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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
... but not in a bad way. Gladwell borrows heavily from his podcast in both production and story telling; breaking up the chapters into episodes that could stand alone. The thinking behind the piece, as usual, is extremely interesting and the individual stories are brilliantly fleshed out with actual audio which can break up the rare monotony in the narration.

The theme of the book is a worrying look at how we interact with strangers and our human shortcomings. The only issue I have with Gladwell highlighting each of our fallacies is that knowing about them doesn't seem to help navigate around them (see Kahneman on that).

Extra Long Revisionist History...

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Vintage Gladwell - makes you think and is beautifully produced. His circular story style builds on each point and makes it stronger. I've been interested in lie detection as part of my job for a long time, this book gave me much to think about.

The format is interesting - with first person sources sampled or voiced by actors in the case of rape testimonials. some music but not intrusive and his enthusiasm for this format comes through.

I usually listen at double speed - but I was enjoying this book so much I slowed down to savour. I'll be rereading and also returning to his other books again. If you've not checked out his podcast and you enjoy this book - you'll definitely like that too.

Stunningly Good

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Well researched and well presented. Gives you lots to think about and especially not to jump to conclusions about people and their motives.

Gladwell at his best

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Makes you question what you think you know about other people and the assumptions we all make. Very interesting case studies throughout.

Fascinating stuff

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this book is difficult to stop listening to and is read well. I really am looking at things in a different way now, in the best possible way.

insightful and gripping

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