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Blowout

Corrupted Democracy, Rogue State Russia, and the Richest, Most Destructive Industry on Earth

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 2021 GRAMMY® Winner for Best Spoken Word Album

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Big Oil and Gas Versus Democracy—Winner Take All

“A rollickingly well-written book, filled with fascinating, exciting, and alarming stories about the impact of the oil and gas industry on the world today.”—The New York Times Book Review

In 2010, the words “earthquake swarm” entered the lexicon in Oklahoma. That same year, a trove of Michael Jackson memorabilia—including his iconic crystal-encrusted white glove—was sold at auction for over $1 million to a guy who was, officially, just the lowly forestry minister of the tiny nation of Equatorial Guinea. And in 2014, Ukrainian revolutionaries raided the palace of their ousted president and found a zoo of peacocks, gilded toilets, and a floating restaurant modeled after a Spanish galleon. Unlikely as it might seem, there is a thread connecting these events, and Rachel Maddow follows it to its crooked source: the unimaginably lucrative and equally corrupting oil and gas industry.

With her trademark black humor, Maddow takes us on a switchback journey around the globe, revealing the greed and incompetence of Big Oil and Gas along the way, and drawing a surprising conclusion about why the Russian government hacked the 2016 U.S. election. She deftly shows how Russia’s rich reserves of crude have, paradoxically, stunted its growth, forcing Putin to maintain his power by spreading Russia’s rot into its rivals, its neighbors, the West’s most important alliances, and the United States. Chevron, BP, and a host of other industry players get their star turn, most notably ExxonMobil and the deceptively well-behaved Rex Tillerson. The oil and gas industry has weakened democracies in developed and developing countries, fouled oceans and rivers, and propped up authoritarian thieves and killers. But being outraged at it is, according to Maddow, “like being indignant when a lion takes down and eats a gazelle. You can’t really blame the lion. It’s in her nature.”

Blowout is a call to contain the lion: to stop subsidizing the wealthiest businesses on earth, to fight for transparency, and to check the influence of the world’s most destructive industry and its enablers. The stakes have never been higher. As Maddow writes, “Democracy either wins this one or disappears.” Corruption & Misconduct Politics & Government Russia Russian & Soviet United States World
All stars
Most relevant
Great read - huge fan of Rachel’s- fabulous investigative reporter who is passionate and has a great narrative approach and her humour is the best

Rachel didn’t disappoint

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In any critical evaluation of a text, it’s essential not to separate an author from their information when determining the validity of the arguments. In this case, Maddow carries the narrative with the same credibility for which she is best known and hence there is no need to second guess any of the facts, even when they err on the side of unbelievable. This book has timed its entry to bookstores well; for context on the current Ukraine palaver that will surely define the Trump presidency (if not end it), this winding and neurone-connecting book is a must read.

Puts a spotlight in the right place, on the right people, at the right time

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It’s a great story, listening to it in 2020 only makes it sound like a ringing in the ears of a warnings no one listened to.

Author explains very simply and direct many issues with Oil and its consequences both social and environmental.

Greatly Narrated by R. Maddow and incredibly important in these times.

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The interwoven threads of this book and the complex nature of the topic would suggest that this would be a turgid read. Nothing could be more wrong. The book is clear and convincing, and when you add in the author’s own narration with her style that many will already be familiar with, the whole book becomes a tour de force. This is the best non-fiction I have listened to for a long time.

Brilliant

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I always love when Maddow connects a bunch of dots I never knew were connected, and this deep (very deep) dive into the oil and gas industry is chock full of those connecting dots. Loved it.

In-depth, informed and interesting.

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