Malcolm Gladwell is a staff writer at The New Yorker. His latest book is David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants .

"The categories are in motion. You turn into a Goliath, then you topple because of your bigness. You fall to the bottom again. And Davids, after a while, are no longer Davids. Facebook is no longer an underdog—it's now everything it once despised. I'm everything I once despised. When I was 25, I used to write these incredibly snotty, hostile articles attacking big-name, nonfiction journalists. Now I read them and I'm like, 'Oh my God, they're doing a me on me!'"

Thanks to TinyLetter and EA SPORTS FIFA 14 for sponsoring this week's episode.



Show notes:


@gladwell
gladwell.com
Gladwell on Longform
Gladwell's New Yorker archive
[6:30] "How David Beats Goliath" (New Yorker • May 2009)
[29:00] The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game (Michael Lewis • 2006)
[32:15] Psychoanalysis: The Impossible Profession (Janet Malcolm • 1981)
[32:15] The Journalist and the Murderer (Janet Malcolm • 1990)
[43:00] Tyler Cowen's Marginal Revolution
[56:30] "The Plauge of the Year" (New Republic • Jul 1995)