The American Way of Killing

Malcolm Gladwell on What We Get Wrong About Guns

The Next Big Idea, 5 November 2026. The author is the guest. The book comes up at 1 min 11 sec in.

Malcolm Gladwell is interviewed at length about his new book. He argues that banning assault rifles would barely touch the homicide rate; that the Second Amendment's original purpose was to protect Virginia's slave patrols; that the US has a violence problem distinct from general crime; and that most lethal violence is spontaneous and interpersonal rather than premeditated. The hosts describe the result as brilliant, maddening, provocative, and optimistic.

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