Formerly a 5 star pod, Malcom's move from finely crafted audio essay podcast to poor 99% Invisible impresonation is not working out well. Malcolm, you may usually be wrong, but at least you used to be a great story tellet and man of ideas. So how about you, M.L. and T.H. get back to doing what you do best: crafting brilliant stories arond compelling characters.

Grief is the price you pay for love, also the coin to feed the jukebox to play love songs…

Malcom, this fellow Canadian tips his beaver skin hat to you. The Paw Patrol episode has displaced the little mermaid series as best of show. Bravo !

What prompted the shift from intellectual discussions to corporate advertising? Not interested anymore.

Insightful analysis of a broad range of topics. I listened and listened over and over again to truly absorb the lessons of each episode. Gladwell is brilliant.

Just wish I would have discovered it sooner. It’s brilliant and easily my favourite podcast. Binge-listening worthy.

There were some good episodes. But there is also infomercial type episodes that are quite annoying. The narrator is also pretty bothersome

Absolutely brilliant. MG is really on his game with this series. Perfection.

I cannot remember what life was like before this podcast

Edited to say: the sponsored ad episodes are just gross. It's not why I subscribe and makes me want to stop listening altogether. Ads are fine, but sponsored content is too much. It makes me question the rest of Pushkin's content and editorial motivations. Previous review: Not only is the storytelling thought-provoking and compelling, but the music is gorgeous. I also really love the sound of Malcom Gladwells voice — to the point that I didn't mind the ads (gasp!). A wonderful listening experience all around.

Would have been 5 stars until last June when self promotion started to ramp up. Annoying! I only need to hear an ad once in 1/2 an hour - not 4 times! And, yes, those Pushkin podcasts do sound interesting but I get turned off by the over promotion.

I always had such a lot of time for Malcolm - so insightful. The last couple of episodes I’ve listened to were clearly aimed at driving publicity and were BORING. That’s not what I would have expected and I will not be listening in the future. I guess Malcolm just sold out. It’s too bad.

Used to cover actually interesting topics. Now the episodes seem catered to inflate Malcolm’s ego, garner sponsorship money, or push you to pay for their premium subscription. On verge of un-subbing. Can only tolerate the odd episode lately.

Malcolm must be a nightmare to be around

I used to love this podcast. Now I think Malcolm is just mailing it in, getting others to do (or try to do) what he used to do so successfully - take a deep and thoughtful look at the overlooked and misunderstood. And the ads!!!??? Casinos??? Please Malcolm. Be more responsible. I think I will be unfollowing the show.

I love the show and have listened from the beginning when the show relied on advertising revenue to keep going. Now that there is a subscription model in place I feel rejected and let down. I understand it is a business and has to make money but to hear people described as “Most loyal listeners” because they subscribe to Pushkin+ and pay $4.99 a month seem at odds with the ethos of the show and like those of us who kept it going in the early days have been forgotten. Not at all what I expected when the journey began. Update: I have just unsubscribed from the show because Revisionist now seems to mean invent a tenuous link and base a whole episode on it. I am disappointed that Malcolm has decided to join the mainstream and simply ridicule those who don’t share his opinion. Even though I share his opinions, reductionism is not the way forward. Maybe the podcast should be called Reductionist History. What a pity.

Hi: love the podcast, in fact appreciate all the MG properties. Question is, I am a Pushkin + subscriber, have paid to be ad free in my listening, and yet - there continue to be ads. Where is the glitch and can it please be fixed? Thanks Harriet Toronto Canada

Love listening to this with my teens. Fascinating show.

Wonderful writing and storytelling!

I’m Canadian and sometimes feel like we look at the USA with shock but not really know why things gun violence is truly happening. This series opened my eyes to a lot of things.

Every season of Revisionist History is captivating. Topics to open your mind. But season 9 is a must listen to season. Too important not to.

Thank you for constantly opening up my eyes to different perspectives. By the way, have you every considered a new podcast series on debates with Adam Grant? That episode was excellent!

I kind of expected more. Blaming the American gun problem on Gunsmoke? Doing a statistical analysis on gun violence in a fictional television show from the 50’s?? Tune me out.

An episode started about Malcolm shopping fir a car. It started like an infomercial. I was like I’m out.

As a loyal and longtime reader and listener of MG, I can’t help but be disappointed in the latest season. Most episodes are conversations or live events, the topics aren’t analyzed nearly as in-depth as they used to be. It just seems lazy. If you want this format, please call it something else. It’s certainly not Revisionist History anymore.

‘So-called Twitter files’. It’s all you have? So-called? Seems to be according to DNC script.

I listen to a couple of episodes on my long runs and am always amazed by how little I know. Thank you for the education and improving my pace.

Great podcast!

Always informative, always entertaining, always food for thought!

Fabulous!

Update: seem more and more focused on sponsorship and subscriptions than on quality podcasts. Disappointed with the direction it’s taking. Original review: Malcolm Gladwell puts himself and his opinions in the stories, and I'm so grateful he does. Highly entertaining while also challenging norms and pointing out what should be glaringly obvious to us all. My new favourite podcast.

Total hack.

The story at the end. Just, wow.

I am working my way through all the episodes, one more season to go! The storytelling is engaging and detailed. The topics are wide ranging and expand my areas of interest. As a result, I purchased the Bomber Mafia and consumed it in a week. My only critique, as a fellow Canadian, is Malcolm’s worldview of Canada. I’ve lived in the Provinces of Ontario (Waterloo), Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Malcolm’s references give a view of Canada as Ontario-centric. I would appreciate a story or some research into Western Canada (which is much more than Vancouver). The Canadian Prairies are beautiful and spacious, with a violent colonial history. Its’ people are diverse, complex and resilient. I welcome Malcolm to dive into the details of the Western half (and the resource bread basket) of Canada!

The first five seasons were great. The stories were interesting, educational, compelling and entertaining. Season six was about uninteresting war topics, and after podcasts became monetized, the whole thing fell apart. Now, all this guy does is push for us to pay to get exclusive content (which used to be free), and withholds episodes from non-paying listeners, letting paying listeners hear them first - the rest of us have to wait to hear them weeks later. It is a total money grab. What is worse? The show is complete garbage now. Boring, uninteresting and uninspired. What a shame 😞

Binging past episodes of RH is getting me through COVID AND self-isolation. Just finished the Little Mermaid trilogy and I’m in love with Britt Marling’s new ending. I needed that today.

I was a fervent listener for the first 3 seasons when Gladwell was purposeful, original, riveting. Sadly the podcast has not sustained its level of brilliance. It gradually moved away from the story to showcasing Gladwell… or his podcast producing company. Still ok, but great no more.

I really cannot recommend RH highly enough. Malcolm Gladwell is such an incredible storyteller and has such a gift for finding the most captivating component of every topic he looks in to. Start from season 1, you won’t be disappointed!

The 6th episode of the current season was so beautiful. Thank you!

I am a fervent listener of this podcast. Some are wonderfully great and the ideas reach beyond the initial subject of the episode. The first half of season 1 was totally applicable to how we educate our young. Some are good and are very interesting and make you think. Episode 4 of season 7 was the worst presentation of thinking and revisionist thinking ever. I tried to teach my former 12 and 13 year old students to think critically, but that they should never descend into an argument that highlights shoulda, woulda, coulda as the basis for their thinking. Yeah, sure. Thought experiment. But not up to the level of the thought experiments of episodes 1 - 3 of season 7.

I used to look forward to each episode. It seems to have devolved into a commercialized caricature of its former self. Intellectual curiosity had been replaced by self-agrandizing elitist babble. The kind of thing Gladwell once eschewed. Get back to your roots and stop trying to over commercialize your platform.

This podcast truly transports the listener! I get so captivated with the topics covered in this podcast, and it always surprises me what topics Malcolm will cover (I mean, the Little Mermaid, who would have thought?). But I love the perspective’s Malcolm takes, and the way he tells the stories— you can hear the passion in his voice in his stories, and the conclusions he draws are challenging. I recommend this podcast to everyone I know, because I believe everyone can learn and be challenged. 10/10, my favorite podcast ever!

I love how Malcom explores topics and makes you see everything in a new way. The production team also does wonders. Great podcast, would definitely recommend. Worth listening to every episode there is. I would say that with the other show previews, I was a little disappointed when I saw “New revisionist history episode is available” and then it was a preview for the other shows. I do (maybe?) understand that they are there to boost other Pushkin show viewership, but I am not going to delete my five star rating. I love the show, and am looking forward to the seventh season (drops tomorrow!) Also, haters gonna hate, but that doesn’t change the fact that this show is AMAZING

What is this podcast even about? It seems to have a personality disorder.

Season 6 is nothing but ads for other shows. There hasn’t been a new show for a year; just previews of other podcasts…. If I wanted to listen to other podcast I would subscribe to those, not this one. But Malcom is just money hungry now. Unsubscribed.

If you like Freakonomics kind of shows, you will love Revisionist History. He takes things you think you knew and can turn them upside down. But he’s right. Immensely entertaining!

Edutainment is both a deeply unfair and yet perfect word for this podcast. I learn so much, and the content is delivered in an artful and entertaining manner. Recommend it everyone I know.

I used to LOVE the Podcast, they were so intellectually stimulating and relevant that you could think about the content for days, even years after… except of course the musical episodes, they just seemed self indulgent. But Now, now it is mostly ads for other Puskin programs that are average at best… I honestly removed this from my playlist because I don’t know what I am going to get. It breaks my heart

Is it just me or is this a trick? Reading the titles, I’ve never heard of any history events. Is this the new made up history from the fruit loop generation?

Asking a few pointed and informed questions, from diverse experts to balance this episode. Q#A: What happens to life downstream when petroleum by-products, like detergent, perfume, and synthetic ‘water-softeners’ are drained into our septic, rivers, and oceans, or are left clinging to the fabrics we wear? Q#B: What kind of fabric doesn’t need fabric softener? Which ones do, and why? Q#C: What extremely cheap, and natural item can be used to soften water, lock in colour, stop spots on dishes, smells clean - if at all, and works great in laundry and dishwashers? Q#D: What are some natural surfactants that have been around forever? Q#E: What’s the difference between detergent and Soap? Hint: D is a petroleum-waste & solvent. How is soap made, and how does it work? Q#F: If there are too many suds, what is the problem, and how can I control for that? Q#G: How can laundry products adjust for differing water PH? …or do they?