Gladwell, already a successful author and essayist, was convinced to create a podcast by his friend Jacob Weisberg, then editor-in-chief of The Slate Group.

[2] After Panoply announced that they would cease making podcasts in September 2018, he announced that he was co-founding a podcast production company with Weisberg named Pushkin Industries, which has produced the series since then.

[3][4] Each episode begins with an inquiry about a person, event, or idea, and proceeds to question the received wisdom about the subject.

The season Development Hell interviewed notable screenwriters and film directors about a passion project which never came to fruition.

In Podcast Review, Nic Dobija-Nootens called it "perplexing, frustrating, and always worth a second look".