Malcolm Gladwell goes way off-topic on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to worship his minivan
The Late Show recently posted a reel of Stephen Colbert’s pleasant chat with Malcolm Gladwell. However, the Canadian author of an array of bestsellers, including “The Tipping Point,” “Blink,” and “Outliers,” spent a lengthy moment not talking about his new book, “Revenge of the Tipping Point.” Rather, he sang glories to his minivan.
Now, let’s take a moment to remind everyone that Gladwell is a car guy, and has a vehicle that’s very much not a minivan: a 2003 BMW M5. Why a used Beemer? As Car and Driver editor Eddie Alterman, who’s spent a lot of time with Gladwell talking cars, puts it, Gladwell’s M5 arguably came before “automation and excessive trim ruined everything.”
Personally, as the proud owner of a 2004 BMW 325i manual: Yes, yes, yes.
Gladwell also owns a first-gen BMW X1, the compact SUV, which hit roads back in 2009.
Okay. On to the Ode to the Minivan.
“No one loves the minivan more than me.”
At 61, Gladwell has only recently had two young children. His first was born in 2022.
Gladwell says that when he drove his van into work one day, his coworkers, who know he’s a fan of cars, came running to him. “Malcolm!,” they exclaimed, “We’ve never seen you so happy!”
The author goes on: “The revolving door…you just hit the button…it opens and closes…”
“Right,” Colbert affirms.
“I wish this was in some way connected to my book, but it’s not,” Gladwell half-laments, smiling. “Shouldn’t I have done something about the death of the minivan? Because it is dying, and it breaks my heart.”
“Yeah,” Colbert responds.
After all, as CBS said in their October profile, Gladwell is constantly uncovering and dissecting “hidden patterns in the way the world works.”
I support Gladwell’s pitch. My aunt’s glorious blue Toyota Previa stick shift played a big part in my early childhood. (Oddly?) I think of it often. I’d love to get behind its wheel now, and bet I wouldn’t stop smiling the whole time. Heck, the Sienna, Odyssey, Caravan, and a beloved GMC conversion van all starred in my daily life until I got my license.
Admittedly, my “mom car” is a 2015 Range Rover Evoque. Considering its already long repair and maintenance ticker and the lack of passenger space for anything longer than a daycare run, I’m shopping for a used Toyota 4Runner or Honda Ridgeline…not a minivan.
There’s a lot of “why” to unpack there, and it’s mostly personal. A lot of it has to do with me not wanting to associate with a 30-year-old image of the nineties suburban mom. I could spend a lot of time explaining this, but I’ll refrain here.
Besides, when I’m not driving with the kids, I want to “be” the other parts of me, including a “car person”…whatever that means. Arguably, anyone who picks a certain vehicle intentionally is a car person. Overall, though, I find it hard to hate any car. They’re all neat, however much they fit into modern culture or not…including minivans.
To learn more about Gladwell’s full narrative and his new book, watch the full CBS profile below:
