The Gist

The Rules According to Malcolm Gladwell

What was young Malcolm like? He obsessed over ad slogans. He collected car brochures. And he insisted on being every board game’s explainer in chief. 

Malcolm Gladwell in Hong Kong on Nov. 6, 2014.

Jerome Favre/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Listen to Episode 588 of Slate’s The Gist:

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Malcolm Gladwell’s career has been all about ideas—but what he really specializes in is their packaging and delivery. On The Gist, Malcolm Gladwell tells the story behind his earliest obsessions and explains what he’s learned trafficking in unconventional theories. Gladwell is working on the second season of his hit Panoply podcast, Revisionist History.

For the Spiel, a contrarian take on Donald Trump’s comments about former Miss Universe Alicia Machado.

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Twitter: @slategist