Revenge of The Tipping Point with Malcolm Gladwell

About This Episode

What do crime waves, contagious diseases, and social trends have in common? Neil deGrasse Tyson and co-host Chuck Nice welcome best-selling author Malcolm Gladwell to explore the hidden forces that drive human behavior.

Gladwell shares the origins of The Tipping Point and its new sequel, Revenge of the Tipping Point, sparked by his fascination with epidemiology and crime in 1980s New York. How do social problems spread like viruses? Why do some people—or places—become “superspreaders” of everything from ideas to violence? We uncover the surprising role of environmental contagion in shaping societies and ask whether AI could revolutionize public health and policing.

We dive into the power of context: why do doctors in Buffalo and Denver treat heart disease differently? What can poop samples tell us about the next pandemic? And why might trained dogs be the future of disease detection? From the science of masks to hotspot policing, Gladwell unpacks the patterns behind epidemics of all kinds—biological, social, and criminal.

What will future generations find baffling about today? What would happen if we gave epidemiologists endless resources? Get ready for a mind-expanding conversation that connects sociology, science, and even The Little Mermaid.

Thanks to our Patrons Matt Silkowski, Dylan moffitt, Grahan Rossiter, FunThings2See, Anthony Sipple, Micheal Kemp, Alexandria French, Ali Jasemi, Nick Charles, Christopher Scott, Graham Jones, Richarad Negus, Win Lương, Paul Durae Duncan, Ian Diaz, Micheal Kroes, Adam Bodenhamer, Chris, foo red, Micheal Rivera, Charles Stanley-Grey, Samuel Andrews, Damian Cartwright, Maliha Khan, Carleton Chang, Jay Holmes Jr. , Mike McKinney, Justin Zarsky, ImJustBeingLazy, Nicholas Elias, Ruth, Brian Toms, Zach Stein, Melanie, Noah, and Philip Taylor for supporting us this week.

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