The Tipping Point Revisited: Broken Windows| Revisionist History | Malcolm Gladwell

In The Tipping Point, Malcolm helped popularize a controversial approach to policing called “Broken Windows Theory” that is often credited for keeping crime rates down. Now, 25 years later, he goes back and audits his chapter on crime. Did he get it right? 

#podcast #revisionisthistory #malcolmgladwell #tippingpoint #books

ABOUT REVISIONIST HISTORY
Revisionist History is Malcolm Gladwell’s journey through the overlooked and the misunderstood. Every podcast episode re-examines something from the past — an event, a person, an idea, even a song — and asks whether we got it right the first time. Because sometimes the past deserves a second chance.

ABOUT MALCOLM GLADWELL
Malcolm Gladwell is president and co-founder of Pushkin Industries. He is a journalist, a speaker, and the author of six New York Times bestsellers including The Tipping Point, Blink, Outliers, David and Goliath, and Talking to Strangers. He has been a staff writer for the New Yorker since 1996. He is a trustee of the Surgo Foundation and currently serves on the board of the RAND Corporation.

ABOUT PUSHKIN INDUSTRIES
Pushkin Industries is an audio production company dedicated to creating premium content in a collaborative environment. Co-founded by Malcolm Gladwell and Jacob Weisberg in 2018, Pushkin has launched seven new shows into the top 10 on Apple Podcasts (Against the Rules, The Happiness Lab, Solvable, Cautionary Tales, Deep Cover, The Last Archive, and Lost Hills), in addition to producing the hugely successful Revisionist History. Pushkin’s growing audiobook catalogue includes includes the bestselling biography “Fauci,” by Michael Specter, “Hasta La Vista, America,” Kurt Andersen’s parody Trump farewell speech performed by Alec Baldwin, "Takeover" by Noah Feldman, and “Talking to Strangers,” from Pushkin co-founder Malcolm Gladwell. Pushkin is dedicated to producing audio in any format that challenges listeners and inspires curiosity and joy.

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[nathanngumi]

Indeed! Writers rarely revisit their most successful works. It takes courage to do this and change one's mind when shown one's assumptions or assertions are wrong or not exactly right or proved erroneous by empirical data.

[charitibriosi]

I really love your writing and reporting. I have followed you for a very long time. ❤🎉 I feel that you have more information now and 25 yrs experience to look back on! I don’t feel you were wrong, just better informed now. 🎉 Well done ❤❤Love the Podcast! 😊😊😊

[jatlast]

"I was wrong. I'm sorry." The quote brought tears to my eyes twice—first during listen one and then again during listen two for quote accuracy. Thank you, Malcolm Gladwell. Intellectual honesty and heartfelt apologies seem to be dwindling, so I am glad to have witnessed a fresh example of both while listening to another of your always-enjoyable episodes.

[kambrose]

Theres so much to learn about people! Fascinating talk!

[Greg-omhb]

People urinating on the streets is a signal that the city should build public bathrooms.

[tomwishart]

Compare and contrast the success and differences of the world’s different educational systems. Why not?

[pavanatanaya]

Posing cops as beneficent is a huge mistake

[EdoRiver]

MALCOLM: 1. Didn’t the NY Police benefit from the pattern of the information from the 1, 200, 00 arrests. After the judgement on constitutionality of the program to have a good idea where the to look for the tiny % of dangerous criminals? 2. In PHILADELPHIA, how long has the empty lot program been working? Don’t you think it has to be maintained, and data on crime rates in the area maintained to prove anything?

[thomasdequincey]

The apology was so pathetic. Does he think the Police looked at the data, came to the conclusion that "broken windows" isn't working, then overrode that decision by pointing out that Malcolm Gladwell is broadly in favour of it? Give me a break! Policing is a political decision. It is not based on the whims or opinions of some Author.

[thefallenstateisamazin]

How do you think they honed in? By stop at frisk

[thefallenstateisamazin]

We knew it was a tiny subset of people thanks malc

[ellenlockhart]

One theory about the drop in crime is that abortion became legal in the early 1970s. Fewer unwanted babies were born. Thus future angry, criminals were born.

[DakotaGibson-wc]

psychprofile AI fixes this. The Tipping Point revisited analysis.

[Thunderdumpe]

It sounds a bit to me like different approaches fix different problems. If you have a general malaise a general show of effort could fix it, but would be a waste if most people are already on the same page.

[Redmenace]

Malcolm is just a celebrity, with a celebrity opinion. He is really not a serious sociologist, anymore.
Doesn't mean he is wrong! He is just limited to his bubble.

[chrisolmsted]

The judge was correct about the unconstitutionallity of stop and frisk. But I believe that the people of a police district have a constitutional right to request random searching within their jurisdiction which the police should agree to do when it doesn't discriminate against protected groups and has a clear criteria for determining the end of the emergency which justifies this practice.

When a deadly disease is spreading, there is a rate which is a tipping point. If the rate is less than that, the disease dies out over time. If the rate is greater, it has exponential growth offset by the rate of death of the carriers.
PTSD has aspects we don't understand. But other head trauma like concussions have accumulative effects.

I believe that the NY stop and frisk reduced PTSD rates enough to allow crime to continue decreasing. Knowing that those "others" were just frisked helps the "not others" cope with their own traumas. It's not just finding weapons. It's knowing people are disarmed.

If the Hatfields and McCoys moved into my building complex, I would accept the frisk for awhile to feel safer. I know others would prefer to just move away and the rest would likely purchase guns.

[carloseugeniosanchezrabiel]

If you're taking back something that was admittedly a proliferator of harmful or unconstitutional practices like stop and frisk, it should be delivered as a public and apologetic erratum, not as part of the contents of a book and podcast you're planning to further profit from.

[IrenesConcierge]

Stop and frisk can be said to contribute to lower crime rates in North America, until you are a black man in US or an indigenous person in Canada. Racialized persons know that police behaviour is biased.

[francesbernard]

I am sorry. I didn't on purpose commit plagerism when paraphrasing.