The Long Game with Jake Sullivan and Jon Finer Corruption in a Shameless Age (with Patrick Radden Keefe)
Patrick Radden Keefe, New Yorker investigative reporter and author known for deep dives into corruption and crime. He explores London’s dirty-money economy and how the city became a sanctuary for anonymous capital. He recounts turning long reporting into London Falling. They debate shame, impunity, self-delusion among powerful people and whether covert promotion shaped the Scorpions’ Wind of Change.
01:07:58
Teen Double Life That Opened A Bigger Investigation
- Patrick Radden Keefe investigated Zach Brettler, a 19-year-old who died after falling from a Thames-facing balcony in 2019.
- Brettler had secretly impersonated an oligarch's son while moving through high-end London nightlife, which opened a larger inquiry into the city's culture.
Why Long Narratives Still Deliver Unique Emotional Punch
- Long-form narrative rewards patient immersion because big reveals land emotionally after sustained buildup.
- Keefe laments shrinking attention spans from phones, saying, My phone has broken my brain, which makes those narrative pleasures rarer.
Legacy Media Might Reemerge As A Trusted Port
- Public trust in institutions and mastheads has declined, yet people increasingly trust individual journalists as brands.
- Keefe predicts a smaller set of reliable legacy outlets might regain value amid rising AI-created misinformation.
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Intro
00:00 • 4min
Zach Brettler's death and double life
03:54 • 2min
Turning an article into a book
06:13 • 4min
Narrative, attention, and long-form reading
10:11 • 5min
Distrust, trust in media, and credibility
14:44 • 7min
Shame, impunity, and journalism's bite
21:20 • 2min
Ad break
22:52 • 1min
How London became a money sanctuary
24:09 • 8min
Rogues, self-delusion, and moral rationalization
31:53 • 5min
Say Nothing and trade-offs of peace
36:33 • 8min
Wind of Change and the CIA question
44:10 • 2min
Why podcasts suited Wind of Change
46:34 • 3min
Ad break
49:31 • 1min
What he learned inside the Pentagon
50:46 • 3min
An unpopular opinion about headphones
54:08 • 2min
Patrick's current reads and recommendations
55:51 • 9min
Outro
01:05:19 • 4min
#45616
• Mentioned in 2 episodes
The piano tuner
Daniel Mason
#1533
• Mentioned in 37 episodes
London Falling
A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family's Search for Truth
Patrick Radden Keefe
London Falling chronicles the true story of 19-year-old Zac Brettler, who fell to his death from a luxury apartment building on the Thames in November 2019.
His grieving parents discovered that Zac had been leading a secret life, posing as the son of a wealthy Russian oligarch and becoming entangled with dangerous criminals.
Patrick Radden Keefe masterfully reports on the family's desperate quest to understand their son's death while exposing the seedy truths behind London's glamorous facade of wealth, corruption, and money laundering by post-Soviet oligarchs.
#10391
• Mentioned in 7 episodes
Technology and the Rise of Great Powers
How Diffusion Shapes Economic Competition
Jeffrey Ding
#6359
• Mentioned in 11 episodes
Transcription
Ben Lerner
Ben Lerner's 'Transcription' is a compact novel that follows an unnamed narrator whose phone breaks the night before a crucial interview, forcing him to rely on memory and presence; this incident unfolds into reflections on technology, ethics, and the construction of narratives.
Lerner blurs autobiography and fiction, interrogating how events are recorded, remembered and transformed into stories.
The novel examines interpersonal relationships and the journalist's dilemma of capturing truth without intrusive tools.
Stylistically spare yet intellectually dense, it layers philosophical inquiries about art and language over an intimate personal crisis.
'Transcription' continues Lerner's interest in the ethics of representation and the instability of factual accounts within contemporary media culture.
#24020
• Mentioned in 3 episodes
Country People
a novel
Daniel Mason
Daniel Mason's Country People follows Kate and Miles, two academics who move with their family from California to a small Vermont town, intending to become 'country people' while pursuing scholarly work and new communities.
The novel juxtaposes the couple's literary and folkloric preconceptions with the quirky beliefs and practices of the local townspeople, including societies that pursue fantastical ideas like a hollow earth.
Mason explores the border between imagination and delusion, the comforts and dangers of shared belief, and how creative longing reshapes domestic life.
The book blends gentle satire, warm characterization, and folktale-inflected episodes to probe how people invent meaning and belonging.
Through its compassionate but wry eye, the novel questions what it means to belong to a place we only ever partly understand.
#11602
• Mentioned in 6 episodes
North Woods
Daniel Mason
Daniel Mason's "North Woods" is a captivating novel that delves into the lives of individuals living in a remote area of the American West.
The story unfolds against the backdrop of a vast and unforgiving landscape, where the characters grapple with the challenges of survival and the complexities of human relationships.
Mason's writing style is known for its evocative descriptions of nature and its ability to create a sense of atmosphere.
The novel explores themes of isolation, resilience, and the enduring power of human connection in the face of adversity.
It's a story that stays with the reader long after the final page is turned, leaving a lasting impression of the beauty and harshness of the natural world.
#759
• Mentioned in 62 episodes
East of Eden
John Steinbeck
East of Eden, first published in 1952, is John Steinbeck's most ambitious work and a modern retelling of the Book of Genesis.
The novel spans from the American Civil War to the end of World War I, detailing the generational saga of two families: the gentle Adam Trask and his violent brother Charles, followed by Adam's sons, the virtuous Aron and the rebellious Caleb (Cal).
Driven by the presence of the manipulative and evil Cathy Ames, the story explores timeless themes of good and evil, the mystery of identity, the inexplicability of love, and the consequences of love's absence.
Steinbeck originally dedicated the book to his young sons, aiming to create a mythic narrative with primordial power.
#34880
• Mentioned in 2 episodes
Yahoo Boys
Love, Deception, and the Real Lives of Nigeria's Romance Scammers
Carlos Barragán
Carlos Barragán's 'Yahoo Boys' is a narrative nonfiction account that follows young Nigerian romance scammers to understand the economic, social, and emotional forces behind their crimes.
Through years of reporting and intimate interviews, Barragán portrays how poverty, peer pressure, and loneliness fuel a subculture that scams people abroad.
The book balances the harm done to victims with attention to the humanity and circumstances of the scammers, refusing simple moral judgments.
It examines how online intimacy is commodified and how both victims and perpetrators seek attention and connection.
Barragán situates individual stories within larger global inequalities and explores the ethical complexities of empathy and accountability.
#43655
• Mentioned in 2 episodes
Absurdistan
Gary Shteyngart
#44438
• Mentioned in 2 episodes
Hub fans bid Kid adieu
John Updike
This book contains John Updike's iconic essay 'Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu', originally published in The New Yorker in 1960.
It vividly captures Ted Williams' final at-bat in Fenway Park, where he hit a solo home run.
The essay is a poignant tribute to Williams' career and a reflection on the intersection of sports and life.
The Library of America edition includes an autobiographical preface and a new afterword by Updike.
#35759
• Mentioned in 2 episodes
Spies, Lies, and Algorithms
Amy Zegart
In *Spies, Lies, and Algorithms*, Amy Zegart provides a detailed history of U.S.
espionage, from George Washington's spies to modern-day spy satellites.
She explores how technology is transforming espionage, creating new challenges and opportunities, and examines the impact of digital technology on intelligence agencies and policy.
The book also delves into cognitive biases, traitors, covert actions, and congressional oversight.
#1248
• Mentioned in 43 episodes
Choke Points
American Power in the Age of Economic Warfare
Edward Fishman
Edward Fishman's "Choke Points" analyzes the evolving landscape of economic warfare in the modern era.
The book argues that the global economy's reliance on free and open trade is increasingly vulnerable to geopolitical tensions.
Fishman explores how countries leverage economic tools like tariffs and sanctions to gain strategic advantages.
He examines historical examples and contemporary case studies to illustrate the complexities and consequences of economic warfare.
The book concludes by offering insights into how nations can navigate this new era of economic competition and conflict, emphasizing the need for strategic adaptation and resilience.
#2842
• Mentioned in 22 episodes
The Gilded Age
a Tale of Today vol 1
Charles Dudley Warner
Mark Twain
Published in 1873, 'The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today' is a satirical novel that satirizes greed and political corruption in the United States during the late 19th century.
The book follows the story of the Hawkins family and their attempts to improve their fortunes through land speculation.
It also includes a parallel story about two young men, Philip Sterling and Henry Brierly, who seek their fortunes in similar ways.
The novel is notable for its commentary on the social and political dynamics of the time, including themes of corruption, materialism, and the struggles of the era.
The title 'The Gilded Age' has become synonymous with the period in American history from the 1870s to the late 1890s, characterized by its superficial glitter and underlying corruption.
#388
• Mentioned in 100 episodes
Say Nothing
A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland
Ariel Font Prades
Patrick Radden Keefe
The book delves into the bitter conflict in Northern Ireland and its aftermath, focusing on the lives of key figures such as Dolours Price, Brendan Hughes, Gerry Adams, and Jean McConville's children.
It explores the civil rights movement, the Provisional IRA's bombing campaign, the 1981 hunger strike, the peace process, and the post-conflict struggle to understand crimes like McConville's murder.
The narrative also incorporates the Belfast Project, a secret oral history endeavor that collected stories from former IRA members.
The book is a panoramic history that captures the complexities and tragic consequences of the Troubles.
#942
• Mentioned in 53 episodes
Empire of Pain
The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty
Ricard Gil
Patrick Radden Keefe
Empire of Pain is a comprehensive and damning narrative about the Sackler family, who built their pharmaceutical empire through aggressive marketing and questionable ethics.
The book traces the family's history from their early success with tranquilizers like Librium and Valium to the devastating impact of OxyContin, which contributed significantly to the opioid crisis.
Keefe's work is based on extensive research and exposes the family's ruthless business tactics, their influence on medical and governmental bodies, and their attempts to evade accountability for the harm caused by their products.
Acclaimed investigative journalist and New Yorker staff writer Patrick Radden Keefe joins Jake Sullivan and Jon Finer to discuss his new book, London Falling.
They discuss London’s dirty-money economy, “Say Nothing” and the unfinished business of the Good Friday Agreement, whether the CIA helped spread the Scorpions’ “Wind of Change” behind the Iron Curtain, what a year inside the Pentagon taught Patrick about Washington, and why powerful people rarely see themselves as villains. At the end, Patrick, Jake and Jon share their summer reading list.
In an exclusive segment for subscribers to The Long Game+ on Apple or Substack: Patrick, Jake, and Jon examine how Trump-era impunity and outrage fatigue can normalize corruption.
Access to video versions of exclusive podcast segments, transcripts, and more on Substack: https://thelonggame.substack.com/
Watch the video version of this episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@podlonggame
Email Jake and Jon at [email protected].
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The Long Game is produced by the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Photo credit: Albert Llop/NurPhoto via Getty Images
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