--- title: Elizabeth Holmes: What to Read and Watch After The Dropout description: A guide to the documentaries, books, podcasts, and more about Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos canonical: https://time.com/6154443/elizabeth-holmes-the-dropout-podcast-books-movies/ author: Hannah Lynn article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2022-03-03T19:42:01.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:54:27.831Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: What to Read, Watch, and Listen to About Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos og:description: If 'The Dropout' raised some questions og:url: https://time.com/6154443/elizabeth-holmes-the-dropout-podcast-books-movies/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7706d22404d9d54f/698a22a5096a948e5e6ac43b/dropout_107_bd_03627rt.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Heroes og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: What to Read, Watch, and Listen to About Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos twitter:description: If 'The Dropout' raised some questions twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7706d22404d9d54f/698a22a5096a948e5e6ac43b/dropout_107_bd_03627rt.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # What to Read, Watch, and Listen to About Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos After _The Dropout_ > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. by [Hannah Lynn](https://time.com/author/hannah-lynn/) ## Hannah Lynn Mar 3, 2022 7:42 PM UTC  Amanda Seyfried in The Dropout Amanda Seyfried in The DropoutBeth Dubber—Hulu by [Hannah Lynn](https://time.com/author/hannah-lynn/) ## Hannah Lynn Mar 3, 2022 7:42 PM UTC When it comes to learning about [Elizabeth Holmes](https://time.com/6132954/elizabeth-holmes-prison-sentence/) and her [now-defunct company Theranos](https://time.com/6132551/corporate-board-diversity/), there is no shortage of source material. Holmes, who was found guilty on multiple counts of fraud in January 2022, became famous for inventing a new blood testing device, and then infamous for lying about her blood testing device. The story of Holmes’ fraud first broke with a 2015 article in the [_Wall Street Journal_](https://www.wsj.com/articles/theranos-has-struggled-with-blood-tests-1444881901) by John Carreyrou, who went on to write a book on the subject, which is in the process of being turned into a movie. And that’s just the beginning—multiple podcasts, documentaries, and other projects have aimed to tell the story of one of the most famous scams in the history of Silicon Valley. In March, Hulu premiered the original series [_The Dropout_](https://time.com/6153335/elizabeth-holmes-the-dropout-true-story/), a dramatization of Theranos and Holmes’ rise and fall that was based on an ABC podcast series of the same name. Below is our guide to everything you can watch, listen to, and read to learn more about Holmes and Theranos. ## **Documentaries** ## **_The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley_** _The Inventor,_ released on HBO in 2019, is directed by Alex Gibney, a documentarian who made his name going deep on other fraudulent organizations with _Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room_ and _Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief_. With _The Inventor_, he interviews several of the subjects featured in multiple pieces of Holmes media, including Stanford University professor Phyllis Gardner and Theranos whistleblowers Erika Cheung and Tyler Shultz. The documentary also interviews journalists who covered Holmes, both during her rise and during her fall, including reporter John Carreyrou, and Roger Parloff, who wrote a glowing profile of Holmes when she appeared on the cover of _Fortune_. With a runtime of two hours, the documentary offers and in-depth look at how Holmes built up her company and the deception that led to its demise. ## **_The Dropout_** To go along with their podcast of the same name, ABC aired _The Dropout_ in 2019 during their weekly 20/20 program. The documentary is now available to watch in parts on [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kG%5FF118ruOM&t=258s). It’s shorter than the podcast, whose first season featured six episodes, so it offers abbreviated versions of each of the interviews. While it does give visuals to some of the people and places discussed, some of the interviews are audio-only. Like the podcast, the show is presented and narrated by ABC reporter Rebecca Jarvis. ## **_Valley of Hype_** If you’ve already watched the other documentaries on Holmes and crave more, then _Valley of Hype_ might be for you, though it’s the weakest of the bunch. Released in 2021, this documentary is produced by Yahoo! Finance and uses mostly existing information and photos with the Ken Burns effect as the primary imagery. Curiously, the documentary opens with several interviews with scientist and board members defending Holmes for her innovative vision, claiming that what she did isn’t necessarily fraud. ## **Podcasts** ## **_The Dropout_**  While many podcasts have had singular episodes about Elizabeth Holmes, _The Dropout_ is the definitive audio documentary that tracks the rise and fall of Theranos. The ABC podcast, hosted by Rebecca Jarvis, is the basis for the ABC documentary of the same name. The podcast initially aired in 2019 with a six-episode season breaking down Holme’s trajectory from a Stanford student, to a rising tech star, to a reviled fraudster. _The Dropout_ is also the basis for the Hulu miniseries, which draws many of its characters and scenes from the interviews conducted by Jarvis. The podcast talks to employees from every era of Theranos, neighbors Holmes had growing up, scientific experts, and other crucial figures in the Theranos universe. After the success of the first season, the show released nearly 20 more episodes covering Holmes’ trial and verdict. ## **_Bad Blood: The Final Chapter_**  Reporter John Carreyrou wrote the first investigative story doubting Theranos’ technology and unveiling the fraudulent blood testing system for the _Wall Street Journal_. After the explosion of his piece, and the subsequent reporting he did on the subject, Carreyrou wrote _Bad Blood_, a book diving deeper into Theranos and Holmes, which was published in 2018\. In 2021, Carreyrou continued his work on the topic with the podcast _Bad Blood: The Final Chapter_, which follows Holmes’ trial and gives a more in-depth look at her company. The show also features insights from former New York Post court reporter Emily Saul. The podcast concluded in January 2022 with an episode covering Holmes’ guilty verdict. ## **Books** ## **_Bad Blood,_** **John Carreyrou** After publishing his investigative report on Theranos in the _Wall Street Journal_, journalist John Carreyrou then extended his report in the 2018 book _Bad Blood_. Carreyrou’s 2018 book Bad Blood, which furthered his investigative reporting on Theranos, featured interviews with 150 people—including 60 former Theranos employees—who had connections to Holmes, Theranos, or the investigation surrounding the company. The book offers more in depth coverage of many of the topics covered in the documentaries including the earliest days of Theranos, Holme’s worship of Apple and Steve Jobs, her relationship with Sunny Balwani, and the whistleblowers that helped reveal the company’s secrets. In 2020, Carreyrou released a new addition with a new afterword. A movie based on _Bad Blood_ is in the works directed by Adam McKay and starring Jennifer Lawrence as Holmes. ## **TV/Film** ## **_The Dropout_** Based on the ABC podcast of the same name, _The Dropout_ premieres on Hulu on March 3\. The miniseries stars Amanda Seyfried as Elizabeth Holmes and Naveen Andrews as Sunny Balwani, her romantic/business partner. The show sticks to its source material and most of the characters are depictions of real people, like Stanford Professor Phyllis Gardner (Laurie Metcalf), chemist Ian Gibbons (Stephen Fry), board member George Shultz (Sam Waterston), and reporter John Carreyrou (Ebon Moss-Bacharach). The series closely follows the first season of the podcast, beginning with Holmes as a Harvard student eager to make a name for herself and ends with the public reveal of her fraudulent science. _The Dropout_ dramatizes the faux-science and business dealings at Theranos, and also goes deeper into Holmes’ personal life and her relationship with Balwani. It is not yet announced if the show will continue Holmes’ story with more seasons and cover her trial as the podcast did. ## **_Bad Blood_** The bestselling book by John Carreyrou will be adapted into a movie written and directed by Adam McKay (_The Big Short_, _Vice_), with Jennifer Lawrence starring as Holmes. The movie was picked up by Apple Studios to be premiered on Apple TV+, but no other cast members or information about the film has been released yet. ## **Articles** ## [**Hot Startup Theranos Has Struggled With Its Blood-Test Technology**](https://www.wsj.com/articles/theranos-has-struggled-with-blood-tests-1444881901) This 2015 article in the _Wall Street Journal_ by John Carreyrou marked the beginning of the end for Theranos. The report alleged that Theranos was lying about the tests its machines were capable of, and that most of the blood tests conducted by Theranos were not done on their own machines. While Carreyrou was reporting the story, Holmes tried to have her new investor Rupert Murdoch kill the story, since his company owns the _Wall Street journal._ After the story was released, Theranos employees gathered in their office and chanted “Fuck you Carreyrou.” He went on to write dozens more articles about Theranos for _WSJ_. Read the article [here](https://www.wsj.com/articles/theranos-has-struggled-with-blood-tests-1444881901). ## [**“She Never Looks Back”: Inside Elizabeth Holmes’s Chilling Final Months At Theranos**](https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/02/inside-elizabeth-holmess-final-months-at-theranos) In between the time when Theranos was revealed to be a fraudulent company and when Theranos actually shut down, there was a strange limbo period. The company was still in operation and Holmes was still CEO, but they were essentially out of money and facing several lawsuits. They were being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Department of Justice, and the FBI. In this _Vanity Fair_ feature, writer Nick Bilton offers a look into the strange final months at Theranos, describing Holmes’ strangely chipper demeanor, her new husky puppy pooping around the office, and her happy social media posts with her new boyfriend. Read the article [here](https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/02/inside-elizabeth-holmess-final-months-at-theranos). ## [**The Epic Rise and Fall of Elizabeth Holmes**](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/03/technology/elizabeth-holmes-theranos.html) Written immediately following her guilty verdict in January 2022, this _New York Times_ story, written by David Streitfeld, analyzes why so many people in Silicon Valley and the tech industry were swayed by Holmes. The story includes some of Holmes’ personal notes, which were submitted as evidence in court. Streitfield wrote that the persona Holmes had crafted “fit so neatly into the Silicon Valley cliché” that “it inspired belief right up to the moment on Monday when a jury officially convicted her of four counts of fraud.” Read the article [here](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/03/technology/elizabeth-holmes-theranos.html). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6154443/elizabeth-holmes-the-dropout-podcast-books-movies/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6154443/elizabeth-holmes-the-dropout-podcast-books-movies/"},"headline":"What to Read, Watch, and Listen to About Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos After The Dropout","datePublished":"2022-03-03T19:42:01.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:54:27.831Z","description":"A guide to the documentaries, books, podcasts, and more about Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos","url":"https://time.com/6154443/elizabeth-holmes-the-dropout-podcast-books-movies/","keywords":["Television","list","culturepod"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7706d22404d9d54f/698a22a5096a948e5e6ac43b/dropout_107_bd_03627rt.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Hannah Lynn","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/hannah-lynn/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7706d22404d9d54f/698a22a5096a948e5e6ac43b/dropout_107_bd_03627rt.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Heroes","caption":"Heroes","creditText":"Beth Dubber—Hulu","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/television/","name":"Television"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6154443/elizabeth-holmes-the-dropout-podcast-books-movies/","name":"What to Read, Watch, and Listen to About Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos After The Dropout"}}]}] ```