Malcolm Gladwell visited the Late Show to discuss his new book with Stephen Colbert.
Gladwell’s Revenge of the Tipping Point: Overstories, Superspreaders, and the Rise of Social Engineering was published Tuesday by Little, Brown. A follow-up to his 2000 bestseller, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, Gladwell’s new book explores the concept of social contagion and covers topics including the opioid epidemic, Ivy League sports teams, and the city of Miami. In a starred review, a critic for Kirkus wrote of the book, “Fans of the original will learn much from Gladwell’s thoughtful, carefully written reconsideration.”
Colbert asked the author, “How would you describe a Malcolm Gladwell book?”
“You know when you go to a dinner party or just a party and there’s someone who traps you in the corner?” Gladwell responded. “My books are the best version of that.…I like to tell stories, and I like to think that they’re stories that you’ve never heard before, in unusual combinations.”
Colbert asked Gladwell about the title of his latest book, saying, “What does the ‘revenge’ mean? Is this an anti–tipping point?”
“It means that the first time around, I was interested in all the wonderful things you can do with the laws of epidemics,” he said. “This time around, I’m older.…I’m not quite so chirpy and optimistic. It’s revenge.”
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
