Podcast Review: The Dropout
June 12, 2019
“Fake it till you make it”. This expression, often used in a colloquial and matter-of-fact way, is one I’ve heard ever since I can remember. “The Dropout” is a podcast that puts this phrase on full display, showing just how much someone will fake it in order to “make it”, or seemingly make it in their own eyes. This podcast has been out for a few months now, but Elizabeth Holmes, the subject of the podcast and the founder/CEO of Theranos, has become one of the most popular household names.
I listened to “The Dropout” when it first came out, and I was hooked – I would wait for each new episode to drop (no pun intended) every week because I was so amazed by this story. From the popularity the podcast gained from the beginning of its episodes being released, it seems like Americans everywhere are hooked as well. The premise of the story is as follows (via Apple Podcasts): “The story of Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos is an unbelievable tale of ambition and fame gone terribly wrong. How did the world’s youngest self-made female billionaire lose it all in the blink of an eye? How did the woman once heralded as “the next Steve Jobs” find herself facing criminal charges – to which she pleaded not guilty – and up to 20 years in jail?”
From that snippet of the podcast description, you’re probably already interested if you haven’t listened. The overarching theme of the podcast, in my HUMBLE opinion, is deception. If you’ve listened, you know that Elizabeth Holmes and those working for her introduced a machine that could extract “adequate” bloodwork from a single drop of blood. Of course this sounds enticing – who wouldn’t want to have their finger pricked instead of having a needle dug into their arm? But would you rather go through that minute of pain in your arm and have correct lab results or have your finger pricked and believe your cancer had recurred? The podcast features real life examples of women and men who had their fingers pricked by a Theranos machine in Walgreens, only to have completely skewed blood results. All of this happened because one team of people faked it in order to make it in the medical world.
The podcast is titled “The Dropout” because Elizabeth Holmes is a college dropout. Sure, there have been many stories of college dropouts who have gone on to create success stories. This is not one of those success stories – it is instead a story about what happens when deception takes over your life. It is quite sad to hear about how much Elizabeth Holmes affected people negatively, especially in the workplace. The way her employees were treated and the nepotism behind it is difficult to listen to because you wish so badly that someone had caught Theranos and the “higher-ups” earlier. The podcast is a great reminder to not always believe what you hear – sometimes it’s best to learn everything you can about a product or business before you become too involved.
“The Dropout” is definitely a recommendation for your summer road trips. Let us know what you think about it!