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Good morning! It's Sunday, Oct. 18, and welcome to our Sunday Edition. Comedian Nathan Fielder and filmmaker Lance Oppenheim released the highly anticipated documentary "You Can See Everything" on Friday, which follows Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes shortly before she reported to prison. We revisit Holmes' background and the fraud that took down her health startup as she reenters the public conversation.
Want more business-related news? Sign up for our weekly Business and Finance newsletter (Thursday), which will cover prenups in this week's issue.
Keep reading for the biggest donor in the midterm election cycle (News in Context), a virtual tarot reading (Etc.), and much more.
📖 Our Sunday edition digs deep into the context and rabbit holes behind the news. We'll be back with our regular Daily Digest tomorrow through Saturday.
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'Why Would I Deceive You?'
Once hailed as the youngest self-made female billionaire, Elizabeth Holmes is best known for founding the failed blood-testing startup Theranos in 2003 when she was 19. After Theranos' technology was found to be faulty, Holmes was sentenced to 11 years in federal prison in 2022 for defrauding investors.
> Watch the trailer for Nathan Fielder's critically acclaimed documentary about Elizabeth Holmes, "You Can See Everything." (More, w/video)
> Holmes imitated Apple cofounder Steve Jobs, even going so far as to dress like him, making his signature black turtleneck her uniform. (More)
Holmes attended Stanford University from 2002 to 2004, when she dropped out to work on Theranos. The company raised hundreds of millions of dollars, reaching a $9B valuation at its peak. Investors included Walmart's Walton family, and board members ranged from Henry Kissinger to George Shultz.
> Theranos investors, including Rupert Murdoch and the DeVos family, lost hundreds of millions of dollars when the company failed. (More, w/video)
> Former employees claim the startup had cultlike qualities, including suppression of dissent, sleep deprivation, and surveillance. (More)
> Explore the Failure Museum, a curated collection of over 1,000 items representing failed products and companies, including a Theranos mug. (More, w/video)
Theranos' core claim—that its blood-testing device could detect many diseases with just a pinprick of blood—was ultimately a lie, despite partnerships with major pharmacies like Walgreens that added to Theranos' credibility. Theranos dissolved in 2018 after a 2015 Wall Street Journal investigation led by reporter John Carreyrou exposed that Theranos' Edison blood-testing machines did not work as the company claimed.
> Read the 2015 investigative piece that first surfaced failures in Theranos' technology. (More)
> Elizabeth Holmes' partner, Billy Evans, has raised millions of dollars for a new biotech startup during Holmes' time in prison. (More)
Discover more:
> Listen to a comparison between Holmes' real voice and her fake, deeper one. (More, w/video)
> When female founders fail publicly, some sociologists say they are evaluated more harshly than men. (More)
> Watch Nathan Fielder open “Dumb Starbucks” in 2014, a fake coffee shop he called a parody so he could claim fair use against trademark infringement. (More, w/video)
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News in Context
1440 brings you the knowledge and context behind the week's stories:
Elon Musk is the single biggest known donor in the 2025-26 US election cycle. (More)
> See where Musk ranked among the largest individual donors during the 2024 election cycle.
> Read a timeline of Musk's business ventures.
Millions of seniors are now receiving $90 payments from the Trump administration; it says about one-third of Medicare Part B enrollees, or 20 million people, are eligible for the rebate to help with their rising premium costs. (More)
> Why overall healthcare costs are sharply rising in America.
> Get more updates like this from our weekly Health & Medicine newsletter (Wed.), which will cover food deserts in this week's issue.
Arizona's Chiricahua National Monument is on track to become the next US national park. (More)
> See which national park received the most visitors in 2025.
> Interested in more cultural happenings? Sign up for our weekly Society and Culture newsletter (Sat.), covering Michael Jordan in this week's issue.
Computing pioneer Margaret Hamilton, whose fail-safe saved Apollo 11 and who led the development of the Apollo program's flight software, died at 90. (More)
> Hamilton was once honored with a portrait made of moonlight.
> Stay up to date with the dynamic world of science in our weekly Science and Technology newsletter (Tues.), which will explore white dwarfs this week.
Curiosity for Your Ears
What happens to your brain after that first sip of coffee? How did plastic take over the planet? And are we thinking about strength training all wrong?
Turns out, even the most familiar things have some extraordinary stories to tell. Our flagship podcast, "1440 Explores," uncovers the surprising science, fascinating history, and unexpected twists behind the things you thought you knew.
> Coffee: The world's favorite pick-me-up has a surprisingly complicated story.
> Plastics: How a miracle invention became hard to escape.
> Strength Training: Is lifting weights the secret to aging well?
Follow "1440 Explores" and find your next listen on Apple or Spotify.
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Etcetera
Explore a list of the 50 best documentary films of all time selected by film critics.
Watch a time-lapse of the 120-day journey of a pumpkin seed growing into an adult fruit.
Nostalgia is likely driving your cravings for comfort food.
See a visualization of the flight speeds of animals, machines, and fictional creatures.
Discover your fortune with a virtual art-themed tarot deck.
Watch a controversial 2019 Peloton ad that cost the company more than $1B in market value.
There's an official term for that gurgling sound your stomach makes—borborygmi.
🫶 Humankind: Tennessee rescue team ends euthanasia for feral cats at local shelter by turning them into barn cats.
View evolutionary relationships between more than 2 million known species with this interactive tree of life.
The two ways that experts think AI could annihilate humanity.
Studies suggest that when you sleep is as important as how much you get.
Fantasy sports' roots go back to an 1860s parlor game that simulated real-world baseball.
Why artificial sweeteners won't be very helpful for weight loss.
Historybook: "Moby-Dick" first published (1851); US formally takes possession of Alaska from Russia (1867); inventor Thomas Edison dies (1931); astronauts Jessica Meir and Christina Koch conduct first all-female spacewalk (2019); former Secretary of State Colin Powell dies (2021).
"I know not all that may be coming, but be it what it will, I'll go to it laughing."
—Stubb in Herman Melville's "Moby-Dick"
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