McNulty Leadership Program – Authors@Wharton Speaker Series: Malcolm Gladwell in a Conversation with Adam Grant

Event Description

• Date: Thursday October 24, 2024
• Time: 4:30 PM | Doors open at 4:00 PM
• Location: Harrison Auditorium (Penn Museum)
• RSVP form (Please note that while registration is required, it does not guarantee a seat. Seating is on a first-come, first-serve basis.)

This event opens to all Penn Students, Faculty and Staff – Penn ID Required for Entry. Please bring your Penn ID for a copy of Malcolm’s newest book, “Revenge of the Tipping Point” (while supplies last).

Why in the late 1980s and early ’90s did Los Angeles become the bank robbery capital of the world? What is the Magic Third, and what does it have to do with racial equity? How did a 1970s television show change the world, and what exactly happened at a corporate retreat at the Boston Marriott hotel? 

These are just some of the questions Malcolm Gladwell addresses in Revenge of the Tipping Point, in which he examines how we have learned to tinker with and shape the spread of ideas, viruses, and trends—sometimes with great success, other times with disastrous consequences. With his characteristic mix of storytelling and social science, he offers a guide to making sense of the contagions of the modern world—including an alternate history of two of the biggest epidemics of our day: COVID and the opioid crisis. 

Gladwell shows that—whether in neighborhoods, schools, zoos, or conference rooms—today’s epidemics are turbocharged versions of their earlier counterparts, and we are more tempted than ever to try to manipulate tipping points for our own ends. Gladwell argues that if we want to change our world for the better, we must above all recognize our responsibility—as individuals and as a society—to take tipping points seriously. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Malcolm Gladwell is the author of seven New York Times bestsellers: The Tipping Point, Blink, Outliers, What the Dog Saw, David and Goliath, Talking to Strangers, and The Bomber Mafia. He is also the co-founder of Pushkin Industries, an audio production company that produces audiobooks like Miracle and Wonder: Conversations with Paul Simon, as well as podcasts including Revisionist History, Broken Record, The Happiness Lab, Against the Rules, and Medal of Honor: Stories of Courage. Gladwell has been included in the Time 100 Most Influential People list and was named one of Foreign Policy’s Top Global Thinkers. Previously, he was a staff writer for The New Yorker. Gladwell was born in England and grew up in rural Ontario. He lives in New York.

ABOUT AUTHORS@WHARTON

The Authors@Wharton Speaker Series exists to enrich intellectual engagement and encourage dialogue between students, faculty, staff, and alumni outside of the classroom. Launched in 2012 by Professor Adam Grant, our events are open to all members of the Penn community at no cost.

EVENT POLICIES:

Seating for Authors@Wharton events is first come, first served, registering for the event does not guarantee entrance to the event or a seat.