But the more I thought about it, the more interesting it became. So originally, I just wanted to kind of reference it, and then move on. I started with it because it’s the original myth, right? It’s where the whole idea of underdogs comes from - it’s all shaped by this extraordinary, memorable encounter between these two guys thousands of years ago. What made you decide to zoom in on David and Goliath? What showed you this story was something you wanted to explore further? I was drawn to these kind of stories from the very beginning. It’s a similar kind of story - at least, it’s a seemingly impossible encounter that turns out differently because of one party’s faith. And it’s funny, this was not my favorite - my favorite story was Daniel in the lions’ den. My mother read me biblical stories at night. How were you first introduced to the story of David and Goliath? (As a bonus, we also asked him what pasta sauce he prefers.) An edited transcript of the conversation follows. “Everything I thought I knew about that story turned out to be wrong.”įascinated to hear more, the TED Blog called Gladwell to unravel why the underdog story has such resonance and why rethinking David and Goliath is important now. “The term ‘David and Goliath’ has entered our language as a metaphor for improbable victories by some weak party over someone far stronger,” says Gladwell in this talk. Overall, he asks: was David really the underdog in this fight? It all begins with a closer look at that sling (which is not the toy slingshot we might picture), and at the five rocks David picked up to use in it. In today’s talk, Malcolm Gladwell - whose new book is titled David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits and the Art of Battling Giants - takes a closer look at this classic story, digging into the details which are easily lost on a modern audience. Malcolm Gladwell: The unheard story of David and Goliath But is this really what the Bible describes? This is generally how the tale is told: a young shepherd does battle with a giant warrior and, using nothing but a slingshot, comes out victorious. For 3000 years, the story of David and Goliath has seeped into our cultural consciousness.

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