What are you reading?

[budwom]

Just finished Bad Blood, a compelling account of Elizabeth Holmes and her fraudulent Theranos venture. It's a good read by the Wall Street Journal reporter largely responsible for bringing her down.

The company was a huge scam.Through force of her personality and appearance, Elizabeth Holmes convinced people like George Schultz and Henry Kissinger that this was a viable company based on real science.

I think she is still facing a criminal trial over all this.

Fascinating book. Once she had a few venture capital guys with big reputations on her side, no one could see any wrongdoing, as obvious as it should have been. And David Boies does NOT come out of it looking like an honorable chap.
At least Holmes can now just speak normally...faking a lower octave must be tedious.

[bundabergdevil]

Fascinating book. Once she had a few venture capital guys with big reputations on her side, no one could see any wrongdoing, as obvious as it should have been. And David Boies does NOT come out of it looking like an honorable chap.
At least Holmes can now just speak normally...faking a lower octave must be tedious.

The book established that she did that? We watched one of the documentaries on her and came away thinking it was sort of an open question.

Hell of a grift for such a young thing. It's pretty astonishing that it could happen but I guess that's sort of the VC game: betting on the promise of the black box IP. This just turned out to be mostly illusion. Maybe the book goes into it more but what the heck were all the employees doing during this time? If there wasn't much to company, were they just taking turns filling and emptying beakers or something?

[rsvman]

I liked reading along silently with my wife until I realized she was always waiting for me to turn the page. I grew up as a voracious reader so I just assumed I read at a good speed as well. She shattered that illusion into tiny pieces.

Interesting. When we read together, what I mean is that I read aloud and she follows along.

[budwom]

[/B]

The book established that she did that? We watched one of the documentaries on her and came away thinking it was sort of an open question.

Hell of a grift for such a young thing. It's pretty astonishing that it could happen but I guess that's sort of the VC game: betting on the promise of the black box IP. This just turned out to be mostly illusion. Maybe the book goes into it more but what the heck were all the employees doing during this time? If there wasn't much to company, were they just taking turns filling and emptying beakers or something?

Yes, the fake voice thing gave her gravitas, in her opinion...she mimicked Steve Jobs as much as she could. Did you notice her turtlenecks? As for the employees, a whole bunch of them knew that the technology wasn't working and was unlikely to work, but the company kept an iron fist on statements to the press, and anyone who expressed a negative opinion got pummeled by people like David Boies. It took a looooong time for word to finally get out that their technology wasn't worth spit. Instead of being able to test for just about everything with a drop of blood, it couldn't really test for much of anything, and most of the test results they did release to the public were performed on equipment belonging to other companies. Incredible tale.

p.s. not sure if it's been mentioned, but the author is a Blue Devil, so there's that...

[wilson]

Yes, the fake voice thing gave her gravitas, in her opinion...she mimicked Steve Jobs as much as she could. Did you notice her turtlenecks? As for the employees, a whole bunch of them knew that the technology wasn't working and was unlikely to work, but the company kept an iron fist on statements to the press, and anyone who expressed a negative opinion got pummeled by people like David Boies. It took a looooong time for word to finally get out that their technology wasn't worth spit. Instead of being able to test for just about everything with a drop of blood, it couldn't really test for much of anything, and most of the test results they did release to the public were performed on equipment belonging to other companies. Incredible tale.

I haven't read the book, but these posts sent me down an internet rabbit hole, and it's indeed an incredible story. Interesting (read: "totally unsurprising and on several levels, infuriating") that Holmes's father was an Enron guy. Something about an apple and a tree.
Also fascinating that after falling in romantically with the Theranos COO, breaking up with him, and his eventual suicide, Holmes is now married to an heir to a schmancy chain of San Diego/SoCal hotels, whose family is said to be none too happy with the whirlwind romance and subsequent matrimony.
I don't care to invest the time to read the whole book, but I do want to watch this movie.

[budwom]

I haven't read the book, but these posts sent me down an internet rabbit hole, and it's indeed an incredible story. Interesting (read: "totally unsurprising and on several levels, infuriating") that Holmes's father was an Enron guy. Something about an apple and a tree.
Also fascinating that after falling in romantically with the Theranos COO, breaking up with him, and his eventual suicide, Holmes is now married to an heir to a schmancy chain of San Diego/SoCal hotels, whose family is said to be none too happy with the whirlwind romance and subsequent matrimony.
I don't care to invest the time to read the whole book, but I do want to watch this movie.

The movie would be great, but you ought to read the book, so much incredible stuff...like Walgreens bought into her scam, spent tens of millions to install Thernos testing sites in multiple stores, none of it worked. Some of the results were completely inaccurate and of course fraudulent.

[wilson]

The movie would be great, but you ought to read the book, so much incredible stuff...like Walgreens bought into her scam, spent tens of millions to install Thernos testing sites in multiple stores, none of it worked. Some of the results were completely inaccurate and of course fraudulent.

Yeah, I saw that. Also got a wonderfully schadenfreudic chuckle out of the Walmart people losing $150 million, Rupert Murdoch losing $125 million, and Betsy DeVos losing $100 million.

[bundabergdevil]

Yes, the fake voice thing gave her gravitas, in her opinion...she mimicked Steve Jobs as much as she could. Did you notice her turtlenecks? As for the employees, a whole bunch of them knew that the technology wasn't working and was unlikely to work, but the company kept an iron fist on statements to the press, and anyone who expressed a negative opinion got pummeled by people like David Boies. It took a looooong time for word to finally get out that their technology wasn't worth spit. Instead of being able to test for just about everything with a drop of blood, it couldn't really test for much of anything, and most of the test results they did release to the public were performed on equipment belonging to other companies. Incredible tale.

p.s. not sure if it's been mentioned, but the author is a Blue Devil, so there's that...

Were there employee whistle blowers? I’m fascinated by the psychology of these types of massive deceits —- both of someone like Holmes who is clearly a sociopath and of the employees who just continued to go with it. I’m assuming a relatively small number truly knew the scale of the lie though.

[budwom]

Were there employee whistle blowers? I’m fascinated by the psychology of these types of massive deceits —- both of someone like Holmes who is clearly a sociopath and of the employees who just continued to go with it. I’m assuming a relatively small number truly knew the scale of the lie though.

They had ultra strict legal "agreements" with all employees preventing them from speaking out, and when some tried, they were viciously and illegally harassed...truly scary stuff. It got ugly...IIRC, one of the ultimate whistle blowers was George Schultz's grandson (?) and it was a harrowing experience for him to inform grandpa...the Theranos management and legal team played ultra hardball. Essentially the message was, if you speak out, we'll ruin your life, and they did in fact ruin some lives.

[bundabergdevil]

They had ultra strict legal "agreements" with all employees preventing them from speaking out, and when some tried, they were viciously and illegally harassed...truly scary stuff. It got ugly...IIRC, one of the ultimate whistle blowers was George Schultz's grandson (?) and it was a harrowing experience for him to inform grandpa...the Theranos management and legal team played ultra hardball. Essentially the message was, if you speak out, we'll ruin your life, and they did in fact ruin some lives.

Interesting. I'll have to hit the book at some point. It's been a while since we watch the documentary but I don't remember it going into as much detail. I guess the lawyers and the execs were all vicious and complicit. System is rigged for the sharks, I guess.

[luburch]

Finished the first book in the Mistborn trilogy. Sanderson's magical systems continue to blow my mind.

Started Kitchen Confidential over the weekend. Better late than never.

[OldPhiKap]

Finished the first book in the Mistborn trilogy. Sanderson's magical systems continue to blow my mind.

Started Kitchen Confidential over the weekend. Better late than never.

Kitchen confidential is a great read.

[budwom]

Kitchen confidential is a great read.

especially when you don't have to worry about going into a restaurant for some time. Very illuminating.

[bundabergdevil]

Kitchen confidential is a great read.

Yes, it is. I read it well after Bourdain rose to fame but it was great insight into the man's unique voice and POV.

[bundabergdevil]

They had ultra strict legal "agreements" with all employees preventing them from speaking out, and when some tried, they were viciously and illegally harassed...truly scary stuff. It got ugly...IIRC, one of the ultimate whistle blowers was George Schultz's grandson (?) and it was a harrowing experience for him to inform grandpa...the Theranos management and legal team played ultra hardball. Essentially the message was, if you speak out, we'll ruin your life, and they did in fact ruin some lives.

Holmes' saga continues. Guess she's pregnant.

[dudog84]

I had not followed the Holmes story, looked her up on wiki and her father was a VP at Enron. Funny how this behavior seems to run in families.

[dudog84]

I just finished The Liberation Trilogy (An Army at Dawn, The Day of Battle, The Guns at Last Light) by Rick Atkinson. I highly recommend it.

I thought I knew about WWII, but I did not. If anyone can recommend a similar good read about the war in the Pacific I would appreciate it. I'd like something comprehensive without bogging down in minutia or focusing on one event.

Edit: The Pacific War by John Costello looks promising. Anybody read it?

[MartyClark]

Holmes' saga continues. Guess she's pregnant.

A strategic pregnancy? She can run but she can't hide. She'll face a trial eventually.

I'm curious as to whether she will insist on testifying at her criminal trial. Some of these con men/women think they can con the jury. It will be very interesting.

[budwom]

The Blizzard Party by Jack Livings...

[cspan37421]

Just finished Steig Larsson's The Girl who Played with Fire. It was terrible, but I still wanted to get to the end to find out what happened.

I enjoyed the first one (... with the Dragon Tattoo) very much - but that's been 10 years or so. I think I read the last 400 pages in a single sitting. Watched and was thrilled by both versions of the movie (Rooney Mara, Noomi Rapace).

This one still gets good reviews on the River Site (if you give credibility to those, which I no longer do, in general). If you look among the small minority of critical reviews, my quibbles are generally echoed in them. For one, it was some of the most cliche-ridden stuff I've read. Not just phrasing (which I accept, we use those all the time in conversation), but the characters and their descriptions. All stereotypical, or (apparently) borrowed from some other bit of pop culture, e.g. lots of movie-style bad guys. I'd be shocked if Larsson hadn't seen Rocky IV. I literally rolled my eyes several times while reading it. There's excessive inconsequential detail. There are hundred-page sections that could be removed without impairing the unfolding of the plot (unless they're to be built upon in the last of the trilogy ... but I'm not continuing).

I also noticed many/most sentences were noticeably short, as if written for an early teenage reading level. (though the content surely is not). The whole experience made me think of the quote: "A best-seller is the gilded tomb of a mediocre talent" (Logan Pearsall Smith)