Harvard Law School Is Full Of Druggies: A Conversation Between Malcolm Gladwell & Lance Armstrong
Of course they're all on drugs...
Did you know that Lance Armstrong had a podcast? I certainly didn’t, but apparently he does and manages to swing some famous guests. It makes sense that Armstrong could reach out to all the famous acquaintances, it’s just surprising that they’d all call him back. Truly no public disgrace can stand in the way of a redemption podcasting arc!
The folks at Big Law Business noticed that back in October, Armstrong welcomed Malcolm Gladwell, the renowned “guy who makes insignificant s**t seem serious,” to the show to discuss performance-enhancing drugs. WOW I WONDER WHY LANCE IS INTERESTED IN THAT? Seriously, does every Armstrong show begin with, “I’d like to welcome 1989 Nobel Peace Prize winner, His Holiness the Dalai Lama. So, Lama, how bulls**t was it that I lost my titles?” And of course the guest would respond, “when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness.” And that’s like the yellow jersey of life.
Gladwell declared that performance-enhancing drugs have leapt from the world of sport to education, with an “extraordinarily high percentage of students” taking drugs to stay on top of their schoolwork. There actually isn’t a lot of good work on this question as far as I can tell, so perhaps we should pump the brakes on “extraordinarily high percentage” and say that a significant number of students have, at some point, taken a study drug. But that doesn’t stop him from doubling down on making big claims:
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Malcolm Gladwell: “If you go to Harvard Law School, I would, I don’t know, I would…
Lance Armstrong: “I want to hear this number.”
Malcolm Gladwell: “I would venture that more than 50% of the students are taking something. Whether it’s Provigil to help them study, or Adderall the day before some major test.”
Here’s the whole podcast, with Gladwell’s comment at the 31:15 mark:
There you have it: Harvard Law students are a bunch of drug addicts. Hard to believe. On the other hand, a Harvard Law student rolled up on me in a public place and announced having just bought a massive amount of cocaine from a cab driver and asked if I wanted any.
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I declined.
Still, I’m going to remain skeptical of Gladwell’s claim until there’s more concrete evidence that Harvard’s popping pills like mad.
Is ‘More Than 50%’ of Harvard Law School on Drugs? [Big Law Business]
Joe Patrice is an editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.
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