On Thursday, Malcolm Gladwell launched a podcast called Revisionist History. The podcast, which Gladwell says he made in lieu of writing a book, re-examines past events that Gladwell thinks were misinterpreted the first time around. Even before anyone could listen to it, the 10-episode show was a hit. On Wednesday night, it was the top podcast series in iTunes, even though it consisted of nothing more than a three-minute introductory clip.
Last week, Gladwell visited the 92nd Street Y on Manhattan’s Upper East Side to give a preview of the show’s first episode, which examines the stories of 19th-century painter Elizabeth Thompson and Julia Gillard, the first female prime minister of Australia. They were victims of misogyny, Gladwell said. Before the reading, Gladwell sat in an armchair onstage, wearing a striped blazer, beltless jeans and European sneakers with aqua highlights. Jacob Weisberg, an old friend, former roommate, and chairman and editor-in-chief of the Slate Group, the company behind the podcast, warmed up the crowd.
