Episode 6: Holmes and the Media

In 2001, a series of letters laced with a deadly powder called anthrax appeared on the desks of prominent journalists and politicians in New York City and Washington D.C causing a national panic. But what started as an unprecedented case soon turned into an unsettling mystery. Who had sent these letters? And why? Join us as we trace the FBI’s costly investigation into the attacks, all with an eye toward the question that remains today: Did the FBI identify the true killer, or is this case still unresolved? Unravel the story the played out behind closed doors on Cover Up: The Anthrax Threat, listen now wherever you get your podcasts Subscribers to The Binge can listen to all episodes of Cover Up: The Anthrax Threat right now, completely ad-free. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Host John Carreyrou and reporter Emily Saul revisit the drama of Elizabeth Holmes’s guilty verdict, dissect its meaning, and discuss sentencing. And a surprise guest comes on the show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With a conference call, a magazine interview and a doctored pharmaceutical report, Elizabeth Holmes convinced a small group of very wealthy investors to put hundreds of millions of dollars in her unproven blood-testing startup. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

One of the enduring mysteries of the Theranos scandal is how Elizabeth Holmes managed to turn former Secretary of State George Shultz against his own grandson. New information sheds light on how she did it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Elizabeth Holmes wowed investors with claims that Theranos was working for the U.S. military. But the truth was that her repeated attempts to land contracts with the Department of Defense had gone nowhere. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Elizabeth Holmes wowed investors, board members and journalists with live, in-person demonstrations that made it seem like her blood-testing machine worked. But most of these demos were faked. Behind the scenes, the blood samples were tested either manually or on third-party lab equipment. It's an astoundingly bold deception that was enabled by a software application Sunny Balwani wrote. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the summer of 2013, as a deadline to launch in Walgreens stores loomed and Theranos was running out of money, Elizabeth Holmes and Sunny Balwani put in motion a covert plan to hack third-party blood-testing machines to hide the limitations of Theranos' technology. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We'll be back with new full episodes on October 21st. Here's a little preview of what we've been working on. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Host John Carreyrou and reporter Emily Saul discuss prosecutors' introduction of private texts between Elizabeth and Sunny, the testimony of retired general James Mattis, and the trial's most important witness so far: former lab director Adam Rosendorff, who said Theranos prioritized PR and fundraising over patient care. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For two years, Elizabeth Holmes enjoyed the type of glowing media coverage most entrepreneurs can only dream of. But then she gave one interview too many—an interview with The New Yorker’s Ken Auletta that planted the seeds of her downfall. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices