is when that, did that stop? It stopped. Yeah. He doesn't sound like that if he's the mayor of Los Angeles today.

The minute... I mentioned Tom Brady to you, you were like, oh! I remember I played you a tape. You were like, oh! And I realized, oh, this is old hat for John. This is what it means to be a linguist. You're constantly entertaining, asking yourself those kinds of questions. You can't let a... More or less.

The minute... I mentioned Tom Brady to you, you were like, oh! I remember I played you a tape. You were like, oh! And I realized, oh, this is old hat for John. This is what it means to be a linguist. You're constantly entertaining, asking yourself those kinds of questions. You can't let a... More or less.

When you say you have... This sounds like a fantastic obsession, by the way. How does that, like... Is this something you do sort of for fun? In other words, do you have places you go to find these historical... Or are you just watching a movie from the 30s and you stop it and you go back five minutes and you play up a... Both of those things.