« Revisionist History

Five Burning Travel Questions with Malcolm Gladwell

2023-10-03 | 🔗

Revisionist History hits the road, courtesy of Airbnb. Malcolm shares some travel tips, including music for poolside relaxation, how to find your way around the Carolinas, and what to do about inclement weather. Then, Di Zock and Michael Specter talk about the pros and cons of traveling with your dog.

The finale of our series on guns in America airs this Thursday. Please write in with your comments at revisionisthistory.com.

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This is an unofficial transcript meant for reference. Accuracy is not guaranteed.
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Earn solution to an age old problem, ensure history doesn't repeat itself in your home: tomcat kills and prevents the pushkin. Hello, hello, everyone, Malcolm global. Here I back in the feed a bit Billy with a little amuse bush before we come, Did the finale of our guns series on thursday urban ii one of our loyal sponsors asked if we could do an episode about travel because, of course, her beauty. Is all about travel and, as you may or may not know, I do a lot of travel, I am well over a million frequent flyer miles on united at this point. I've been to Manila hunker kong, las vegas. washington dc detroit and grand rapids in just the last month, and if you're wondering, why
favorite of all those places not even close grand rapids love contracts, Why doesn't everyone live in grand rapids? I don't get it anywhere. Air bnb travel me. It all seemed like a natural fit a performer hit, the road but the gun series France has so far had been phenomenal. Please keep sending in your thoughts as a contact, provision is history, dot, com and next month, it kind of cuba, and I will talk about some of the feedback, but for now a little side trip a revisionist history. Getaway five burning travel questions with Malcolm Gladwell, first question, which I have been asking myself for at least thirty years, given the choice she you ever go to las Vegas. I must in this question because I'm in LAS vegas right now not by choice for work, set of trying to answer this question rationally with the better,
have reasoned argument and academic scholarship, as is our standard practice on revision. Is history I'm just gonna play you some short clips of the music that has been played for enjoyment. As I said by the hotel room it can cause. My brain is killing me right now, nuts, everywhere you go in LAS vegas. This is: but you here, everyone press question who would willingly listen to this music do you know anyone who does have you ever been over to someone's house for dinner or just to hang out? And they say? Oh, let me put on a little house music. While we chat know you have it, but clearly at some point early in the history of las vegas, all this many fathers must have gone. together in a room, I'm guessing, was convened by bugsy siegel, the mobs to refund elastic A bugsy was like gentlemen, we're going to create a great sitting: the desert people
from all over the world of every and religion of every shape and size. Rich and poor. Great and small will come here to this glamorous oasis to gamble away their life savings. What music shall we play them and all the guy said and then the little guy you wanted to open a high higher jewelry store, maybe with mister Harry winston, his hand and said, but Mr Pugsy, I'm trying to attract sophisticated clientele is it ok if I play schubert above He gets all scary and angry at bangs his fist on the table and says no hurry. You schmuck that goal. Because everything I'm trying to do with this oasis in the desert? You? play I mean this is like the craziest thing ever. Maybe there are some sixteen year olds out there who like music like this, but I'm looking around the pool. There are no sixteen year old here, it's
Cranky old people like me, you know how and hostage situation, sometimes the train, for the bad guy to give up by playing like heavy metal, really loudly all night long should be so lucky to be a hostage takers, hearing heavy metal right now. So short answer to question everyone. No don't do it! Don't go las vegas ever unless you. Absolutely have to question ever to what was the greatest road trip of my life. I think it was my first road Summer, I believe of nineteen eighty to buy. And terry, and I were that moment obsessed with alger hiss, the state department official who nineteen forty eight was famous. He accused of being a soviet spy bigger. story, the today huge drama ensues. It goes on for years with ones
it saying he's innocent and the other side saying he's guilty Were you ever a communist spy? Mr his? No, I was not either recognized communist norris. That's him and tearing. I were firmly of the he's guilty camp so early one august morning, before dawn Wake up! Terry won't tell me beforehand what time we're leaving, because he said he doesn't want- and this is his exact phrase- to pierce the cloud of unknowing we get into his moms pontiac DR my little town in rural southern ontario straight to washington, d c ten hours, and we visit every house alger hiss his lived in during his long career of treachery, up to and including the famous townhouse in georgia on peace street. Where so much of his skull doggery allegedly went down. We pull up. We knock on the door to scruffy teenagers from rural canada who haven't shaved, showered, slept or even eat
for several days, because we had no money. All we had was our youthful moxie and enthusiasm to the door opens, and we say Are you aware that you're living in the house of the notorious american cold war trader alger hiss delicatest blankly? her off our job is done. Then afterwards we read up nix in little less. I called the many houses it out from his which along a damning summary of the facts of the case under the line, olive which leads to the one overwhelming question. Who was this man? They call outer hiss and where did he live? I mean, How do you top that later terry night modify ballpark tour toronto, detroit about more yankee stadium, but everyone does one of those who does many houses about your has now I think that this was just some beautiful fancy, a teenage lark, but take it. You phone, Google, george F
the third harvard university you'll see of a handsome guy right round. My first name, terry professor, What russian studies baby how many road trips set in motion a lifetime of scotch ok question number three do in parts of the united states, pose particular problems for travellers. restates. The novice traveller should avoid answer. Yes, absolutely north carolina. No one talks about this puts a long standing pet peeve of mine. I was actually chow
with my friends, Michael specter and dies. Ok recently about my travel theories and it came up anecdotally there's I did a. I did a talk in em at wake forest university and which is not weirdly in wake forest which I'd point out, because I They went to wake forest areas like two miles away and why When I told my house did I I got so. Finally, I've self corrected like half mary go to Winston salem she's, really first is- and then I was soon outrage- goes like what kind of trick is north carolina playing on people with it? wake forest university, hundreds of miles from wake forest, and then, when I told my host, I nearly went to wake forest that ago, yet people irl to say that is weird fix. The
problem change the name: how hard is this? It's like? It's been going on for hundreds of years people have been going to wake forest in search of wake forest university, like I said no one talks about this, but it's kind of nuts you land in charlotte. And you punching wake forest on ways and way says two hours. Forty two minutes and you say ha, that's weird, That's the other side of the state as raleigh. Why didn't I just fight a rally and you get halfway there and you think. Maybe I should double check and you realize that north carolina has devised a nefarious scheme to frustrate unsuspecting carpet beggars arriving from the north a hundred percent. This has something to do the civil war robert e Lee says: let's let it leak out. The were setting up for a last stand at work forest and the union army spies here this insane ah ha, and they must have everyone and they must chop? What is now I eighty five, only lee
oh trickster means wake forest school, not forest to town and some around lexington- he pounces so prising the unsuspecting union army. I mean that's the only explanation that makes sense, wait, there's more joy! I have some travel faux pas stories like when I went to the wrong columbia, the rung the country. No, no, the university showed us her column. Yes, what is it a washington post washingtonpost was obsessed with covering hurricanes, columbia maryland, and I was told there was a hurricane fast approaching the outer banks of north carolina and I was dispatched to columbia to cover the hurricane landed climate.
what's carolina and there was no hurricane and ice called in and said is no hurricane. What are you guys talking about is an indian of zurich, a scenario I'm here, I'm aaron does Nora, can't like no. You can't be in columbia, north carolina, there's a hurricane gunnery. Now, and I looked around and like oh I'm in colombia, south carolina, two colombia's in in adjoining carolinas. another. This is like this is like the this is like the wake forcing all over again the country is set up to fool the unsuspecting outsider. What kind of colossal failure of imagination. Is this Someone in one of the carolinas goes first and says: oh I've, a good idea, but color town colombia and then someone else a few years later says. Oh, I haven't in better idea? Let's call our
colombia as well, because one of these days, some dumb yankee, is not going to realise that colombia is like a generics. the term for medium a city with big city aspirations, and he's gonna, go to one colombia well, meaning to go to the their colombia and so for hundreds of years thereafter, countless well meaning people from the north go to clammy What happens if I I've been a legendary brain surgeon flying down through prestigious hospital in the northeast to save the life of an horrible southern toddler and I go to the wrong colombia: did they think about that? No they didn't. They were too busy chortling over their stupid little practice. joke, stay away from north carolina a while you're at it? stay away from reporting on the weather, one The horror story was there was remember that terrible hurricane it hit miami in the nineties.
I forgot my we're together when the flattened son implored yeah bill, my colleague bill booth. Ah, what we didn't realize was a series, Does he went down the recovered and he returned home like two months later and when I saw that I realized that the mistake he made was doing a good job of covering, so that was when I decided it. I mean actually that colombia thing happened just after that. I realise that there was no upside to being a good hurricane report, because the worst a hurricane is the long view be away from home. You screw up early and often so they turn us. So then I found that up with a m, ah with I they were, there was a hurricane new orleans and ah I suggested that the best way to cover it was to approach it from the west. So I flew. I flew flight dallas
The whole thing was so preposterous. I spent like a day and a half in the car before I even got there and then just sit. I don't see, I don't see it, I don't see it finally gave up and let someone else take over, but there are, there are certain six of self preservation and the journalists in business and one of his job is to a bad job of something. You don't want. Ok, coming up the big question: what do you do about traveling when you have a dog? This episode of revisionist history is brought to you by t mobile for business. Now is the time for five g business. These days we have robots that do brain surgery. You can ask an ai chat bot to write your term paper, but yesterday, as I was driving fruitlessly around the parking lot of my local supermarket, all I could think was why can't someone come up with a gizmo that just directs me to the nearest available parking spot well turns out
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And type of dog you Oh and also a brief word about your dog temperament. My dioxin in its linus is five years old, he's a window which is a cross between a wheaten terry or in a brutal and his temper men is, he is by far the mellow ist person in the history of the spectre family and die. I have a black lab named june, but she's my third lab she's, like all my other labs ambassador of luxuries, when I
and to choose between two two labs in a litter. They said. Okay, we have two girls, one is ball obsessed and one is a snuggler which one do you want and I was like no brainer you with a snug yet so the obvious travel question. Can you just put the dog on a plane? I have flown dogs before and I have found it slightly, Roma is just that we thousand yards steer when they go off the plane. I just finished I just want to be with you yeah line. It's really didn't care, he just as fairly mellow. I was traumatized. In fact. I flew air alaska that time because there are said to have the best dog fine programme. When I got to my seat there was a stewardess standing there with the piece of paper
I said, relax linus is already on board, which is really nice. Of course. I knew that because I put a tracker on his collar because the freaking out so flying is problematic, but both Michael and I have driven cross country with her dog. How does that work? I started with. Michael, where does line is said, is in the front seat of the backseat backseat. He tries to go in the front. In fact, you try it again last week, but the problem is like: if you have some sort of accident and your airbag goes your dog goes to higher, so I've made a little shelf thought in the back seat forum. By my best the guitar have jack with my favorite dog enough or animal in the front seat story. I was talking to a wildlife that Marian recently and she had raised two cheetahs rum from when they were for whenever kittens
and they were they adored her and she would they stated her house and she worked at this gonna work. Essentially never morning. She would drive them to work. and it was the seventys and shipowners bench seats in front and the two cheetahs would sit on the see inverted. She said because We have really long necks, so you'd see her He's too adorable cheetahs. She said she said the it like the looks she got from other people on the freeway were price setting. they were used, and I was curious about- were downward. You put Juba thunderbird susan You have one of those slings. She would hang out in the back with her giant carrot, study
well and giant frog. Stuffed animal. Would you say a joy I've seen this cared, it's a good four feet support and it's a it's a pillow and a security blanket yeah. He I I always gave him his bed, his pillow and security blanket and he would curl up in the. but I'm the best part of it was going to dog parks. I mean I, I went to some crazy doug portray to one in amarillo, where this guy, who had an australian shepard, and he was so into the dog, and I said well, what do you do? Are you a dog trainer? He said no. I just got out of a federal penitentiary for dealing math. I said oh ok said, but now I'm totally focused on my dog and we talk dogs. And then he told me where the eden amarillo- and you know you can't get that kind of experience. If you dont have a dog dogs at a great levelling dogma.
The great levelling ground you yeah, it's a great icebreaker having a are anywhere so too, the cap, the reason to have a dog with you on a road trip, is it you get to acquire giant, fluffy carrots, It allows you to explore one of the great undiscovered american treasures the dog park and greatly expands your social circle to include meth dealers. These are not compelling arguments yeah well well I was ready to head home back to los angeles from that's an valley june, but maybe from drinking pond. Water got some kind of bacterial infection and basically an explosive digestive. The track- and it was like three days before I had to head oppressive
three, and so that was very clearly something that I did not see. Drivers, country with a dog? You has explosive diarrhoea, see my point, my life is in complicated enough already. I I've never told but I have trouble with a cat and I had the experts, its recently of dwell with just from here to new york city, but there was bad traffic, so we were out for about four hours in total in our for I had one child the six month, six weeks old, chooses over it and just crying nonsense. I had edi who sang without stopping, for hours so she's top atop prologues, and then the cat decided to start serenading us apples. I've got so I had. I had these singing yowling, crying combination
which has never happened before it was actually quite I don't know whether I got you know if you would go cross country deck conceived to go on for hours. Luckily we held in point, but am there you beat the more people you, the more strange creatures you put in your car, the greater the upside risk of her somehow, I repeat, a strange creatures, you putting your car, the greater good upside risks. Are you nuts. Don't do it don't go vegas, don't cover the weather, don't set foot north carolina buy a house in georgia without checking to see if the previous owner betrayed crucial american secrets. Dont travel with a dog unless absolutely necessary and do not ever please listen to music sells. It is
Alright, everyone, that's travel advice from revisionist history will be there on thursday. With the conclusion to our six part gun series on provisions. History, you won't want to miss the final episode. This episode was produced by new lords bennydeck. a free and Jacob Psmith it was. Did by Sarah nix engineering by a new lawrence special thanks to my guest. and all friends, Michael spectre and dies out, I'm not to go. The oh you're still waiting for question number five. Aren't you here? It is. What about treats? Do we have agreement on treats gotta have particular. This is a dog owner term high value
It's like not just like the kind of food he needs, but cheese and smelly fish and things that you may find repulsive, but that that dog will do anything. four, because there are times when you want to reward them, and there are also times when you want them to pay attention, and if you produce the right kind of cheese, he'll walk through fire for it. Those are those keep them busy for a long time treats like there's those himalayan sticks that will take forever and I think that's actually my big thing on that. These days are college and to this. You can get these long colleges and they last a pretty long time in their not terribly unhealthy post to say a long time. You mean hours, it can be a couple of hours of hardcore, chewing yeah, you could get a college and you could get you across the state of kansas, yet totally The thing is my dog. You know I have spent five years trying to buy things for my dog that say under
no circumstance can your dog rip this toy apart? It's impossible he's, never left twenty four hours would like he's like taking a dress. Is this like architraves? You know who, when they say you're done to know no can ever gonna always someone else gets out of architects. Tomcat makes rats nap traps and other road and control products, so they want to share a little rat history with us Did you know back in the fourteenth century, fleet ridden rats, help spread the black death wiping out a third of europe's population. And during world war. One soldiers in the trenches had to contend with massive rats. They spread diseases and added to the psychological stresses of the soldiers and now enter tom cat, rodent control them.
Modern solution to an age old problem, ensure history, doesn't repeat itself in your home tomcat kills and prevents this episode of revisions. History is brought to you by t mobile for business. You know when we make up. I cast her revisionist history. The end result is only as good as the quality of the people who helped crafted were more creative than we used to be because our tools of collaboration have gotten better t. Mobile for business has the advanced five g solutions we all need. After all, disruption is in their dna. They launched the first nationwide five g network and continue to reshape the way business gets done. Now is the time to business bravely and start building a future today go to t mobile dot com site.
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Transcript generated on 2023-12-01.