What Malcolm Gladwell has said about Incarceration in the United States

2 quotes · 1 episode · Oct 7, 2026

Malcolm Gladwell, Author of Outliers, whose theory about Chinese numerals Jiang disputes, has been quoted on Incarceration in the United States 2 times in 1 episode of Next Question with Katie Couric, most recently on October 7, 2026. Each quote below is verbatim and links to the moment it was said.

In their words

Gladwell proposes funding both police and community resources by diverting money from prisons rather than cutting police budgets.
“I think you take all of that money that's over there being devoted to prisons and start diverting it to both those things”
Next Question with Katie Couric: Malcolm Gladwell on America’s Gun Crisis (Oct 7, 2026) · Listen from 32:56
Gladwell argues that swift and certain punishment deters crime more than severe sentences.
“many criminologists will agree with me that swiftness and certainty are much better deterrence than severity of punishment”
Next Question with Katie Couric: Malcolm Gladwell on America’s Gun Crisis (Oct 7, 2026) · Listen from 45:47

Malcolm Gladwell on America’s Gun Crisis
Next Question with Katie Couric · Oct 7, 2026 · 1 h 4 min
Katie Couric talks with Malcolm Gladwell about his book The American Way of Killing, covering under-policing, prisons, the Second Amendment, assault weapons bans and gun suicide.