The Unknown Billion Dollar Dynasty

Oxycontin ring a bell? If I were a Sackler, I wouldn’t want anyone to know about me either. A tale of amoral evil.

“I’ve not been this excited about a book in a long time. If the book stores were open, I’d be standing in line at midnight, dressed like a member of the Sackler Family.” John Oliver on his Seth Meyers appearance last week.

Empire of Pain. Brilliant title. The book just came out — by Patrick Radden Keefe — about the Sackler Family, owners of Purdue Pharmaceutical, producers of Oxycontin; drug of despair, doom, and death for too many.

I just listened to a great interview with the author on NYT Book Review and comes with a sky-high-absolutely-listen-to-it recommendation. Better than any thriller or horror flick. Keefe explains the process, the research, what he found out about all members of the family even those not directly involved with the pharmaceutical arm aka the family business, the history of the family of immigrant origin (aren’t we all though) which began in the early 20th century with Valium and brilliance in targeted manipulation (doctors) as well as the author’s encounter with creepy stalking, putting himself in personal danger that comes with peeling off the layers of this rotten to the core evil empire. Hey, when somebody can put the fear of less rich and rattles on the foundations of power and money with words: that is nothing short of friggin fantastic. Knowledge is power, I always say. Actually, someone did say that before I just thought of it.

The podcast also directs us to a dedicated 8-episode podcast the author himself produced, called Wind of Change. Fascinating. Absolutely fascinating fly-on-the-wall insight into how the synergy of money and power work. Applicable to basically every industry and repressive power in the world.

My recommended read of the month. And I’d go stand in line dressed as a Sackler right behind John Oliver.