Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don’t Know – Malcolm Gladwell

The book dives into miscommunication, interactions and assumptions people make when dealing with those that they don’t know. A variety of events and issues are examined, including the arrest and subsequent death of Sandra Bland; British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s interactions with Adolf Hitler; the sex abuse scandal of Larry Nassar; the Cuban mole Ana Montes; the investment scandal of Bernie Madoff; the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal; the trial of Amanda Knox; the Brock Turner rape case; Sylvia Plath’s death; and the Kansas City preventive patrol experiment. 

The book draws from the truth-default theory by psychologist and communication studies professor Timothy R. Levine. “Default to truth” is used throughout the book to observe how human beings are by nature trusting, not only of people or technology, but of everything. Sometimes this kind of behaviour, the lack of understanding each other, leads to disastrous and tragic outcomes. Gladwell notes how there are evolutionary social reasons why we trust more than suspect – the need for cooperation being one. Gladwell asserts that defaulting to distrust would be disastrous and that we should “accept the limits of our ability to decipher strangers”. 

The audiobook version of the book features voices of people Gladwell interviewed, such as scientists and military psychologists. Narration, interviews and sound bites are real. Court transcripts are re-enacted. 

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Table of Contents: 

Dedication 
Author’s Note 
Introduction: “Step out of the car!” 

Part One: Spies and Diplomats: Two Puzzles 
Chapter One: Fidel Castro’s Revenge 
Chapter Two: Getting to Know der Führer 

Part Two: Default to Truth 
Chapter Three: The Queen of Cuba 
Chapter Four: The Holy Fool 
Chapter Five: Case Study: The Boy in the Shower 

Part Three: Transparency 
Chapter Six: The Friends Fallacy. 
Chapter Seven: A (Short) Explanation of the Amanda Knox Case 
Chapter Eight: Case Study: The Fraternity Party 

Part Four: Lessons 
Chapter Nine: KSM: What Happens When the Stranger Is a Terrorist? 

Part Five: Coupling 
Chapter Ten: Sylvia Plath 
Chapter Eleven: Case Study: The Kansas City Experiments 
Chapter Twelve: Sandra Bland 

Afterword 
Acknowledgments 
Discover More 
Notes 
About the Author 

Also by Malcolm Gladwell 

Acclaim for Malcolm Gladwell’s Talking to Strangers