There is something about creativity that tends to bring out the worst in certain people. Maybe this is because the pursuit of a personal vision tends to be isolating and not particularly conducive to sharing or collaboration, or maybe this is because success requires often off-putting qualities like aggression and ruthlessness or the need to set impossibly high standards. In either case: Getting to know the personalities behind bold names can be an exercise in frustration, as Malcolm Gladwell‘s New Yorker piece on the late Steve Jobs aptly demonstrates.

As evidence of Jobs’ sometimes difficult nature, Gladwell offers the following revelations from Walter Isaacson‘s well-timed biography on the driving force behind Apple.

Ever wondered how Malcolm Gladwell – whose name you’ve probably seen calling out to you at your friendly neighborhood airport bookstore from among the rows of Good Housekeeping and Swedish Fish – comes up with titles for his books? Neither have we, but that doesn’t mean we can’t try our hand at coming up with a few names for them ourselves, with a little help from the “Malcolm Gladwell Book Name Generator.”

Leave it to Malcolm Gladwell to come up with a reason why journalism – particularly magazine writing – will survive. Gladwell believes that even if a tiny percentage of people in the world value and subscribe to publications like the New Yorker then that actually translates into a large enough number to sustain the industry. But Gladwell also warned in his chat with his friend, colleague, and debating partner Adam Gopnik that it’s not often that his theories get substantiated by subsequent events.

On Friday, David Brooks used his New York Times column to announce the first round of his Sidney Awards for the year’s best magazine essays. It was a varied and inspired list — except out of the six essays chosen, none were written by women. Today, in his second set of winners, that wrong was righted. But, two out of 14?

After Harry Potter’s worldwide record-breaking weekend, we got to talking about certain parallels between the magical land of Hogwarts and the equally magical land of headlines, bylines, cutlines, chyrons, blog pickup and declining ad pages. Turns out, the two have a lot in common!

On that note, for your edification and enjoyment, we present our own version – let’s call it “Harry Potter and the Media Muggles.”

Over the weekend, renowned Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker penned a reasonably critical review of Malcolm Gladwell‘s latest, What The Dog Saw. But whereas many “bad” reviews resort to sloppy or sound like the settling of personal scores, Pinker’s substantive piece has already garnered a response from the author in the form of a letter to the editor of the New York Times. Hooray for civil, engaging debate!

Who: Byron Pitts (“60 Minutes”) What: The New York Press Club’s book event for “Step Out on Nothing” Where: McGraw Hill Building When: November 10, 2009 Thumbs: Down

When Gawker reported that Wired boss Chris Anderson was too busy promoting his book to be present on layoff day, the tech editor took to his Twitter to defend himself. But Anderson angrily taking the bait of his ex-employee is exactly what Ryan Tate and Gawker want.

In a new piece for The Daily Beast, writer Sean Macaulay celebrates the sexual conquests of New Yorker writer Malcolm Gladwell, lavishly praising the best-selling author and nerd extraordinaire for morphing from a stifled goober to a big city casanova. It’s part creepy and part hilarious, but a few readers are not pleased!

Best-selling pop psychologist/author Malcolm Gladwell has announced plans for his next book, What the Dog Saw, which will be published this fall. But not unlike an early album leak for a recording artist, Gladwell’s new book is already available online in its entirety, and The New Yorker, where Gladwell is a staff writer, is to blame. Are his publishers just trying to sell us a Greatest Hits collection of stories all available online for free?

A.J. Daulerio is the editor of Deadspin.com, pretty much the top sports blog around and so enjoyably written that even non-sports people are fans, perhaps because of headlines like this: Mets Third Base Coach Does Not Like My Pants And Will Not Eat My Poop Sandwich (UPDATE). (It ‘s the helpful updates that make the [...]

Perennially insightful Malcolm Gladwell outdoes himself in this week’s New Yorker, positing that overconfidence might have played a role in the collapse of Bear Stearns and, on a larger scale, the Wall Street meltdown. I repeat: Malcolm says the bankers were too cocky.

Do you love topical panels, lectures, and seminars, but can’t seem to find the time to attend them? Do you want to know what your favorite columnist had to say about her newest project, even if you don’t live in New York City? Would you be interested in reading about the five most captivating moments [...]