4. The Little Bird, With Malcolm Gladwell

Can a story be true even when most of its details are false? In 2005, Malcolm told a story at the Moth about his early days as a journalist. When he was accused of falsifying the facts, he admitted he’d made a lot of them up—but he insists the story wasn’t a lie. Host: Brian Phillips Producers: Mike Wargon, Conor Nevins, and Vikram Patel Sound Design: Kaya McMullen Mixing and Mastering: Scott Somerville You can check out Malcolm’s Moth story in full on ‘This American Life’ here: “Tough News Room.” And if you want to take a really deep dive into this episode, you can read Jack Shafer’s Slate story here: “The Fibbing Point.” But don’t click on these links until after you’ve listened to this episode—unless you love spoilers. Which would be weird, frankly. Just press play! Good grief. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices