Strong verbs, short sentences
One long, hot afternoon on Capitol Hill, in the summer of 1991, the most powerful man in Congress took on the most powerful person in American science. Science won. What does it take to end a reign of terror?
This is a re-visiting of an extraordinary episode in US history, as told in Malcolm Gladwell’s always compelling Revisionist History podcast. It has its central character, Bernadine Healy, a lonely voice for empiricism in the face of mob-led panic. The podcast is a masterclass in storytelling, as Gladwell builds the whole episode (and its connected previous episode) to one devastating three-word riposte.
Michael