Cover of Outliers

Book · 2008 · Business & Economics

Outliers

The Story of Success

by Malcolm Gladwell · Recommended by 33 people on 19 podcasts

#30 of 16,669 books, ranked by how many different people bring it up on podcasts

mentions
88
people
33
podcasts
19
episodes
61
recommendations
10

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I'm a giant fan of your work man particularly outliers I've really loved that book yeah very illuminating and it sort of peels away the the mystery of talent.
Joe Rogan · The Joe Rogan Experience · Nov 2019 Listen at 0:41

What they say about it

Grouped from 88 mentions
  • Discusses the 10,000-hour rule“the 10,000-hour rule”
    23
  • Mentions the Beatles and Hamburg“the Beatles when they were in Germany”
    13
  • Rereads the book“rereading Malcolm Gladwell's book Outliers”
    5

The best things said about it

6 of 88 · every mention
Recommended
There's a great book I'm reading right now. It's called Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. It's great. And it's all about what makes people successful and why they were successful.
Joe Rogan The Joe Rogan Experience · Oct 2018
Discussed
In Outliers the whole thesis is that success derives from deep experience and long exposure to doing something in a very narrow field.
Richard Koch The Tim Ferriss Show · Jul 2024
Discussed
Malcolm Gladwell said it in the book outliers he said if you sp you need to spend 10,000 hours of excellent practice meaning getting better each time you do the repetition.
Dave Ramsey The Ramsey Show · Jun 2024
Discussed
Most people who have heard of the 10,000-hour rule heard of it via the book Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. Outliers looked at how extraordinarily accomplished people accomplished what they did.
Stephen Dubner Freakonomics Radio · Dec 2016
Discussed
I remember reading Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers, and it was like you've got to have 10,000 hours to even be considered an expert.
Alex Cooper On Purpose with Jay Shetty · Oct 2022
Discussed
It's the things like if you uh read like Malcolm gladwell's uh the outliers one of the things that he'll talk about with like certain incredible success stories It's like the access that they had to all these different things that could help them.
Brian Simpson The Joe Rogan Experience · Dec 2022

Where and when it comes up

Mentions per year

Counted mentions by episode date. Our archive is deeper for recent years; 2026 so far.

How it comes up

Recommended means the speaker tells listeners to read it.

Most mentions, by podcast

Top 9 of 19 shows

33 people who brought it up

Most recommendations first

Also: Megyn Kelly · Rich Roll · Richard Koch · Shaan Puri · Anders Ericsson · Andrew Santino · Angela Duckworth · Angela Lee Duckworth · Dave Ramsey · David Epstein · Greg Cowles · Jason Calacanis · Monty Franklin · Owen Smith · Pamela Paul · Rizwan Virk · Ryan Holiday · Steve Levitt · Steven Bartlett · Tom Segura · Vinny Lingham

Why people recommend it

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell is an examination of the external factors, cultural legacies, and massive amounts of practice that contribute to extraordinary success. Joe Rogan frequently recommended the book on The Joe Rogan Experience, using its concepts to explain the ten-thousand-hour rule of mastery through examples like the Beatles' residency in Hamburg or Tiger Woods' intense childhood training. Deric Poston also mentioned owning the book on the same podcast. Jordan Harbinger recommended the title on The Jordan Harbinger Show while discussing informed instincts and the various circumstances that shape high achievers. The speakers consistently highlighted how the book debunks the myth of pure innate talent by emphasizing the importance of timing, environment, and relentless dedication. Whether discussing the origins of exceptional skill or analyzing what makes people truly successful, the podcast guests and hosts agreed that the book offers a compelling framework for understanding the hidden components behind extraordinary achievement and the long pathways required to reach the pinnacle of any field.

Every mention

88 counted mentions · 23 passing or ad reads below
Joe Rogan that's um also another book that i've finished again recently that i've reread is malcolm gladwell's outlie… 25
Recommended
“Do you ever had Malcolm Gladwell's outliers? No. Well, one of the things it talks about is just talks about, it's great book. And one of the things in the book, it talks about why something became extraordinary.”
Discussed
“like if you read uh Malcolm gladwell's book the outl you know I bought it I haven't read it but I do have it it's good to read it's good to listen to too I've listened to the audio book the audio book is amazing because Malcolm reads it and he talks about the Beatles when they were in Germany”
Discussed
“he's been the subject of several profiles from Esquire magazine to Malcolm Gladwell makes an appearance in outliers”
Discussed
“and you know uh Malcolm Gladwell wrote about people that live in the Appalachians and some of the the insane violence that took place there and he said there's a direct connection between the type of people that move there because they were herders and herders unlike Farmers had to protect their animals”
Discussed
“you ever read um uh the outliers yes Malcolm Gladwell yes and when he talked about the Beatles in Hamburg”
Discussed
“did you ever read the um did you ever read Malcolm gladwell's outliers no but I've heard you talk about it it's a great book”
Discussed
“if you uh read like Malcolm gladwell's the outliers one of the things that he'll talk about with like certain incredible success stories it's like the access that they had to all these different things that could help them”
Recommended
“have you read outliers by malcolm gladwell i haven't it's a really good book”
Recommended
“have you read malcolm gladwell's outliers yes well that is like an amazing example of that”
Discussed
“and malcolm gladwell's outliers talks about this with professional hockey players with professional hockey players all the the elites they all were born within a certain time of the year”
Discussed
“and malcolm gladwell's outliers talks about this with professional hockey players”
Recommended
“that's um also another book that i've finished again recently that i've reread is malcolm gladwell's outliers same thing putting in the time like what makes someone exceptional”
Discussed
“do you ever read outliers i no but i gladly did read this loud”
Discussed
“i'm in the middle of rereading malcolm gladwell's book outliers and there's a part of that about conflicts in the south and honor cultures”
Discussed
“i'm actually rereading that book right now that malcolm gladwell book outliers that talks about that 10 000 hours principle it totally applies to what you did 100”
Discussed
“I'm actually rereading that book right now that malcolm gladwell book outliers that talks about that 10 000 hours principle it totally applies to what you did 100”
Recommended
“have you ever read the book outliers no it's a great book is that is that a Malcolm who is that uh no it's um someone else malw is Malcolm godwell it's a great book”
Discussed
“I really like him I love is well I love outliers oh there's Malcolm yeah I love that too He was on recently - He was on much more recently He was on like double weeks ago but Pinker's excellent He's just his work enlightenment now Yes Yes yeah he gets massive pushback on that That's what's interesting because he's”
Discussed
“I'm a giant fan of your work man particularly outliers I've really loved that book yeah very illuminating and it sort of peels away the the mystery of talent”
Discussed
“I was listening to this Malcolm Gladwell book on tape it's called outliers and they got into a part about the Beatles”
Recommended
“There's a great book I'm reading right now. It's called outliers by Malcolm McDowell. It's [ __ ] great. And it's all about what makes people successful and why they were successful.”
Discussed
“as far as they say they say that what was that book that by Malcolm Gladwell where like wherever you're from has to do with how you react to a front”
Discussed
“That's like all these contributing factors to the environment of is like being an it's like Malcolm Gladwell's outliers.”
Discussed
“Well, you know Malcolm Gladwell, he's got a book called about Outliers about people that perform really well at things.”
Recommended
“well you look at like did you read the book outliers no it's uh this book about how people like Bill Gates um came about”
Bryan Callen if you if you read Malcolm gladwell's book The outliers or my buddy's book straight a conspiracy it has to… 1
Recommended
“if you if you read Malcolm gladwell's book The outliers or my buddy's book straight a conspiracy it has to do with a culture that says”
Deric Poston Yeah, like if you read Malcolm Gladwell's book, 'The Outliers,' you know? I bought it, I haven't read it, b… 1
Recommended
“Yeah, like if you read Malcolm Gladwell's book, 'The Outliers,' you know? I bought it, I haven't read it, but I do have it.”
Jordan Harbinger read Malcolm Gladwell's book on outliers 1
Recommended
“read Malcolm Gladwell's book on outliers”
Stephen Dubner And there's distilled perhaps best by one sentence in Outliers on page 50, the Hamburg crucible is one of t… 13
Discussed
“You may have heard of the 10,000-hour rule, the idea that you need to practice for 10,000 hours to become great at something.”
Discussed
“Most people who have heard of the 10,000-hour rule heard of it via the book Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. Outliers looked at how extraordinarily accomplished people accomplished what they did.”
Discussed
“Have you talked with Malcolm about what you feel he got wrong? Have not ever spoken to Malcolm Gladwell, and I think that could have avoided some of his summaries of that work in Outliers”
Discussed
“And there's distilled perhaps best by one sentence in Outliers on page 50, the Hamburg crucible is one of the things that set the Beatles apart.”
Discussed
“And then that second stage is practice. Particularly deliberate practice. The kind of deliberate practice that kind of went viral when Malcolm Gladwell wrote Outliers. We got into that in our previous episode, the Gladwell version in Outliers, which is built around something called the 10,000-hour rule.”
Discussed
“So, Outliers is your book from 2008, if I recall correctly? 2009. Sorry, 2009. Okay. Let me ask you to summarize your view of your thesis in Outliers.”
Discussed
“I'm guessing that the average takeaway would be some restatement of what you said, but it would also include the 10,000-hour rule. Do you agree that that would be the average takeaway? I agree that that would be the average takeaway.”
Discussed
“So there's a sentence in, I believe it's the chapter called the 10,000 Hour Rule in Outliers, where you write that 10,000 Hours is the magic number of greatness.”
Discussed
“So in your book, in the 10,000-hour rule chapter of Outliers, you wrote about the Beatles and how one of the reasons, one of the key reasons why they became the Beatles was because of the huge amount of time they spent in Hamburg and playing in clubs.”
Discussed
“Most people who have heard of the 10,000-hour rule heard of it via the book Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. Outliers looked at how extraordinarily accomplished people accomplished what they did.”
Critiqued
“One example that you give that Malcolm Gladwell writes about in Outliers that you say looks good on first glance, maybe to a layperson, but falls apart upon inspection, is the Beatles playing all those nights in clubs in Hamburg.”
Discussed
“So there's a sentence in, I believe it's the chapter called the 10,000 hour rule in Outliers, where you write that 10,000 hours is the magic number of greatness.”
Discussed
“And there's distilled perhaps best by one sentence in Outliers on page 50. The Hamburg crucible is one of the things that set the Beatles apart.”
Malcolm Gladwell That's not the name of the book. No that was Outliers my book got Outliers. I always remind somebody to kin… 6
Discussed
“That's not the name of the book. No that was Outliers my book got Outliers. I always remind somebody to kind of that would probably be that.”
Discussed
“that's not the name of the book no that was outlier my book got outliers”
Discussed
“so i make the observation outliers that 10 000 hours is a kind of it's a rough proxy for how much preparation you need to succeed”
Discussed
“The 10,000 Hours stuff that I put in Outliers was really only intended to perform a very specific narrative function, or not narrative function, but argumentative function.”
Discussed
“But remember, when I was writing Outliers, I was only interested in the hours because I was interested in this notion about social support. That portion of Outliers was simply getting people to properly appreciate the kinds of sacrifices that are necessary for someone to become great.”
Brian Simpson The one of the more interesting things is about the Beatles. In the Beatles talks about how they got this g… 4
Discussed
“I think this is from is this from Malcolm Gladwell's book?”
Discussed
“The one of the more interesting things is about the Beatles. In the Beatles talks about how they got this gig in Hamburg, Germany”
Discussed
“it's the things like if you uh read like Malcolm gladwell's uh the outliers one of the things that he'll talk about with like certain incredible success stories It's like the access that they had to all these different things that could help them”
Discussed
“When The Beatles went back to Liverpool everybody's like what the [ __ ] did you guys do how are you so good like what the hell happened that's what I did numbers just numbers when I when I first started I was pretty bad and then”
Alex Cooper I remember reading um Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers and it was like you've got to have 10,000 hours to even b… 2
Discussed
“I remember reading um Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers and it was like you've got to have 10,000 hours to even be considered an expert.”
Discussed
“I remember reading Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers, and it was like you've got to have 10,000 hours to even be considered an expert.”
Chris Bosh and he gave me outliers and I was like man thanks 2
Discussed
“and he gave me outliers and I was like man thanks”
Chris Williamson You know how they talk about 10,000 hours? Referring to the Malcolm Gladwell book. 2
Discussed
“You know how they talk about 10,000 hours? Referring to the Malcolm Gladwell book.”
Discussed
“and even if someone else has been incredibly fortunate and what is it Malcolm Gladwell in outliers speaks about how lucky Bill Gates was to be born”
David Lee Roth it's detailed in the book the outliers right is it the outliers i think it is there's a there's a book outl… 2
Discussed
“it's detailed in the book the outliers right is it the outliers i think it is there's a there's a book outliers”
Discussed
“it's detailed in the book The outliers Right Is it the outliers There's uh there's a book outliers Yeah that they talk about how when the beatles emerged people don't realize they had so many hours of playing and it's one of the reasons why they're so good”
Howard Marks You know, if you if you read Malcolm Gladwell in Outliers, it was just luck. Right time, right place. 2
Discussed
“You know, if you if you read Malcolm Gladwell in Outliers, it was just luck. Right time, right place.”
Discussed
“And as you say, if you read Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, you learn about demographic luck, right time, right place.”
Megyn Kelly you don't realize how many fingerprints malcolm gladwell has left on our society in profound ways in books… 2
Discussed
“so i love that you revisited this theory in outliers as the mother of three young children ages 9 11 and 12. i knew i read outliers and i'm one of those parents that got swept up in it a couple of things in there”
Discussed
“you don't realize how many fingerprints malcolm gladwell has left on our society in profound ways in books like the tipping point and outliers”
Rich Roll There are themes from all of your books that come into play. 2
Discussed
“There are themes from all of your books that come into play.”
Discussed
“Aren't you so appreciative of that 10,000 hours discovery that someone, I know Malcolm Gladwell gets the credit. It wasn't him. No, it wasn't him, it wasn't him. But whatever. Okay, so we all read-- I forget his name, but it-- Was it outliers? It was in outliers.”
Richard Koch so I took an old book which was Malcolm gladwell's outliers and you probably remember that in outliers the… 2
Discussed
“so I took an old book which was Malcolm gladwell's outliers and you probably remember that in outliers the whole thesis is that success derives from Deep experience and long exposure to doing something in a very narrow field”
Discussed
“so i took an old book which was malcolm gladwell's outliers”
Shaan Puri The book Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell talked a little bit about this like you know, at a young age Bill Bil… 2
Discussed
“The book Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell talked a little bit about this like you know, at a young age Bill Bill Gates and Paul Allen the founders of Microsoft, their school was the first one of the only schools in the country to have a computer.”
Discussed
“you hear like another one is like the ten thousand hour rule that got really popular because malcolm gladwell wrote this book called outliers and he's like oh you know to be great at something you got to spend ten thousand hours and uh and so then a lot of people run with that”
Anders Ericsson And I think that could have avoided some of his summaries of that work in Outliers, but I never interacted… 1
Critiqued
“And I think that could have avoided some of his summaries of that work in Outliers, but I never interacted with him.”
Andrew Santino Did you ever read the um did you ever read Malcolm gladwell's outliers? no but I've heard you talk about it… 1
Discussed
“Did you ever read the um did you ever read Malcolm gladwell's outliers? no but I've heard you talk about it It's a great book and one of the chapters in the book is about the Beatles”
Angela Duckworth Adam Grant writes about Malcolm Gladwell, who's the well-known author of many New York Times bestsellers li… 1
Discussed
“Adam Grant writes about Malcolm Gladwell, who's the well-known author of many New York Times bestsellers like 'David and Goliath,' 'Tipping Point,' and 'Outliers.'”
Angela Lee Duckworth The kind of deliberate practice that kind of went viral when Malcolm Gladwell wrote Outliers. Malcolm Gladw… 1
Discussed
“The kind of deliberate practice that kind of went viral when Malcolm Gladwell wrote Outliers. Malcolm Gladwell's book, Outliers, is premised on something called the 10,000-hour rule.”
Dave Ramsey Malcolm Gladwell said it in the book outliers he said if you sp you need to spend 10,000 hours of excellent… 1
Discussed
“Malcolm Gladwell said it in the book outliers he said if you sp you need to spend 10,000 hours of excellent practice meaning getting better each time you do the repetition”
David Epstein The Sports Gene was popularized by Gladwell in his book Outliers. 1
Discussed
“The Sports Gene was popularized by Gladwell in his book Outliers.”
Greg Cowles um ironically it's sort of a clone of Malcolm gladwell's outliers 1
Discussed
“um ironically it's sort of a clone of Malcolm gladwell's outliers”
Jason Calacanis if you think about Malcolm Gladwell's 10,000 hours it's you probably don't need 10,000 hours of anything to… 1
Discussed
“if you think about Malcolm Gladwell's 10,000 hours it's you probably don't need 10,000 hours of anything to become an expert what you need is really focused concentrated effort”
Monty Franklin i'm in the middle of um rereading malcolm gladwell's outliers book and that's one of the the things that he… 1
Discussed
“i'm in the middle of um rereading malcolm gladwell's outliers book and that's one of the the things that he discusses in that book”
Owen Smith yeah that 10,000 hours [ __ ] yeah he wrote outliers right that's him right yes yeah that that book is amazing 1
Discussed
“yeah that 10,000 hours [ __ ] yeah he wrote outliers right that's him right yes yeah that that book is amazing”
Pamela Paul and I'm curious the book that I think of u most immediately is Malcolm Gladwell outliers with its idea of 1… 1
Discussed
“and I'm curious the book that I think of u most immediately is Malcolm Gladwell outliers with its idea of 10,000 hours of practice”
Rizwan Virk Malcolm Gladwell wrote that book I think it's called outliers where he say if you spend 10,000 hours doing… 1
Discussed
“Malcolm Gladwell wrote that book I think it's called outliers where he say if you spend 10,000 hours doing something you become an expert”
Ryan Holiday i remember i first read the tipping point that i read blink then outliers then david and goliath which is a… 1
Discussed
“i remember i first read the tipping point that i read blink then outliers then david and goliath which is also very good”
Steve Levitt so I started our conversation by comparing you to Malcolm Gladwell and the 10,000 hour rule that you're tak… 1
Discussed
“so I started our conversation by comparing you to Malcolm Gladwell and the 10,000 hour rule that you're taking a part in your book The Sports Gene that was popularized by Gladwell in his book outliers”
Steven Bartlett I feel obliged to you because your books outliers blink have been very formative for me as over the last 10… 1
Discussed
“I feel obliged to you because your books outliers blink have been very formative for me as over the last 10 years since I was running my businesses and trying to understand certain dynamics that I didn't understand those books seem to arrive in my life at the right time”
Tom Segura I think it's like what you know in the Malcolm Gladwell book about the Beatles when they played in hurg 1
Discussed
“I think it's like what you know in the Malcolm Gladwell book about the Beatles when they played in hurg”
Vinny Lingham it's the whole Malcolm devil um outliers book right like you know people who so so so the problem right now… 1
Discussed
“it's the whole Malcolm devil um outliers book right like you know people who so so so the problem right now is AI is such a global marketplace with hundreds of millions of people doing it”
Mentioned on the show without a named speaker2
Discussed
“We've written about it in a couple of our books Malcolm gladwell's written about it a ton I think the most common example may be in sports”
Discussed
“a second ago there's another book isn't it called is it called Ten Thousand hours by Malcolm Gladwell is that the one Brad yeah I think that was actually outliers”

Also mentioned in the same episodes

Other mentions (23: passing, ad reads, own books)
Passing
“I thought that was outliers”
Passing
“I believe, and so it's even... didn't Malcolm... didn't Malcolm Gladwell write something which was roughly the equivalent of like you're better off getting the top 10 student at a non-Ivy versus like the 50th student at an Ivy or something? I don't know; there was like something like maybe it was like a chapter?”
Passing
“Now, Malcolm Gladwell wrote that book, I think it's called Outliers, where he says if you spend 10,000 hours doing something, you become an expert.”
Passing
“you need 10,000 hours of torturing to get really good at it that's what that Malcolm Gladwell book is about”
Passing
“I think it's a numbers thing I really do I think it's like what you know in the Malcolm Gladwell book about the Beatles when they played in hurg the thousands of hours thousands of hours thousands of shows listen”
Passing
“I also am grateful to have done it in a time when you could get your Gladwell 10,000 hours in anonymously. You know, if you did a crappy direct-to-DVD movie just for kicks, I’m looking at you for anyone who knows this.”
Passing
“you know ten thousand hours of practice Malcolm Gladwell says and then we call them the best in the world”
Passing
“you're [__] four you didn't read Malcolm [__] Gladwell you didn't listen to garyvee”
Passing
“I'm gonna have to have a discussion with my nine-year-old about this because we were talking about how Malcolm gladwell's book posits that if you name your kid winner he's going to wind up being a loser”
Plugged
“Perhaps you've listened to his sensational podcast, "Revisionist History," or read one of his many "New York Times" bestselling books like "Tipping Point," "Blank," "Outliers," "David and Goliath," and "Talking to Strangers."”
Passing
“Shanda Rines I guess Malcolm glav I don't know outliers wasn't necessarily an essay”
Passing
“I read many of them and blank outliers the Tipping Point there's some very famous books in here”
Passing
“so today my guest is the one and only malcolm gladwell the tipping point blink outliers david and goliath talking with strangers and now his new book the bomber mafia”
Passing
“or you know i read that i i you know outliers that's the one with the 10 000 hours”
Passing
“and now that i think about it i forget which malcolm gladwell book it was whether it was blink or outliers and i i do ascribe to the 10 000 hour rule that if you're gonna get good it seems like a way to get good”
Plugged
“well because you know I've written books that begin in a sense of with a sense of wonder or curiosity or aw hell ours is a book about you know I'm in awe of the success of certain people I want to make sense of it”
Passing
“like there's like even certain instances that you could read about there was a Japanese airline a few years back that had a terrible terrible incident that happened where the for the pilot planning to commit suicide and kill everybody on the plane... I don't know how they found this out but I think it said even in a book...”
Passing
“you know you got Malcolm Gladwell you got you know Steve Jobs you got the Beatles you spend a lot of time doing something you will get really good at it”
Passing
“if you Gino outliers 10,000 hours mmm yeah walked to the cops”
Passing
“That's an idea that Gladwell helped popularize in his book, Outliers.”
Plugged
“My name is Malcolm Gladwell. I'm a writer for The New Yorker magazine and the author of a number of books, including Outliers, where I talk about, among other things, the work of Andrews Erickson.”
Passing
“You may have heard of the 10,000-hour rule, the idea that you need to practice for 10,000 hours to become great at something. That idea originates from the research of Anders Ericsson and his colleagues.”

Portraits from Wikimedia Commons: Joe Rogan, The White House / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain); Dave Ramsey, Gage Skidmore / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0); Stephen Dubner, Audrey S. Bernstein / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0); Bryan Callen, Angela George at https://www.flickr.com/photos/sharongraphics/ / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0); Malcolm Gladwell, PEN American Center / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0); Chris Williamson, CiaPeterson / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).