In light of our current series on mistakes, we're sharing an episode from Cautionary Tales—a podcast that’s all about mistakes and what we can learn from them. This story is about a poet—some say the worst poet in the world–William McGonagall. McGonagall's works were full of jarring meter, banal imagery, and awkward rhymes. They made him a laughing stock in 19th Century Scotland and are still derided to this day.

What can we learn from such a disastrous poet? And it is possible we’ve misunderstood McGonagall all along?  

We'll be back with a new mistake next week.

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Years ago a music producer named Irv Gotti–a hitmaker for Jay-Z, Ja Rule, and Ashanti–was tapped by Sony Music to make a record with Jennifer Lopez. They wanted a big hit. And Irv delivered. But then he made the biggest mistake of his career.

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General David Goldfein, former Chief of Staff of the US Air Force, and Dr. Heather Wilson, former Secretary of the Air Force, tell the story of the worst day in their professional careers and what it taught them about leadership. 

You can find their book, Get Back up: Lessons in Servant Leadership, here.

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We've just begun our series around mistakes and last week, you heard Michael Lynton, former head of Sony Pictures Entertainment, share how he found himself at the center of one of the most devastating corporate hacks in history. This week, we're sharing a preview of another podcast that looks at notorious Hollywood mistakes and the difficulties of movie-making, What Went Wrong. The Shawshank Redemption is the highest rated movie on IMDb. It’s held that position for nearly as long as the site has existed, yet its history is far more troubled than most people know. Hosts Lizzie Bassett and Chris Winterbauer explore the journey the movie took from big screen disappointment to near universally beloved American classic. Find more episodes of What Went Wrong wherever you get your podcasts.

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The former head of Sony Pictures Entertainment, Michael Lynton, tells Malcolm about a time he made a really big mistake: greenlighting a film that would lead to an international incident.  

You can learn more about Michael Lynton and Josh Steiner’s book, From Mistakes to Meaning, here.

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Since Andrew Jarecki’s latest documentary The Alabama Solution debuted on HBO, it has stunned viewers with a story about a group of men seeking justice. The film shows the egregious abuse and systemic failure of Alabama’s prison system, largely through footage shot by incarcerated men on contraband cellphones.

In this conversation, Malcolm sits down with Andrew Jarecki to discuss the making of the Oscar-nominated film and how it resonates with The Alabama Murders, the seven episode series Revisionist History released last year. 

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Did Disney make an anti-Disney movie? Ben and Malcolm engage in a bit of literary sleuthing to find out.

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Screenwriter Gary Goldman claimed the creators of the Disney franchise Zootopia stole his story. Malcolm investigates. 

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Valley of Shadows is a new Pushkin true crime podcast that digs into a nearly 30-year old secret buried in the California desert. On June 11, 1998, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputy Jon Aujay went for a run in California’s Devil’s Punchbowl park...and never came back. Nearly 30 years later, the mystery surrounding his disappearance has only deepened. Some say Aujay is just another missing hiker, claimed by the inhospitable landscape of the Southern California desert. Some say he took his own life out there. But there’s another theory that many of Aujay’s friends and LASD colleagues are convinced is true—that he was the victim of foul play, and that his own department is covering it up. Through exclusive interviews, revealing wiretaps, and buried police files, investigative reporters Hayley Fox and Betsy Shepherd uncover vestiges of the Wild West in a small California town, where outlaw biker gangs crank out methamphetamine and local cops operate on both sides of the law.

Find Valley of Shadows wherever you get podcasts.

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Despite his disdain for birthdays, Malcolm finds himself celebrating ten years of Revisionist History by looking back on the making of the show with producers past and present. And, of course, his mother.

Referenced Episodes:

Season 1, Episode 5: Food Fight

Season 6, Episode 10: The Dog Will See You Now

Season 2, Episode 4: The Foot Soldier of Birmingham

Season 9, Episode 5: Guns Part 5: The Footnote

Season 11, Episode 9: Hitler's Olympics, Part 9: A Plague on Both Your Houses.

Season 14, Episode 1: The Alabama Murders - Part 1: The True Church

Season 1, Episode 6: My Little Hundred Million

Season 3, Episode 10: Analysis, Parapraxis, Elvis

Season 11, Episode 6: Hitler's Olympics, Part 6: The Jiggle & the Giddy Up

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A journalist reporting from some far-flung remote location. A massive blackout. Ticketless entry to a huge sporting event. Behind some of the most technologically complex scenarios is a network making it possible to connect. 

Malcolm sits down with Mo Katibeh, the Chief Marketing Officer for T-Mobile for Business, Guy Griggs, the CNN Senior Vice President of Ad Sales and Client partnerships, and Siemens Energy Senior Vice President Steve Douglas to learn more about this invisible infrastructure. This episode is brought to you in partnership with T-Mobile for Business, and recorded live at the iHeart Studios in New York City.

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