Malcolm Gladwell: Do Fairytales Make Adulthood Harder?
3/5/20262 hr 2 min
This week, author and journalist Malcolm Gladwell joins Trevor and Eugene for a conversation that starts with big social theory and then delves into whether Disney movies have been quietly gaslighting our childhoods. From the idea that your parents are basically just middle managers for your grandparents’ personalities to the invisible shortcuts and assumptions that shape how we see the world, Gladwell does what he does best, spotting hidden patterns in the ordinary. And Trevor does what he does best, poking holes, grounding theory in real life, and refusing to let a big idea off the hook too easily.
Part pop culture autopsy and part intellectual rabbit hole, this episode makes us overthink the things we love and love the things we overthink.
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsTrevor Noah· Host0:00
[upbeat music] This should be a business for the three of us. I would- I think you- all of us should contribute to the, to the re-imagining of these flawed classics.
Malcolm Gladwell· Guest0:12
What, the Disney ones?
Trevor Noah· Host0:13
Yeah.
Malcolm Gladwell· Guest0:13
Yeah, but, but here... Okay, but y- have you watched the newer ones?
Trevor Noah· Host0:16
Well, I've watched- Moana? 'Cause they... No, because they have been re-imagined.
Malcolm Gladwell· Guest0:19
We did- I didn't wanna spoil it for you 'cause I know- No, no, we did Moana the other night ...
Trevor Noah· Host0:23
you're a goer. Yeah.
Malcolm Gladwell· Guest0:24
But it gets really violent. I'm like- That's what it's like.
Speaker 20:27
That's what it'd be like to be young, female and Black. [laughs] [laughs] [laughs] When your friend is a chicken and one is a pig. [laughs] And you're stuck with an older guy [laughs]- A guy ... with a catamaran. [laughs] And your gran is a ghost. And your grandfather ran away from your dad- That's- ... and he's the spirit of the seas.
Trevor Noah· Host0:47
The chicken- Eugene watches a lot of Moana. Do you have kids?
Malcolm Gladwell· Guest0:49
As you can tell.
Speaker 20:50
One, yes.
Malcolm Gladwell· Guest0:51
How old?
Speaker 20:52
Uh, my daughter's, uh, turning 17 this year.
Malcolm Gladwell· Guest0:55
Oh, seven- oh, you're way... You're years away from this.
Speaker 20:57
What?
Malcolm Gladwell· Guest0:58
From Moana.
Speaker 20:59
We watched it the other day.
Trevor Noah· Host1:00
[laughs] [laughs] Can you not tell? What do you mean, can you...
Speaker 21:02
[laughs] You're assuming that his daughter's the one who wants to watch it.
Malcolm Gladwell· Guest1:06
[laughs] Oh, I see. Oh, y- [laughs] Ella's the one who has been saying. [laughs] Of course. She has to put it on for him.
Trevor Noah· Host1:11
[laughs] Make way. Make way.
Malcolm Gladwell· Guest1:13
[laughs] [laughs] Yeah, she's the one who's putting it on for him.
Trevor Noah· Host1:17
[upbeat music] This is What Now? with Trevor Noah.
Unknown speaker1:24
[upbeat music]