Theranos, Elizabeth Holmes, and the Cult of Silicon Valley

Elizabeth Holmes became a Silicon Valley celebrity after she dropped out of Stanford at 19 to start a company called Theranos. We sat down with John Carreyrou, the Wall Street Journal reporter who unmasked Holmes.
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[For full text, credits, and downloadable versions, go to reason.com/reasontv/2018/06/0...]
Elizabeth Holmes was everything Silicon Valley investors and the media could hope for: a brilliant, young female entrepreneur who dropped out of Stanford at 19 to start a company called Theranos.
Established in 2003, Theranos promised to save people from pain and disease through early detection and lead the way into an era of cheaper, more consumer-driven health care. Holmes' big idea was to replace traditional venous blood draws in a doctor's office, hospital, or lab with simple finger pricks. One day, she said, patients would be able to do the tests at home and upload the results for their doctors.
Holmes stacked her board of directors with heavyweights such as former and future cabinet members George Schultz, Henry Kissinger, and Gen. James Mattis. She held fundraisers for Hillary Clinton and cadged hundreds of millions of dollars from investors such as the Walmart heirs, Rupert Murdoch, and Betsy DeVos. For a time, her company was worth more than Spotify or Uber.
Today, Theranos is on the verge of liquidation and its backers have seen their investments wiped out. Holmes may face charges.
The man who looked closer at Theranos is John Carreyrou, a veteran investigative journalist at The Wall Street Journal. His dogged reporting revealed the tactics of flattery and intimidation that fooled Holmes' investors and the press, allowing her to keep up the deception for as long as she did. When Carreyrou's stories on Theranos started appearing in 2015, Holmes went on the offensive, depicting herself as a Silicon Valley disrupter who had become the target of a smear campaign orchestrated by established interests.
Reason's Nick Gillespie sat down with Carreyrou to talk about his new book on Theranos, Bad Blood: Secrecy and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup, which has made the New York Times bestseller list and will soon be made into a movie starring Jennifer Lawrence as Elizabeth Holmes. Bad Blood raises tough questions about regulators' failure to stop Theranos, the infatuation of the public and the press with the mystique of Silicon Valley, and the shadowlands where innovation, capitalism, and deception meet.
Produced by Justin Monticello and Todd Krainin. Camera by Jim Epstein.
Music credits:
Raro Bueno by Chuzausen is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 International License.
On Matters of Consequence (Act I) by Lloyd Rodgers is licensed under a Public Domain Mark 1.0 License.
On Things Invisible to the Eye (Act II) by Lloyd Rodgers is licensed under a Public Domain Mark 1.0 License.
Photo credits:
Elizabeth Holmes at WSJDLive 2015: Mike Blake/REUTERS/Newscom
Elizabeth Holmes at TIME 100 Gala 2015: Everett Collection/Newscom
Elizabeth Holmes at TIME 100 Gala 2015: Robin Platzer/Twin Images/LFI/Photoshot/Newscom

[@tanakerrr]

The turtle necks of Steve Jobs, the soulless eyes of Zuckerburg and the voice of Megatron. How could you not like her

[@sylvia7000]

hahahahah

[@joyciejd9673]

Love it

[@shanuv12]

🤣🤣🤣

[@larmoran4885]

Its always in the eyes, batshit crazy

[@theman.4692]

LMFAOOOO

[@philipobando]

First they think you're crazy, then they fight you and then turns out you were crazy all along.

[@matj3296]

Wish I was crazy, that I could get investors to give me billions lol

[@holitinne]

Correction: Crazier

[@philipobando]

@M T Victim?

[@vladimir0700]

LOL-awesome, dude!

[@patriciamarie4709]

😆😆😆😆

[@jeremytole3493]

She dropped out of school and NO ONE questioned her about her knowledge of medicine, chemisrty or engineering?

[@playamusa]

Do you mean Bill Gates? Oh wait..

[@exMuteKid]

@@playamusa bill's ms dos is nothing compared to this. That's like comparing the maker of flappy bird to the maker of those blood oxygen detectors

[@juliamaria3807]

nah, she dropped out *stanford*. like most entrepreneurs. people like that, think it's daring. she probably didn't do any of the research herself anyways, that's not her role. her role is to get investors and build up an image. elon musk didn't build a tesla and jeffrey bezos doesn't box amazon orders.

[@Hyumifu]

@@juliamaria3807 nah, something like biology requires a lot of experience.

[@playamusa]

@@exMuteKid I was referring to the fact that Bill Gates got into the medical field with no credentials just like this dude...

[@KusHNinja]

Im sure she's actually flattered about the movie. Some of these sociopaths dont deserve that type of recognition...

[@magical8013]

You know she is, watch how much she also uses it to her Advantage once she gets out of prison for only doing two years

[@lesyaoknelomray6299]

@Glenn Repairs it's what she does best, 'sway' or manipulate people. You could be sure she's working her ass off day and night coming up with a sad & traumatic pity story to pull on the jury's heart strings.

[@Lipstickandchampagne]

Come through with the truth! 💯 👏🏾 She will get out, then proceed to write an autobiography, and benefit from that venture.

[@camillecormier1825]

@@magical8013 Yep, I'll bet that's all she serves - and they'll knock some time off even that.

[@camillecormier1825]

@Glenn Repairs Her sentence for the counts the jury found her guilty of will be decided by the judge who presided over the trial. They're waiting for Sunny's trial to be over before sentencing Elizabeth.

[@llonden6998]

5 words to prevent you from getting scammed..."Show me how it works"

[@ambylam]

llonden - It didnt’t stop George Schulz. He used the theranos tests personally and believed they were accurate. however the tests always took a vial of blood, not just a drop. and his his grandson was the whistleblower that finally brought theranos down. people will believe anything, even if the contradicting evidence is right in front of them.

[@ase2201]

That's the lesson that we seem to never learn, the more outrageous the claim the less people ask questions. Don't ask me why? It just is!

[@DeadPixelZombie]

She was asked to show how it works multiple times and she deceived them by doing tests via a different machine and pretending it was the Edison. They also asked if they could look inside and see how it works but she was very strict saying that it was a "trade secret".

[@zaph2580]

@@DeadPixelZombie she could be just watching Netflix inside her secret lab.

[@jjanczy62]

Exactly. That they had not pursued patent protection, and that they had never published in any scientific journal should have been major red flags to every investor. Guess that's why no biomed VC's were investors.

[@globalko]

Wait, she founded the company at 19 and is now 35. So she was just bullshitting for 15 years?

[@gil15100]

I thought the same thing, i believe that, in the beggining were the First investors came, she Said It would need 10~20 years to be completed, in that era after the year 2000, the New Millenium tecnólogy was a big thing and people get hyped for that, and only recently, everyone realized the stinky shit It really is.

[@tavoiaiono7885]

The entire medical industry is fraudulent!!!

[@DVZM.]

@ungratefulmetalpansy Really? They just told my grandmother like one year ago that she got them from stress and medicine

[@NazAI]

she's a white women in america, top of privilege food chain. The funny thing is collage drop out genius in field that need formal training and no one question it. You people got water in brain or something.

[@mooyo8951]

@ungratefulmetalpansy yeah h pylori causes(i said that wrong its associated with ulcers but we dont really know if it causes it) it but so does stress and spicy foods. stress and spicy foods play a major part too

[@auroraa7510]

This reporter needs a raise he’s super intelligent /competent.

[@Doggieman1111]

Just for the record, she was paraphrasing my favorite philosopher, Arthur Schopenhauer, who said, "All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident."

[@pretorious700]

Add plagiarism to fraud

[@morganablackwater2017]

​@@pretorious700 I don't think you understand what plagiarism is

[@michaelnazar9358]

.

[@Tschennnnie]

People keep saying she's charismatic and magnetic, but I'm just not seeing it.

[@lainiwakura44]

Researches shows the majority of people are unable to distinguish a psychopath or a sociopath from normal individuals; which is the reason why many of them climb the social ladders in politics, corporations, institutions, and are successful professionals. The “I Am Fishead” documentary is a nice reference of this phenomenon.

[@Maniac742]

Because she isn't. That's a lie propagated to cover up the real reason people bought into her bullshit: because she has a vagina. The vagina pass allowed her to dodge and divert probing questions or have them not asked at all because people were desperate to believe she was real. So desperate that they deliberately avoided any line of questioning that might even suggest she wasn't being truthful.

[@k.anderson5039]

agreed! she is far from attractive & that voice is just weird!! Plus she looks like 25 going on 60.

[@lainiwakura44]

@@Maniac742 That is also so true. In fact the partner is facing more severe accusation despite being less responsible than her for the mess at Theranos. He is just because he is a man. Just Because He is A man

[@Eleiris]

That's just a lie. They probably saw right through her and just wanted to throw an investment to a wall and see if it sticked like many other times. They're throwing her under the bus to avoid the bad pr.

[@tpbarbie]

She is really, really strange. Why is everyone calling this "charismatic"?

[@amyim2002]

I am reading a book now and She is definitely strange. banging her head to hiphop music on her way to work and had a relationship with a man who is about 20 years older and lying about even a small thing for example she sent an email she was not in the office but she was there,etc~~~

[@Mamasita5678]

Erin Schultz because she’s white.

[@afnanalnajar9196]

LianaCatherine19 how does that relate tho?

[@afnanalnajar9196]

carlos Rivas she is?

[@carmelafernando7823]

The halo effect.

[@davidpohl9774]

Every biochemist working in even a small town hospital would tell you that the idea was absurd. Just testing everybody for every marker known to man would just create a mess of false positives and false negative results. You need a doctor to make a list of possible diagnosis( with pretest probabilities) and lab test are there to confirm or deny the narrowed down possibilities. ( post test probabilities go high or down). That’s like the biochemistry textbook chapter 1.

[@henryford2950]

Sounds like the misuse of the PCR test for viral detection and diagnosis.

[@EdMcF1]

My first thought was 'So where do all the reagents for 200 tests fit?'.

[@businessdevil7094]

No, that one is about amino acids.

[@Turtleman30]

I worked as an assistant at a lab a couple of months ago. I didn't even run the tests themselves but even just hearing Holme's ideas just seem off. Many times I've had to reschedule tests because not enough blood was drawn by our Phlebotomists, many times I've had to spin and separate tubes just to make sure there was enough blood to run multiple tests. Yet the technology to do all these tests from just a prick of blood was just around the corner? Either there was a breakthrough in technology or someone is lying.

[@nigelft]

@@Turtleman30 I just have the English equivalent to an American Associates Degree in Applied Biology, but was enough to work in a Veterinary Laboratory, producing a Prescription Only drugs, dual used in detecting bovine TB. That was under GMP/GLP, mean cleanroom conditions of 10 particle in

[@pete6705]

Walgreens somehow avoided all the shrapnel in this fiasco. They ignored their own, only consultant that tried to warn them that this device did not work and put it in their stores anyways and used this very dangerous faulty medical device on all their customers. I’m surprised the media and the public didn’t blast them more for their role in this

[@globalresearch4180]

"Government" run health care at its finest.

[@wal_pur_gis]

@@globalresearch4180 That's literally the opposite of the government. The government was responsible for getting Theranos shut down

[@globalresearch4180]

@@wal_pur_gis After they created Theranos and stole billions

[@MiddlePath33]

I don’t see how people were mesmerized by this woman. 5 minutes of black turtle necks and deep man voice and I’m annoyed beyond belief.

[@BunneRabb]

"But... big, blue, wide eyes! Vagina! Sweaters! You KNOW I'm just brilliant! I MUST be!" People _want_ to believe unbelieveable bullshit if it's in a pretty package.

[@durcheinander5554]

Right?? And she's not even a good liar? I mean, the fact that she almost always smiles (well, kind of, because it doesn't reach her eyes), even when answering serious allegations, is unsettling. It's like she's lost touch with reality. My guess is that her fanaticism and complete blind faith in eventual success is what convinced the investors. She looks like someone who'd *kill* to make it work. And then everyone else was fooled by the massive financial backing into thinking this thing must be legit.

[@MiddlePath33]

This thing definitely doesn’t have a vagina.

[@BunneRabb]

@Nyree Harris Girls have those. I looked into it. It's called a "pussy pass". "You HAVE to believe me cause I'm a woman!" That shit.

[@RK-bj8ho]

They were mesmerized by thought of cashing in on the next unicorn startup & resulting fomo, her looks and personality made the decision easier but were not the prime reason. There is a similar story about a high tech juicer called juicero (pure fomo)

[@one7decimal2eight]

She sounds like a 15 year old boy trying to convince the liquor store employee not to ID her.

[@Rugg-qk4pl]

@@buchichu7034 Yeah that's not her real voice right?

[@mattyb.5628]

Rugg0064, I remember there being a clip that caught her slipping up, but only briefly.

[@BoldBrandFlakes]

Rugg0064 Yup, not her real voice she uses the deep “baritone” voice became she claims it makes a woman more respected and more feared

[@Longknife]

I'm not quite sure how she tricked all these people. Like sure, in the moment itself, the idea of this woman faking her voice and such seems so absurd that we instead opt to believe her. That part I get. What I don't get though is that this woman made herself stand out in multiple ways where I feel like the subconscious psyche would eventually say "something isn't right." Feels like you don't WANT to stand out if you're committing fraud and she stood out in spades. If I'm an investor and this woman with the deep voice that tries so hard to be Steve Jobs, never blinks and has very robotic movements doesn't show me the full process of the product and how it's produced, I start getting skeptical and asking why they don't wanna show it. This apparently didn't happen though amongst all those investors. Am I missing something here?

[@jswats92]

Longknife basically the journalist says without saying is that she honeypotted these old h0rny a$$ men into investing in the company. Sad really..... Crazy that a dropout at 19 gets initial funding because that’s the hard part lol.

[@animaanimus8011]

Don’t forget she used her rich father’s connections to get started to begin with.

[@elmaestroco]

Yeah, the idea that (if succeeded) she was the first "self-made" female billionaire always amuses me.

[@looseassociation]

...who later sued her for copyright infringement

[@MarcABrown-tt1fp]

@Maartje Goede Its even worse than you think... Her father was a former Enron Executive. Perhaps you know that company, perhaps you don't. Ask any seasoned crook of a businessman what Enron was known for and they may blush.

[@daughterofsekhmet81]

If you can't dazzle them with your brilliance, baffle them with your bullshit. ~The Elizabeth Holmes story

[@Moosa27]

Props to that one ethical journalist that brought this whole thing down. He should be a superstar for life

[@janne639]

His book is terrific. I read it twice. And he's cute to boot.

[@johnnastrom9400]

@@janne639 "And he's cute to boot". We don't care.

[@julianbell9161]

John Nastrom Alright buddy, calm down

[@MissVintage789]

@@johnnastrom9400 somebody's mad 💀

[@C.U.N.Tahiti]

Sadly, I'm sure that his main motivation was receiving all that "superstar" credit and hype in order to sell the story and secure a high position job. Although it's nice to fantasize that ppl are capable of doing things simply for the well being and benefit of humanity

[@miguelangelsanchez5959]

In a british newspaper somebody said: "Elizabeth Holmes wanted to be the millennial Jobs, but she ended being the millennial Madoff".

[@MayaBishopStan]

😂😂🤣🤣🤣 True though

[@Botkilla2K12]

Truly an embarrassment to my generation.

[@FKAAYA]

Lmao

[@manda_musings8459]

Well yeah and wasn’t her dad one or the Enron creeps???

[@aukedeboer191]

All credits for Carreyrou. The world need reporters like you! More than ever, maybe.

[@payam24601]

"Don't worry about the future, we're in good hands"... That didn't age well

[@therealist1103]

Never trust a person who doesn't blink.

[@genevawelch9865]

supertechnoman11 Psychopaths try to cover up the fact that they are psychopaths. The more intelligent ones are aware of their psychopathy and try to hide it.

[@s4nder86]

Especially someone with that much white in their eyes.

[@emanuel_soundtrack]

i wish she doesn’t say me good night

[@bakeryclerk7434]

Theranos just sounds like a made up corporation from a bad movie.

[@toladep]

bakery clerk lol it’s gonna be a great movie!

[@mk17173n]

haha so true

[@champ8605]

i can see theranos in one of those starship troopers propaganda bits.

[@beezlebub9]

With a robot founder to boot.

[@bakeryclerk7434]

@Auntie Geigui THEIR ANUS

[@hgms2387]

"She is very smart"... Well, she got caught, so she ain't.

[@Yikkoofficial]

I think the real issue here is the “fake it or make it” culture in Silicon Valley.

[@andrewdussault1701]

When someone finally gets this tech right, I've got a great marketing tagline: "Like Theranos, but for real"

[@cet6237]

GREAT LINE

[@Xalgucennia]

I doubt it'll ever work because it really violates a lot of the laws of physics, But even if some version of it ever was made to work, they wouldn't, it's marketing 101, when you promote your product, you don't want to remind people of disasters, you don't want to remind people that Theranos even existed or that your product is even remotely similar or related in any way, That's like an cruise line saying "we're like the Titanic but we won't sink", people will be skeptical to begin with and being reminded of Theranos will just invite an immediate comparison and scrutiny

[@andrewdussault1701]

@@cet6237 This guy gets it!

[@andyfma123]

@Jamilah Toenailkilla what if you jump up and down to shake the blood in you before you draw it?

[@adamrak7560]

@Jamilah Toenailkilla You do not need a centrifuge. There are tech for separating every molecule and inspect them one by one (used for extraterrestrial sample analysis). The real problem is first thing which you have mentioned, that stuff is not even in the sample, or not indicative of the larger real sample. There are lot of stuff which you can measure reliably in a single drop of blood, just not everything (far from it).

[@mirimarina6387]

I've watched several documentaries of this same story; it NEVER gets old

[@irriswarrirris]

Me too. It's quite interesting.

[@vincentd1029]

same here

[@bq-9238]

same here

[@geensjc]

I’m a little obsessed with this story because of how bizarre it all was

[@stee8345]

@@geensjc me too lol

[@drsylvietourigny5428]

What is truly heartbreaking about this story is that the underlying concept is brilliant. If she'd completed her training (rather than dropping out), identified suitability credentialed colleagues, and *taken the time* to test the device(s) appropriately without risking patients' well-being, it could have been a medical game changer, particularly in the U.S., where tests are so outrageously expensive.

[@LAZISH]

At some point, this will happen, for sure:))))

[@rebeccabennett7274]

This! It makes you wonder how much the Healthcare industry was set to loose. Such a brilliant idea.

[@AbsentMinded619]

It wasn’t threatening the healthcare industry. It hadn’t happened because it’s not possible. It was not a brilliant idea, just like selling magic potions that cure cancer isn’t a brilliant idea.

[@lesyaoknelomray6299]

Her face at 00:05, when Bill Clinton says "don't worry about the future we're in good hands" says it all.

[@noahcummins2407]

Nobody: Elizabeth Holmes: 👁👁

[@matj3296]

She is definitely on something

[@mgal6234]

🧿🧿

[@breannajoseph2018]

Em Gee Beat me to it

[@mgal6234]

Breanna Joseph 😬

[@badrobot114]

Came here for this. Thank you

[@saketg5954]

The strange thing is, this reporter looks more sorry about the whole affair than the actual criminal.

[@deptusmechanikus7362]

Because he actually has a conscience

[@vocexseta]

She’s very practiced at lying so it’s no surprise she’s still able to put that same lying face on now.

[@marcsultana3311]

Conscience, care, and integrity!

[@anonmouse15]

Why should she? She got what she wanted.

[@tommyodonovan3883]

His reward will be in heaven....He knows that he uncovered a DS CIA/Pentagon special opp...that is why he looks like his dog just died.

[@somethingbeautiful2212]

Thank you, Reason! This was far better reporting than that of 60 minutes Australia, who keeps the comments disabled, silencing public!

[@Lucy-kq7cn]

I hope the film makes John look like a hero and not Elizabeth. It’s nice to know there are still good investigative journalists out there.

[@fhffvdhvb]

Never trust someone who's eyes are that open

[@jacquesblaque7728]

I thought it was belladonna, the drug an optometrist uses to dilate your pupils, used back when by Borgia women to make them beautiful.

[@jogmas12]

Eyes wide shut

[@davidkonevky7372]

👁️👁️ 👄

[@Tidushii]

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez eyes

[@Risingofthephoenix]

That's those psychopathic eyes that Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos have

[@robertnaughton]

Nobody : Elizabeth Holmes : 👁️👄👁️

[@marshaabrady5191]

Robert Naughton 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@pua9435]

😂😂😂😂😂

[@NevadaTan7]

😹😹

[@alexandriasimms4842]

🤣🤣🤣 I laughed much harder than I think I should have. 🤣🤣🤣

[@myapologiesmissgurl5069]

Oh my lord 🤣🤣☠️☠️

[@waitandhope]

What I adore about it all is how everyone still worked there doing nothing?! Like they had to know it was all BS but didn't go look for other jobs lol

[@velocirapture89]

I'd like to point out the integrity of Rupert Murdoch in this investigation. He had personal interest for the company not to go under and probably could have acquiesced to this woman's sociopathic tendencies, but he chose not.

[@syntaxusdogmata3333]

Does she and Zuckerberg have the same vacant gaze, or is it just me?

[@stoicforall]

Syntaxus Dogmata no mistake, you're right. They can be twins.

[@bobbastian760]

Post a photo - we need to see how you look to know if you also have a vacant gaze

[@syntaxusdogmata3333]

😳 👈 Best I can do.

[@crimsonsamuraiftw]

Zuckerberg is much more feminine than her.

[@abramgaller2037]

Yes,Dogmata they do look like cult members.

[@waderivers3304]

This guy is what reporters should be.

[@daisybuchanan8205]

My thoughts exactly.

[@cay820]

How bad is he gonna feel when she goes postal...

[@bridgethenderson6849]

NO he’s not. The narrative of the femme fatale is something he’s pushing to make money on his freaking book tour. She didn’t pull the wool over anyone’s eyes - they ignored that her tech didn’t work and didn’t care because they stood to make millions upon millions.

[@franci.f.]

@@bridgethenderson6849 I agree with you in the sense that I also believe they never checked it couldn't work and it didn't work. The pathologist blog author is one of the few who transparently showed his skepticism. t was actually clear she was always saying a mix of clichè sentences in S.Jobs style. I examine and evaluate up to 15 new innovative projects in the field of e-health every month since 2015 and the big issue in the evaluation phase is that VC and Angel Investors do not seek advising by real scientist/industry experts when they decide where to invest their money. First thing they should have done to detect her lie was checking her patent portfolio... since she just attended few chemistry classes she couldn't be the inventor in her more than 200 patents. Her employees could have been inventors, not her.

[@MeaHeaR]

Wow that interviewer was excellent, he asked somé pertinent, relavant and appropriate questions.

[@rawzone1]

First they think you're crazy, then it turns out they're right

[@mrd49995]

I rather see Anne Hathaway starring in a movie about Elizabeth Holmes. She'd perfect that wide- eyed gaze

[@xcidgaf]

Nailed. Dye her hair blond and she would look very similar to Holmes.

[@OH-tj4qn]

Yeah but Anne Hathaway's wide eyes are inviting, seductive, mesmerizing; Holmes's wide eyes are unnerving, robotic, inhuman

[@5amH45lam]

Good shout! Or, Margaret Qualley.

[@nitish523]

BANG ON.

[@bhuvaneshwarij1326]

They say jennifer lawrence may be playing her, i dont like her at all

[@mr.wizard9785]

Intelligent enough to rip everyone off, not intelligent enough to get the platform to work...

[@nuvamusic]

Mr. Wizard Yes, it’s like these kids were trained to focus on making big money real fast, at all costs, scam included. The particular mistake on this one is that they pretended to defy the laws of biology, biochemistry etc. so to speak. So wrong in every sense.

[@treeman_mj]

She was clever but not intelligent at all.

[@bodybuildingbooks]

Lol 😂

[@maifeng]

Psychopaths are very smart when it comes to manipulating people but really bad when it comes to tasks that require long-term planning and analytical work.

[@alzychoze6591]

Mr. Wizard Or to find a reason for constant excessive testing- All is better! Oh, neglected to ask medical professionals...

[@luisito1273]

Sounds so much like the Nikola Electric Truck story.

[@mijalakis3]

Another lie by Elizabeth was when she said that doctors depend a 70% in blood test to reach a diagnosis. We don't rely heavily in imaging or bloodwork as many people think we do, actually 70% of a diagnosis comes from the Clinical history where the patient tells me whats the reason of their visit to my office, I grab all this info and put it together with the patients non pathological and pathological background, then I do a physical examination and by this point I already have a diagnostic suspicion and then we ask for exams so we direct this properly because if a person comes with a abdominal pain Im not going to ask for Brain CT scan or ask for Rheumatoid factor. Is very rare the case in which we send people to get tested before we have a partial diagnosis at leas

[@wynnie_margeaux]

"Don't worry about the future; we're in good hands." y i k e s

[@nickdipaolofan5948]

Seems like everything a democrat president says is wrong. Just like Obamas "If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor" or Bills "I did not have sex with that woman" Democrats are just bullshiters.

[@sarastuevevliet4327]

Dude that seriously didn’t age well. Big oof.

[@mailerdon]

Yikes

[@mrsoshadabaadman]

Indeed.

[@mrsoshadabaadman]

@@nickdipaolofan5948 Lies and politics are bedfellows and symbiotic organisms. On both sides.

[@tim1553]

🧿 🧿 👃 👄

[@claudiariedel5777]

Tim😄you got her pegged!

[@oscarlinderbrandt6870]

@@claudiariedel5777 see also Stephen King's IT

[@BulldozerNDF]

Tim I’d still hit it

[@mandymaeK1]

Uncanny

[@bilakh7]

Best comment 👌

[@rikard-3642]

Perhaps it’s time to start questioning young peoples abilities to “revolutionize” anything? I find it very strange that no one seemed to question a 20-something persons competence and knowledge in an area that even to an outsider involves a lot of high tech and advanced research.

[@cheechalker8430]

“The word ‘Theranos’ is a combination of the words ‘bullsh*t’ and ‘sociopath’……”

[@NilavraPathak]

She purposefully changed her tone to sound authoritative.

[@poopcold92]

If it was for Manipulation that would be smart but otherwise it’s another excuse to try to be different

[@continuousself-improvement1879]

She would not be able to authoritate me to do anything. That voice freaked me out.

[@ravenwda007]

Pastors yell to sound authoritative

[@livinthemind86]

She just sounds grating

[@lisavanderpump7475]

She not even her own person it's sad I wouldn't of even thrown money into her to support her with someone who can't even be themselves lmao

[@OCDustin]

She prayed nightly to her holy Steve Jobs shrine. Kneeling before it, surrounded by apples.

[@astrea4020]

I wouldn’t be surprised. From what it sounds like it was more severe than just simple admiration, more like obsession.

[@witt.1620]

Did she take a single bite out of those apples? The picture in my head of this is ridiculous 😂😂😁

[@tarafraka]

I cannot with y'all. I'm deceased 😂😂

[@wilmagregg3131]

@@witt.1620 im imaging the anglica arnold shrine from hey arnold but with a statue of steve jobs made of iphones mac parts and apple cores

[@nessi4521]

lol

[@user-cs3hi8zp7p]

She's an actual egomaniac, on top of being the Looney Toons soundtrack😳😬

[@ShannonPost1]

Of all the interviews I've read and seen regarding the Theranos scandal, Reason TV's is by far the most insightful and entertaining. I especially loved it when Mr. Gillespie asked Mr. Carreyrou about all the old guys on the board who had their vanity flattered by Ms. Holmes' attentions, a subject hilariously addressed in the 60 Minutes film "Blood Money" released in August of this year.

[@drananth]

It's strange how Theranos escaped basic scrutiny for so long? There was no product. No technology. No papers. No designs. No results. Yet it raked in billions. Her smoke screen mustta been pretty slick.

[@azraelbatosi]

Ananth Arunasalam it was absolutely brilliant

[@killman369547]

i honestly lost some faith in humanity seeing so many just look the other way and go "herpa herp derp, nothin' to see here folks!". wtf is wrong with us as a species? we can create complex machines and control forces much greater than ourselves, and yet dumb shit like this completely fools most of us? wtf humanity? someone please tell me i'm not the only one who thinks this.

[@ZectonplaysMC]

There was a product it just wasn't meeting expectation. It's not like she just did nothing and just bullshitted her way through, she did try to develop it but she has absolutely fuck all knowledge and when she saw she couldn't keep up to promises she lied her way. I think that she started the company with ambitions and ideas but when she realized her mistake in overestimating what she could do, instead of setting down and trying to think of a better idea she just forced her bullshit through

[@willotoole5900]

Pussy is a hell of a drug

[@inthediamondsky]

@@killman369547 I lost faith in humanity when so many people the world was going to end in 2012 because of a Mayan calendar but ignore the things that are actually hurting our world

[@tjfer11]

i literally cannot listen when she uses that fake low voice, how did no one realize it was fake for so long? seriously it is SO BAD

[@jmitterii2]

Because most of these celebrities to Chief Executives to especially politicians are very much acting. Their fluff. It's theater. Their job is to full enough people with cash and others with cash and buyers of their junk they might produce. It's all a gimmick.

[@adolfhitlerwithinternetacc6259]

jmitterii2 capitalism manifest

[@dubongros3108]

Plus it changes nothing ! You're a young woman and you have a young woman's voice , isn't it normal ? Have you ever heard of a male CEO try to sound like a woman ?

[@adolfhitlerwithinternetacc6259]

SinistaN Chicks with dicks

[@betunia98]

Steve jobs never struck me as charismatic he was fired from apple twice he new how to sell and recognise a good product the innovative force was xerox R&D called PARC. Bill gates also used PARC and also had helped save apple to protect microsoft look it ip folks.

[@georgejopanos763]

That's an insane story in history that I didn't even know was reality,not just a Netflix show

[@RudolfJvVuuren]

It's just so crazy that she thought she would never get busted!

[@clintlovewinds7525]

That's it! I'm buying a black turtle neck sweater!

[@Thekidsinafrica14]

Lmao bro I wear that shit around and these investors FLOCKIN

[@themongols2012]

Clint Lovewinds 😂😂😂

[@Hideaway904]

Being a sociopath also helps.

[@Deenique16]

Then what?

[@phiakate]

You know it.

[@daddykins2081]

Her voice sounds like a 12 year old boy trying not to cry.

[@hadaneva]

Kinda reminds of buffalo Bill in silence of the lambs

[@henriquerodrigues7795]

Bro what the fuck is up with voice thing? It's so stupid lmao, I just don't understand at all why she fakes her voice like that and what the benefit of it was. There's audio of her speaking with her normal voice. Why?

[@holidaytrout5174]

@@henriquerodrigues7795 she thinks it's authoritative

[@rnbsteenstar]

@@henriquerodrigues7795 She didn't need to do that. I don't do that.

[@quantumbyte-studios]

'The lesson is to question this whole value system that idolizes these young entrepeneurs' amazing summary

[@benjaminclark3116]

This lady just LOOKS crazy

[@1974gladiateur]

I can’t believe how you can give so much credit to a person that didn’t prove anything. They valued her company to 9 billions without having proof that the product was working for real.

[@matj3296]

They were greedy...the love of money and power blinded them...when they were in too deep they couldn't afford to doubt it...

[@hepthegreat4005]

Combination of ignorance and arrogance. They didnt understand medicine enough to know it couldnt work, and were too arrogant to listen to people who knew better.

[@bronxgurl6293]

Exactly Marcus !

[@rifaldopalaska7737]

Hey that's the reality. You think apple products has the inherent value that deserve it's price tag? It's all the mythical power of sillicon valley

[@malbowz1257]

WeWork has entered the chat.

[@willg4802]

Her father was an Enron executive...apple didn't fall far from the tree

[@auroraarvelo7817]

U fucking serious

[@davidkonevky7372]

Bruh

[@LESTR97]

The *Apple wannabe* sure doesn’t

[@kingofthorns203]

She was also an heiress to the Fleischmann fortune...until her relatives lost it.

[@yikkinyingyang549]

@@LESTR97 I see what you did there ! 😏 +1 for you

[@holidaytrout5174]

"We have Steve Jobs at home" Steve jobs at home:

[@kendrickmaeldun]

When Clinton asks her how old she was, you know in his head he was like ‘hmmmm….19, yes!’

[@feonor26]

Wish I could insert the meme with Meryn Trant here: Too old!

[@syngen462]

A Wall Street Journal reporter who did his job!

[@sonsofscotland-9272]

don’t fall for it...

[@malachi3438]

wrote about 2 stories. The man cares about quality over quantity

[@dumper926]

FAKE NEWS

[@jacobkhu-oldacc.4491]

And sadly his boss is the largest investor for this fraud

[@lovelessghost5798]

@@jacobkhu-oldacc.4491 his boss stood up for him when Elizabeth personally asked him and I quote "Delete the story and bury it" so...

[@extranolugar4588]

This is the sort of journalism I used to take for granted. Thank you for this piece; it restores my faith.

[@MrRaulstrnad]

except journalists should have been on the ball when she was spending other peoples money left, right and centre does noone any good reporting on her criminal activities AFTER she crashed

[@AmirKhan-yv8jm]

@@MrRaulstrnad someone from WSJ helped expose this!

[@p.p.8624]

Lmao “ used to take for granted”. When 😂. “Restores my faith” lol, dude don’t be silly. Journalism has always been shit and will be for the foreseeable future.

[@vladthe3rd414]

@@p.p.8624 a lot of it is bs but there are good journalists out there, but that’s what the propaganda model does, it throws questions over anyone who questions and challenges it and tel you that only one person or group knows all the answers and they you must be subservient to them only

[@eyeinthetriangle8274]

6:06 "Whenever there's a glass ceiling, there's an iron woman BEHIND it" 😭 That's not how ceilings work Dr Holmes

[@slytherinhousemafia2262]

You can see there's something wrong with her when you look at her eyes and you just see void and emptiness. It's scary.

[@twodubz2280]

I know this story is supposed to be about Theranos and Elizabeth Holmes, but all I can think about is how this is actually NOT fake news...I was beginning to forget what journalism looked like.

[@sabrinasjourney]

I have bad news for you

[@tbotwest]

I am an expert in this kind of technology. The rapid detection of small molecules from biological samples on a microarray is what I do for a living. When I first heard about Theranos several years ago, I spent about 40 min. online researching Holmes and the company. I quickly realized the whole thing was bullshit and would spectacularly fail. It took me 40 min. I can not help but think that if the investors and the media had spoken to ACTUAL experts in the field a lot of grief could have been avoided. It speaks to their incompetence that it got so far.

[@nustada]

Hopefully you shorted it.

[@brianbagnall3029]

The problem with that type of thinking is that SpaceX was also derided when they said they were going to land their rockets. We all know how that turned out. Sometimes experts are stuck in the past.

[@tbotwest]

That is not even remotely comparable. The better comparison would be if your plumber had told you he had solved fusion energy and you decided he was cutting edge and invested in it thinking "hey he is not an expert and is not stuck in the past". There is no problem in my thinking.

[@FirefoxisredExplorerisblueGoog]

Landing rockets has always been regarded completely feasible, though. It's not violating the laws of physics or anything, it just takes precise coordination which wasn't ever tried out on a rocket that size before. SpaceX's idea was never about if it could be done but if they'd have the money to actually do it.

[@tbotwest]

Unfortunately it was not publicly traded.

[@jeffbarney1941]

Great interview.

[@lachlanmclennan2188]

What a smart, well spoken journalist I forgot what they were like.

[@capacola262743]

you can tell she is insane by her eyes.

[@PepeDeezNutz]

paul kersey and never blinking

[@capacola262743]

well said. thanks. @Despiser Despised

[@supastar25]

It's all in the eyes..they always give it away...she's a nut

[@adriannasyraf3534]

she actually looks pretty cute and those insane cyan eyes

[@Juiczey]

Let me fake my voice and lower it to a manly level so I seem more masculine and leader like. That'll fool them.

[@Zero67891]

Go Ham I mean it worked so....

[@nthomas32]

When I went on a job interview, something weird happened. As soon as I started to speak, my voice came out a little deeper, which was not intentional at all. But I ended up getting the job. I wasn't even aware of the deeper female voice being an impression of intelligence. Elizabeth really prepared herself well to fool everyone, even going octaves lower than needed.

[@Cujo5]

That's her voice guys. A real con artist would try to have a charming voice, not an unusual voice. Her lack of eye blinking though... there's something off about that.

[@vickie_g]

@@Cujo5 No. A deeper voice is associated with masculinity & thereby, "leadership qualities". And her unblinking eyes make her "look confident" (I don't know how the second one works)

[@Cujo5]

@@vickie_g Not blinking suggests hyper vigilance. And some women do have deeper voices. That doesn't mean they're faking it. And quite frankly, if she was a con artist, she wouldn't pretend to be masculine when she clearly looks feminine. It would be too awkward. That is her voice, I believe it's tied to her serious attitude more so than some stunt she's pulling. I know women like that. A real feminine con-artist would play to her feminine strengths, not pretend to be male. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying she isn't dropping her voice. I just don't think it's to imitate a male. It's more about her serious attitude. People need to be careful: They know she's a liar and so they're looking for everything about her that's unusual and assuming that it's a trick or a stunt. It's confirmation bias.

[@eliyahomar]

great interview for a great journalist Thank you

[@alansilverman8500]

So no investors bothered to ask about patents approved, research published, or double blind studies done?

[@emanuel_soundtrack]

yes. It scares me as well. Imagine the covid vaccine...

[@luhental]

John Carreyrou is a hero. I bought both the audio book and a paperback of Bad Blood. This guys exemplify what true journalism was about. Just think about the number of people he saved by exposing Elizabeth the Queen of Fraud.

[@supastar25]

Exactly...this was actually about science, medicine and those things impact real people's life on a whole other level...he did a fantastic job.

[@christine3081]

Such a well written book, too! The real story is even more intriguing than a novel.

[@SidraAdele]

I’m hooked! Never heard about her until I watched the show on Hulu. Just ordered the book from Amazon. Can’t wait to read it!

[@camillecormier1825]

@@SidraAdele Looking forward to the last episode of the Hulu series tomorrow night. I've gotten so into this whole disgraceful scandal, too. Sunny's trial has started, so that's good. Ellzabeth will not be sentenced until Sunny's trial is over; that's why the government is waiting until Sept. to sentence her.

[@timb1319]

If you like good reporting check out the Boston globes spotlight series on the Catholic church.. exceptional

[@jeangrey5911]

First they think you are crazy and fight you, then you end up in jail.

[@LA-rv2fr]

John Carreyrou really gets to the heart of the matter when he critiques early media treatment of Holmes. The New Yorker's Ken Auletta pierces the surface of Holmes's credulity when he describes Holmes's description of how the Edison machine works at "comically opaque." Of course, it will ultimately take a confluence of voices and Carreyrou's determination to really cast a spotlight on the inner workings of Theranos. The story of how Bethany McLean's simple questions posed to Enron's Jeff Skilling (including, "How exactly does Enron make its money?") left Skilling reeling, really speaks to the importance of dispatching reporters who have knowledge about the industries/matters they're covering.

[@VincentVonDudler]

2:40 - Wikipedia: "In November 2022, Jennifer Lawrence called off the film after seeing Amanda Seyfried's Emmy Award-winning portrayal in The Dropout, saying she didn't see the point, "I was like, 'Yeah, we don't need to redo that.' She did it."" What a great interview. John Carreyrou is a top notch investigative journalist.

[@thomashale2096]

My dad worked for Theranos when there was just 30 people. It makes me glad that people like Carreyou are able to step up and expose this mess. My dad has always suspected that Theranos was up to no good, but didn't have the proof to confirm this. Back in Theranos's early days the device already didn't work. One of the original ideas, using bioluminescence, barely worked. The next few incarnations worked just as well. My dad had always remarked on how she had such a silver tongue. Whenever she talked, the people followed her like peasants to a queen. In fact, my dad and his friend called Elizabeth "Q" because of this, short for Queen. That's probably where the term "Empress" came into being. She was a snake with a silver tongue. Some of you may ask why it was so difficult for someone to finally expose this mess, after all, just one person could have spilled the beans. It wasn’t that simple. Even from the beginning, Theranos had a full team of lawyers. Anybody who left the company was forced to sign a non-disclosure agreement, to "protect" their products. Elizabeth expected nothing but cooperation. Anybody who questioned her methods would get the boot. That was precisely how my dad got kicked out. He questioned her on some things and corrected her on others, and so he got kicked out. Even people who were extremely qualified for the job were kicked out if they dared to question Q. Everybody knew that the device did not work. The biochem guys knew it, the executives knew it, even the software engineers knew it didn't work. But if they dared to say anything, they would get kicked out and would face legal action from the team of lawyers. That coupled with her extreme popularity (she was very good at getting people on her side) silenced any possible whistleblowers. That's why only someone very rich and influential could have spilled the beans. Elizabeth essentially created something close to a "cult of personality" around herself. For example, right when Carreyou was publishing Elizabeth's crimes, rallies where the people would say "Fuck-you-Carrey-ou" happened within the company. Just wanted to give this bit of information.

[@Margatroid]

Really interesting, thanks for posting.

[@Dropthatpickle]

Thomas Hale very interesting insight. Thank you for posting your story!

[@dianarosalindland1566]

I want to join those thanking you for this personal story. I hope your Dad got a better job with an ethical company!

[@Mutiny960]

Of course she was "popular". Teenage FEMALE in Silicon Valley starting a Revolutionary Company worth more than the Evil MALE Gatekeepers. The story was made for this SJW-laden climate. Anyone who questioned her would be labeled misogynist and sexist. Now that it has come to bite them in the ass the SJW-idiots like Buzzfeed don't want to talk about it lol. They don't even try to backpedal on all the Idol-worshipping they did. They just act like she never existed hahaa.

[@VikVaughan]

@@Mutiny960 Yawn

[@linoroll8296]

"1st they think your crazy" then you show them your crazy and get liquidated.

[@jacquesblaque7728]

you're - apostrophes are cheap.

[@rsod85]

@@jacquesblaque7728 Imagine going out of your way to correct grammar in a youtube comment section

[@jacquesblaque7728]

@@rsod85 Not hard to imagine that some can benefit. Got a problem with that? Move along now.

[@jacquesblaque7728]

@quotetheraven90 YOU must feel like the resident Emily Dickinson, just waaay off the mark, cupcake. Or just GFY.

[@greenjupiter]

Hahahaha

[@ld1775]

Hey ReasonTV, what's the reason for having the god damn audio mix so low? Thanks.

[@btswanfury]

“It skated around regulations, which I can kind of understand- I’m a good libertarian- and I get that. They captured- you know, you work around that[…]” A totally rational and reasonable attitude to have about medical devices, especially those that turned out to be fraudulent.

[@Mixolydian7712]

"She was just so smart. She had all these older men giving her money." Um..... does anyone else see through this?

[@FKAAYA]

I doubt that ugly ass bitch could seduce anybody

[@Milliebeth69]

Pot Head nice

[@helveticaneueish]

They were investors. When he painted her in that light is when he lost credibility for me. That, and trying to paint Murdoch like a victim. My hunch is that he's half speaking truth, half talking out of his ass a little bit.

[@astrosci8864]

Yeah. There are plenty of other women who do this professionally for much less money.

[@troy3456789]

If you've ever worked in an office with men and women and the bosses are men, you know exactly what happened. They trumpet every little thing the sweet pretty girl does, even if it's a 20th of what other less pretty people do in an average day.

[@zenodotusofathens2122]

Clinton: "Don't worry about the future we are in good hands " Yeah sure

[@ClannCholmain]

The best people.

[@lizh4933]

Slick Willie.

[@rhiannejones3815]

Zenodotus Of Athens Lol not safe hands saying that to start with 😏

[@dayotobiusa]

Oh man, the look in her face the couple of seconds just after that, the contractions and slight twitching... "Yeah sure" were probably the exact words going through her mind. Priceless.

[@TheKeksmuzh]

History already repeats. One of Enron’s biggest allies in the early 2000s was George W. Bush.

[@fromgermany271]

Sometimes evil comes in a nice package. Growing older, I found that some day, your brain no longer reacts to the woman’s weapons anymore. You just see the content. And some people are disturbed by your suddenly different behavior.

[@thezacharysmusic]

So does she speak to her cat in the same low voice when she gets home from court? No need to fool your cat, right?

[@tricesimo]

"She cozied up to Bill Clintion". Gee, I wonder what he saw in her...

[@matthewphelps5136]

Well it's Bill, so probably himself.

[@AlexisMaria]

Thats a whole new video lol omgg LOL #spoton

[@Fenris__]

Hey hey Monica

[@waspoppin4784]

Edyta Rudnik pls let this be a joke

[@jacquesblaque7728]

@@provocateur777 There's a job-opening for you on the farm- the funny farm. "Shouting" crap doesn't make it true.

[@amariliscatclaw142]

Ohh man... I Can't wait for the netflix documentary...

[@emersonherrera4939]

☺

[@iflipover]

HBO beat them though

[@1TZAH]

hbo doc announced

[@ShailShah98]

Premier on HBO on 19th march. HBO is way ahead than NetFlix at docs.

[@waspie1690]

I want a Hulu one

[@milafaraon3715]

Such a good book. Read in one sitting. Couldn't put it down. Fascinating.

[@AMM1998]

The crazy eye test NEVER fails

[@boracaydive]

Don’t worry about the future we are in good hands LOL -Bill Clinton

[@magamike1800]

don't forget bill also married Hillary. he may have been a likeable guy but he is a bit of an idiot.

[@boulderbash19700209]

He maybe thinking something else. *nod *nod

[@kalyanbv1000]

He has a reputation of miscalculating women.

[@LogicTroll102]

Narcissists will say that about each other. :D

[@deadstar44]

That's an interesting nickname for his balls.

[@G.DD3SS]

"Whenever there's a glass ceiling, there's an iron woman right behind it." Wait, what..?

[@mayb.4510]

R0YALT1 same lol!!!!

[@lilelbee423]

lmaooo I did not get that joke either

[@annabellee2703]

I think it's supposed to be an homage to Margaret Thatcher.

[@TheBLACKWIDOW83]

"Glass ceiling" is a business term used to describe the under representation of women and minorities in executive positions. She is essentially making an analogy for a breakthrough for women in high level positions, which ironically enough didn't work out to well for her lol.

[@G.DD3SS]

@@TheBLACKWIDOW83 I know exactly what a glass ceiling is. That's what makes her statement even more bizarre.

[@RAZR_Channel]

2:30 It was suspicious that This Video is crediting 1 person with publishing what was common knowledge at the time for those involved. Low and behold a Book Advertisement at 2:30 ... and Damn... I thought Infomercials were done... This is a 30 minute book advertisement...

[@RAZR_Channel]

@Maartje Goede "Duh, were you bOrn yesterday"... What an original, creative, stellar, noteworthy and philosophically written Troll You Are... If you're going to be a troll... at least be a Good One...

[@cheechalker8430]

The “As Seen on TV aisle” is my favorite aisle in Walgreens.

[@halfdollar86]

Thank you George Schultz grandson. It was him that went to the press to look into this and resigned after he called them out.

[@hanniemarie22]

She literally looks like a female Mark Zuckerburg

[@aeqvl502]

Hannah Marie wow

[@taharqa332]

She actually does.

[@SH-to8sh]

omg these comments lmao

[@nagihangot6133]

She IS the female Mark Zuckerburg. Unluckily for her she is not Jewish, and does not know how to effectively scam long-term.

[@steveanton763]

I think one of the reasons this worked is that diagnosis is still in the dark ages compared to treatment.

[@loloinhd]

I wonder how many of these execs were actually held accountable for their incompetence?