Podcast appearances and mentions of Patrick Radden Keefe

In November 2019, nineteen-year-old Zac Brettler went missing. When his parents began looking for him, they discovered that Zac had been living a double life. Patrick Radden Keefe's book is London Falling. Say hello on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. Sign up for our occasional newsletter. Follow the show and review us on Apple Podcasts. Sign up for Criminal Plus to get behind-the-scenes bonus episodes of Criminal, ad-free listening of all of our shows, invitations to virtual events, special merch deals, and more. We also make This is Love and Phoebe Reads a Mystery. Artwork by Julienne Alexander. Check out our online shop. Episode transcripts are posted on our website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

"You never know what insight or information you're going to glean from someone, and so I want to be open to surprises. And not have any preconceived notions of what, who this person is, what they're going to tell me, imposing my own values, beliefs, whatever on them, because it's all a discovery," says Pulitzer Prize-winner Barry Meier, whose piece "You Can Run" appears in The Atavist Magazine.Barry Meier is here for another Atavistian chat! Yeah, these have not come out in as timely a manner as I had hoped. The late delay of the “revived” one with Mac Montandon, and having pods that were getting moldy in the can too precedence. Anyway …Barry Meier has won this little award you might have heard of called the, what is it, oh, yes, the Pulitzer Prize as part of a team of reporters in International Reporting for the New York Times. He's also been a finalist for the Pulitzer and a two-time winner of the George Polk Award. He's got a new piece out for The Atavist magazine titled: You Can Run: When their parents ripped two young sisters from their privileged lives, gave them fake names, and took them on the lam, they thought it was because their father was in trouble with the IRS. It would be years before they learned the truth about his life of crime.”He's the author of three books, Pain Killer, which was the first to chronicle the Sackler family and the origin of the opioid epidemic. “The book that started it all,” wrote Patrick Radden Keefe, whose book Empire of Pain was heavily informed by Barry's work. Barry also wrote Spooked and Missing Man. You can learn more about Barry at barryemierbooks.com . In this conversation we talk about: Using the boundaries of an envelope to map out a story Interviewing and the tools he uses or doesn't use Being open to surprises Beginnings, endings, and pacingThis episode pairs well with Ep. 385 with Robert Kolker

In Episode 227, Sarah talks with book industry analyst Brenna Connor about the behind-the-scenes world of book sales, bestseller lists, and publishing trends. Brenna shares insight into how sales data is gathered and used across the publishing industry, from tracking pre-orders and audiobooks to measuring the impact of celebrity book clubs and award recognition. They also discuss what makes a book commercially "successful," what current reading trends are revealing about 2026 so far, and what Brenna is watching for in the second half of the year. Plus, Brenna shares her own book recommendations. This post contains affiliate links through which I make a small commission when you make a purchase (at no cost to you!). CLICK HERE for the full episode Show Notes on the blog. Highlights Why tracking book sales is far more complicated than most readers realize — including what Circana can and can't actually measure. A behind-the-scenes look at bestseller lists and the role Circana data plays in lists like the New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly. The famously secretive methodology behind the New York Times Bestseller List. The impact celebrity book clubs and reading lists from Reese, Oprah, and Obama have on book sales. What current sales data is revealing about 2026 reading trends — and how the economy may be shaping book buying habits. Brenna shares the books she recommends — and the trends she's watching for the rest of the year. Brenna's Book Recommendations Two OLD Books She Loves The Unseen World by Liz Moore (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [40:13] Bog Myrtle by Sid Sharp (2024) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [42:00]   Other Books Mentioned The God of the Woods by Liz Moore (2024) [40:22] Long Bright River by Liz Moore (2020) [40:23]   Two NEW Books She Loves Whale Harbor by Mary Beth Keane (November 3, 2026) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [44:07] Joyride by Susan Orlean (2025) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [46:01] Other Books Mentioned Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane (2019) [45:12] The Half Moon by Mary Beth Keane (2023) [45:14]  The Library Book by Susan Orlean (2018) [46:12]  One Book She DIDN'T Love Tom Lake by Ann Patchett (2023) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [47:29] Other Books Mentioned The Dutch House by Ann Patchett (2019) [47:51] These Precious Days by Ann Patchett (2021) [47:57]  Whistler by Ann Patchett (2026) [48:55]  One NEW RELEASE She's Excited About Life Out of Order (The Time Traveler's Wife, 2) by Audrey Niffenegger (October 6, 2026) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [49:25] Other Books Mentioned The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (2003) [49:37]  Books From the Discussion Untitled (A Court of Thorns and Roses, 6) by Sarah J. Maas (October 27, 2026) [9:38] Untitled (A Court of Thorns and Roses, 7) by Sarah J. Maas (January 12, 2027) [9:38] Strangers by Belle Burden (2026) [11:54]  Becoming by Michelle Obama (2018) [15:35]  The Many Lives of Mama Love by Lara Love Hardin (2023) [15:45] Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (2022) [15:53] The Correspondent by Virginia Evans (2025) [25:52]   No One's Coming by Kevin Hazzard (2026) [31:38]  London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe (2026) [31:53]  Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (2021) [33:35] Dungeon Crawler Carl (Dungeon Crawler Carl, 1) by Matt Dinniman (2024)* [33:40]  Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke (2026) [36:58]  Life Out of Order (The Time Traveler's Wife, 2) by Audrey Niffenegger (October 6, 2026) [37:00]  Theo of Golden by Allen Levi (2025)* [38:39]  *Publication year reflects the later traditionally published edition. These titles were originally self-published. Other Links Publishing Confidential, on Substack | "A Tale of Three Bestseller Lists" by Kathleen Schmidt

“Objects in museums have to come from somewhere. The stories of how they came to be in those collections often involve laws being broken, unethical behaviour, and extreme violence.” — Matthew Campbell Imagine a gay Jeffrey Epstein who set up shop in Thailand. Only rather than peddling young girls, he traded in bodybuilders and priceless antiquities. That's the story of the British émigré Douglas Latchford, the subject of Matthew Campbell's new book The Man Who Stole the Gods. It's the true story of a man who was born in the last days of the British Raj, made his fortune in Bangkok, became the world's leading dealer of Khmer antiquities, and was indicted for criminal conspiracy in 2019. Campbell's tale is simultaneously a crime story, a history of Cambodia, and a parable about the relationship between Western wealth and the world's cultural heritage. The Khmer Empire, which dominated Southeast Asia from the ninth to the fifteenth centuries, produced one of the finest civilisations of the medieval world. Angkor in the twelfth century had 750,000 people — making it ten times the size of London. After the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime, every Khmer site in Cambodia was systematically looted. The pieces went to the Metropolitan Museum, to Christie's, to private American collectors. Latchford was the central conduit. The Jeffrey Epstein enabler. Like Epstein, Latchford got away with it for years. Unlike Epstein, he died a free man, even chalking up a 2020 New York Times obituary as a Khmer antiquities expert. Five Takeaways •       Douglas Latchford: The British Jeffrey Epstein of Asian Art: Born in the last days of the British Raj, educated in the UK, Latchford made his fortune in Bangkok and became the world's leading dealer of Southeast Asian antiquities — selling pieces for millions of dollars to the Metropolitan Museum, Christie's, and wealthy American collectors. He presented himself as an expert and connoisseur. He gave to universities and lent to exhibitions. He received a glowing obituary in the New York Times in August 2020. The dark side: he was, Campbell shows, the central organiser of a decades-long criminal conspiracy to loot Cambodia's cultural heritage. He was indicted in 2019 but died before he could be extradited. •       The Khmer Empire: 750,000 People When London Had 40,000: The Khmer Empire dominated Southeast Asia from the ninth to the fifteenth centuries, ruling directly or indirectly over what is now Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, and parts of Malaysia. Its capital, Angkor, had 750,000 people in the twelfth century — when London had 40,000 at the absolute outside. The Khmer built extraordinary temple cities — Angkor Wat is only the most famous — and produced remarkable stone and bronze sculpture. Every single Khmer site in Cambodia was systematically looted. The pieces all went somewhere. A great many came to the West. •       The Vietnam War, Nixon, Kissinger, and the Conditions for Genocide: The Vietnam War is central to Campbell's story. The Ho Chi Minh Trail ran partly through Cambodia, making Cambodia of great interest to Nixon and Kissinger. Beginning in 1968, large-scale American bombing of Cambodia — ostensibly aimed at destroying a supposed communist headquarters that, Campbell notes, never actually existed — helped destabilise the country and created the conditions in which the Khmer Rouge could emerge. The Khmer Rouge ideology: Pol Pot believed civilisation needed not to be reformed but erased. A blank slate. Rebuild from zero. •       The Museum World's Complicity: The Sackler Parallel: The Metropolitan Museum of Art features prominently in Campbell's account. Objects in museums have to come from somewhere — the works in the Met did not originate in New York. How they came to be in those collections often involved laws being broken, unethical behaviour, and extreme violence. Campbell draws a parallel with Patrick Radden Keefe's account of the Sacklers: the more investigative journalists look at the wealthy donors and private collectors associated with major cultural institutions, the more troubling the stories that emerge. The museum world has a serious provenance problem. •       The Happy Ending: Repatriation and the National Museum in Phnom Penh: Latchford was indicted in 2019 for criminal conspiracy. He died in 2020, in a monastery in Northern Thailand, before he could be extradited. He never went to trial. But the recovery effort — a remarkable collaboration between Cambodia and the US Department of Justice — tracked down hundreds of stolen objects through meticulous detective work. The pieces have been returned to Cambodia. The National Museum in Phnom Penh now has so many repatriated objects that it is running out of room and may need to build a new wing. As Campbell says: that's a good problem to have. About the Guest Matthew Campbell is an award-winning investigative journalist at Bloomberg Businessweek. He is the author of The Man Who Stole the Gods: A True Story of War, Obsession, and a Global Art Conspiracy (Portfolio/Penguin Random House, June 2, 2026) and co-author, with Kit Chellel, of Dead in the Water (a Book of the Year in The Economist, Financial Times, and The Times; called a ‘masterpiece' by the New York Times). A 2025 Jonathan Logan Family Foundation Fellow at New America, Campbell has reported from more than 25 countries. He lives in Singapore. References: •       The Man Who Stole the Gods: A True Story of War, Obsession, and a Global Art Conspiracy by Matthew Campbell (Portfolio/Penguin Random House, June 2, 2026). •       Dead in the Water by Matthew Campbell and Kit Chellel (2022) — the preceding book, referenced at the opening. •       Patrick Radden Keefe, Empire of Pain — referenced as a parallel account of museum world complicity. •       The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York — a central institution in the Latchford network. •       Cambodia's National Museum, Phnom Penh — the destination of the repatriated objects. About Keen On America Nobody asks more awkward questions than the Anglo-American writer and filmmaker Andrew Keen. In Keen On America, Andrew brings his pointed Transatlantic wit to making sense of the United States — hosting daily interviews about the history and future of this now venerable Republic. With nearly 2,900 episodes since the...

Dua Lipa and Callum Turner's wedding, reviewing the end of Euphoria, Alexa Demie's i-D and HR covers, and more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Anna and Geoff discuss the 2026 Stella Prize winner, CANNON by Lee Lai and the 2026 Orwell Prize for Political Fiction shortlist.  We also react to the Guardian list of 100 best books of all time. Is there a difference between your 10 favourite novels and your top 10 best books of all time?   Our book of the week is LONDON FALLING by Patrick Radden Keefe.  This is Keefe's latest book, after his widely acclaimed EMPIRE OF PAIN. It explores the death of 19 year old Zac Brettler, who had been posing as a Russian oligarch's son and became entangled with the London underworld.  LONDON FALLING was a Most Anticipated book of 2026 and is a New York Times Best Book of the Year So Far.   There are twists and turns aplenty and much to discuss: Were the Met police incompetent or was there more to it? If your teenager has £850,000 in their bank account, is this a red flag? What did we think of the ending? Coming up: JOHN OF JOHN by Douglas Stuart Follow us! Email: Booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Instagram: @abailliekaras  Substack: Books On The Go Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

Happy Friday EICompetitors! This week on the podcast, what lengths will humans not go to, to feel a little bit special?First up, a 2025 survey by the American Academy of Dermatology revealed that half of Gen Z participants got a sunburn in 2024, with 10% getting burns severe enough to cause blisters. They also found that 37% didn't know the risks of tanning and 57% believed common tanning myths- e.g. that a base tan protects you from sunburn. More than a fifth of Gen Z respondents prioritise getting a tan over protecting their skin, and 25% said that it's worth looking good now even if it means their skin looks worse down the line. Is this just the naivety of youth? Or does it signal something shifting in culture? We talk everything tanning!Secondly, what does extreme wealth do to the brain? This is the title of a piece for New York magazine by Lane Brown, and the question he tries to answer within it. So Lane Brown you may also remember authored The Feed Is Fake, about stealth marketing online which we discussed in last week's episode. And for this piece about the ultra-rich, he spent two months interviewing the 0.1 and 0.001% and asking them how money has changed the way they think, how their worldview shifted when they were no longer under the same financial constraints and how becoming mega rich altered their perception of status, friendship, obligation and maybe even reality itself. And lastly, while we were enhancing the UK bank holiday heatwave with picky bits, day drinking and ice lollies, over in Las Vegas, another kind of enhancement was going on at The Enhanced Games. Is this just inevitable in a world of optimisation? We discuss.We hope you enjoy, as always please do rate, review and share the show, it helps others to find it and us to keep making it! LY! O,R,B xxBeth's been loving: I want to go home but I'm already there, Patrick Radden Keefe on Adam Buxton Ruchira's been loving: Two Weeks In August, Oenone's been loving: The Crash, It Ends With UsWhat Will It Take to Get Young People to Stop Tanning (Again)?AAD survey: half of Gen Z got sunburned in 2024 — and many still don't know the risksRFK Jr. pushes “personal choice” over teen tanning bed banAs influencers spread ‘toxic' claims, what is the truth about sunscreen?Sam Faiers slammed for pushing ‘dangerous' suncream conspiracy theoryThe myth of good skin, with Jessica DeFinoBurn notice: Gen Z and the terrifying rise of extreme tanningWhat Does Extreme Wealth Do to the Brain?Enhanced Games devolves into daft, 'high school-level' sporting circusRecord 50m freestyle time at controversial Enhanced GamesThe Enhanced Games fit right in with the rest of 2026's longevity vibes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A teenager hurtles from the balcony of a luxury apartment complex into the Thames. That unexplained death animates the newest book from one of America's great nonfiction writers, Patrick Radden Keefe. Patrick joins Harry to unspool the story's web of shady characters, complacent police, and desperate parents. The two delve into the transformation of London into a playground for the extremely and unscrupulously wealthy—like Russian oligarchs—that made the fatal fall possible and draw out the way Trump is overseeing a similar shift in the United States. And Harry digs into Patrick's approach to writing, including how his law degree informs his precise, almost prosecutorial reporting. Mentioned in this episode: London Falling: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/704979/london-falling-by-patrick-radden-keefe/  Patrick's reporting: https://www.newyorker.com/contributors/patrick-radden-keefe Patrick's story about Trump, Mark Burnett, and the Apprentice: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/01/07/how-mark-burnett-resurrected-donald-trump-as-an-icon-of-american-success Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's time for another wrap up episode, tune in to find out what what they got up to and read in May, including Patrick Radden Keefe's new book, London Falling which is mind blowing!Books Mentioned in this episode:London Falling by Patrick Radden KeefeBook Reccos Website, Shop & newsletter: Don't forget to check out our website and checkout the Book Reccos shop to purchase your very own Book Reccos Reading Journal! And whilst you're there sign up to our newsletter to receive a monthly email from us to fill you in on our favourite reccos of the month. Head to www.bookreccos.com Get in Touch: Instagram: @bookreccos Email: hello@bookreccos.comWebsite: www.bookreccos.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Adam talks with American journalist Patrick Radden Keefe about his book London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family's Search for Truth, the challenges presented by parenting adolescents, the seductive power of movies like The Wolf Of Wall Street and Patrick's own efforts to resist the glamorising effect of TV and film during production of the TV adaptation of his book about the Troubles in Northern Ireland, Say Nothing, and Adam's own ludicrous taste of the criminal life in his early adolescence. There's also chat about why David Byrne's live show was the best live music show Adam has ever seen and whether it's OK to stand up at a seated music show.Conversation recorded face-to-face in Bath on 7 May, 2026LONDON FALLING by Patrick Radden Keefe - 2026 (Waterstones)CLARIFICATION RE. STATINS vs GLP-1sResponding to Adam's comments about statins at the end of the conversation with Patrick, this was sent in by Dr Mit Shah, MBBS BSc (Hons) PhD, Consultant Cardiologist in Preventive Cardiology, Harefield Hospital:I'm a consultant cardiologist specialising in lipid disorders and preventive cardiology. While both GLP-1 drugs and statins can reduce cardiovascular risk, they work through very different mechanisms and treat different underlying problems. Statins are specifically used to lower LDL cholesterol, whereas GLP-1 drugs mainly work through the blood glucose and weight-loss pathway, with only modest effects on cholesterol.Statins have become somewhat unfairly maligned through widespread misinformation and exaggerated claims about side effects, despite very strong clinical evidence for benefit. In fact, researchers have even performed randomised trials demonstrating a significant “nocebo effect”, where patients experience expected side effects even when taking placebo tablets due to their preconceived expectations and worries. Daily, I see patients with severe (sometimes genetic) cholesterol disorders who have a critical need for statin therapy, but who are understandably hesitant because of what they've heard online. I worry that the idea that GLP-1s could simply replace statins may unintentionally add to that confusion.SUBMIT QUESTIONS FOR Q&A EPISODE: Adambuxtonpodcast@gmail.comThanks to Diggory Waite and Claire Broughton at Hattrick and Séamus Murphy Mitchell for production support.Podcast illustration by Helen GreenSPONSOR: SAILY

Staff writer at The New Yorker, Patrick Radden Keefe tells the story of Zac Brettler, who inexplicably changed from a charming and hilarious boy into a money- and status-obsessed young man, who mixed with gangsters and shady businessmen.Patrick's new book begins with the description of a scene that was picked up by a surveillance camera in London in the early hours of a November morning in 2019.The footage showed a grainy image of a shadowy figure, anxiously moving about the balcony of a luxury apartment. That young man's name was Zac Brettler. He was 19 years old, and hours later his body was discovered on the banks of the River Thames. Patrick Radden Keefe's investigation explores Zac's secret life posing as the son of a Russian oligarch, and delves into the true identities of the wealthy gangsters who were there in his final hours.Further informationLondon Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City, and a Family's Search for Truth is published by Pan Macmillan Australia.This episode covers grief, fantasy life, con artists, London underworld, Boris Johnson, family tragedy, luxury, Holocaust survivors, rabbi, Mill Hill school, young men, making money, raising boys, Roman Abramovich, oligarch, plutocrat, MI6 and true crime.To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you'll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Hello EICorroborators! Happy Friday and welcome back to Everything Is Content- your one stop podcast shop for everything pop culture and beyond.This week- and trigger warning for discussion of sexual violence and abuse- we're discussing BBC Panorama's harrowing new documentary ‘The Dark Side of Married at First Sight' in which former MAFs UK contestant Shona Manderson alleges that her on-screen partner had sex with her without a condom against her wishes. She alleges the team took her to get the morning after pill, but that nothing else was done. The show has pulled all of its episodes from the internet while discussions continue to rage on about how reality TV can't seem to stop failing its subjects. We share our takes as (former) fans of the show.Next up we're talking about Harry Styles' new tour- which has been criticised after some attendees reported having little to no visibility of their fav as he happily scampered around his enormous walkway stage set-up. Has the singer prioritised his Strava over his set design? We investigate.Then we mull over Jacob Elordi's love life after the actor was spotted out and about with model and the inventor of tequila, Kendall Jenner. The internet has separated into two camps in response to the possible pairing- people saying "huh??" and people saying "duh...". Plus: Everything In Conversation with... Kylie?Also (and we're sorry) we chat about Elon Musk's latest MORONIC OUTBURST after the friendless loser suggested that Oscar winning actress and generational beauty Lupita Nyong'o was somehow badly cast as the fictional generational beauty Helen of Troy in Christopher Nolan's upcoming adaptation of Homer's Odyssey. We insult Elon Musk's pathetic existence discuss with consideration for all sides.And finally we revisit the topic of internet fakery and advertising creep after a new piece in Vulture by Lane Brown suggested that just about everything we see online nowadays has been placed there to sell us something. From the piece: "On social media, popular opinion is being formed, measured, and manipulated all at once, and every signal the platforms produce... can now be fabricated by unseen actors with hidden agendas." In other words... is it time to log off?This week Ruchira was loving Legends on Netflix and Lost Lambs by Madeline Cash, Oenone was loving Sister Europe by Nell Zink and Beth was loving SNL UK and London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe. Thank you SO much for listening, commenting, agreeing, disagreeing, sharing us on socials or leaving us a review. It means the world and really does help us keep making the show. See you Wednesday! O, R, B x----------BBC iPlayer - The Dark Side of Married at First Sight / PanoramaVanity Fair - Why Can't Elon Musk Shut Up About Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey?Forbes - Musk Boosts Misinformation About ‘The Odyssey' In Days-Long Crusade Against Christopher Nolan MovieVulture - The Feed Is Fake by Lane Brown Waterstones - The Odyssey by Homer, translated by Emily Wilson Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Knödler, Benjamin www.deutschlandfunkkultur.de, Studio 9

Knödler, Benjamin www.deutschlandfunkkultur.de, Studio 9

Knödler, Benjamin www.deutschlandfunkkultur.de, Studio 9

In Sydney before his Australian book tour, investigative journalist Patrick Radden Keefe speaks to Reged Ahmad about his Australian roots and his new book, London Falling, which examines the mysterious death of a teenager who posed as a Russian billionaire and his family's search for truth about the end of their son's life

On the Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin Full Show Podcast for Sunday 17 May 2026, investigative journalist Patrick Radden Keefe has spent his career bringing little known true crime stories into the mainstream. He joins Francesca to talk about his new book 'London Falling' which follows the parents of teenager Zac Brettler as they uncover the truth behind their sons death. Legendary guitarist Tommy Emmanuel performs live in studio and talks through is six decade long career. Education Minister Erica Stanford runs us through the new national secondary school qualification announced to replace NCEA, while Francesca discusses how funding Wegovy could be a gamechanger in New Zealand. And ever struggled to get a sun lounger on holiday? Well one fed up tourist has sued his tour operator over his inability to secure a sun bathing spot. Travel contributor Megan Singleton runs us through the case and why it has hotels and resorts cracking down on lounger hoggers. Get the Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin Full Show Podcast every Sunday on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Award-winning journalist Patrick Radden Keefe has made a name for himself by taking complex true crime stories - mysterious deaths, greedy families or shadowy underworlds -and bringing them to light. Patrick has written six books, all best sellers - with Empire of Pain and Say Nothing being the standouts. His latest book is London Falling, a story of London teenager Zac Brettler who mysteriously fell to his death in 2019, and it's available in stores now. "Part of what I was trying to do with this book was look at the way in which any of us as parents, when we're parenting an adolescent - particularly these days when everybody's on their phones - is that the child we thought we knew can start to become somebody unrecognisable." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Brooke is back from across the pond with a suitcase full of tea—and we aren't just talking about Breakfast Blend.  From a power romance to the high-tech clinic that looks like a spaceship, we're covering the best of London before diving into the absolute chaos of the Silicon Valley "breakup" texts and the Met Gala moment that is already winning Halloween. The London Rundown • The Power Couple We Didn't Know We Needed: Brooke recounts her London sightings and pitches the ultimate cross-over romance: Kara Swisher and Idris Elba. • Healthcare from the Year 3000: A deep dive into Neko Health, the futuristic, preventative health clinic cofounded by Spotify's Daniel Ek. Brooke describes the experience of being scanned by "The Pod" and why this is the shift from reactive to proactive care we've been waiting for. • Must-Read: Why everyone is currently obsessed with "London Falling" by Patrick Radden Keefe. It's a gripping, true-crime-meets-high-society investigation into the dark underbelly of the city's billionaire culture.   Tech & Viral Trends • The OpenAI "Breakup" Texts: We dissect the viral memes born from the leaked text messages between Sam Altman and Mira Murati. From Sam's "still don't want me?" energy to the internet's comparison of the exchange to a toxic Hinge match, we look at the most fun reactions to the OpenAI trial documents.   • Mayor Spencer? Spencer Pratt is back in the spotlight, and this time it's political. We look at his mayoral campaign and the viral videos that have everyone wondering if the King of Crystals is actually coming for City Hall.   The Met Gala Call-Out • Move Over, Gowns: Forget the 10-foot trains; the actual star of the Met Gala was the "Red Flats Queen." We discuss why she is the moment.  Links & Resources Mentioned: • Read: London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City by Patrick Radden Keefe.  • Visit: Neko Health – The future of preventative diagnostics.    This week's PCM: https://popculturemondays.com/2026/05/11/ai-text-drama-panny-vibes-la-mayoral-race-puerto-rico-trend-and-memes/

Our website - www.perksofbeingabooklover.com. Instagram - @perksofbeingabookloverpod Facebook - Perks of Being a Book Lover. To send us a message go to our website and click the Contact button. You can find Carmichael's at carmichaelsbookstore.com   We were sad last fall that we weren't able to record with our favorite bookseller, Sam Miller, manager at the Frankfort Ave location of Carmichael's Bookstore for our Holiday Book Buying episode. But she is back for summer, telling us all about the new titles that will get you excited to sit back on a hot afternoon, either at the pool or in the air conditioning, and read to your heart's content.    Books Mentioned In This Episode:   1- The Last Garden in England by Julia Kelly  2- The Grand Paloma Resort by Cleyvis Natera  3- Angel Down by Daniel Kraus  4- A book that Changed a Life - Sisters of the Yam by bell hooks recommended by Briana Lathon Bluford  5- Yesteryear by Claro Claire Burke  6- American Fantasy by Emma Straub  7- Whistler by Ann Patchett  8- Puck by Samantha Allen  9- Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett  10- Fortune of Sand by Ruta Sepetys  11- Go Gentle by Maria Semple  12- Country People by Daniel Mason  13- These Days by Lucy Caldwell  14- Devotions by Lucy Caldwell  15- Opening by Lucy Caldwell  16- Pirate Queen by Ariel Lawhorn  17- The Keeper by Tana French (Cal Hooper #3) 18- Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth  19- Killer Vibes by Jack Friday  20- Fishbone Cinderella by Elizabeth Lim  21- Ignore All Previous Instructions by Ada Hoffman  22- Sublimation by Isabel Kim  23- Book Witch by Meg Shaffer  24- We Burn So Bright b y TJ Klune  25- Moss'd in Space by Rebecca Thorrne 26- American Rambler by Isaac Fitzgerald  27- Checkmate: Genius, Lies, Ambition, and the Biggest Scandal in Chess by Ben Mezrich  28- The Housewives Underground: The Untold Story of the Women who Made the JFK Assassination Our Most Enduring Mystery by Kaitlyn Tiffany  29- The Carpool Detectives by Chuck Hogan  30- The Family Man: Blood and Betrayal in the House of Murdaugh by James Lasdun  31- True Biz by Sara Novíc  32- Mother Tongue by Sara Novíc 33- The Left and the Lucky by Willy Vlautin  34- London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and Family's Search for Truth by Patrick Radden Keefe  35- 4 Janes by Marian See  36- Love and Other Monsters by Emily Franklin  37- This Is Not About Us by Allegra Goodman  38- Darkology: Blackface and the American Way of Entertainment by Rhae Lynn Barnes  39- Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano  40- The Forest Lover by Susan Vreeland    Media Mentioned: 1- White Lotus (2021 - present, HBO Max) 2-2026  Pulitzer Prize Winner for Fiction - https://www.pulitzer.org/news/2026-pulitzer-prize-announcement  

Patrick Radden Keefe is a staff writer for The New Yorker and the New York Times bestselling author of London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family's Search for Truth (Doubleday).  Patrick's other books include the New York Times bestsellers Rogues, Empire of Pain (winner of the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction), and Say Nothing, which received a National Book Critics Circle Award and was named one of the Twenty Best Books of the Twenty-First Century by The New York Times Book Review. He is a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, the National Magazine Award, and the Orwell Prize for Political Writing. He served as an executive producer on the awardwinning FX series Say Nothing and is also the creator and host of the podcast Wind of Change, which The Guardian and Entertainment Weekly named the #1 podcast of 2020. *** ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Otherppl with Brad Listi⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ is a weekly podcast featuring in-depth interviews with today's leading writers. Available where podcasts are available: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, etc. Get ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠How to Write a Novel,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ the debut audio course from DeepDive. 50+ hours of never-before-heard insight, inspiration, and instruction from dozens of today's most celebrated contemporary authors. Subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Brad's email newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Support the show on Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Merch⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Email the show: letters [at] otherppl [dot] com The podcast is a ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠proud affiliate partner of Bookshop⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, working to support local, independent bookstores. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Patrick Radden Keefe is an award winning writer known for his ability to tell complex stories in ways that are compelling and revealing. Author of the bestsellers Empire of Pain—a shocking exposé of the Sackler family and their involvement in the opioid crisis—and Say Nothing, his award-winning account of The Troubles in Northern Ireland and the murder of Jean McConville by the IRA, Keefe has built a global reputation for meticulous reporting, moral clarity, and gripping storytelling.In May 2026 he joined Emily Maitlis live on the Intelligence Squared stage to discuss the investigation that has led to his new book London Falling. At its centre is a teenager who mysteriously fell to his death from a Thames-side luxury apartment in London, and his grieving family's determination to get to the truth of what really happened. Keefe also discussed the broader themes of how money laundering, crime and corruption function today in London's underbelly. --- If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full ad free conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events  ...  Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Journalist, author and podcaster Patrick Radden Keefe is renowned for writing stories about crime and corruption that expose deeper societal truths. His latest book, “London Falling,” explores the mysterious circumstances around the death of 19-year-old Zac Brettler. While London police ruled Zac's death a suicide, his parents soon learn he'd been living a double life as the fake son of a Russian oligarch and gotten entangled in the city's criminal underworld.   Kara and Patrick talk about the book, how London changed after it became a hotspot for foreign money laundering, and how he gains the trust of sources who might not otherwise talk to journalists. They also get updates on some of Patrick's previous stories and talk about where he draws the line when it comes to using AI in his work.  Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The journalist Patrick Radden Keefe on trying to unravel the double life and tragic death of 19-year-old Zac Brettler – and what it tells us about London's dark underbelly. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/infocus

Patrick Radden Keefe is an award winning writer known for his ability to tell complex stories in ways that are compelling and revealing. Author of the bestsellers Empire of Pain—a shocking exposé of the Sackler family and their involvement in the opioid crisis—and Say Nothing, his award-winning account of The Troubles in Northern Ireland and the murder of Jean McConville by the IRA, Keefe has built a global reputation for meticulous reporting, moral clarity, and gripping storytelling.In May 2026 he joined Emily Maitlis live on the Intelligence Squared stage to discuss the investigation that has led to his new book London Falling. At its centre is a teenager who mysteriously fell to his death from a Thames-side luxury apartment in London, and his grieving family's determination to get to the truth of what really happened. Keefe also discussed the broader themes of how money laundering, crime and corruption function today in London's underbelly. --- This is the first instalment of a two-part episode. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full ad free conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events  ...  Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“If criticism isn't going to be written by one human mind, what else is it for? Criticism done by AI means nothing.” — Bethanne Patrick Is London really falling? Perhaps. This week on Keen On America, everything seems to be falling. There are young men falling from riverside apartments. Girlhood is falling to the commodification of appearance. Book reviewing is falling to AI. Mary Todd Lincoln fell through history as a shrill and inconvenient widow. And just three days ago, Yale historian Ian Shapiro argued that democracy itself has fallen — from the euphoric heights of 1989 to today's nadir of illiberal populism. One person who never falls is our unfailingly literate friend Bethanne Patrick — book critic at the Los Angeles Times, founder of #FridayReads, and the best-read lady in America. And her May list of recommended reads is full of books about falling. Take, for example, the New York Times bestselling London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe — a true crime whodunnit about Zac Brettler, a nineteen-year-old who reinvented himself as the son of a Kazakh oligarch and fell to his death from a Thames-side luxury apartment. Then there's Girls by Freya India on Gen Z and the commodification of girlhood; Make Believe by Mac Barnett, the Children's Laureate, on storytelling as an art of raising kids; I Am Not a Robot by Joanna Stern on AI as useful tool, not a civilizational menace; and An Inconvenient Widow by Lois Romano which rehabilitates the already fallen Mary Todd Lincoln. And then there's the fall of book reviewing itself. Where have all the critics gone? New York Times book critic Dwight Garner wrote its obituary this week. But Bethanne Patrick hasn't fallen. And, last I checked, London is still standing. Five Takeaways •       London Falling: The Oligarchs Were the Problem: Patrick Radden Keefe's new New York Times bestseller is about Zac Brettler, a nineteen-year-old London boy who reinvented himself as the son of a Kazakh oligarch and fell to his death from a Thames-side luxury apartment. Bethanne's reading: the most interesting element is not the Brettler family's grief — sympathetic as they are — but the portrait of a London transformed by money from overseas. Twenty years ago, the worry was economic immigrants. The people who really changed London were the oligarchs. Andrew is sceptical of the neoliberalism-as-villain thesis. Janan Ganesh: London has always been defined by capitalism. •       Girls: The Commodification of Girlhood:  by Freya India (born 1999) argues that Gen Z girls have always been girls — but technology has made the existing anxieties about appearance, body, and social status thousands of times worse. Face-tuning, influencers, targeted advertising, social media bullying. Bethanne's daughter — summa cum laude in economics — relaxes by watching reality shows about the commodification of female appearance. The book's parallel with London Falling: both are about young people who cannot escape the mirror of other people's wealth and image. •       Make Believe: Art for Children, Not Just Books: Mac Barnett, current Children's Laureate of the Library of Congress, argues in Make Believe that children don't just need books — they need art. Great literature, beauty, truth. The book echoes Robert Coles' The Call of Stories and pushes back against the passive consumption of screens. Bethanne's connection to London Falling: Zac Brettler was a brilliant storyteller. He might have been a writer or filmmaker. But stories have to move you toward caring about other people. They're not just about taking in — they're about give and take. •       I Am Not a Robot: AI as Tool, Not Menace: Joanna Stern, the Wall Street Journal's consumer tech columnist, spent a year using AI for almost everything. The book is a stunt memoir in the tradition of “my year of doing this” — but also genuinely useful. Her verdict: AI is a tool. It's not good or bad. She wrote every sentence herself but used AI for spell-checking, research, and editing. Meanwhile: the Authors Guild raised close to $900,000 at their annual gala, with David Baldacci giving an impassioned speech about AI and intellectual property. The Chicago Tribune published AI-generated summer reading recommendations that included a Louise Erdrich novel she never wrote. •       Where Have All the Book Reviewers Gone? A Dwight Garner piece in the New York Times cites a 1981 Donald Barthelme story predicting machines doing reviews. Now it's happening: the New York Times recently discovered a freelance reviewer had been using AI for several reviews. Google Gemini now summarises reviews before you see them. Bethanne Patrick, book critic at the Los Angeles Times, is one of a tiny handful of full-time book critics left. Her verdict: criticism done by a non-human entity misses the point. The point of criticism is judgment. Judgment requires a human mind. About the Guest Bethanne Patrick is a book critic at the Los Angeles Times, founder of #FridayReads, host of the Missing Pages podcast, and the author of Life B: Overcoming Double Depression (Counterpoint, 2023). She is also known as @TheBookMaven on social media. Books Discussed: •       London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family's Search for Truth by Patrick Radden Keefe (Doubleday, April 7, 2026). •       Girls by Freya India (2026). •       Make Believe by Mac Barnett (2026). •       I Am Not a Robot: My Year Using AI to Do Almost Everything by Joanna Stern (2026). •       An Inconvenient Widow: The Torment, Trial, and Triumph of Mary Todd Lincoln by Lois Romano (Simon & Schuster, 2026). About Keen On America Nobody asks more awkward questions than the Anglo-Ame...

Patrick Radden Keefe (London Falling, Empire of Pain, Say Nothing) is an award-winning investigative journalist, bestselling author, and staff writer for The New Yorker. Patrick joins Armchair Expert to discuss growing up in a deeply intellectual household, developing a childhood obsession with writing for The New Yorker, and navigating a winding academic path through Columbia, Cambridge, and Yale Law. Patrick and Dax talk about the years-long reporting process behind London Falling, how a chance encounter led him to the story of Zac Brettler, and the challenges of investigating a mysterious death tied to hidden identities and extreme wealth in modern London. Patrick explains how proximity to oligarch culture and social media can warp ambition, why digression can be the soul of storytelling, and how to hold empathy for people navigating unknowable circumstances.Sign up now in the app or at grubhub.com/plus/golddays to unlock exclusive Gold Days deals.Check Allstate first for a quote that could save you hundreds: https://www.allstate.com/See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Patrick Radden Keefe, a staff writer at the New Yorker and the author of “Say Nothing” and “Empire of Pain,” sits down with Lawfare Associate Editor Peter Beck to discuss his most recent book, “London Falling.” The two talk about Radden Keefe's investigation of a London teenager's fatal plunge into the Thames, the United Kingdom's acquiescence to foreign influence, and his process in writing about the book.To receive ad-free podcasts, become a Lawfare Material Supporter at www.patreon.com/lawfare. You can also support Lawfare by making a one-time donation at https://givebutter.com/lawfare-institute.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/lawfare. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You might know him from his best-selling book “Say Nothing,” about the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Patrick Radden Keefe, a staff writer at The New Yorker, writes nonfiction page-turners about crime and family secrets. Keefe's new book “London Falling” employs his signature story-telling magic to unravel the story of a 19-year-old kid who fell to his death from a luxury apartment building in London. This week on Say More, Keefe talks to Anna Kusmer about how this story tells a wider tale about how the mega-wealthy operate in the world's richest cities. They also discuss Keefe's Boston upbringing and his literary influences. Email us at saymore@globe.com.

In the words of the Los Angeles Times, “A new book by (Patrick Radden) Keefe means drop everything and close the blinds; you'll be turning pages for hours.” Keefe is an award-winning investigative journalist, a staff writer at the New Yorker, the creator of a popular podcast, and the author of six books, including the bestsellers Rogues, Empire of Pain, and Say Nothing. “When I go out looking for a good story,” says Keefe, “I almost never find one. Instead, the really good ones tend to fall in my lap.” Say Nothing was prompted by reading an obituary. A wild-seeming rumor about the 90's heavy metal band The Scorpions led to the podcast Wind of Change, a sweeping tale of government secrets, Soviet spies, propaganda, and 90's power ballads. To call his research “meticulous” is an understatement. Keefe's book, Snakehead, required over 300 interviews to complete. Say Nothing found him speaking to thousands of sources. While writing about the opioid epidemic in EMPIRE OF PAIN, Keefe was blocked from speaking to the Sackler family, so instead, he amassed thousands of correspondences from personal emails to Bar Mitzvah announcements. Though Keefe's doggedness recalls the detective stories that inspired him early on, he is perhaps more hopeful than hardboiled. By approaching those forces that appear too vast to unravel, he proves that even institutions and systems that seem unassailable can, in fact, be broken down and examined—one interview, one receipt, one wedding invitation at a time. Like all the great whodunnits, his books contain breathtaking plot twists. Though he has, on at least one occasion, solved a murder mystery, Keefe is less interested in pointing to a perpetrator and more interested in holding up a mirror. The question at the heart of his work is one that pertains to everyone: What does it mean to be human? His newest book, London Falling, is an investigation into the mysterious death of 19-year-old Zach Brettler and its connection to both London's criminal underworld and its elite circles. The author Katherine Rundell says, “Nobody writes like Patrick Radden Keefe; nobody makes achieving something so powerfully complex and difficult look so easy. It's a form of intellectual generosity and, I think, a form of genius.” Patrick Radden Keefe is a staff writer at The New Yorker and the author of the New York Times bestsellers Rogues, Empire of Pain, and Say Nothing, which received the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction, was selected as one of the ten best books of 2019 by The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune and The Wall Street Journal, and was named one of the top ten nonfiction books of the decade by Entertainment Weekly. His previous books are The Snakehead and Chatter. His work has been recognized with a Guggenheim Fellowship, the National Magazine Award for Feature Writing and the Orwell Prize for Political Writing. He is also the creator and host of the eight-part podcast Wind of Change.

What do you do when your child's ideas about money start to sharply diverge from your own? Reema is joined by journalist Patrick Radden Keefe to discuss his new book, “London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family's Search for Truth.” Along the way they get into the thorny realities of parenting in a time when young people are aspiring to be like the ultra-wealthy. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok! If you liked this episode, share it with a friend. And let us know what you think by emailing uncomfortable@marketplace.org or calling 347-RING-TIU.Support “This Is Uncomfortable” with your donation today: https://bit.ly/mkp_tiu_pod

What do you do when your child's ideas about money start to sharply diverge from your own? Reema is joined by journalist Patrick Radden Keefe to discuss his new book, “London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family's Search for Truth.” Along the way they get into the thorny realities of parenting in a time when young people are aspiring to be like the ultra-wealthy. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok! If you liked this episode, share it with a friend. And let us know what you think by emailing uncomfortable@marketplace.org or calling 347-RING-TIU.Support “This Is Uncomfortable” with your donation today: https://bit.ly/mkp_tiu_pod

Kiran Dass reviews London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe, published by Macmillan.

Patrick Radden Keefe discusses his new book “London Falling” at Lincoln High School in PortlandLONG SYNOPSIS: In 2019, a 19-year-old man named Zac Brettler died after jumping off the balcony of a luxury apartment in London near the River Thames. Police never came to a conclusion about what led to Brettler’s death. But soon after, it was revealed that Brettler was living a double-life, filled with lies and organized crime in a city changed by extreme wealth. Patrick Radden Keefe dives into this story in his newest book, “London Falling,” focused on Brettler’s death and the people around him. He joins us in front of a live audience of students at Portland's Lincoln High School in Portland to share more on his newest book.

When Patrick Radden Keefe was living in London while shooting the TV adaptation of his book “Say Nothing,” he heard about a teen-ager who fell from a luxurious apartment tower in mysterious circumstances. As he looked into it, he learned that the boy, Zac Brettler, had assumed an alternate identity as the son of a Russian oligarch, and had connected with dangerous people—just as mysterious. His story in The New Yorker, “A Teen's Fatal Plunge into the London Underworld,” became the basis of his new book “London Falling.” “It's not crime, per se, that interests me,” Radden Keefe tells David Remnick, “but the intermingling of the licit and illicit worlds, and the ways in which people deviate from a kind of conventional morality by degrees—and then the stories that they tell themselves about doing that.” He shares recordings from Brettler's parents of conversations that they had as they sought to uncover what had happened to their son.   Further reading:  “London Falling,” by Patrick Radden Keefe “A Teen's Fatal Plunge Into the London Underworld,” by Patrick Radden Keefe     New episodes of The New Yorker Radio Hour drop every Tuesday and Friday. Join host David Remnick as he discusses the latest in politics, news, and current events in conversation with political leaders, newsmakers, innovators, New Yorker staff writers, authors, actors, and musicians. New Yorker Radio Hour listeners, we want to hear from you. We have a few questions about the show and how you listen to it. The survey takes about twenty minutes, and your feedback will help us make our podcast better. Take the survey here.

This month the book club is reading A Beautiful Loan by Mary Costello, as chosen by bookclubber Niamh Towey. The novel follows Anna Hughes, who , from the vantage of middle age, examines her life and the choices she made along the way. It's a story about obsessive love, memory, and self-discovery. The next book club pick is London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe. The group will be discussing it in May. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's Monday, which means you can see Jane's clean shirt before she pours ketchup all over herself… You can watch this episode on our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/@OffAirWithJaneAndFi In today's episode, Jane and Fi address lady cars, mega-wealth, the buttocks of Samuel Pepys, gluten-free wafers, lattes that make you fart, and the different ways to make sure you've got all 1000 pieces of your jigsaw puzzle. The book recommended today is London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe. Our new playlist 'Coiled Spring' is up and running: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4tmoCpbp42ae7R1UY8ofzaOur most asked about book is called 'The Later Years' by Peter Thornton.If you want to contact the show to ask a question and get involved in the conversation then please email us: janeandfi@times.radioFollow us on Instagram! @janeandfiPodcast Producer: Eve SalusburyExecutive Producer: Rosie Cutler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today on the show, with the US-Iran ceasefire set to expire on Wednesday, the shaky ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, and continued chaos in the Strait of Hormuz, Vali Nasr joins to discuss what might come next in the Middle East. Then, in a stunning defeat Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán lost his reelection campaign after more than a decade in power. Fareed speaks with Atlantic staff writer Anne Applebaum about what this might mean for populism in Europe.  Finally, New Yorker staff writer Patrick Radden Keefe joins the show to discuss his new book, “London Falling,” about a teenager's mysterious death in London, and the city's shadowy underworld that it revealed. GUESTS: Vali Nasr (@vali_nasr), Anne Applebaum (@anneapplebaum), Patrick Radden Keefe (@praddenkeefe)  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Eric Newman and Medaya Ocher are joined by investigative journalist and New Yorker staff writer Patrick Radden Keefe, to discuss his new book, London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family's Search for Truth. The book begins with the 2019 death of 19-year-old Zac Brettler in London, a tragedy that soon reveals a web of deception, wealth, and hidden influence. Keefe traces Zac's life and the shadowy figures around him, drawing a larger portrait of London reshaped by global capital and restless ambition. Medaya and Eric speak with Patrick about how he first became interested in the case, how he investigated it, and the broader questions it raises about globalization, masculinity, and the pursuit of wealth at any cost.

Max Tani and Ben Smith sit down with bestselling author and journalist Patrick Radden Keefe to discuss his gripping new book, London Falling. Keefe reveals how he finds his projects, and navigates his new, unexpected status as a celebrity journalist. They also discuss the art of true crime storytelling, adaptations of his work for film and TV, and how compelling human drama lies at the heart of every interesting topic. Sign up for Semafor Media's Sunday newsletter: https://www.semafor.com/newsletters/media  For more from Think with Google, check out ThinkwithGoogle.com. Find us on X: @semaforben, @maxwelltaniIf you have a tip or a comment, please email us mixedsignals@semafor.com

London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe is a stunning piece of investigative journalism about a young man whose life is cut short after he becomes entangled in London's dark underworld. Patrick joined us live in Philly to talk about social media, London, access as a journalist, adolescence, storytelling, truth and more with host Miwa Messer. This episode of Poured Over was hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang.                     New episodes land Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays) here and on your favorite podcast app. Featured Books (Episode): London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family's Search for Truth by Patrick Radden Keefe Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe Rogues: True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels and Crooks by Patrick Radden Keefe The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine by Michael Lewis  

Host Jason Blitman talks to acclaimed journalist Patrick Radden Keefe about his latest book, London Falling. London Falling is the April 2026 Late Show with Stephen Colbert Book Club pick. Conversation highlights include:

In November of 2019, a young man leaped into the Thames River from a London apartment building and died. After 19-year-old Zac Brettler's death, his parents learned their son had adopted a false identity as the son of a Russian oligarch. The mystery surrounding Brettler's identity is the subject of Patrick Radden Keefe's new book London Falling. In today's episode, the author joins NPR's Scott Simon for a conversation about Brettler's life in London among a crowd that worshipped wealth, the teen's talent for accents, voices, and stories, and how Brettler got mixed up in a mutual con with an older businessman named Akbar Shamji.To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedaySee pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Patrick Radden Keefe joins “The Book Review” to discuss his new book, “London Falling,” which begins when a family loses a 19-year-old son, Zac Brettler, under mysterious circumstances. His parents eventually discover he had been living a secret life, posing as the son of a Russian oligarch. Speaking with the host Gilbert Cruz, Keefe describes the moment he first heard the story and how he immediately knew it would become his next major project. He talks about gaining the trust of the young man's parents, Matthew and Rachelle Brettler, and following the threads of their son's life into a world of wealth, influence and deception in London. The conversation also explores how the book moves beyond the night of Zac's death and into a broader story about ambition, reinvention and the uneasy question at its center: How well can we ever know the people closest to us? Books discussed on this episode: “Say Nothing,” by Patrick Radden Keefe “Seasons of Fury,” by Rozina Ali “The Emperor's Children,” by Claire Messud “Out of Sheer Rage,” by Geoff Dyer “Middlemarch,” by George Eliot “In Cold Blood,” by Truman Capote “The Power Broker,” by Robert A. Caro “Far From the Tree,” by Andrew Solomon “Chatter,” by Patrick Radden Keefe “The Last Samurai,” by Helen DeWitt Listen to and Follow ‘The Book Review' Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | YouTube | iHeartRadio Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. We Want to Hear From You We would love to hear your thoughts about this episode, and about the Book Review's podcast in general. You can send them to thebookreview@nytimes.com. Credits “The Book Review” podcast is hosted by Gilbert Cruz and produced by Amy Pearl and Sarah Diamond. The show is edited by Larissa Anderson and mixed by Pedro Rosado. Special thanks to MJ Franklin, Dahlia Haddad and Brooke Minters. Illustration by The New York Times; Photo: Erik Tanner for The New York Times Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In 2023, Patrick Radden Keefe met a man who told him, "I might have a story for you." When you're Patrick — New Yorker staff writer, author of "some of the most memorable nonfiction books of the last decade" (that's the New York Times talking) — this is a hazard of the trade. But he heard the guy out. The guy said he knew a family whose 19-year-old son had died in mysterious circumstances. "He went off the balcony of a luxury apartment building overlooking the Thames." When the boy's parents started looking into it, they made an astonishing discovery: Their son — a nice, upper-middle-class Londoner — had been running around the city posing as the son of a Russian oligarch. "This guy said only about that much," Patrick tells us in today's episode, "and I knew if the family would talk to me, this was my next thing." His new book is London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family's Search for Truth. The Next Big Idea is now on YouTube! You can find our episodes ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠. Follow Rufus on ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠, subscribe to our ⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠, or send us an email at ⁠podcast@nextbigideaclub.com⁠. The best way to support the show is by becoming a Next Big Idea Club member. Learn more at ⁠⁠nextbigideaclub.com⁠⁠, and use code PODCAST for a super secret discount (spoiler: it's 20% off). Sponsored By: Fabric — Join the thousands of parents who trust Fabric to help protect their family at ⁠⁠meetfabric.com/nbi⁠⁠ Factor — Head to ⁠⁠⁠factormeals.com/idea50off⁠⁠⁠ and use code idea50off to get 50% off your first box Granola — Get three months free at ⁠⁠granola.ai/idea⁠⁠ Shopify — Start your $1/month trial at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠shopify.com/nbi⁠⁠⁠

Today on The Stacks, I'm joined by award-winning New Yorker staff writer, New York Times best-selling author, and investigative journalist, Patrick Radden Keefe, to talk about his newest book, London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family's Search for Truth. Set in London, this true crime story chronicles the sudden death of 19-year-old Zac Brettler and his family's quest to uncover the details of his secret double life. Today, we discuss how Patrick balances sources' expectations with his own integrity, the connection between his reading habits and his writing, and the meaning behind the title.The Stacks Book Club pick for April is Room Swept Home by Remica Bingham-Risher. We'll be discussing the book with Mahogany L. Browne on Wednesday, April 29.You can find everything we discuss on today's show on The Stacks website: https://www.thestackspodcast.com/2026/4/8/ep-419-patrick-radden-keefeConnect with Patrick: Website | Instagram | Threads | BlueskyConnect with The Stacks: Instagram | Threads | Shop | Patreon | Goodreads | Substack | Youtube | SubscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Award-winning New Yorker staff writer Patrick Radden Keefe is the author behind best sellers like "Say Nothing" and "Empire of Pain." His latest book, "London Falling," is a deep dive into the mysterious death of a teenager – and the secret life that came to light after he was gone. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

Patrick Radden Keefe is the author behind bestsellers like "Say Nothing" and "Empire of Pain." The New Yorker staff writer's latest book, "London Falling," is about the mysterious 2019 death of teenager Zac Brettler. The book details Brettler's secret life, posing as the son of a Russian oligarch, navigating London's dark underworld. Keefe sat down with Amna Nawaz on our podcast, Settle In. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

Award-winning New Yorker staff writer Patrick Radden Keefe is the author behind best sellers like "Say Nothing" and "Empire of Pain." His latest book, "London Falling," is a deep dive into the mysterious death of a teenager – and the secret life that came to light after he was gone. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

Patrick has a new book coming out April 7, a true story about Zac Brettler, a London teenager who died under mysterious circumstances in 2019. After Zac's death, his parents, Rachelle and Matthew, made a shocking discovery: Zac had been leading a secret double life, posing as the son of a Russian oligarch. "London Falling" is the story of two grieving parents who set out to investigate their own son's death, a journey that pulled them into a side of their city they had never known before, a murky underworld of power, money, danger, and deceit. This exclusive preview for "Wind of Change" listeners is the prologue from the Penguin Random House audiobook, read by Patrick. "London Falling" is available for pre-order wherever books are sold.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices