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Talking to Strangers

What We Should Know about the People We Don't Know

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Talking to Strangers

By: Malcolm Gladwell
Narrated by: Malcolm Gladwell
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

The highly anticipated new book from Malcom Gladwell, host of the chart-topping podcast Revisionist History.

With original archival interviews and musical scoring, this enhanced audiobook edition of Talking to Strangers brings Gladwell's renowned storytelling to life in his unparalleled narrating style.

The routine traffic stop that ends in tragedy. The spy who spends years undetected at the highest levels of the Pentagon. The false conviction of Amanda Knox. Why do we so often get other people wrong? Why is it so hard to detect a lie, read a face or judge a stranger's motives?

Through a series of encounters and misunderstandings - from history, psychology and infamous legal cases - Malcolm Gladwell takes us on an intellectual adventure into the darker side of human nature, where strangers are never simple and misreading them can have disastrous consequences.

No one challenges our shared assumptions like Malcolm Gladwell. Here he uses stories of deceit and fatal errors to cast doubt on our strategies for dealing with the unknown, inviting us to rethink our thinking in these troubled times.

(C) 2019 Malcolm Gladwell (P) 2019 Malcolm Gladwell

 Communication & Social Skills Personal Development Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Social Psychology & Interactions Sociology Thought-Provoking Inspiring Health

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Critic reviews

I love this book . . . reading it will actually change not just how you see strangers, but how you look at yourself, the news - the world. Reading this book changed me.
Fascinating . . . you should read the book . . . He's tackling the dark side of human nature - what do we ever know about other people? (Sathnam Sanghera)
Now that practically everybody seems to be spoiling for a fight, I have found Malcolm Gladwell's Talking to Strangers invaluable . . . His moral - to approach new people with caution and humility - has become my motto.
Taut, provocative, smart . . . Gladwell's cool, playful intelligence has made him one of our leading public thinkers
A book examining the ways we misinterpret or fail to communicate with one another could not feel more necessary . . . the page-turning urgency of a thriller (Chris Barton)
Superb writing. Masterful . . . bears all the marks that have made Gladwell one of the most successful non-fiction authors of his generation. (Pilita Clark)
A dazzling book . . . Gladwell is a rock star of nonfiction . . . ideas are slowly revealed until the reader arrives at a conclusion they didn't expect. Gladwell is advancing ideas and, sure, they are all open to challenge . . . but they are stimulating and convincing - and you won't regret a minute you spend mastering them
A wonderful provocation which Gladwell delivers like no other, an awakening to just one of the fascinations that lie in ordinary human experience . . . as ever, Gladwell's genius is in the telling.
Malcolm Gladwell made his name bringing intellectual sparkle to everyday subjects, and his new book - about how strangers talk to each other - is no exception. (Sean O’Hagan)
All stars
Most relevant
This non-fiction book has an arc and you need to listen it completely to fully understand the story. Gladwell's analysis never leaves out the other side of the story and once again exposes our human flaws in judgement. If you loved the Revisionist History podcast, this is for you. If you haven't - this is probably for you as well. Don't expect anything ordinary and sit it through to the end.

Brilliant - Gladwell changes your mind, again

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Gladwell has an incredible ability of taking news stories we all kinda sorta remember but making you reexamine the "facts" as you thought you knew them..

More like a gripping documentary than an audiobook

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As good as Gladwell gets. Brilliant, enhanced audiobook! A new format but the concepts explored are brilliant. His voice is perfect too. Buy it.

Wonderful

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This should be the benchmark for non-fiction on audible.

This utilises the medium’s full capabilities and creates more of an audio documentary through the use of real audio clips to support what is being examined as well as actors and actresses where those clips do not exist.

The writing by Gladwell is typically excellent and combined with audible makes superb value.

I usually prefer reading as I am an active reader and make a lot of notes to get as much knowledge as possible into my head. In generaI, I have found audible quite difficult to continue my notes. This book totally negates that need to note as it creates a truly memorable experience in itself.

High production value

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Gladwell uses his formidable story telling talent to explore a subject that has been hiding in plain sight. Why we are so bad at understanding strangers and the often tragic consequences. The audio book production was especially compelling, being made like a book-length podcast. I hope this starts a trend for other non-fiction audio books to go beyond the classic actor or author reading the words.

Important topic compellingly explored

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