Talking To Strangers Playlist

Sometimes reading the book isn't enough. During this recurring blog segment, Book Interrupted members share songs that made their playlist and why.

This playlist was inspired by the book Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell. Listen to the full Spotify playlist here or watch it here on YouTube.

What's on your playlist?

Everyday People by Sly & The Family Stone

Sarah: I chose this song because it is a great song! But, I also chose it because it's about bias and how we are misinterpreting others all the time. I think its confirming what the book says about people reacting differently to the same situation but it doesn't mean we assume guilt. "Different Strokes, for Different Folks". It's about acceptance because "We got to Live together".

People Are Strange by The Doors

Meredith:

“Okay, pretty obvious why I picked this song.

People are strange

When you're a stranger

The secondary reason, though, is that I had a good friend in high school that really liked this song. This song makes me think of her, and thinking of her and our friendship makes me smile."

Talking With Strangers by Miya Folick

Lindsay:

"What I most love about our playlist challenges every book cycle is when I discover new music or artists that I really love. I often start looking for my picks by searching the book title with the word "songs" beside it = "Talking to Strangers songs". Yes, I know it's kind of cheating, but I don't automatically associate books with music. Sometimes I come across some pretty horrible, obscure tracks. But other times I come across some amazing gems, like Miya Folick. This is my first interaction with her music, and man, she has a beautiful voice. She has a new fan. (Actually all three of my picks this cycle were chosen this way, are new artists to me, and are all beautiful songs.)"

It’s Quiet Uptown by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Phillipa Soo, Renee Elise Goldsberry (from the Broadway Musical “Hamilton”)

Kara:

“I may have selected this song for the book “Talking to Strangers” simply so I could listen to this song more - that is a possibility. And, it’s also possible that I think this song actually does go with the read. For me, the parallel comes once you hear the lyric “and push away the unimaginable.” It grabs me every time. Similarly, this book grabbed ahold of me. It also really made me aware of the great lengths our minds go to in creating “reality” and “truth” - how our minds have the remarkable ability to delay, halt and/or alter processing “what we don’t understand, what is unimaginable …””

Would I Lie to You by Eurythmics

Kim:

“I googled ‘songs about lies’ and it turns out there are a bunch of awesome songs about lying!! One of those songs was: Would I Lie to You by The Eurythmics and that’s why I picked it; it’s an awesome song about lying. And Malcolm Gladwell’s Talking to Strangers is an awesome book about why we’re so bad at detecting lies. So, match made in heaven. Am I right?”

Strangers By Nature by Adele

Lia:

"As you can guess I choose most of these songs because they have the word STRANGER I them. Thats how I started my listening journey. Typed in "Stranger" and saw what was out there. The first two are just great songs for very different reasons and very different vibes that really don't reflect the tone of this book.

My third choice, Strangers By Nature by Adele, is in here because I'm having a love affair with her new album "30." This particular song is whimsical, childlike with a slightly ominous vibe. Its sleepy and sweet and you could definitely waltz to it. It feels like it could have been written for a Disney princess movie."