In Defense of PAW Patrol

Summary

Revisionist History: In Defense of Paw Patrol – Episode Summary

Release Date: March 27, 2025

In this compelling episode of Revisionist History, host Malcolm Gladwell takes on the surprisingly widespread criticism of the beloved children's show Paw Patrol. Contrary to common sentiment among parents, educators, and intellectuals who decry the show for its perceived negative impacts, Gladwell delves deep to uncover the underlying values and societal implications that Paw Patrol embodies. This episode not only defends the show's creative approach but also explores its cultural significance from a Canadian perspective.

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1. Introduction: Challenging the Consensus (03:03 - 07:59)

Gladwell begins by setting the stage, expressing his personal enjoyment of Paw Patrol despite encountering numerous negative reviews and social media backlash. He cites a particularly harsh Reddit thread titled, “Paw Patrol has ruined my child's brain,” highlighting the common criticisms such as “the yelling and constant panic,” and “stereotypes and terrible design.”

“Everyone hates it. Except for me.”
— Malcolm Gladwell [03:45]

Determined to understand the paradox, Gladwell embarks on a mission to defend a show that, on the surface, seems to offer nothing but repetitive problem-solving puppies for preschoolers.

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2. Conversations with the Creators (07:53 - 08:53)

Gladwell reaches out to Cal Brunker and Bob Barlan, the writers behind the Paw Patrol movies, to gain insight into what makes the show so appealing to children. They emphasize the show's clear and consistent structure, which provides young viewers with a sense of comfort and confidence.

“The structures are so clear and consistent from episode to episode that it really pulls them in and they're able to feel comfortable and confident in that world of storytelling.”
— Cal Brunker [08:02]

Brunker explains that each episode follows a predictable pattern: a problem arises, Ryder (the human leader) assigns specific tasks to each pup, and the pups execute the mission successfully. This consistency not only entertains but also reinforces positive behaviors and cooperative problem-solving.

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3. Critique from Angus Fletcher (14:39 - 23:53)

To present a balanced view, Gladwell introduces Angus Fletcher, a neuroscientist turned narrative theorist at Ohio State University. Fletcher offers a scathing critique of Paw Patrol, arguing that the show “anesthetizes the brain” and stifles children's problem-solving abilities.

“It's like the kind of, like, diabolical apotheosis of hundreds of years of figuring out how to make audiences more and more passive.”
— Angus Fletcher [14:55]

Fletcher introduces the concept of “vacuous agon”, wherein episodes present problems that are resolved instantaneously, preventing children from engaging in counterfactual causal thinking—a critical component for developing creativity and resilience.

“You're deleting their capacity to develop an awareness of other answers to problems.”
— Angus Fletcher [22:30]

He contends that unlike “old comedy”, which poses real conflicts prompting audiences to think critically, Paw Patrol simplifies issues to the point where no genuine cognitive effort is required from young viewers.

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4. Gladwell's Counterargument: Canadian Values and Societal Reflection (25:38 - 37:59)

Undeterred by Fletcher's criticisms, Gladwell presents an alternate theory that frames Paw Patrol as a reflection of Canadian societal values—peace, order, and good government—embodied through interagency cooperation and community-focused heroism.

He draws parallels between the show's messaging and the Canadian national credo, suggesting that Paw Patrol serves as an homage to municipal competence and collective problem-solving.

“What is Paw Patrol all about is that this is, in Canadian terms, what we want our state to do.”
— Malcolm Gladwell [28:29]

Gladwell further compares this to cultural artifacts like the Crash Test Dummies' song “Superman's Song,” arguing that both embody a Canadian-centric ideal of altruistic heroism and community service.

“Superman is being juxtaposed against Tarzan... Only a Canadian would find something utterly reprehensible in Tarzan's naked displays of strength and brute force.”
— Malcolm Gladwell [30:00]

This perspective shifts the narrative from viewing Paw Patrol as a simplistic children's show to recognizing it as a cultural export that instills values of cooperation, efficiency, and civic responsibility in young minds.

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5. Conclusion: Embracing a Positive Narrative (37:35 - 37:59)

In wrapping up, Gladwell acknowledges the depth of Paw Patrol's impact, suggesting that it serves as a multi-generational bridge that fosters parent-child bonding through shared values and imaginative storytelling.

“That doesn't sound too bad.”
— Malcolm Gladwell [36:46]

He advocates for a more nuanced appreciation of the show, urging listeners to recognize its potential in shaping a generation that values community service and collective problem-solving, aligning with the broader Canadian ethos.

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Key Takeaways

• Consistent Structure: Paw Patrol's predictable format provides children with a sense of security and understanding of problem-solving processes.

• Cultural Reflection: The show embodies Canadian values of peace, order, and good government, promoting community-focused heroism through its characters.

• Critique vs. Defense: While critics like Angus Fletcher argue that the show stifles creativity by oversimplifying problems, Gladwell counters by highlighting its role in instilling positive societal values.

• Generational Impact: Paw Patrol serves as a tool for parent-child bonding, imparting lessons on cooperation and civic responsibility.

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This episode of Revisionist History offers a thought-provoking defense of Paw Patrol, challenging listeners to reconsider its role and value in contemporary children's media. By juxtaposing critical academic perspectives with cultural and societal analysis, Malcolm Gladwell effectively advocates for a deeper appreciation of the show's underlying messages and contributions to child development.

Notable Quotes:

• “Everyone hates it. Except for me.” — Malcolm Gladwell [03:45]

• “The structures are so clear and consistent from episode to episode that it really pulls them in…” — Cal Brunker [08:02]

• “It's like the kind of, like, diabolical apotheosis of hundreds of years of figuring out how to make audiences more and more passive.” — Angus Fletcher [14:55]

• “What is Paw Patrol all about is that this is, in Canadian terms, what we want our state to do.” — Malcolm Gladwell [28:29]

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Produced by: Nina Bird Lawrence, Lucy Sullivan, and Ben Nadaff Haffrey
Executive Producer: Jacob Smith
Special Thanks: Sarah Nix and El Jefe Greta Kung

Malcolm Gladwell concludes by crediting his daughter for making the episode possible, highlighting the personal connection to the subject matter.

Transcript

[Unknown Speaker]

Foreign.

[Capital One Bank Guy]

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[Maria Konnikova]

And I'm Maria Konnikova. We're both journalists and professional poker players. And on our podcast Risky Business, we talk about taking risks in everything from poker to politics.

[Nate Silver]

And we talk about betting. From betting on elections to betting on your favorite basketball team, We've learned a lot about taking risks through our own research and sometimes even our own bets. And we share what we've learned with you.

[Maria Konnikova]

Are you still doing sports betting? I had no idea that you'd wagered over a million dollars for your research.

[Nate Silver]

I bet almost the entirety of the 202223 NBA season, all the regular season and about half the playoffs. And I learned that. I mean, it's probably what I should have expected, but I learned that it's pretty hard. I went on a huge heater at the start of the NBA season where it was up like 70,000 bucks. I'm like, man, I'm really good at the sports betting stuff. But then, but then, things change.

[Maria Konnikova]

Now that Marge Madness is upon us, we're talking bracket strategies and a whole lot more. Join us and listen to Risky business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

Every night after bath and just before bedtime, my 3 year old and I settle down in front of the television. Paw Patrol, Paw Patrol will be there.

[Unknown Speaker]

On the double whenever there's a.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

If you're not a parent of a young child, it's entirely possible you have no idea what Paw Patrol is. That's fine. Before I had children, I had never heard of it either. So let me explain. It's a multi billion dollar franchise centered around a band of puppies who are called upon in each episode to rescue someone in peril. There's a police dog named Chase, a fire dog named Marshall, a helicopter pilot named Sky, a roadworks puppy named Rubble. They stop runaway trains. They fight fires. They repair the damaged flying saucers of adorable stranded aliens with enormous eyes. You get the picture. Among toddlers, Paw Patrol is bigger than Elmo. It's bigger than Mickey Mouse. Just ask my daughter.

[Unknown Speaker]

Paw Patrol here on the Dapple. Whatever. There's a problem. Crown Adventure Day, rather is the team of pups we'll go and see the day. Marshall, Wobble Chase, Rocky, newest guy, popular.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

And yet, for some reason, every parent I know, every student of children's television, every adult who has more than a passing interest in the intellectual and moral development of our young, hates Paw Patrol. Like the Reddit thread, Paw Patrol has ruined my child's brain. Everything about Paw Patrol is awful. The yelling and constant panic. The stereotypes, the terrible design, the tropes. I wish it would disappear from the face of the earth and take all of its merch with it. Unquote. Go to TikTok. They hate the puppies. There's some things that really piss me off when it comes to Paw Patrol.

[Unknown Speaker]

It's pretty simple.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

It sucks.

[Unknown Speaker]

My son watches Paw Patrol. I hate it.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

Everyone hates it. Except for me. And this episode is my attempt to convince you that I'm right and everyone else is wrong. My name is Malcolm Gladwell. You're listening to Revisionist History, my podcast where I like to argue on behalf of things that all common sense suggests are not true. The following defense of Paw Patrol is squarely in that tradition. It is the search and rescue mission for a show about search and rescue missions. In all my long years of doing Revisionist history, I have never tackled a more forbidding task. I started by calling people, anyone who I thought could help, asking the same questions over and over again. First, to a parent who had lived through what I'm living through right now. We are here to discuss Paw Patrol, which looms large in my life at the moment.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah, I'm sure.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

Then again, to an intellectual, someone I admired, I don't understand the amount of hatred the show gets. And again, this time to a sociologist, someone who has published in academic journals on the Paw Patrol phenomenon. I am calling you because I spend every night watching Paw Patrol.

[Unknown Speaker]

I'm sorry.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

I'm sorry to hear that. I spent so much time Googling Paw Patrol, Google started feeding me Paw Patrol content. Like the actress Keira Knightley on the Tonight show explaining what it's like to be the mother of a three year old. Wait for it.

[Maria Konnikova]

Baby's a toddler.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

Baby's not a baby. Baby's not a baby anymore. Yeah, she's huge. Three and a half.

[Maria Konnikova]

Three and a half.

[Unknown Speaker]

Are you into.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

Are you into Paw Patrol?

[Unknown Speaker]

Oh, I'm sorry.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

Yeah, yeah, I'm sorry. Everyone is sorry. Well, I'm into Paw Patrol and I'm not sorry. Paw Patrol takes place in Two imaginary towns, Adventure Bay and Foggy Bottom. The group has as its headquarters what looks like a giant postmodern air traffic control center, complete with a really cool fire station pole that moves the members of the Paw Patrol from the briefing room to their waiting vehicles. Vehicles which are all, by the way, available separately for purchase. In a typical Paw Patrol episode. And I say typical when I really mean every single Paw Patrol episode ever, someone in the greater Adventure Bay, Foggy Bottom metropolitan area has a problem. They call Ryder, who is a little boy in charge of the Paw Patrol operation. He summons the pups from whatever adorably cute leisure activity they are engaged in.

[Unknown Speaker]

They come running, mighty pups to the lookout. Ryder needs us.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

And without fail, the problem is solved. No job is too big.

[Unknown Speaker]

No pup is too small.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

For example, in Season 7, Episode 13, Paw Patrol Pup Save Election Day. A particular favorite in the Gladwell household, Mayor Humdinger of Foggy Bottom has decided unexpectedly to run for mayor of Adventure City. Precipitating a crisis, Humdinger is wreaking havoc on the campaign trail, causing all kinds of chaos downtown. This leads Alex, an adorable little boy who happens to find himself in the midst of the mayhem, to call for help.

[Unknown Speaker]

It all happened because Mayor Humdinger's kidneys are launching election stuff everywhere.

Vote for me.

We'll be right there, Alex.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

There's a short briefing in the situation room. Ryder gives out instructions.

[Unknown Speaker]

So for this mission, I'll need. Chase, I need you to use your net to stop Mr. Porter's out of control skateboard ride. Chase is on the case. And Marcus, I'll need you to use your ladder to help get Danny down from that big billboard. I'm ready for a ruff ruff rescue.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

And off the pups go. Hey, guys.

[Maria Konnikova]

Hey, Malcolm.

[Cal Brunker]

How you doing?

[Nate Silver]

How's it going?

[Malcolm Gladwell]

I called up Cal Brunker and Bob Barlan, the writers behind the Paw Patrol movies. I asked them why they thought kids loved the show so much.

[Cal Brunker]

The structures are so clear and consistent from episode to episode that it really. It pulls them in and they're able to feel comfortable and confident in that world of storytelling.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

Oh, I forgot to mention that in addition to 11 seasons of Paw Patrol television shows, there have been two Paw Patrol movies, which together grossed $350 million.

[Cal Brunker]

The structure of the show is really quite smart in how they go about every rescue that takes place. Ryder tells the pups what they're going to do, and then they show up and they do the same thing that he's just told the audience. So I think the participation level from a child is able to be so much more because it's less surprising.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

I did not grow up with a television, so this experience is all new to me. Maybe that's why I like Paw Patrol so much. Everyone else groans in silent agony over the thought of watching, say, Paw Patrol the movie for the fourth time. Me, I'm like, what new, fresh insights can I glean this time around about Chase, the police dog, a German shepherd who struggles with feelings of inadequacy.

[Cal Brunker]

Chase has got a backstory, and I mean, at its highest level, Chase believes that being scared means he's not a hero, and so he shouldn't be part of it. And he learns that heroes get scared too, but keep going. That's what makes them heroes.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

Ryder has that scene with him where they relive when he found Chase for the first time.

[Cal Brunker]

Yes. I love to hear you saying this.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

This brings me great joy on what is clearly University Avenue.

[Unknown Speaker]

Absolutely.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

It's University Avenue.

[Cal Brunker]

It feels like it, doesn't it?

[Malcolm Gladwell]

With the boulevard, the dividers. Exactly. Yeah. By the way, remember that reference, University Avenue? What am I referring to? A small clue to my grand unified theory of Paw Patrol. A clue which I'm guessing all the other parents missed because they were on their phones checking Instagram. Now that so? Because there is. What's really interesting is that there, when my daughter was watching that, she. The first. We've seen it more than once, that movie. And the first time she saw it, I think she was genuinely affected by it. I mean, it was clear it was a different kind of emotional experience than she'd been getting from the TV shows. And the second and third time. Gripping my hand tightly, this is exactly what the corporate benefactors of the Paw Patrol franchise desire. A bonding moment between a dad and his daughter over a disconsolate puppy. Was my daughter wearing Paw Patrol pajamas as this was happening? Yes, she was. And yet there are people, lots of people, who look on that picture of family togetherness and cry foul. Can you explain this?

[Capital One Bank Guy]

Banking with Capital One helps you keep more money in your wallet with no fees or minimums on checking accounts and no overdraft fees. Just ask the Capital One bank guy. It's pretty much all he talks about. In a good way. He'd also tell you this podcast is his favorite podcast too. Ah, really? Thanks, Capital One Bank Guy. What's in your wallet? Terms apply. See capital1.com bank capital1n a member FDIC.

[Nate Silver]

I'm Nate Silver.

[Maria Konnikova]

And I'm Maria Konnikova. We're both journalists and professional poker players. And on our podcast Risky Business, we talk about taking risks in everything from poker to politics.

[Nate Silver]

And we talk about betting, from betting on elections to betting on your favorite basketball team. We've learned a lot about taking risks through our own research and sometimes even our own bets. And we share what we've learned with you.

[Maria Konnikova]

Are you still doing sports betting? I had no idea that you'd wagered over a million dollars for your research.

[Nate Silver]

I bet almost the entirety of the 20, 22, 23 NBA season, all the regular season, then about half the playoffs. And I learned that, I mean, it's probably what I should have expected, but I learned that it's pretty hard. I went on a huge heater at the start of the NBA season where it was up like 70,000 bucks. I'm like, man, I'm really good at the sports betting stuff. But then, but then things change.

[Maria Konnikova]

Now that Marge madness is upon us, we're talking bracket strategies and a whole lot more. Join us and listen to Risky business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

On several occasions in the course of almost a decade now of revisionist history, I have called on Angus Fletcher, neuroscientist turned narrative theorist, genius in residence at Ohio State University. If you remember, for example, back to our three part revision of the ending of Disney's the Little Mermaid, arguably the intellectual high watermark of the entire revisionist history corpus, Angus provided the intellectual firepower. And remember when we did a whole series on the greatest movie scripts that never got made? Angus had one. Of course he did. Angus is much, much smarter than I am. More important, Angus is not hopelessly sentimental like I am. He would not be derailed by the gentle pressure of a three year old's stubby fingers. And when I remembered that Angus also has kids, I called him up. Now, a small thing before we go on, normally when we interview people, we edit the tape, I interject with commentary. The whole thing is compressed and annotated. We give you snippets, but snippets do not do justice to Professor Angus Fletcher. So you're going to get Angus unbound. I want to start. You too, went through a Paw Patrol period with your children, Is this correct?

[Unknown Speaker]

I did, yeah. So my son likes Paw Patrol. And I had an immediate horrifying flashback when you brought the subject up, because I went back and tried to watch a couple episodes just to remind myself, and I immediately had to shut them off, actually, for self preservation.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

But there are many Things to unpack here. First of all, how long did your son still actively watch Paw Patrol?

[Unknown Speaker]

No, no, absolutely. He's still alive, so we managed to save him in time.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

Your. So you're. And while you were watching it with your son, why. Why. Why did this show not appeal to you? What is it about it that's like, hitting you the wrong way?

[Unknown Speaker]

It's designed to anesthetize your brain. I mean, I feel like I'm mainlining horse tranquilizer. It's a show that is studiously designed to interrupt active thought. I mean, that's, like, the purpose of the show, and it's. It's engineered brilliantly to do that.

[Cal Brunker]

It's like.

[Unknown Speaker]

It's like the kind of, like, diabolical apotheosis of hundreds of years of figuring out how to. How to make audiences more and more passive.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

What do you. What do you mean? Okay, break that down. Tell me exactly what you mean by that.

[Unknown Speaker]

So it's the quintessence of this thing that we call narrative. We have a term for this in narrative theory. It's called vacuous agon. Yeah, vacuous agon. And basically what that means is, like, when there's a conflict, but there's no stress, there's no anxiety in the viewer because you know that it's going to work out. And this is a. I have to give credit to who coined this term. It was a brilliant member of my lab. His name is Mike Benvenisti.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

He.

[Unknown Speaker]

He coined the term after watching Phineas and Ferb, which is a Disney show with his three children. Yeah, and the point of Vacuous Agon is that you're constantly being presented with problems that are solved immediately at the moment that you are presented with the problem. And I think it's probably obvious for you, having, I'm sure, watched several episodes of this show, how mechanically what the show does is it gives you a problem, and then immediately Ryder shows up like a helicopter parent, like the ultimate helicopter parent, and tells everybody exactly what to do. So the problem will go away, and then we just kind of watch as the problem goes away.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

Yeah, that's exactly right. So. And you think that's problematic because.

[Unknown Speaker]

It's not that I think that it's problematic, Malcolm. It's that I know it's problematic. So I don't know if you're aware of this, but there, for the last 30 years, there's been this crisis in American schools. American kids have been getting less creat. And because they've been getting less Creative. They've been less able to solve their own problems. And because they're less able to solve their own problems, they have these rises in anxiety and anger, you know, losses of self efficacy, resilience, all these kinds of things. And, you know, the major reason for this is that we are either solving their problems for them.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

Yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

So we're coming in and solving their problems for them, or we're essentially suspending them in this state of giving them artificial problems. So an artificial problem is like a math problem or a standardized test or something that doesn't exist in the real world. And you know, and you learn the formula. And once you learn the formula, you know how to solve it.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

And.

[Unknown Speaker]

And so kids are developing this ability to get better and better and better and better at school, and then they just keep failing at life. And this TV show is a paradigmatic example of that entire process. I mean, it solves all the problems before you. There's no ability, you have to exercise any curiosity because the moment a problem happens, literally you're told these two dogs are going to go solve it in exactly this way. There's no opportunity for the brain to engage what we call counterfactual causal thinking. These processes that occur when we encounter a problem. The whole reason for imaginative literature, the reason that things like Curious George and Winnie the Pooh were created, are to stimulate these processes in young children. Because at the age of four is actually when they develop the capacity for irony, for narrative irony. And all those books and reading with your children for reasons we can discuss if you're interested, stimulates all those processes. And when you watch this show, it nukes them. So it's not bad in the sense that, like, giving your children ice cream isn't bad. Right. They can have ice cream, but if all you give them is ice cream, what happens to them? Right. They become diabetic. And it's the same thing with the show in your brain.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

Yeah. God, I feel bad now. I'm. You filled me with a kind of degree of self loathing and guilt over the damage I'm doing to my daughter's imagination, her ability to problem solve. This is what you do. I should point out how strange this is. A generation ago, people loved children's television. The invention of children's television was one of America's signature cultural triumphs. Intellectuals wrote love songs to children's television. I remember once in the late 1990s, when I discovered Sesame street for the first time. I was so entranced that I went to the Sesame street studios and just Hung out there for what seemed like days. I was there during the great slimy episode. Maybe you remember this. Slimey. The adorable Sesame street worm, becomes an astronaut. And so the Sesame street staff brought in Tony Bennett, whose signature song, of course, was Fly me to the moon, to sing Fly Me to the Moon. And when this worm arrives, you'll find.

[Unknown Speaker]

He'Ll take a leap that's small for.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

Him, but huge for, oh, wormkind. I was there for that. Standing this close to the legend himself, who acted like this was the greatest moment of his entire career. My point is, back in the day, the leading cultural figures of our time would happily make the pilgrimage to a random TV studio in Queens to make light of their own work on behalf of toddlers everywhere. But now the cultural luminaries, the and the intellectuals, have abandoned ship. By 11 minutes into his denunciation of Paw Patrol, Angus had mentioned Dickens, the A team, Plautus and Aristophanes. Now he'd moved on to explaining the phenomenon of new comedy and contrasting it with something he called old comedy.

[Unknown Speaker]

And what happens in old comedy is you're presented with real problems. So an example of a real problem would be war or the breakdown of democracy. And then the comedy goes on, and the problem gets worse, and it gets worse, and it gets worse, and it gets worse, and then eventually the comedy falls apart and it just ends. And basically, the comedy is saying, that's a big problem. You guys in the audience better figure out how to solve that. So it forced people to think about hard things in a public place where they could kind of wrestle with it and solve their own problems. Then what happened was the emergence of new comedy, which is essentially light entertainment. And what happens in light entertainment is a fake problem is posed, A fake problem is posed. And then just if you might be getting stressed about this fake problem, the comedy answers it for you by the end so you can relax. So what's diabolical about Paw Patrol is it takes real problems and turns them into imaginary problems. It's like the end. It's like the nadir of comedy, because, I mean, there are real problems that it seems to embrace. You know, people seem to get in trouble and stuff like that, you know, but then it just reveals that they're all, you know, not a problem. You don't have to worry about them because, you know, Ryder will just show up or there'll be some, like, weird gizmo gadget thing that will solve the problem for you. So, you know, just relax, preschooler. Don't worry about this big bad world you're entering in because it's just fine. Don't even use your brain. Why? Why were you even given a brain? What's the point of a brain, right? You need to solve problems. Everything's already solved. Look how perfect.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

I know I promised you that I was going to play Angus at full length. Angus Unbound. And if this were the Joe Rogan experience. And I bring up Joe Rogan for a reason, by the way, because revisionist history is coming back to Joe Rogan big time in the coming weeks. If this were the Joe Rogan experience, I'd have just run it all. Eff it. Who among us does not have a spare three and a half hours to listen to a perfect stranger speak about their weightlifting routines? But my assumption is that you, unlike the many millions of Roganites, have jobs. So from here on out, I'm just giving you the good parts. So what would happen if you showed an old comedy show to a child? What happens if in Paw Patrol they don't solve the problem? What does my daughter do?

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah, so this is great. So your child will become concerned. Your child will become concerned, and then your child will probably turn to you as the authority figure in. In her life and be like, I'm kind of concerned what's going to happen to that truck that's suspended over that chasm or whatever other Paw Patrol the problem there is. Right?

[Malcolm Gladwell]

Yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

And then you're going to look very seriously at them and say, I don't know. What do you think is going to happen? And then they would have to pause, and then they would think, and then they would have to imagine themselves solving the problem. And that's the value.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

I'm a new parent just over three years into the experience, and I have all the insecurities that come with being a rookie. I don't know what I'm doing. I put my daughters in bed at night and pray they fall asleep. I make them oatmeal in the morning and pray they eat it. I help build castles made of magnetiles and pray they don't destroy them. And all the while I ask myself, who are these mysterious creatures over whom I have recklessly been given dominion? And now Angus, who I admire like few others, was telling me I was doing it all wrong.

[Unknown Speaker]

You're deleting their capacity to develop an awareness of other answers to problems. You're removing that source of natural creativity. You're also removing the pressure on them to try and find that perspective, to solve those other problems. And so this entire part of Their brain is just atrophying at the exact critical moment when as human beings, we're supposed to have it and it's supposed to come online.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

This is devastating. This has been a devastating conversation.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah, I'm sure.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

When we come back, my grand unified theory of Paw Patrol.

[Capital One Bank Guy]

Banking with Capital One helps you keep more money in your wallet with no fees or minimums on checking accounts and no overdraft fees. Just ask the Capital One bank guy. It's pretty much all he talks about in a good way. He'd also tell you this podcast is his favorite podcast, too. Ah, really? Thanks, Capital One Bank Guy. What's in your wallet? Terms apply. See capitalone.com bankcapital1n a member FDIC.

[Nate Silver]

I'm Nate Silver.

[Maria Konnikova]

And I'm Maria Konnikova. We're both journalists and professional poker players. And on our podcast Risky Business, we talk about taking risks in everything from poker to politics.

[Nate Silver]

And we talk about betting. From betting on elections to betting on your favorite basketball team, we've learned a lot about taking risks through our own research and sometimes even our own bets. And we share what we've learned with you.

[Maria Konnikova]

Are you still doing sports betting? I had no idea that you'd wagered over a million dollars for your research.

[Nate Silver]

I bet almost the entirety of the 2022, 23 NBA season, all the regular season, and about half the playoffs. And I learned that. I mean, it's probably what I should have expected, but I learned that it's pretty hard. I went on a huge heater at the start of the NBA season where it was up, like, 70,000 bucks. I'm like, man, I'm really good at the sports betting stuff. But then. But then, things change.

[Maria Konnikova]

Now that Marge madness is upon us, we're talking bracket strategies and a whole lot more. Join us and listen to Risky business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

I said way back in the beginning that there was an important clue in my conversation with the creators of the Paw Patrol movies. Something crucial to understanding my stubborn affection for the Paw Patrol franchise. Something about University Avenue. Remember that? You might have wondered what University Avenue I was referring to. Well, it's the one in Toronto. University Avenue is one of the central boulevards that runs through downtown Toronto. It is the Broadway of Toronto. In the Paw Patrol movie, it appears as a little visual clue that tells you something crucially important about Ryder and his band of merry pups. Something I realized as I prepared to respond to Angus's attacks, that even the Mighty Angus had missed. Now. But wait. Now I feel. Angus, your arguments are so compelling and overwhelming, I feel foolish in offering my defense of Paw Patrol. But I should. I think. I feel I should do it anyway. The key to understanding Paw Patrol. So this is. This is the alternate Paw Patrol theory. And the key to the alternate Paw Patrol theory is understanding that it is a Canadian show. Paw Patrol is conceived, made and distributed from my home country of Canada. It is as Canadian as maple syrup. As Canadian as a flock of geese streaking across the sky. And what Paw Patrol is doing is enacting a fantasy of municipal competence which is absolutely essential to understanding what? Understanding Canada. That's what Canada is, right? Is a country which is formed. The essential credo of the United States is life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. An individualist credo. What is the parallel credo of Canada that was embedded in the Canadian Articles of Confederation? It is peace, order and good government. What is Paw Patrol? Paw Patrol is an homage to, and it is the elaboration of the notion of peace, order and good government. And the key thing in the Paw Patrol song, at the very beginning, they go, paw Patrol, Paw Patrol. Whenever you're in trouble, Paw Patrol, Paw Patrol will be there on the double. That's crucial. It is that not only is every problem assessed, but every problem is addressed in a timely manner, in a efficient, competent manner. So that what Paw Patrol is all about is that this is, in Canadian terms, what we want our state to do. Right? It is to. And what is. What is Paw Patrol itself? It is. It's a. It's an example of interagency cooperation. Right. Chase the police dog, Marshall the firefighter, sky the pilot, Rubble the contractor, all working together. Very Canadian notion that if only. If only we join hands and cooperate across disciplines, we can more effectively address the social ills that plague us. It's just Canada. So what my daughter is getting is essentially Canada?

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah, Well, I mean, I've seen on the news how perfect things are in Canada, Malcolm, so you don't have to convince me. It's a utopian land where everything works out. There's no problems with settlements or anything.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

It's a comparative judgment. This point about the centrality of public sector competence to the Canadian identity is worth a bit of a digression. It concerns the 1991 hit single from the band Crash Test Dummies. Perhaps you remember it. It was called Superman's Song, and it turns on a sociological comparison of Tarzan and Superman.

[Brad Roberts]

Tarzan wasn't a ladies man. He'd just come along and scoop him up under his arm like that, quick as a kid in the jungle.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

Superman, the song argues, is Tarzan's antithesis. He's not some rapacious profiteer.

[Brad Roberts]

Superman never made any money receiving the world from Solomon Grundy. And sometimes I dispel the world will never see another man like him.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

This is how the lead singer for the Crash Test Dummies, Brad Roberts, explained his thinking to a college newspaper. Superman, as cast in Superman's song, is obviously a left wing political figure. His activity in the community is intrinsic to his being. Superman is being juxtaposed against Tarzan, who is kind of a laissez faire capitalist type who retreats to the forest and rejects the idea of the community. He wants to live in a so called animal state and he doesn't want to be bothered with any kind of political realities. First of all, how great is it that rock stars once talked like this? Second, on the basis of this argument, where do you think the Crash Test Dummies are from? It's obvious. Canada. Of course, this is a song that could only have been written by a Canadian. Only a Canadian would find something utterly reprehensible in Tarzan's naked displays of strength and brute force. And only a Canadian would look long and hard at Superman and conclude he's one of us. Listen.

[Brad Roberts]

Hey Bob. Some pedestrian job. Even though he could have smashed any bank in the United States. He had the strength, but he would not.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

Any bank in the United States. Meaning Superman is at a place below the border where the expectation is he will use his gifts for his own selfish ends. The superhero who puts his community first stands for peace, order and good government.

[Brad Roberts]

Sometimes when soup was stopping crimes, I'll bet he was tempted to just quit and turn his back on them. Join towns in the forest.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

The forest clearly referring to anything below the 49th parallel.

[Brad Roberts]

But he stayed in the city. Kept on changing clothes and dirty old phone booths till his work was through. Been nothing to do but go home.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

He stayed in the city working out of decrepit phone booths because he believed super strength and superpowers ought to be deployed on behalf of the public good. When I see Superman, I think he's a Paw Patrol character. Before we got hooked on Paw Patrol, my daughter and I watched Minnie's Botoons. Equally absurdly popular short cartoons about a small business run by a Minnie Mouse and her best friend and maybe lover. I'm unclear on that. Daisy Duck, devoted to selling bows. A bowtique. And yes, the theme song is as good as you might imagine.

[Unknown Speaker]

Welcome to my new boutique, where each and every bow you meet. If fun and fashion are what you see, come inside and take a peek. If fun and fashion are what you see, you're always welcome at Minnie Spouse.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

Every episode of Botunes also begins with a problem, which the episode resolves through Minnie's ingenuity and persistence.

[Unknown Speaker]

That gives me an idea.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

But who is the beneficiary of Minnie's ingenuity? Minnie is Minnie and her considerable business interests. There is no community in Minnie Mouse's botuns, no civic obligations. There is only the profit that ensues to Minnie and her shareholders.

[Unknown Speaker]

There's no business like faux business.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

All of this made me think of the first lines of Saul Bellow's novel, the Adventures of Augie March. Maybe the most famous opening sentence in all of American literature. I am an American, Chicago born Chicago, that sombre city, and go at things as I have taught myself, freestyle, and will make the record in my own way. First to knock, first admitted. Sometimes an innocent knock, sometimes a not so innocent. That's Minnie Mouse in a nutshell. Minnie is American Disney born. Minnie is for Minnie. Minnie is about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. But do you know the dirty little secret about Saul Bellow? He was a Canadian. And I wouldn't be surprised if in an earlier version of Augie March, Saul Bellow admitted to the truth of his birthright. I am a Canadian. Toronto born Toronto, that clean and tidy city. And we go at things as I have been taught by the civic institutions of my municipality, through cooperation and interagency task forces. First to respond, first to apologize. Always an innocent knock. Angus Fletcher, genius in residence, made lots of very good points. But did he deal with the elephants in the room? Tarzan, Minnie Mouse, Saul Bello? He did not. I'm simply saying that I'm understanding where this notion, the notion of the new comedy is so implicit in the Canadian national narrative. That's what it is. There are no real problems in Canada. Canada is this oasis. We're surrounded by countries with real problems, not Canada. We don't pick fights with people. We don't have racism. We welcome immigrants. We have national health care. Canada is the embodiment of the new, of the promise of the new comedy. Every problem can be simply addressed through some interagency task force. Right. So my daughter's just getting a. She's just getting a little bit of Canadian propaganda. That's how I would read it. Angus said the Paw Patrol's problem was that it was vacuous. Agon. Paw Patrol's weakness was that it constantly presented its little viewers with a problem solved at the moment of its presentation. But when I look around me at the world, all I can say is, I don't know. I could use a little more vacuous agon in my life right now. A world where there is a puppy optimized for every kind of peril. Where help arrives at the very moment it is summoned. Where the heroes work not to benefit themselves, but the community in which they live. Where the definition of a Superman is someone who turns down the opportunity to rob every bank and instead toils on behalf of his countrymen as a fantasy, an aspiration to plant in my daughter's head here and now. That doesn't sound too bad.

[Unknown Speaker]

Paw Patrol near I'm the double Whatever There's a problem Crown Adventure Day rather is the team all pups will go and see the day Marshall Wobble Chase Rocky Zoom Sky Fabulous.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

Revisionist History is produced by Nina Bird Lawrence, Lucy Sullivan, and Ben Nadaff Haffrey. Our editor is Karen Shakurji. Fact checking by Sam Rusik. Engineering by Nina Bird Lawrence. Mixing and mastering by Echo Mountain. Production Support from Luke LeMond. Our executive producer is Jacob Smith. Special thanks to Sarah Nix and El Jefe Greta Kung. I'm Malcolm Gladwell. My daughter made this whole episode possible.

[Nate Silver]

I'm Nate Silver.

[Maria Konnikova]

And I'm Maria Konnikova. We're both journalists and professional poker players. And on our podcast Risky Business, we talk about taking risks in everything from poker to politics.

[Nate Silver]

And we talk about betting, from betting on elections to betting on your favorite basketball team. We've learned a lot about taking risks through our own research and sometimes even our own bets. And we share what we've learned with you.

[Maria Konnikova]

Are you still doing sports betting? I had no idea that you'd wagered over a million dollars for your research.

[Nate Silver]

I bet almost the entirety of the 2022, 23 NBA season, all the regular season, then about half the playoffs. And I learned that, I mean, it's probably what I should have expected, but I learned that it's pretty hard. I went on a huge heater at the start of the NBA season where it was up like 70,000 bucks. I'm like, man, I'm really good at the sports betting stuff. But then, but then things change.

[Maria Konnikova]

Now that Marge Madness is upon us, we're talking bracket strategies and a whole lot more. Join us and listen to Risky business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.