A exceptional piece of narrative reporting and a sweeping household saga, New Yorker author Patrick Radden Keefe’s award-winning e-book in regards to the Sackler household and its function in America’s opioid disaster begins with the seemingly heart-warming story of three Brooklyn brothers realising the desires of their immigrant mother and father by turning into medical doctors. The Sacklers went on to develop into one of many richest households within the US – they've an estimated fortune of $14bn – identified for his or her philanthropy and feted for his or her donations to artwork galleries, universities and medical institutes.
Drawing on newly obtainable court docket paperwork and greater than 200 interviews, Empire of Ache reveals how the household made its cash from the struggling of People by way of the aggressive gross sales methods of Purdue, the Connecticut-based pharmaceutical firm that grew to become the most important producer of OxyContin. The slow-release painkiller is twice as highly effective as morphine and considerably extra addictive. Authorised by an official on the Meals and Drug Administration (FDA) who, a yr later, took a high-paying job at Purdue, the drug contributed to the deaths of practically 500,000 individuals over 20 years and wrecked the lives of tens of millions extra.
Keefe, who narrates his e-book, isn't any stranger to audio: many listeners will know his voice from the hit podcast Wind of Change, which investigated the hearsay that the titular energy ballad by German rockers Scorpions was written by the CIA. If the vibe there was considered one of amusement, right here he adopts a calmly astonished tone as he tells a stunning story of callousness, cover-ups and monumental greed.
Empire of Ache: The Secret Historical past of the Sackler Dynasty is accessible by way of Picador, 18hr 6min
Additional listening
My Mess Is a Little bit of a Life: Adventures in Nervousness
Georgia Pritchett, Faber, 4hr 13min
Katherine Parkinson narrates this bracingly candid and humorous account of dwelling with nervousness, from the author of Succession and Veep.
Meeting
Natasha Brown, Penguin Audio, 1hr 58min
A well-to-do Black girl grapples with prejudice and Britain’s colonial legacy on this sharply noticed debut novel. Pippa Bennett-Warner reads.
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