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The Dropout features the story of Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of the health-technology company Theranos, who developed a device known as the Edison that purported to deliver a battery of medical tests from a drop of blood. Wall Street swooned. Theranos negotiated a partnership with Walgreens and, by 2014, was valued at over $9 billion. But in reality, the Edison simply didn’t work—and with false test results sent to real patients, the company claiming to save people was actively risking their health. The tech reporter Rebecca Jarvis brings listeners inside this start-up con game, interviewing insiders to understand how Holmes managed to pull off her sleight of hand. While plenty of other reporting on Holmes focuses on her youth or on the big names she allegedly defrauded (Betsy DeVos, to name one), The Dropout sticks to the machinations of Theranos, illuminating the story that lies between the genius and the fraud.

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