Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don't Know
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Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don't Know Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Malcolm Gladwell (Author, Narrator), Hachette Audio (Publisher)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 22,144 ratings
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Malcolm Gladwell, host of the podcast Revisionist History and author of the number-one New York Times best seller Outliers, reinvents the audiobook in this immersive production of Talking to Strangers, a powerful examination of our interactions with people we don’t know.

How did Fidel Castro fool the CIA for a generation? Why did Neville Chamberlain think he could trust Adolf Hitler? Why are campus sexual assaults on the rise? Do television sitcoms teach us something about the way we relate to each other that isn't true?

While tackling these questions, Malcolm Gladwell was not solely writing a book for the page. He was also producing for the ear. In the audiobook version of Talking to Strangers, you’ll hear the voices of people he interviewed - scientists, criminologists, military psychologists. Court transcripts are brought to life with re-enactments. You actually hear the contentious arrest of Sandra Bland by the side of the road in Texas. As Gladwell revisits the deceptions of Bernie Madoff, the trial of Amanda Knox, and the suicide of Sylvia Plath, you hear directly from many of the players in these real-life tragedies. There’s even a theme song - Janelle Monae’s “Hell You Talmbout”.

Something is very wrong, Gladwell argues, with the tools and strategies we use to make sense of people we don't know. And because we don't know how to talk to strangers, we are inviting conflict and misunderstanding in ways that have a profound effect on our lives and our world.

The audiobook edition of Talking to Strangers was an instant number-one best seller, and was one of the most pre-ordered audiobooks in history. It seamlessly marries audiobooks and podcasts, creating a completely new and real listening experience.

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  1. Listening Length
    8 hours and 42 minutes
  2. Author
    Malcolm Gladwell
  3. Narrator
    Malcolm Gladwell
  4. Audible release date
    Sept. 10 2019
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    Hachette Audio
  7. ASIN
    B07NJ51RGF
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
  10. See all details
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Product details

Listening Length 8 hours and 42 minutes
Author Malcolm Gladwell
Narrator Malcolm Gladwell
Audible.ca Release Date September 10 2019
Publisher Hachette Audio
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B07NJ51RGF
Best Sellers Rank #227 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#1 in Sociology (Audible Books & Originals)
#2 in Social Sciences (Audible Books & Originals)
#5 in Social History (Books)

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
22,144 global ratings
good but damaged
4 Stars
good but damaged
Thx! But the cover was "damaged" not cleanable.... sad for a new book
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Top reviews from Canada

FP
5.0 out of 5 stars Thought provoking
Reviewed in Canada on August 9, 2022
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Thought provoking like all of Malcolm Gladwell's books. The main takeaway I got from the book is most people assume that strangers are truthful/good and as a result we're terrible at detecting liars/traitors/cheats. However, while presuming strangers are cheating you does allow you to find fraudsters on rare occasions, it can have serious downsides- cops treating innocent people who are nervous at a traffic stop like criminals and arresting them, leading to suicide in the case of Sandra Bland. I will say that I did not think the book would be about this at all based on the title. The book also spends time discussing prisoner interrogation techniques and university campus drinking culture and rape culture, which I didn't expect and thought was a bit out of place perhaps.
2 people found this helpful
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P. Coulombe
4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting easy read, but feels like a medley of subjects
Reviewed in Canada on February 1, 2022
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This book is interesting and easy to read. It seems well researched. The only main thing I wasn't fond of was the author seemed to force subjects into his theme (how we perceive strangers); he used this lens to interpret every story in the book, but sometimes the connection seemed far fetched.

That being said, the stories remained interesting.
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TechGuy
5.0 out of 5 stars Very good book.
Reviewed in Canada on June 23, 2023
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Written in Malcolm Galdwell's usual style, this book is as easy to read as a novel but bring you food for thought along with supporting references and statistics.
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Angela Rowley
5.0 out of 5 stars I saw this writer on TV talking about his book.
Reviewed in Canada on March 30, 2023
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I have not read it yet. I am really looking forward to understanding how our personal thoughts & misunderstandings of how strangers react in certain situations should give us pause. Mr. Gladwell writes “ misreading them can have disastrous consequences.”
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M Colt
3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting but nothing new
Reviewed in Canada on June 28, 2023
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I’ve read other Malcom Gladwell books and this was my least favourite. It was ok but didn’t give any new insight
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Allan
5.0 out of 5 stars I loved this book. One of his best.
Reviewed in Canada on April 16, 2023
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Gladwell tackles some uncomfortable subjects in this book, which may account for some of the negative reviews. Get past the nastier examples though, and this book shines with insight.
3 people found this helpful
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Bluewater guy
4.0 out of 5 stars Very thought provoking
Reviewed in Canada on March 6, 2023
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Enjoyed first half of book greatly. Found second half of book a little slow.
One person found this helpful
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Mike
5.0 out of 5 stars Wow!
Reviewed in Canada on January 4, 2022
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I am an investigator and therefore a student of detecting deception. This book makes you think! It takes real world historical events and ties them in with the dos and don’t of trust, deception and how to navigate between the 2.

I highly recommend this book if for nothing else, to make you sit up and say “WOW”.
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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carlos garza
5.0 out of 5 stars Libro Hablandoa extraños
Reviewed in Mexico on April 21, 2024
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Buenisimo como todos los libros del autor. una introspeccion en el arte de escudriñar a la gente y porque no sabemos si dicen la verdad o no entre otras cosas. muy recomendable
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Abba
5.0 out of 5 stars Must Read
Reviewed in the United States on November 30, 2023
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The introduction is an incident simply narrated and we forget about it, until we are reminded of it in chapter 12 where the whole book was slowly preparing us to learn absorb and understand why it was mentioned and why it happened at same time. This is the genius of Gladwell!
I have read many of Malcolm Gladwell books, (The tipping Point, Blink, Outliers) luckily, he has maintained the same level in all his books to date. They are always page turners, revealing, interesting, captivating, and compel the reader to want to learn more about the topic and never boring informative.
An amazing technique used by the author is the short stories that are the bait that clings you to the book and makes the scientific theories, tables, graphs and facts that lie in the coming page exciting and fun to read as they come in with the moral, and science DEDUCED from the story.
The theories don’t come in boring jargon but in real life events with real people, names, places, and events that end with a scientific conclusion that is a piece of the puzzle to get to the final conclusion. Such as giving the famous show FRIENDS as an example, or his father reading Charles Dickens to him as a kid.
The style is BRILLIANT! going about with short chapters telling us an amazing story with the science on the margin.
No matter how much you can benefit from the book, and the load of information, high or low, the bottom line is that you will enjoy it. I encourage reading, it will open your eyes on the old prevailing beliefs that have led us to wrongly judge people and how bad we are at detecting lies.
Malcolm Gladwell’s books are 3 in 1: they are Biographic, Scientific Novels!
On the conundrum of talking to strangers:
“To assume the best about another is the trait that has created modern society. Those occasions when our trusting nature gets violated are tragic. But the alternative—to abandon trust as a defense against predation and deception—is worse.”
11 people found this helpful
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Viviane
5.0 out of 5 stars I was great
Reviewed in Brazil on December 23, 2022
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Kids should read and discuss this type of book in class, that would change the next generation for better. Necessary read.
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Nila
5.0 out of 5 stars Ein ausgezeichnetes Buch
Reviewed in Germany on April 6, 2024
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Kann ich wärmstens empfehlen
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Pranav
5.0 out of 5 stars Good book to read, paper quality need improvement
Reviewed in India on March 30, 2024
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Excellent book , a must read
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