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Revisionist History · June 29, 2026 · 3m

Coming Soon: The Staten Island Problem

Show Notes

A trailer for a new five-part Revisionist History series timed to America's 250th anniversary. Malcolm Gladwell will explore the near-breakup of New York City in the early 1990s, when Staten Island threatened to secede. The story weaves together Rudy Giuliani's rise, peak homicide, the Wu-Tang Clan, a young Donald Trump, and the city's first Black mayor. The series uses this forgotten borough's crisis to ask what a democracy should do when it seems to be coming apart.

This summary was generated from show notes and public descriptions, not from a full transcript review. Details may contain inaccuracies.

Highlights

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Staten Island's Secession Threat
In the early 1990s, Staten Island threatened to secede from New York City, an overlooked crisis that the series will reconstruct.
ClaudeChatGPTGemini
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The Convergence of 1990s NYC
The secession threat unfolded against a backdrop of Rudy Giuliani's political rise, record homicide rates, the emergence of the Wu-Tang Clan, a young Donald Trump, and the tenure of the city's first Black mayor.
ClaudeChatGPTGemini

Editorial

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The Democracy Question
The series asks: 'What do you do when a democracy looks like it's falling apart?'
ClaudeChatGPTGemini
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