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Revenge of the Tipping Point

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What to expect

A lot has changed in 25 years. A quarter-century after the publication of his groundbreaking first book, Malcolm Gladwell returns with a brand-new volume that reframes the lessons of The Tipping Point in a startling and revealing light - this time in an immersive audio format that transports you, the listener, directly inside of each riveting story.

Why is Miami... Miami? What does the heartbreaking fate of the cheetah tell us about the way we raise our children? Why do Ivy League schools care so much about sports? What is the Magic Third, and what does it mean for racial harmony? In this provocative new work, Malcolm Gladwell returns to the subject of social epidemics and tipping points, this time with the aim of explaining the dark side of contagious phenomena.

Through a series of gripping stories, Gladwell traces the rise of a new and troubling form of social engineering. As with his podcast Revisionist History and bestsellers Talking to Strangers and The Bomber Mafia, pressing play on this audiobook will bring each scene and story to life with vivid first-person accounts, captivating oral histories, illuminating moments from history past and present, and a cinematic original music score.

Take to the streets of Los Angeles with Malcolm to meet the world's most successful bank robbers, rediscover a forgotten television show from the 1970s that changed the world, visit the site of a historic experiment on a tiny cul-de-sac in northern California, and explore an alternate history of two of the biggest epidemics of our day: COVID and the opioid crisis.

Revenge of the Tipping Point is Gladwell's most personal book yet. With his characteristic mix of storytelling and social science, he offers a guide to making sense of the contagions of the modern world. It's time we took tipping points seriously.

Critics Review

Addictive... fascinating and provocative
Guardian
Full of interesting facts... Gladwell digs up some great material
The Times
Gladwell is a great storyteller with a contagious sense of curiosity
The Economist
Refining and deepening his and our understanding of the spread of customs, mores, and practices, Gladwell emphasizes those overstories, illustrating them with twisting and turning tales of, for example, how the word holocaust came into general usage (surprisingly, via TV), how the idea of gay marriage gained acceptability, and how widespread social engineering has quietly become one of the central activities of the American establishment. Fans of the original will learn much from Gladwell's thoughtful, carefully written reconsideration
Kirkus, starred review
Positioning his theory of the superspreader within COVID-19 and the opioid epidemic, Gladwell deftly demonstrates how attention to statistics and data points can shape a business, school, or community. An astute and bracing appraisal of how cultures succeed or fail. Best-selling Gladwell's updating of the concepts in the book that made him famous will garner lively media coverage and reader interest
Booklist
In Revenge of the Tipping Point, splashy theories abound, as they do in Gladwell's podcast, Revisionist History... He turns the conceit [of The Tipping Point]on its head, examining the forces that drive negative epidemics, which to him felt more attuned to our present moment
New York Times
Rigorously researched-but always with a witty flair-it's a must-read for longtime Gladwell fans or readers simply curious about the quiet, surprising origin stories of the crises and questions that define contemporary life
Oprah Daily
Brimming with fun and insightful anecdotes... Revenge of the Tipping Point will leave you pondering Gladwell's theories and asking more questions...The book explores how individuals can use power and influence to shape...the collective narratives we tell ourselves as groups or as a society - and in so doing steward policies and perspectives
New York Post
To his adept synthesis of academic research he adds journalistic curiosity, a crisp prose style and a mastery of counter-intuitive juxtapositions. Often beginning with a conundrum, he seeks out case studies and concepts that illuminate it, altering (slightly or radically) our understanding of the world
Los Angeles Times
Gladwell gives us a sort of interactive nonfiction, not unlike a detective story... Revenge of the Tipping Point essentially asks why we were all so ready to think anything that spreads like a virus could be good for us. In the first book we had connectors, mavens and salesmen. Now we have overstories, superspreaders and social engineering... The match that so elegantly graced the cover of The Tipping Point is now on fire
Wall Street Journal
The long-awaited follow-up to The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell's groundbreaking 2000 debut, explores the watershed moments that define this new age of societal upheaval...with curiosity and humor
TIME Magazine

User Reviews

Book 4.5
Narration 5.0
Author Malcolm Gladwell
Narrator Malcolm Gladwell
Duration 8 hours and 25 minutes
Release Date
ISBN 9781405563352
Format Audiobook
Publisher Little, Brown Book Group
Genre Conspiracy theories, Disinformation and misinformation, Political science and theory, Social theory, Sociology
Availability AU, GB, IE
Rating
4.5 (2 reviews)
Narration
5.0 (2 reviews)

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