Coming Soon: The Staten Island Problem

Coming Soon: The Staten Island Problem

Author: Pushkin Industries June 29, 2026 Duration: 3:23

On the 250th anniversary of the United States, Revisionist History investigates the overlooked story of New York City almost breaking apart as Staten Island threatened to secede. 

Over the course of five episodes, The Staten Island Problem reconstructs the battle for New York City amidst the turbulent early 1990s — the rise of Rudy Giuliani, the peak of the homicide rate, the Wu-Tang Clan, a young Donald Trump, and the first Black mayor of New York — all through the prism of the city’s Forgotten Borough. And ultimately asks: What do you do when a democracy looks like it’s falling apart?

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Revisionist History is Malcolm Gladwell's journey through the overlooked and the misunderstood. Every 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. From Pushkin Industries. Because sometimes the past deserves a second chance. To get early access to ad-free episodes and extra content, subscribe to Pushkin+ in Apple Podcasts or at pushkin.fm/plus. iHeartMedia is the exclusive podcast partner of Pushkin Industries.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 50

Revisionist History: The Staten Island Problem
Podcast Episodes
Americana Music Live with Drew Holcomb and Malcolm Gladwell [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:18:11
Wrapping up our summer music series, the Memphis-born, East Nashville-based singer songwriter Drew Holcomb talks with Malcolm in front of a live audience at the Cherry Lane Theater in Greenwich Village. Drew plays origin…
Encore: Good Old Boys [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 40:01
In 2019, Malcolm just wanted an excuse to hang out with Randy Newman so they sat down at the piano together and tried to answer the question: If you disagree with someone — if you find what they think appalling — is ther…
Encore: Analysis, Parapraxis, Elvis [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 53:20
Malcolm’s habit of reading footnotes leads him to the psychologist Alan Elms, which leads him to the one song Elvis couldn’t sing. We revisit this 2018 episode as part of our encore music series. Get ad-free episodes to…
Encore: The King of Tears [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 43:31
Why does country music make you cry, but rock and roll doesn’t? We revisit a musical interpretation of a divided America in this episode from 2017. Get ad-free episodes to Revisionist History by subscribing to Pushkin+ o…
Encore: Hallelujah [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 38:14
How does genius emerge? Kicking off our summer series, Malcolm digs into the Revisionist History archive to revisit Elvis Costello’s song “Deportee” and explore the power of innovation. Get ad-free episodes to Revisionis…
Encores [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:47
Starting next week, we revisit four of Malcolm’s favorite episodes from the Revisionist History archives, all about music.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The Formula [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:09
In our season finale, we team up with the Culinary Institute of America to reverse engineer the secret recipe for Thomas’s English Muffins. You can read our top secret muffin recipe here. Get ad-free episodes to Revision…
Nooks & Crannies [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 31:27
Seven people knew the recipe for a half-a-billion dollar muffin. Then, one of them tried to leave. Get ad-free episodes to Revisionist History by subscribing to Pushkin+ on Apple Podcasts or Pushkin.fm. Pushkin+ subscrib…
Rat vs. Raccoon [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 32:07
What if we picked the wrong animal? Get ad-free episodes to Revisionist History by subscribing to Pushkin+ on Apple Podcasts or Pushkin.fm. Pushkin+ subscribers can access ad-free episodes, full audiobooks, exclusive bin…