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The Corruption of Malcolm Gladwell
It may be hard to imagine that Malcolm Gladwell, a staff writer for the New Yorker and bestselling author beloved by millions of readers, could be a crooked propagandist for some of the most toxic and destructive industries on the planet. Investigative journalist Yasha Levine didn't think it was possible, either—at least not until he happened to stumble across an old article by Gladwell defending the tobacco industry, and discovered a paper trail that led him to the shocking truth...
Levine presents well-sourced evidence showing that Gladwell spent his entire career systematically and unapologetically shilling for Big Tobacco, Pharma, health insurance companies and defending Wall Street financial fraud, all while earning seven figures as one of the most sought-after corporate speakers in America, frequently being paid by the same companies and industries that he covers as a journalist. Levine unravels years of Gladwell’s work as a covert propagandist, and analyzes the techniques Gladwell uses to confuse readers, redirect their attention and slyly rewrite history for the benefit of his sponsors—without anyone getting wise to his racket.
Levine presents well-sourced evidence showing that Gladwell spent his entire career systematically and unapologetically shilling for Big Tobacco, Pharma, health insurance companies and defending Wall Street financial fraud, all while earning seven figures as one of the most sought-after corporate speakers in America, frequently being paid by the same companies and industries that he covers as a journalist. Levine unravels years of Gladwell’s work as a covert propagandist, and analyzes the techniques Gladwell uses to confuse readers, redirect their attention and slyly rewrite history for the benefit of his sponsors—without anyone getting wise to his racket.
- GenresPoliticsNonfiction
70 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 9, 2012
23 people are currently reading
416 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 9, 2023
This was a short, rather fascinating read. He quotes Gladwell as saying that his childhood dream was to go into PR, in other words propaganda. The father of propaganda, dating back to early 20th century, was Edward Bernays, who wrote a book titled "Propaganda," which I read. But, at some point, Bernays got a thank you note from Jospeh Goebbels, which alarmed Bernays so he changed it to the innocuous sounding Public Relations. But the techniques remained the same.
Before Gladwell started writing his popular airport books, he served as a shill for Big Tobacco, Big Pharma, health insurance companies, and Wall Street fraudsters. He also attacked unions and universal healthcare. He always found a way to blame the victims. Gladwell avoided rants, but employed very clever sophistry instead.
As the author of this book says:
"Propaganda works best when it is not perceived as propaganda: nuance, obfuscation, distraction, suggestion, the subtle introduction of doubt— these are more effective in the long run than shotgun blasts of lies."
Gladwell was a prized catch for these entities because he wrote for respectable pubs, such as the Washington Post and The New Yorker, that added credibility, and the industries he promoted cashed in on his celebrity by having him speak at their conferences for fees ranging from $40,000 to $80,000.
Tipping Point, which I have read and found to be a fuzzy concept that proved nothing, was his first foray into books. I've read most of his other books. His sophistry serves him well in these endeavors. He presents what appears to be research (0ften misrepresented, as in the case of Outliers) to give it a verneer of intellectual depth. But his writing is basically an exercise in confirmation bias in marshaling anecdotes that "prove" his preconceived concept.
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More details on Gladwell's shenanigans...
https://shameproject.com/profile/malc...
My review of Outliers...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Short article on Bernays and Propaganda....
https://phys.org/news/2015-07-america...
Before Gladwell started writing his popular airport books, he served as a shill for Big Tobacco, Big Pharma, health insurance companies, and Wall Street fraudsters. He also attacked unions and universal healthcare. He always found a way to blame the victims. Gladwell avoided rants, but employed very clever sophistry instead.
As the author of this book says:
"Propaganda works best when it is not perceived as propaganda: nuance, obfuscation, distraction, suggestion, the subtle introduction of doubt— these are more effective in the long run than shotgun blasts of lies."
Gladwell was a prized catch for these entities because he wrote for respectable pubs, such as the Washington Post and The New Yorker, that added credibility, and the industries he promoted cashed in on his celebrity by having him speak at their conferences for fees ranging from $40,000 to $80,000.
Tipping Point, which I have read and found to be a fuzzy concept that proved nothing, was his first foray into books. I've read most of his other books. His sophistry serves him well in these endeavors. He presents what appears to be research (0ften misrepresented, as in the case of Outliers) to give it a verneer of intellectual depth. But his writing is basically an exercise in confirmation bias in marshaling anecdotes that "prove" his preconceived concept.
=========
More details on Gladwell's shenanigans...
https://shameproject.com/profile/malc...
My review of Outliers...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Short article on Bernays and Propaganda....
https://phys.org/news/2015-07-america...
August 31, 2019
I have always known Gladwell is a fraud and propagandist. I have read two of his books, which were well-written propaganda pieces, designed to sound smart to dumb people.
This book exposes Gladwell and his activities shilling for big corporations, such as tobacco and pharmaceutical companies; and as a highly-paid speaker giving talks to the very people who he writes about as a journalist, which is obviously a huge conflict of interest. In a world of vipers, Gladwell can still stand out.
This book exposes Gladwell and his activities shilling for big corporations, such as tobacco and pharmaceutical companies; and as a highly-paid speaker giving talks to the very people who he writes about as a journalist, which is obviously a huge conflict of interest. In a world of vipers, Gladwell can still stand out.
September 18, 2025
This may be one of the worst books I have ever read by someone claiming to be a journalist. The fundamental position of the book is "Big Pharma is BAD" and "Big Oil is BAD" and then proceeds to show that Malcolm Gladwell made money from both during his career. Nobody who thinks in these sort of binary terms should be a journalist.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews