Capitalism builds upon the older foundation of the 'protestant work ethic' - the common belief that equates hard work with moral worth. You have no job? Then you don't have a right to live. You must earn it through labour.
@@entewente tbf, it is technically late stage. Or at least "any stage past the very early days". When you had a transitional state and to some degree early on, it is possible things could go a bit differently indifferently of the system. Which is one of the reasons why it managed to bamboozle people early on, the obvious logical next step(s) were easier to sweep under a rug.
You saying "It's not illegal not to work, it's just defacto illegal to expect to stay alive unless you do" really got me. So true. Great video as always.
Every now and then we get a glimpse into how exactly ruling class society functions and how they treat each other - it's genuinely so horrifying But unlike the bad parts of being working-class, they can choose to opt-out any time they want. Do anything else, forever. And they just...choose to obliterate their humanity instead? Abolishing property will be an act of kindness towards them, honestly.
Honestly, it reminds me of the Steinbeck quote about the bankmen fearing the bank, despite it being made up of bankmen. Social pressure to continue churning for the systems we find ourselves thrust into is immense for us, because our brains tell us that social rejection = death (literally, because evolutionarily speaking, that WAS accurate)
There exists no such thing as a well-defined "ruling class". Everybody differs in how many laws they have in their favor. Everything differs in magnitude, not in kind. The vast majority of people cause the vast majority of problems. e.g. non-vegans breed torture and murder billions of animals. So, are you defining the majority of people to be "the ruling class"? The winning voters in any election are "the ruling class". Everybody thinks somebody else is "the ruling class" but NEVER considers themselves to be a member.
@@FoxyFemBoi “It happens that every man in a bank hates what the bank does, and yet the bank does it. The bank is something more than men, I tell you. It's the monster. Men made it, but they can't control it.” ― John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath
@@Leftistattheparty We know that misaligned artificial intelligences will destroy us because we have already made one which is destroying us. It's called capitalism.
Content Warning: Henry Kissinger The most ethical content warning I've ever seen in my life, thank you so much Sophie for warning me in advance that he'll be showing his face in this one 🙏
"women are expected to do labour to protect men's feelings" is one of those life changing quotes. Of course they perceive criticism by women as insulting if all women in their lives talk to them with carefullness. Wow
I hope that the coment is not too convoluted, since I am quite sleepy at the moment. I will revise the coment if you would like to read a cleaner version. On to the coment: As a cis young adult man who has thankfully tried to sort out the aspects in myown taxic masculinity ( to some extent atleast) I find that personally I would prefer it if people in general spoke with more carefulness. 1. Carefulness about who they speak to and adapting theirown speach as well as possible so that they are able to effectively communicate their ideas 2. So that they don't just fight to maintain stupid things they've said ( that they know are stupid, but can't help fighting for because they expressed them with too much conviction or something) Besides this tho( which doesent really relate too directly to what I think Sofie you are reffering to) I do think that it is the case that woman's ideas are treated as less than in many cases on a daily basis, and it does seem like men expect woman to shield their feelings, in a whierd way beeing dependant on the comfort which they expect woman to give us in this reguard, and at the same time taking for granted the gentleness in order to disregard someone's ideas because " its not bad if theire isn't a conciquence". I do think tho, from my personal experiences and from observing people in general, people oftain don't know how to balance " giving critisism, beeing taken seriously, but also not beeing so harsh that it will fly in the other person's ego" I do think that many many times it's quote possible to critisise a negative aspect, but inperseptively as to not offend but still have the point across. At the same time however, it is necessery to offend sometimes. I've personally needed to be offended many times in order to finally understand a critisism and to actually realise that I should do something about it.( and I litterally mean that I needed to be offensively critisised in this reguard. I do not mean with personal and unchangeable and thus unhelpful critisism tho) What I needed was harsh critisism, but with a solution or few offered to me as to " what I can do to remedy whatever negative behaviour or viewpoint that I have" I felt the need to mention this was not because I thought that you didn't know it, but because I do think that both aspects need to be mentioned as at least two different ways to analise what might be happening in any given circumstance, in order not to fall pray to a cirtain dogmatism which comes along with a great systemically analytic notion such as this one in this case.( also would apply It to other ideas whenever possible as well personally ) In a strange way, sexism is this eugenics themed tool for justifying ones own uncritically held beliefs towards people who as men we are encouraged to see as necessery potencial relationships. On one hand we are raised to seek out woman to be with, but on the other we are raised to consider woman as lesser than. And this is done under the guise of " personal self confidence". As in " woman aren't less than you because they are all inharently worse, but because more of them are worse , as opposed to how less man are worst" if that makes sence . The disgusting analogy my father once made, which frankly is a very wierd analogy, is: " he said :could you imagine the stupidest man? I said : okay, yes He said: well even that man will probably get married to a woman, thus proving that if a woman is stupid enough to be with a very stupid man, than that means that she is stupider than even him" The logic here is just beyond reproach 😂 Just what can you even say to that except laugh at how stupid it is ( which I did) So in order to prove ones own superiority, even if one considers himself to be stupid, he just has to think " well, woman are stupider than me, so it's okay" So really sexism in my view, is in many cases employed precisely because a man feels like hisown ideas aren't good enough, but if they are at least better than someone else's ideas whom he considered as having inharently worst ideas, than he feels like he is contributing. From a personal perspective, I've always trusted woman more than man. And i was disgusted by the sexism of my peers at a young age when I was idealising woman because I was in love with one, and disgusted at them because they were sexualising woman. (Now I am aware that my logic for why I respected woman was flawed, since it used to be a combination of pity because they were beeing in a way prayed upon by boys in my school, and at the same time related to them because I had been bullyed, but at the same time I felt lesser than them since as I was myself a boy, i also felt like I have a guild by association for beeing a boy in the first place ) Anyway, some pretty wierd stuff, some of which I haven't exactly been able to resolve to this day, but life goes on, and so on. Alright, I'll end it here, I am curious to read your views on this topic ,and I will elaborate further if you are interested in a discussion on this. Have a nice day
I hadn't heard about any of this and the whole story feels so fucking sad. From what you've said, it seems like Holmes responded to trauma by rebuilding her sense of self around her company and the technology she wanted to create. So when the technology didn't happen - because it couldn't - she was faced with the choice of tearing down her sense of self once again and rebuilding, or protecting her fragile, newly formed self by any means necessary. That's already tragic. But by picking the latter option, she chose to wield the privilege she was born to and had built for herself in a way that hurt so many other people and led to a man's suicide, and that just makes everything so much worse. None of this needed to happen, and none of this should have happened. Also, Sophie? You're pretty. And I'm not just saying that because you asked us to.
@@lady8jane also cold fusion which did multiple videos on this before it got big. Theyre a channel completely focused on corporate fraud. Not explicitly a leftist channel but definitely leans left without labels
Im obsessed with how "What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail" has a different meaning in different contexts um this is such a well-crafted video essay
That sounds a bit like Hitler's approach to war. Take on all of Europe? Easy! He was destined to victory. His people are superior, they can't lose. How about fighting America too? No problem for the the mighty reich. And the soviet union as well! "Wait... how am I losing? I can't lose, I'm leading the master race!"
"What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?" Pretty sure the answer from most of the comments section here would quite reasonably be "End Capitalism"
Getting copyright trolled by a family friend is already pretty noir, but suing them to hide the fact that your invention is fake and pressuring an employee to commit perjury so hard he kills himself really makes this just one of the grimmest damn things I've ever heard.
Sophie being based and intelligent and hilarious and interesting is what brings me here, Sophie being an intimidating Clown Mommy is what keeps me here forever
Total meaningless nerd moment here: I'm running a Vampire the Masquerade game right now with one player playing a character who prefers to drink from bagged blood. We've had some interesting times thinking up how he gets it, and 40 minutes in I've already gotten so many interesting ideas. EDIT: I NEED TO STOP MAKING COMMENTS BEFORE I REACH THE END OF THE VIDEO, HOLY SHIT. ALSO: This is a frigging chilling video, but not a numbing one. Sophie, your stuff always makes me think. A lot of leftist UA-camrs tend to vacillate wildly between "Here's some stuff to make you pat yourself on the back for being a leftist!" and "WE'RE ALL FUCKED AND ARE GOING TO DIE AND NOTHING CAN STOP IT! PANIC!" Your stuff always feels very constructive. Few others do that. Thanks for the video.
You're correct, the left's ability to organize and mobilize has been severely broken. The political right has us exactly where it wants us. They started breaking our resolve in the 80's with extreme earnestness, and were largely successful; that's finally changing, but imagine how much damage was done that it took almost 40 years to get us back to the bare minimum today? Most of my life has been spent watching this happen, and make no mistake, that wild swing between self soothing inaction and paralyzing fear is by design. If the political right can keep us only operating on the extremes it leaves us no ability to break through and start looking at things from a calmer middle ground. That state of mind is what they fear the most in us; if we're not in a blind rage we're actually going to start getting things done and dismantling the system they built to live their cushy, obscenely wealthy lives. We need people like Sophie to help organize us and light a fire under our asses to get off the computer and start actually doing stuff. The Internet wound up being more of an opiate for the political left. It allowed us to FEEL like we were doing something while we were actually doing nothing. People like Sophie help, but it's up to the rest of us to hear her call. If others see us actually doing work for humanity, work in the real world that has an impact unlike the digital world where it's all a big bunch of nothing, they're more likely to also take up the cause. We need to start in our towns or cities. Once our "home" is in better order we can start to broaden our horizons. Take the motivation you get from these videos and turn them into tangible action, something the people around you can see the real impact it's having! Because it's us, our lives and bodies, that will start to make life better for all people and begin the process of dismantling the awful capitalist system. Small ripples made in your community can turn into a tsunami of change elsewhere. I have faith that you're going to sit down and come up with something that will benefit your community, whatever that community may be. Start small, even if it's a once a month meeting for the queer community in your town to have dinner together, for example. Maybe organize a biweekly evening to launder the clothing of the unhoused; offer to clean, dry, and fold at your own house if you have a machine? There are small things we can do that are manageable in our intentionally busy lives to support one another. You got this, kid. 😊
I know there's already a video about vampires, but Id love to see one specifically abou Vampire. I was obsessed by it. But the truth is all its mythology is rather reactionary.
@@fredericoevandro-veladelibra I guess that if the fluff is reactionary, the players don't need to be; like playing Warhammer 40,000 and knowing that everything is terrible, and there are no "Goodies". 😄👍
One thing that has always impressed me about your work is how you manage to hold people accountable for their actions while also treating them with empathy. You are kind in a true sense and I always value what you have to say with your art here.
I recently had a class discussion on Holmes & it devolved rapidly into our old white guy professor demanding female students give their thoughts on how Holmes used her appearance as a primary weapon to win investment. A living example of exactly the kind of aesthetic reduction talked about here. Thanks for thought provoking content!
That quote, the "could not fail" one feels like an inkblot test to me. It took me several times to realize that it was supposed to mean "no matter how improbable success is, you are guaranteed to achieve it" rather than "Failure is absolutely not an option, it must be avoided at all costs" The set of things you would do would be complete opposites, depending on which way you interpret it.
FAQs (will update as more come up): 1. The ending and title song was IRIS by blackwinterwells, the quotes were read by my partner Nat who occasionally also makes vids on this channel 2. The main sources for this video were The Dropout (Hulu, 2023), The Inventor: Out For Blood in Silicon Valley (2019) and Bad Blood by John Carreyrou, and I also referenced Graeber's Debt: The First 5000 Years. Pretty short bibliography for this one 3. If you've come to the comments section to defend Henry Kissinger, please know that everyone is laughing at you Support the channel on patreon: patreon.com/sophiefrommars Or check out the rest of my links: linktr.ee/sophiefrommars
it felt like one of those deliberate cuts that interrupt the speaker - it really worked! but then by the time the clip ended i realised it probably hadn't been deliberate. Anyway, I know my comment will disappear with yours, but regardless let me praise you for yet another terrific video. I agree with you that the fictionalised version of her story seemed to capture the spiral quite well - the endless ratcheting pressure to succeed and the lengths she was willing to go to to cover up that it wasn't happening. I love the start-up angle. Really great insight.
@Sophie from Mars - As a fellow female coder who started, funded, and sold a tech start-up I LOVED hearing your tales from the trench! (I'm curious - what was your focus? Front-end? Back-end?) If you ever want to chat with a fellow female coder/start-up culture survivor/anti-capitalist (or hear grotesque tales from the game side of things), feel free to hit me up! =)
@@SophiefromMars I'll admit, it's difficult to keep fighting and putting energy towards things when I'm surrounded by so many people who think my actions are useless, which is why I keep coming back to your channel
Molecular Biologist working in biotech here. I'm currently focused on a project with the aim to develop novel biosensors. We basically make molecular constructs that produce some kind of detectable signal when in contact with/bind the respective target molecule. The thingys that would be needed in hundreds, if not thousands of variations to fully sample a complex medium like blood. We are SO far away from anything at that scale. While biotech is booming right now, working on a molecular scale is time consuming, expensive and very unpredictable. Most detection methods work through some interaction of molecules with light and are bound to their 3D shape. And most of the time we don't know what this shape looks like, how exactly it changes... we just see the wavelength of emissions change. So we have NO idea what happens, if a third reagent joins in. Will it mask the signal from the first one? Will it mimick its effects, making the readout non-specific. They could also form a cluster with a fourth one, making something new... we don't know that. So we test for it. One analyte after the other, checking for incubation times, pH balance, Ion interactions and thresholds to name a few. It's hard to get one sensor ready for commertial use and this sensor will probably demand specific conditions to work. Ideally it's just adjusting the pH and making sure certain metal compunds are not in the sample beforehand. Sometimes it will be much more restrictive... but it's a complicated mess that we very slowly untangle. A drop of blood has thousands of possible target sites. Hundreds of thousands even, many of them specific and often unique to the person or at least their family. It's so far out there, nobody within the field could possibly have taken that seriously. So when I heard this whole idea for the first time I was 100% sure this has to be some MLM predatory nonsense since its preposition was on par with some very misinformed 'businesses' in that area. Not to mention the cult leader vibe Holmes tried to get going. I lost a bit of faith in humanity when I realized how many people were buying into this. 'Serious' people. Then I reminded myself, that rich people's supposed cleverness is an illusion created by our hierarchical system of economic oppression - so I instead adapted schadenfreude. Money people are stupid. Tl;dr: AHAHAHAHAHHA. Naaaaaah.
I watched this video yesterday and while I was going to bed I remembered: during the Ebola crisis a few years ago, my lab chief told me we were getting an all enclosed machine that would run all Stat tests and would fit inside a biological hood and require only a capillary blood sample for all the test, so contagious patients could be tested with minimal handling. I expressed doubt but the boss swore that had all been figured out. Years later, that miracle machine never turned up. My old boss paid for a Theranos machine, didn't they?
i work at a startup and one of the craziest sayings i head like daily is "we're building the plane as it flies" and i'm like.... sounds scary i should probably quit huh
"My appearance is under scrutiny in a way that male colleagues... do not experience" This was the perfect place to add in a frame of Big Joel looking absolutely feral (said with love, I love that sometimes big yet frequently small, small man)
I think the analogy of VtM really gets at why I love vampire fiction so much: It's so effective at communicating how the systems that govern our lives actually feel to operate under. & also the music on this one was excellent. -- Vivi Vendetta (they/them)
This was such a refreshing video to watch about Holmes and Theranos. So much of the discussion around her is about her mannerisms, and people trying to pathologize her, so I absolutely love that you didn't even mention most of those talking points. Very based and good. ❤She's done and is responsible for some truly heinous shit, but trying to explain her actions away by theorizing about her supposed pathology is... not good, and more importantly, prevents the conversation from actually focusing on the real issues and the environment that created and enabled her, and I'm glad that you specifically pointed that out. I might also need to actually check out The Dropout now, I guess.
I dislike so much the need people have to find a diagnosis for people they don't know, specially in Holmes case where her behaviour is not that outlandish compared to other people in her same position, she just failed in a bigger stage while other people either were not as known or succeeded. We live in a system that encourages and rewards this type of aggressive, inconsiderate, highly ambitious and selfish behaviour.
@@bluester7177 You're right in that it's not exactly fair that the first instinct a lot of us seem to have is to imagine or blame mental illness of some kind rather than recognize the patterns that our society rewards. Strictly speaking, Holmes's behavior is inherently rewarded within capitalism on the whole and it's easier to pretend there's no harm in what you're doing when the harm you're doing is so far removed from your day to day life.
Your CV portion of the video made me think of all of the accumulated mental damage I've taken as a byproduct of being a worker. I think there's a guarantee that no matter where you work you will be subject to abuse, sexual harassment, wage theft, or any number of things at least once in your career. Makes it more ironic that most places talk about being a "family."
I lived in Phoenix AZ while those machines were in Walgreen’s in the area (the pharmacy she partnered with for those who don’t know) and I have a vivid memory of looking at the promo poster while waiting for a prescription and the pharmacist saying “oh don’t even bother, it doesn’t and won’t work” 😅 Also don’t shop at Walgreens, it’s run by anti-transgender, anti-choice ass hats. 😊 I was very young, didn’t know that yet.
@@imeowmeowkat good question- get your prescriptions filled where you can, at the end of the day *you need what you need.* Many pharmacies can mail stuff though! I think even Costco does mail order these days, however that isn’t an option for all meds (ADHD meds for example). So like I said, get what you need where you can. 🥰 it’s not the community’s fault that Walgreens pushes out little guys.
@@imeowmeowkat A lot of grocery stores have their own pharmacies, and I find them a lot easier to work with. You could try talking to one of their pharmacists to make sure your personal meds can be easily filled there.
That explains why Tricare is working with them lol. (Tricare is the one insurance exempt being legally required to provide gender affirming care to trans people.)
I was following this from the beginning, as someone in biotech who found the claims dubious right from the off. Holmes always struck me as very much like Charlotte Hale in Westworld, a gender-flipped version of the toxic tech investment bro archetype.
I would LOVE to hear more about how you knew something was wrong and what others in the industry said before us normies got to hear about her. No pressure though, only if you feel like sharing more!
@@meeomelovescookiesandhisto459 I think I first heard about them in around 2012? I'd graduated from my biotech course the year before and was working as a lab tech while trying to land a PhD. It seemed pretty questionable to a lot of us doing a bunch of these kinds of tests daily that they were claiming to have figured out a way to do stuff that there wasn't really a means of scaling down. It seemed to be a dead end. Hell, I personally have medical conditions that require a whole bunch of blood tests, they take three or four vials from me every time I have a checkup because it's not really physically possible to do all those tests on the same sample. Everything was really being hyped up entirely in the business press, while everyone in the biomedical space was approaching it with serious scepticism.
I can totally corroborate @sunyavadin’s perspective. I was doing a postdoc in molecular biology at Stanford during the rise of Theranos, and subsequently worked developing point-of-care molecular diagnostics in industry for a few years (the same kinds of tests theranos was working on). What infuriated me and many of my colleagues was that Holmes/Theranos acted as though they were the first company to think of point of care testing, small volume samples, or easy-to-use instruments, even though all of those things already existed. For example, the Alere Cholestech and the Abaxis Piccolo Express, were already FDA-approved, CLIA-waived, and in widespread use by the mid-aughts, and both could run comprehensive blood chemistry panels on a hundred microliters or so of finger stick blood using a microfluidic cartridge. But Alere and Abaxis did not market their devices as hip consumer electronics, they were just boring beige boxes that did a job accurately.
@@sunyavadin I think a lot of people outside of biomed saw the successful miniaturization of (some types of) PCR systems and incorrectly assumed that all bioassays could be scaled down the same way. That certainly doesn't absolve the journalists and investors who supported Theranos - due diligence should always include making sure claims are, you know, physically possible - but I can see why Holmes' claims were tempting if you didn't already have the field-specific context to know better.
@@MissaBrevis This is the issue with capitalist systems, it's all these finance people discussing stuff, and business media presenting all these claims, and the assumption that these "clever people" pulling the scams know what they're talking about, as otherwise how would they have convinced all these very smart rich people to give them money, with the actual substance of "could it even work?" being an afterthought.
This video was a breath of fresh air. As an outsider with only a tangential amount of concern for this story, my main information sources on theranos were youtube videos that just couldn’t help themselves from harping on about how “everything about her is fake, her voice isnt even that deep!” Really wonder why I (trans) was turned off by discussions of this case when all anyone could talk about is her as a media personality rather than her actual story. I had literally never even heard that the reason she dropped out of college was because she was assaulted. It all just seemed very hollow to me, but this video really gives me a better, more sympathetic (but not permissive) look into what happened in this case.
As someone who has been struggling with BPD for, oh, a long time, I think it's important to say that you did the thing. You communicated your intent passionately and clearly, and it took extraordinary intellect, sensitivity, and vulnerability to get it done. This is an excellent video essay and you should always be damn proud of it. Also, weirdly, I felt better about the world by the end. So, thanks for that.
I loved the CV portion; it's always interesting the commonalities in work experiences. 'Bosses suck, they will try to exploit you in every manner possible and they will dodge blame like a Matrix bullet-time event.' Also, your makeup in the CV portion was top tier, I still can't tightline to save my life.
Reminds me of the defense "my client grew up too rich to understand their crimes because they dont see other humans as people". Which is disturbing because 1) It works. Like you want someone like that to be around people without supervision and extreme intervention? 2) Its partually true. They were raised to view the world and behave like that. Their actions aren't acceptable, but unfortunately understandable to a degree Also in this context "what would you do if you knew you couldn't fail?" Gives me the same feeling of dread you'd feel when when picturing someone flinging themselves out a window because they think they can fly. Just build these people up and watch them fall because you assured them they were different and they could fly without a plane It's not just that situations like this are encouraged in the name of "progress". Which in my experience usually means "repackage it so we can sell it again but worse." It's also that it wasn't caught for so long. Just because someone said it's worth money means it's real and valuable. Dan's Metaverse video Dovetails nicely here. Because that thing being valued at 10 billion dollars is beyond any rationality and people seeing it but thinking that they're misding something because it's valued at 10 billion dollars. Speculative value and investments are so stupid and harmful. I could go on for hours. But I'll wrap up by saying this was a very informative and well done video with a really kind look at a difficult topic Thank you for the video Sophie :)
In today’s episode of “Things You Knew Were Scummy AF, But Are Somehow Scummier Than You Could Ever Imagine…” FR though, beautifully made and informative piece. Really appreciate the work. 🙏
I had a blood test done at a Theranos location in Arizona in July 2015. I only had one test done, prolactin (I previously had a high prolactin test and my doctor wanted me to get a follow-up, and my mom was like "why don't we try this new thing?"). They took a pediatric vial - not a drop - with a traditional phlebotomist. Knowing that apparently they were working on analysis equipment, apparently this was a "right hand doesn't know what the left is doing" kind of thing. I will say, though, being able to get blood draws done without a doctor's order is occasionally convenient. Too bad it was being used to enable medical fraud.
This was excellent. I also got mildly obsessed about the Theranos scheme after watching the HBO doc and reading the book. The one thing that always stood out to me was Elizabeth's privilege especially her dream of being a billionaire. It was always such a childish dream because she never accepted what the human cost was to actually BE a billionaire and kept herself insulated from ever accepting that truth.
Its depressing to think of how many managers and people running start ups are trying to use their authority to regain their own personal agency at the expense of their coworkers/employees. Its a combination of trauma and alienation.
I think this is one my favourite essays ever. It's not even that it's informative and eye opening (although it very much is), it's that it ties together so beautifully and engages you throughout. I'm so glad I watched this. Also, per request, you're pretty.
respect for making a video on such a dark story that still managed to be very entertaining in parts! something about the dry humour of the phrase "you can't miniaturise blood" really stuck in my brain lol
You’re pretty. But you are also thoughtful and insightful. Love this look into startup culture. What shocks me about the Theranos story is how much money got thrown at it with no evidence. Like Holmes was one thing, but what about the mentality of all her rabid supporters. Also, I went through the whole ‘slow down you’re working too fast thing’ which I found insane. I was actually encouraged to drag out my day to fill the required 8 hours.
I had a fucking awful time during my second attempt (also a failure.) at getting a masters with startup culture. I can’t describe how it felt. I was bright and trusting and… I don’t know how to explain how I felt afterwards. I would do readings of the rejection email with my friends and we would take turns talking about how we would probably get blacklisted from a company if we wrote an email to them like that (random capitalisation of words and exclamation marks cmon) but all these years later I feel… betrayed? Used? I don’t know. I think I’m angry with myself for believing their bullshit. They can say fake it till you make it but the faking it goes beyond saying the right things and knowing the right things. It’s a deeper level of faking. It’s a faking that is not like a mask you can take off you need to be so fake you fool yourself that’s how you get in. And for all my faults (and I have many) myself is someone I can’t bring myself to betray.
I haven't commented in a long time but to answer the question at the end, I would write a story I've had in my head for the longest time even if it wasn't good or anything, I don't do it now because of the lack of resources. I hope you know that you glow nowadays, and seeing you come so far has been a great experience as an audience member. I wish you peace and safety in your future
The conclusion to this piece slaps so hard! I've been thinking on how to elaborate on this for a few minutes, but i just really want you to know how cathartic it was (i.e. what an excellent job you -did- [do])! Thank you for paving the way of the revolution with understanding, compassion & hope; comrade!
What makes me most angry about Elizabeth Holmes is that whatever punishment she receives will be for defrauding rich people and not for the untold damage Theranos did to patients.
It's funny how the way you describe start up hell rings so familiar because to me it's the same as many of the small companies I've worked for and they weren't start ups at all, just service sector companies that happen to be small but the same story was there: questionable hiring process, being given way more responsabilities than you should be required to handle specially for the pay check and everybody on the chain of command above you either praising your sucess if you come up with the goods or blaming you for all failures when (not if) you come up short. Not to say that larger companies are any better: the ones that have (And currently) employ me that I would consider 'Large' were a lot slower moving and far less demanding but because they had other ways to cover their more steady but a lot slower movement: most of them are just as chaotic an inefficient but are big enough to be able to just save money through other tactics like outsourcing, near-shoring, etc, Just get people on the cheap from somewhere else while of course all the lucrative managerial and executive positions those are in-house only but the actual work being done? Yeah somewhere outside the country that gets coded while we make the real money.
Startups are awful. One time the CEO at my first job scolded everyone at the company for wasting time because a senior software developer decided to clean the kitchen himself. Instead of seeing this as a nice gesture, the CEO said his time was too valuable for that and it was the job of one of the HR people who was also his girlfriend
this is a great video but i especially enjoyed the Sophie's CV chapter haha I love people talking about their weird work experiences. Two of my friends left a small game development company last week, after dealing with an incredibly toxic environment for several months, and every week i would vibrate out of my seat to hear the new tea and the absolute bullshit they were experiencing. First job and my friend is completely disillusioned with the entire industry lmao
Loved the video, some of the responses to this situation remind me of the framing used in the Heard/Depp trial. Two flawed people making mutiple mistakes in an incredibly toxic relationship yet Depp is viewed through the lens of a hero wronged opposed to Heard as the lying abuser.
So I'm a woman (adjacent person) who for ever thought I was attracted to men and had a ginormous crush on you when I first started watching your videos, but I realized finally that I'm actually a lesbian and when I saw this video come up I was like holy shit you're so attractive, I finally got it right! but then you made that comment in your video about people being more concerned with commenting on your looks than ur ideas... I'm not that smart but I think your analysis is brilliant and you've taught me so much about the world! wish I had more to say on that front except that I'm a giant fan and hope to be more like you!
It's okay, I'll never really get sick of being told I'm pretty, it's just when there's no engagement intellectually by anyone (or very very little) that it gets depressing haha
Agreed, her main ‘crime’ was embarrassing Rich PeopleTM and my favourite nugget was how many of the super rich threw their money at her without any due diligence whatsoever because she framed it as ‘we’re looking for a few high-quality families as investors’. They’re desperate to be royalty and all sense flies out the window if you can flatter them that way. There were companies and people who did do due diligence. They did not invest. Anna Delvey was punished for something similar, embarrassing Rich People and exposing how extremely shallow they are.
So honestly, Sophie is so shockingly pretty, my poor bi heart kept getting distracted. I kept thinking that, when Sophie said that they gets told they're not pretty, and I was so shocked I decided to comment something I normally don't comment. You're super beautiful, inside and out!
I swear high society is so... alien. Not that I think they are actual aliens, but rather, that their priorities and their actions are just so... far away from anything I could ever reach... Strange, alienating, terrifying. That is rich people, and capitalism, to me. Sophie, it is always a marvel to see you dissect and analyze these subjects... even if I am reluctant to seek subjects such as the whole Theranos mess, because it just... gives me psyquic damage every time, but I've come to realize that you'll lead me through it safely, and for that, I am thankful Also yes, you are very pretty!
Literally just wanting to get by with a normal, grounded job so you never have to take part in/hear about this stuff again. All those people are so artificial, fake smiles, horrid. Makes me want to hide away even more in my small village, secluded world.
Thank you so much for sharing you experiences within startup culture as my experience has been extremely similar and for a very long time I considered it a personal failing, that I wasn’t good enough. But hearing someone else speak about how they were treated and how the system is the problem was extremely comforting
I have nothing interesting to say but I’m always down to fight the algorithm for a wonderful princess (gender neutral) like Sophie so please, it’s a dangerous world out there, take this sword just in case 🗡️🗡️
People tend to pretend like innovation is somehow intrinsically linked to capitalism. Thank you for once again making a brilliant argument for the contrary being true!
Magnificently insightful as ever, Sophie. The fact that I think a lot of people don't want to face is that every single cruel or evil or just apathetic person at the top of our society is someone who our society has failed, by teaching them about capitalism.
Okay, I initially watched this because the Theranos story has always been interesting to me. I stayed because of Sophie’s stories and experiences hit so close to home. 1. The CV section and Angry Feminist Noises section reminded me of a time when I was working for a startup that would edit videos for advertising. A videographer had compiled a video file holding all of his footage for a hotel. As an in-house editor, I never met the man, but what he did made me sick. He was taking footage for a hotel which happened to have a spa. I was scrubbing through the footage, and the first third of it was lovely shots of the hotel: the lobby, the property, the rooms, the views from the rooms, etc. The remaining two thirds of this footage, at least 2 hours worth, was of a woman in the spa getting a massage. She was naked, face down, and the camera was sliding over her like grease in a schlubby car salesman’s hair. I was sick, and I felt forced to be complicit in watching this display of the Male Gaze on someone who probably wasn’t even an actor, just someone minding their business getting a massage. This moment already happened, there was nothing I could do to stop it, and I felt that I had to scrub through hours of footage to see if there was anything I could use. All the time, repeated shots of the camera lusting for her. Since he’d compiled all the footage into one file, I couldn’t skip the clip without having to check if other important shots were in the file. I was disgusted and felt forced to watch this woman get exploited, under the capitalist coercion to keep my head down and do my job or risk losing it. I used a single shot of the spa room in it for less than a second and moved on. I should have said something, but my boss turned out to be a terrible person too, so maybe it’s good that I hadn’t. 2. I can’t believe people still think trans women aren’t women when I hear things like the Angry Feminist Noises part of the video. Your experience here is so quintessentially female that it is unfair to say that you aren’t as much of a woman as any cis woman. I’m a cis woman and I related HARD to the scrutiny, and I don’t even have the compounding factor of being part of other discriminated groups, at least at first glance.
Oh! Apologies about the assumptions I made in Point 2 here. I saw a comment mention that you may be gender neutral fluid, or otherwise, and I’m sorry for any pronoun/gender expression leaps I made. I basically want to say that your experiences are very valid as a person who displays feminine-coded expression, and that as a femme-presenting cis woman, I very much relate.
If I had a nickel for every time the last line of a sophie from mars video made me cry, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's cool that it happened twice! (first one was the dante/cloudpunk closing bit, which still gets me every time)
Ah, a Vampire: the Masquerade reference, and an apt one at that! Thank you for this absolutely excellent video. Every time I watch something of yours, I come away appreciating the thoughtfulness and care that you put into your work. (And also an appreciation for your eye makeup, my god I love your eyeshadow in the latter half of this video, aaaaa)
The entire time I was watching the part where Sophie was reading out her CV I kept thinking "Sophie's so pretty" and "Sophie's so smart" over and over again. Real hearts in my eyes kinda stuff. Sometimes its really nice to hear someone thinks that you're pretty. Thanks for another great vid, whenever I see one pop up in my subscriptions tab I really really really look forward to it
45:26 This reminds me of a video from InnuendoStudios called “The Cost of a doing Business” where he says “an all white cast in a movie isn’t about race but an all black cast in a movie is.” Since men or male are the “default,” they see women as inherently otherly. We in a way are always aware of our gender whereas men aren’t.
I did in fact say 'oh shit!' out loud when you turned around that 'if you knew you could not fail' quote at the end there. Excellent rhetorical touchdown, and a really interesting essay!
Couple of folks have recently put in a lot of work to undermine the perceived truth of the myth of the uber-CEO... thanks for putting a spotlight on one of them. Your videos are always insightful and delightful.
I almost didnt watch this because there's been a deluge of Theranos content recently but I'm so glad that I did. Lots of angles I hadn't considered previously. Fantastic vid
Agreed! I work in lab sciences so we've all talked the science and logistics of the Theranos debacle to death, but Sophie always brings a fascinating new lens to these things
I've never seen Larry Ellison before, only his massive weeb collection that he keeps on his private island, and he 1000% looks like exactly the type of guy who'd have a massive weeb collection on a private Hawaiian island
Oh my god, Sophie, this is legitimately one of your best videos so far. I am so SO happy to see someone discuss how capitalism is such a massive driver of stories like Theranos and Elizabeth Holmes, without absolving the main players of their deliberate choices to exploit and abuse the people working for them. The point that Holmes will be sentenced based wholly on stealing money from the poor widdle billionaires who bought into her lies, and not the real harm she caused to actual human beings is such an important one, I am glad how front and center you made that in the wrapup. I also really loved the section where you talked about your own experience in startup land (oh my god, I am so sorry) and my jaw about hit the floor when you talked about the mental health startup. Like, fuckin yikes. Anyway, loved the video! I am excited to see what you explore next!❤
Maybe ‘Blood Money’ would work as a title. Love your stuff Sophie! I am very happy that you have a platform to educate people. Your work is some of the best on this platform.
Thank you, Sophie, for putting this out there! This has to be by far the best take on the whole Theranos/Holmes story. As a sociology graduate and a Marxist I highly appreciate this systemic overview that puts the spotlight on the cancerous profit incentive, addresses the personal story without sensationalizing it, all the while building up the most convincing case for a communist progressive intersectionality I've ever seen on breadtube ✊ Love to see a girlworker win, keep up the good work! P.S. print('YOU ARE PRETTY')
Sophie, this is brilliant. You have so much valuable insight. I especially love how you insisted on looking at the experiences, both good and horrible, that led Holmes to become the person that caused all that harm. This is a brilliant case study in how a small measure of empathy for monsters can let us see problems that are otherwise missed. Because you're right, those are points that are all too often neglected. As they were in other accounts of this case. I have to say, as a cis man, that while I have heard all about the problems of misogyny in our society (because I've been listening), it always seems so surreal. It is hard for me to imagine how utterly _vile_ some people can be to others on the basis of essentially nothing of relevance. This, despite having experienced some aspects of it for being neurodivergent. Another reminder that no, this _evil_ is actually happening and needs to be stopped can never be a bad thing. You are beautiful, by the way. It's your insight and vision for the future, though, that makes me keep coming back. Beauty takes effort, and that effort should be more appreciated -- but also, right now, the world desperately needs more minds like yours, regardless of the shape of the body they come with.
I’ve hated homes for what she’s done but I never thought about the people who enabled her alomg the way and why they don’t get thier share of hate and infamy
I’ve hated child killers for what they've done but I never thought about the children who enabled them alomg the way and why they don’t get their share of hate and infamy
Finding this very difficult to follow with the auto-captions. The sound-balancing changes the volume and audio quality a lot between video and voice-over sections so it's hard to find an appropriate playback volume, and there's a lot of unfamiliar names being used which are mangled by the auto-captions. Since there's not good subtitling it's hard to supplement the audio with text - I'm having to relisten to sections repeatedly to take in the full meaning of what's being said. Edit: I think a particular issue is that the voice-over audio is very crispy and that's creating a lot of noise that's making comprehension difficult. The audio shifts between both sources frequently, so it's not really possible to adjust. Edit2: As an additional note, it's not possible to read editor's notes with captions on if they're placed at the bottom of the screen. Since this is the standard place for captions, editor's notes should go at the top.
excellent work, soft eyes, deep gaze. Side note: as a trans man, you a a small number of other british trans femmes are helping me to survive this dark time by showing me how to straigthen my back. Thank you.
Yes. Hell yeah! a deep dive on everyone's favourite grifter, who at a young age wanted to be like her favourite anime vampire villain when she grew up, including the aesthetic and mannerisms. There were folks who used to sit in her court cases *IN COSPLAY OF HER.*
At the 45 minute mark, wow... I love your statements about this. Overall this piece is very good in describing the systems and social expectations that basically create these self-defeating prophesies, and it's a great deep dive into a singular example as the example to describe the way this happens in entirely.
I remember looking for my first job after graduating. In one interview the boss of a tech start up was expecting me to make the website and graphic design work all by myself. With zero work experience. I'm glad I have a decent job now.
thank you for covering this! i've been following this saga since it started gaining traction in the news cycle, and i'm overjoyed that you were the one to provide the perspective i've been looking for. wonderful video, and you look lovely in orange! 🧡
Ah, another episode of Sophie being insightful and inspiring (and also hot). This was a great overview and essay, and I especially liked the focus on the social context around Theranos and the rest of us. It can be exasperating to see people wail and gnash their teeth about the world-eating vampires created by our world-eating vampire machine. Also that VtM reference was such a great way of illustrating how "justice" often works in our society. I'll definitely be tossing that one out whenever appropriate, which is actually pretty frequently due to my spouse being in a long-running Vampire game (and also because I'm an anarcho-soapboxist).
I really love how you add personal details to your videos, and it really helps illustrate your overall point. I know being vulnerable on the internet can really suck, but thank you for sharing! Also, my sister right now is really running into disillusionment with the whole grindset culture. She is an engineer and has been surrounded by engineers, all while living in LA. I know we've had a lot of talks about what all of her friends various projects actually do, and how she's freaked out watching her friends burn out on shit that does.... Nothing, really. (Meanwhile, I'm a teacher in a struggling district, which is a very different lived experience) She's no longer a conservative, at least? Anyway, not sure if you'll read this comment, but your videos are always wonderful! Have a good day!!
Can I just say that as someone that has recently fallen down the fascinating rabbit hole that is research into tech startups, this video is really compelling and enlightening.
First time posting on your content. I gotta say, you make some points I haven't seen before. Like, I've watched multiple videos on this topic, but none of them have brought up Holmes' assault before. It explains a lot about her approach if she rebuilt her life around her company after the assault. It doesn't excuse it, but it does explain it. Definitely gonna be looking up more videos from you
it is distressing how often i hear human zoos coming from white leftists, usually as a jokey way to say "i'm a prison abolitionist but" yeah i get that this is mostly an expression of how frustrating it is that there are so few consequences that ever fall upon the powerful but human zoos were very much a real thing that presented living victims of colonialist and eugenic genocidal violence for the edutainment of colonizers and white museums, universities, and private collectors still claim ownership of the bodies of dead victims of same to this very day to our lasting collective shame so maybe we should find ways to express our frustration that don't also invoke very specific genocidal atrocities for jokey funtimes when we aren't among those targeted
The thing that bugs me most about startup culture is that they have had a decade of access to the best minds and functionally unlimited resources. What did we get? A few crappy apps and a slight upgrade to the big Sears catalogs we got back in the day. I'm not saying that startup culture didn't provide anything. I'm saying that when you look at how much resources they consumed they didn't provide anything anywhere near comparable.
We can understand a bad person's motives AND disagree with what they've done. There's no harm in critical thinking, and I commend Sophie for trying to lay out what Miss Manson-Lamps might have been thinking and feeling.
The part about Sophie's past jobs did make me think about how many other cases like Holmes' may exist that just don't get as much publicity because they don't anger the wrong people. I like when this people are forced to end their operation when their business practices are revealed but, at the same time, it feels like this only gives an appearance of justice to the system that encouraged them. I'm definitely calling that diablerie from now on.
im a straight male, or was at some point before my life was ruined at 21, utterly, by my best friend and family. Your smile always contends with your beauty in inspiring me to keep going in my broken fashion, as i listen to your intelligence. i apologise for my poor spelling and hope my intended message is conveyed. youre amazeing
I'm just here for the Raichu color coordination 😗👌 Edit: I realize now that nearer to the end that this could be seen as a superficial aesthetic take, I just didn't have anything smart to say. I just saw the match between the orange dress and Raichu. Your takes are insightful, and make me think about the world
This was such an eerily close to home watching experience as someone who works in a nonprofit in Silicon Valley and who has many of the same qualms about Tech Culture while doing work that is directly funded by foundations attached to it. I empathize so much with your experiences as a fellow worker in that culture no matter where it operates.
I wasn't expecting this to go in such a personal direction but I just wanted to say that I'm really grateful that you did delve into your experience, because I can definitely relate to being in the position of being exploited by directionless start-up culture. Glad to see you back and doing well Sophie :)
I do like the end point about how hard people had to push the narrative that something had to be WRONG with Holmes to understand her actions when I've seen a hundred smaller Holmes in my corporate career over the decades that just didn't lie about something so lethal or have access to that much money. In the end, her only "crime" was scale. I've been on the conference calls when the client found out the sales team had sold them on absolute bollocks. Promised stuff everyone knew we could never deliver, but now that the contract was signed it would cost more to leave than to find what solution we COULD deliver and manage expectations going forward. And half the time those sales people jumped ship to a new company, on the accolades of landing these bad deals, before they would face direct consequences for their actions.
![Understanding Resident Evil | Resimania [CW flashing lights, check description]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/zTpHxJOE1DU/mqdefault.jpg)
"It's illegal to stay alive unless you work" is a great summation of the internal ethos of late stage capitalism.
Capitalism builds upon the older foundation of the 'protestant work ethic' - the common belief that equates hard work with moral worth. You have no job? Then you don't have a right to live. You must earn it through labour.
Am fully disabled with SLE and Fibro, can confirm. Disability payments, if you get them, are not even starvation wages.
You can just say "capitalism", no need for the "late stage".
@@entewente tbf, it is technically late stage. Or at least "any stage past the very early days". When you had a transitional state and to some degree early on, it is possible things could go a bit differently indifferently of the system. Which is one of the reasons why it managed to bamboozle people early on, the obvious logical next step(s) were easier to sweep under a rug.
im not disagreeing or anything but. late stage? isnt that just true with capitalism in general
You saying "It's not illegal not to work, it's just defacto illegal to expect to stay alive unless you do" really got me. So true. Great video as always.
Every now and then we get a glimpse into how exactly ruling class society functions and how they treat each other - it's genuinely so horrifying
But unlike the bad parts of being working-class, they can choose to opt-out any time they want. Do anything else, forever.
And they just...choose to obliterate their humanity instead? Abolishing property will be an act of kindness towards them, honestly.
The ruling class is not OK and they need our help!
Honestly, it reminds me of the Steinbeck quote about the bankmen fearing the bank, despite it being made up of bankmen.
Social pressure to continue churning for the systems we find ourselves thrust into is immense for us, because our brains tell us that social rejection = death (literally, because evolutionarily speaking, that WAS accurate)
There exists no such thing as a well-defined "ruling class". Everybody differs in how many laws they have in their favor. Everything differs in magnitude, not in kind. The vast majority of people cause the vast majority of problems. e.g. non-vegans breed torture and murder billions of animals. So, are you defining the majority of people to be "the ruling class"? The winning voters in any election are "the ruling class". Everybody thinks somebody else is "the ruling class" but NEVER considers themselves to be a member.
@@FoxyFemBoi “It happens that every man in a bank hates what the bank does, and yet the bank does it. The bank is something more than men, I tell you. It's the monster. Men made it, but they can't control it.”
― John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath
@@Leftistattheparty We know that misaligned artificial intelligences will destroy us because we have already made one which is destroying us. It's called capitalism.
Content Warning: Henry Kissinger
The most ethical content warning I've ever seen in my life, thank you so much Sophie for warning me in advance that he'll be showing his face in this one 🙏
Henry Kissinger may never face justice but at least he got scammed that one time.
@@Owesomasaurus He got called a war criminal to his face at a fancy dinner once by a reporter. American justice system wins again!
And now the man's counting down the days to his 100th birthday. It's enough to turn one atheist, were one not previously so inclined.
@@jagowestaway2503 this comment is stone cold and I love it.
Why is Henry Kissinger so maligned?
"women are expected to do labour to protect men's feelings" is one of those life changing quotes. Of course they perceive criticism by women as insulting if all women in their lives talk to them with carefullness. Wow
I hope that the coment is not too convoluted, since I am quite sleepy at the moment. I will revise the coment if you would like to read a cleaner version.
On to the coment:
As a cis young adult man who has thankfully tried to sort out the aspects in myown taxic masculinity ( to some extent atleast) I find that personally I would prefer it if people in general spoke with more carefulness.
1. Carefulness about who they speak to and adapting theirown speach as well as possible so that they are able to effectively communicate their ideas
2. So that they don't just fight to maintain stupid things they've said ( that they know are stupid, but can't help fighting for because they expressed them with too much conviction or something)
Besides this tho( which doesent really relate too directly to what I think Sofie you are reffering to) I do think that it is the case that woman's ideas are treated as less than in many cases on a daily basis, and it does seem like men expect woman to shield their feelings, in a whierd way beeing dependant on the comfort which they expect woman to give us in this reguard, and at the same time taking for granted the gentleness in order to disregard someone's ideas because " its not bad if theire isn't a conciquence".
I do think tho, from my personal experiences and from observing people in general, people oftain don't know how to balance " giving critisism, beeing taken seriously, but also not beeing so harsh that it will fly in the other person's ego"
I do think that many many times it's quote possible to critisise a negative aspect, but inperseptively as to not offend but still have the point across.
At the same time however, it is necessery to offend sometimes.
I've personally needed to be offended many times in order to finally understand a critisism and to actually realise that I should do something about it.( and I litterally mean that I needed to be offensively critisised in this reguard. I do not mean with personal and unchangeable and thus unhelpful critisism tho)
What I needed was harsh critisism, but with a solution or few offered to me as to " what I can do to remedy whatever negative behaviour or viewpoint that I have"
I felt the need to mention this was not because I thought that you didn't know it, but because I do think that both aspects need to be mentioned as at least two different ways to analise what might be happening in any given circumstance, in order not to fall pray to a cirtain dogmatism which comes along with a great systemically analytic notion such as this one in this case.( also would apply It to other ideas whenever possible as well personally )
In a strange way, sexism is this eugenics themed tool for justifying ones own uncritically held beliefs towards people who as men we are encouraged to see as necessery potencial relationships.
On one hand we are raised to seek out woman to be with, but on the other we are raised to consider woman as lesser than.
And this is done under the guise of " personal self confidence".
As in " woman aren't less than you because they are all inharently worse, but because more of them are worse , as opposed to how less man are worst" if that makes sence .
The disgusting analogy my father once made, which frankly is a very wierd analogy, is:
" he said :could you imagine the stupidest man?
I said : okay, yes
He said: well even that man will probably get married to a woman, thus proving that if a woman is stupid enough to be with a very stupid man, than that means that she is stupider than even him"
The logic here is just beyond reproach 😂
Just what can you even say to that except laugh at how stupid it is ( which I did)
So in order to prove ones own superiority, even if one considers himself to be stupid, he just has to think " well, woman are stupider than me, so it's okay"
So really sexism in my view, is in many cases employed precisely because a man feels like hisown ideas aren't good enough, but if they are at least better than someone else's ideas whom he considered as having inharently worst ideas, than he feels like he is contributing.
From a personal perspective, I've always trusted woman more than man. And i was disgusted by the sexism of my peers at a young age when I was idealising woman because I was in love with one, and disgusted at them because they were sexualising woman.
(Now I am aware that my logic for why I respected woman was flawed, since it used to be a combination of pity because they were beeing in a way prayed upon by boys in my school, and at the same time related to them because I had been bullyed, but at the same time I felt lesser than them since as I was myself a boy, i also felt like I have a guild by association for beeing a boy in the first place )
Anyway, some pretty wierd stuff, some of which I haven't exactly been able to resolve to this day, but life goes on, and so on.
Alright, I'll end it here, I am curious to read your views on this topic ,and I will elaborate further if you are interested in a discussion on this.
Have a nice day
I hadn't heard about any of this and the whole story feels so fucking sad. From what you've said, it seems like Holmes responded to trauma by rebuilding her sense of self around her company and the technology she wanted to create. So when the technology didn't happen - because it couldn't - she was faced with the choice of tearing down her sense of self once again and rebuilding, or protecting her fragile, newly formed self by any means necessary. That's already tragic. But by picking the latter option, she chose to wield the privilege she was born to and had built for herself in a way that hurt so many other people and led to a man's suicide, and that just makes everything so much worse. None of this needed to happen, and none of this should have happened.
Also, Sophie? You're pretty. And I'm not just saying that because you asked us to.
The Behind the Bastards podcast did episodes on the whole things as well if you want to get even more details. It's WILD.
Sense of self bullshit, nah, she's a scammer, a fraud. Plain and simple. She got off light to.
@@lady8jane also cold fusion which did multiple videos on this before it got big. Theyre a channel completely focused on corporate fraud. Not explicitly a leftist channel but definitely leans left without labels
How do you miss all the news about the biggest Silicon Valley tech failure of the last, I don't know, two decades
@@bobsonny perhaps they're not on the internet or watching news
somehow; would like to know how they did it
Im obsessed with how "What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail" has a different meaning in different contexts um this is such a well-crafted video essay
"It is a million to one shot; but it might just work!"
[fails]
"Why does the Universe hate me?!"
That sounds a bit like Hitler's approach to war.
Take on all of Europe? Easy! He was destined to victory. His people are superior, they can't lose.
How about fighting America too? No problem for the the mighty reich.
And the soviet union as well!
"Wait... how am I losing? I can't lose, I'm leading the master race!"
"What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?"
Pretty sure the answer from most of the comments section here would quite reasonably be "End Capitalism"
Normal answer: End capitalism.
Chaotic answer: Fail.
@@sunyavadin lmaooo i nearly thought i was special for that🤣
Getting copyright trolled by a family friend is already pretty noir, but suing them to hide the fact that your invention is fake and pressuring an employee to commit perjury so hard he kills himself really makes this just one of the grimmest damn things I've ever heard.
Sophie being based and intelligent and hilarious and interesting is what brings me here, Sophie being an intimidating Clown Mommy is what keeps me here forever
Total meaningless nerd moment here: I'm running a Vampire the Masquerade game right now with one player playing a character who prefers to drink from bagged blood. We've had some interesting times thinking up how he gets it, and 40 minutes in I've already gotten so many interesting ideas.
EDIT: I NEED TO STOP MAKING COMMENTS BEFORE I REACH THE END OF THE VIDEO, HOLY SHIT.
ALSO: This is a frigging chilling video, but not a numbing one. Sophie, your stuff always makes me think. A lot of leftist UA-camrs tend to vacillate wildly between "Here's some stuff to make you pat yourself on the back for being a leftist!" and "WE'RE ALL FUCKED AND ARE GOING TO DIE AND NOTHING CAN STOP IT! PANIC!"
Your stuff always feels very constructive. Few others do that. Thanks for the video.
You're correct, the left's ability to organize and mobilize has been severely broken. The political right has us exactly where it wants us. They started breaking our resolve in the 80's with extreme earnestness, and were largely successful; that's finally changing, but imagine how much damage was done that it took almost 40 years to get us back to the bare minimum today? Most of my life has been spent watching this happen, and make no mistake, that wild swing between self soothing inaction and paralyzing fear is by design. If the political right can keep us only operating on the extremes it leaves us no ability to break through and start looking at things from a calmer middle ground. That state of mind is what they fear the most in us; if we're not in a blind rage we're actually going to start getting things done and dismantling the system they built to live their cushy, obscenely wealthy lives. We need people like Sophie to help organize us and light a fire under our asses to get off the computer and start actually doing stuff. The Internet wound up being more of an opiate for the political left. It allowed us to FEEL like we were doing something while we were actually doing nothing. People like Sophie help, but it's up to the rest of us to hear her call. If others see us actually doing work for humanity, work in the real world that has an impact unlike the digital world where it's all a big bunch of nothing, they're more likely to also take up the cause. We need to start in our towns or cities. Once our "home" is in better order we can start to broaden our horizons. Take the motivation you get from these videos and turn them into tangible action, something the people around you can see the real impact it's having! Because it's us, our lives and bodies, that will start to make life better for all people and begin the process of dismantling the awful capitalist system. Small ripples made in your community can turn into a tsunami of change elsewhere. I have faith that you're going to sit down and come up with something that will benefit your community, whatever that community may be. Start small, even if it's a once a month meeting for the queer community in your town to have dinner together, for example. Maybe organize a biweekly evening to launder the clothing of the unhoused; offer to clean, dry, and fold at your own house if you have a machine? There are small things we can do that are manageable in our intentionally busy lives to support one another. You got this, kid. 😊
I know there's already a video about vampires, but Id love to see one specifically abou Vampire. I was obsessed by it. But the truth is all its mythology is rather reactionary.
@@fredericoevandro-veladelibra I guess that if the fluff is reactionary, the players don't need to be; like playing Warhammer 40,000 and knowing that everything is terrible, and there are no "Goodies". 😄👍
One thing that has always impressed me about your work is how you manage to hold people accountable for their actions while also treating them with empathy. You are kind in a true sense and I always value what you have to say with your art here.
I recently had a class discussion on Holmes & it devolved rapidly into our old white guy professor demanding female students give their thoughts on how Holmes used her appearance as a primary weapon to win investment. A living example of exactly the kind of aesthetic reduction talked about here. Thanks for thought provoking content!
That quote, the "could not fail" one feels like an inkblot test to me. It took me several times to realize that it was supposed to mean "no matter how improbable success is, you are guaranteed to achieve it" rather than "Failure is absolutely not an option, it must be avoided at all costs" The set of things you would do would be complete opposites, depending on which way you interpret it.
FAQs (will update as more come up):
1. The ending and title song was IRIS by blackwinterwells, the quotes were read by my partner Nat who occasionally also makes vids on this channel
2. The main sources for this video were The Dropout (Hulu, 2023), The Inventor: Out For Blood in Silicon Valley (2019) and Bad Blood by John Carreyrou, and I also referenced Graeber's Debt: The First 5000 Years. Pretty short bibliography for this one
3. If you've come to the comments section to defend Henry Kissinger, please know that everyone is laughing at you
Support the channel on patreon: patreon.com/sophiefrommars
Or check out the rest of my links: linktr.ee/sophiefrommars
it felt like one of those deliberate cuts that interrupt the speaker - it really worked! but then by the time the clip ended i realised it probably hadn't been deliberate. Anyway, I know my comment will disappear with yours, but regardless let me praise you for yet another terrific video. I agree with you that the fictionalised version of her story seemed to capture the spiral quite well - the endless ratcheting pressure to succeed and the lengths she was willing to go to to cover up that it wasn't happening. I love the start-up angle. Really great insight.
@Sophie from Mars - As a fellow female coder who started, funded, and sold a tech start-up I LOVED hearing your tales from the trench! (I'm curious - what was your focus? Front-end? Back-end?)
If you ever want to chat with a fellow female coder/start-up culture survivor/anti-capitalist (or hear grotesque tales from the game side of things), feel free to hit me up! =)
Going to have to check out blackwinterwells, I was quite heavily reminded of Trust Fund Ozu's music
this comment isn't pinned did you accidentally unpin it?
In Kissingers defence, I would like to say... nope... I've got nothing.
That conclusion brought tears to my eyes. That’s the world that I want to live in.
We can, we only have to organise
@@SophiefromMars I'll admit, it's difficult to keep fighting and putting energy towards things when I'm surrounded by so many people who think my actions are useless, which is why I keep coming back to your channel
startup culture is capitalism as a religion. it cant fail, you can only fail it
Also you're pretty. and im very jealous of your mars wall
Molecular Biologist working in biotech here. I'm currently focused on a project with the aim to develop novel biosensors. We basically make molecular constructs that produce some kind of detectable signal when in contact with/bind the respective target molecule. The thingys that would be needed in hundreds, if not thousands of variations to fully sample a complex medium like blood.
We are SO far away from anything at that scale. While biotech is booming right now, working on a molecular scale is time consuming, expensive and very unpredictable. Most detection methods work through some interaction of molecules with light and are bound to their 3D shape. And most of the time we don't know what this shape looks like, how exactly it changes... we just see the wavelength of emissions change. So we have NO idea what happens, if a third reagent joins in. Will it mask the signal from the first one? Will it mimick its effects, making the readout non-specific. They could also form a cluster with a fourth one, making something new... we don't know that. So we test for it. One analyte after the other, checking for incubation times, pH balance, Ion interactions and thresholds to name a few. It's hard to get one sensor ready for commertial use and this sensor will probably demand specific conditions to work. Ideally it's just adjusting the pH and making sure certain metal compunds are not in the sample beforehand. Sometimes it will be much more restrictive... but it's a complicated mess that we very slowly untangle.
A drop of blood has thousands of possible target sites. Hundreds of thousands even, many of them specific and often unique to the person or at least their family. It's so far out there, nobody within the field could possibly have taken that seriously.
So when I heard this whole idea for the first time I was 100% sure this has to be some MLM predatory nonsense since its preposition was on par with some very misinformed 'businesses' in that area. Not to mention the cult leader vibe Holmes tried to get going. I lost a bit of faith in humanity when I realized how many people were buying into this. 'Serious' people. Then I reminded myself, that rich people's supposed cleverness is an illusion created by our hierarchical system of economic oppression - so I instead adapted schadenfreude. Money people are stupid.
Tl;dr: AHAHAHAHAHHA. Naaaaaah.
I watched this video yesterday and while I was going to bed I remembered: during the Ebola crisis a few years ago, my lab chief told me we were getting an all enclosed machine that would run all Stat tests and would fit inside a biological hood and require only a capillary blood sample for all the test, so contagious patients could be tested with minimal handling.
I expressed doubt but the boss swore that had all been figured out.
Years later, that miracle machine never turned up.
My old boss paid for a Theranos machine, didn't they?
i work at a startup and one of the craziest sayings i head like daily is "we're building the plane as it flies" and i'm like.... sounds scary i should probably quit huh
"My appearance is under scrutiny in a way that male colleagues... do not experience"
This was the perfect place to add in a frame of Big Joel looking absolutely feral (said with love, I love that sometimes big yet frequently small, small man)
RIP Anthony Bourdain, a man too incredibly based for this earth. 🙏
I think the analogy of VtM really gets at why I love vampire fiction so much: It's so effective at communicating how the systems that govern our lives actually feel to operate under. & also the music on this one was excellent.
-- Vivi Vendetta
(they/them)
This was such a refreshing video to watch about Holmes and Theranos. So much of the discussion around her is about her mannerisms, and people trying to pathologize her, so I absolutely love that you didn't even mention most of those talking points. Very based and good. ❤She's done and is responsible for some truly heinous shit, but trying to explain her actions away by theorizing about her supposed pathology is... not good, and more importantly, prevents the conversation from actually focusing on the real issues and the environment that created and enabled her, and I'm glad that you specifically pointed that out.
I might also need to actually check out The Dropout now, I guess.
I dislike so much the need people have to find a diagnosis for people they don't know, specially in Holmes case where her behaviour is not that outlandish compared to other people in her same position, she just failed in a bigger stage while other people either were not as known or succeeded.
We live in a system that encourages and rewards this type of aggressive, inconsiderate, highly ambitious and selfish behaviour.
@@bluester7177 You're right in that it's not exactly fair that the first instinct a lot of us seem to have is to imagine or blame mental illness of some kind rather than recognize the patterns that our society rewards. Strictly speaking, Holmes's behavior is inherently rewarded within capitalism on the whole and it's easier to pretend there's no harm in what you're doing when the harm you're doing is so far removed from your day to day life.
Your CV portion of the video made me think of all of the accumulated mental damage I've taken as a byproduct of being a worker. I think there's a guarantee that no matter where you work you will be subject to abuse, sexual harassment, wage theft, or any number of things at least once in your career. Makes it more ironic that most places talk about being a "family."
For real. I've had recurring "old job" dreams for years now.
Accurate, though. Family doesn’t always mean good, and frequently means dysfunctional.
I lived in Phoenix AZ while those machines were in Walgreen’s in the area (the pharmacy she partnered with for those who don’t know) and I have a vivid memory of looking at the promo poster while waiting for a prescription and the pharmacist saying “oh don’t even bother, it doesn’t and won’t work”
😅
Also don’t shop at Walgreens, it’s run by anti-transgender, anti-choice ass hats. 😊 I was very young, didn’t know that yet.
What's your suggestion for communities that *only* have Walgreens as their pharmacy?
@@imeowmeowkat good question- get your prescriptions filled where you can, at the end of the day *you need what you need.*
Many pharmacies can mail stuff though! I think even Costco does mail order these days, however that isn’t an option for all meds (ADHD meds for example). So like I said, get what you need where you can. 🥰 it’s not the community’s fault that Walgreens pushes out little guys.
Walgreens is also just bad at filling prescriptions. It was always a hassle there!
@@imeowmeowkat A lot of grocery stores have their own pharmacies, and I find them a lot easier to work with. You could try talking to one of their pharmacists to make sure your personal meds can be easily filled there.
That explains why Tricare is working with them lol.
(Tricare is the one insurance exempt being legally required to provide gender affirming care to trans people.)
I was following this from the beginning, as someone in biotech who found the claims dubious right from the off. Holmes always struck me as very much like Charlotte Hale in Westworld, a gender-flipped version of the toxic tech investment bro archetype.
I would LOVE to hear more about how you knew something was wrong and what others in the industry said before us normies got to hear about her. No pressure though, only if you feel like sharing more!
@@meeomelovescookiesandhisto459 I think I first heard about them in around 2012? I'd graduated from my biotech course the year before and was working as a lab tech while trying to land a PhD. It seemed pretty questionable to a lot of us doing a bunch of these kinds of tests daily that they were claiming to have figured out a way to do stuff that there wasn't really a means of scaling down. It seemed to be a dead end. Hell, I personally have medical conditions that require a whole bunch of blood tests, they take three or four vials from me every time I have a checkup because it's not really physically possible to do all those tests on the same sample. Everything was really being hyped up entirely in the business press, while everyone in the biomedical space was approaching it with serious scepticism.
I can totally corroborate @sunyavadin’s perspective. I was doing a postdoc in molecular biology at Stanford during the rise of Theranos, and subsequently worked developing point-of-care molecular diagnostics in industry for a few years (the same kinds of tests theranos was working on). What infuriated me and many of my colleagues was that Holmes/Theranos acted as though they were the first company to think of point of care testing, small volume samples, or easy-to-use instruments, even though all of those things already existed. For example, the Alere Cholestech and the Abaxis Piccolo Express, were already FDA-approved, CLIA-waived, and in widespread use by the mid-aughts, and both could run comprehensive blood chemistry panels on a hundred microliters or so of finger stick blood using a microfluidic cartridge. But Alere and Abaxis did not market their devices as hip consumer electronics, they were just boring beige boxes that did a job accurately.
@@sunyavadin I think a lot of people outside of biomed saw the successful miniaturization of (some types of) PCR systems and incorrectly assumed that all bioassays could be scaled down the same way. That certainly doesn't absolve the journalists and investors who supported Theranos - due diligence should always include making sure claims are, you know, physically possible - but I can see why Holmes' claims were tempting if you didn't already have the field-specific context to know better.
@@MissaBrevis This is the issue with capitalist systems, it's all these finance people discussing stuff, and business media presenting all these claims, and the assumption that these "clever people" pulling the scams know what they're talking about, as otherwise how would they have convinced all these very smart rich people to give them money, with the actual substance of "could it even work?" being an afterthought.
This video was a breath of fresh air. As an outsider with only a tangential amount of concern for this story, my main information sources on theranos were youtube videos that just couldn’t help themselves from harping on about how “everything about her is fake, her voice isnt even that deep!” Really wonder why I (trans) was turned off by discussions of this case when all anyone could talk about is her as a media personality rather than her actual story. I had literally never even heard that the reason she dropped out of college was because she was assaulted. It all just seemed very hollow to me, but this video really gives me a better, more sympathetic (but not permissive) look into what happened in this case.
As someone who has been struggling with BPD for, oh, a long time, I think it's important to say that you did the thing. You communicated your intent passionately and clearly, and it took extraordinary intellect, sensitivity, and vulnerability to get it done. This is an excellent video essay and you should always be damn proud of it. Also, weirdly, I felt better about the world by the end. So, thanks for that.
I loved the CV portion; it's always interesting the commonalities in work experiences. 'Bosses suck, they will try to exploit you in every manner possible and they will dodge blame like a Matrix bullet-time event.' Also, your makeup in the CV portion was top tier, I still can't tightline to save my life.
Reminds me of the defense "my client grew up too rich to understand their crimes because they dont see other humans as people". Which is disturbing because
1) It works. Like you want someone like that to be around people without supervision and extreme intervention?
2) Its partually true. They were raised to view the world and behave like that. Their actions aren't acceptable, but unfortunately understandable to a degree
Also in this context "what would you do if you knew you couldn't fail?" Gives me the same feeling of dread you'd feel when when picturing someone flinging themselves out a window because they think they can fly. Just build these people up and watch them fall because you assured them they were different and they could fly without a plane
It's not just that situations like this are encouraged in the name of "progress". Which in my experience usually means "repackage it so we can sell it again but worse." It's also that it wasn't caught for so long. Just because someone said it's worth money means it's real and valuable.
Dan's Metaverse video Dovetails nicely here. Because that thing being valued at 10 billion dollars is beyond any rationality and people seeing it but thinking that they're misding something because it's valued at 10 billion dollars.
Speculative value and investments are so stupid and harmful. I could go on for hours. But I'll wrap up by saying this was a very informative and well done video with a really kind look at a difficult topic
Thank you for the video Sophie :)
In today’s episode of “Things You Knew Were Scummy AF, But Are Somehow Scummier Than You Could Ever Imagine…”
FR though, beautifully made and informative piece. Really appreciate the work. 🙏
Must this blessing shield you from the wrath of the Holy Ones & Zeros.
A-them
I had a blood test done at a Theranos location in Arizona in July 2015. I only had one test done, prolactin (I previously had a high prolactin test and my doctor wanted me to get a follow-up, and my mom was like "why don't we try this new thing?"). They took a pediatric vial - not a drop - with a traditional phlebotomist. Knowing that apparently they were working on analysis equipment, apparently this was a "right hand doesn't know what the left is doing" kind of thing.
I will say, though, being able to get blood draws done without a doctor's order is occasionally convenient. Too bad it was being used to enable medical fraud.
This was excellent. I also got mildly obsessed about the Theranos scheme after watching the HBO doc and reading the book. The one thing that always stood out to me was Elizabeth's privilege especially her dream of being a billionaire. It was always such a childish dream because she never accepted what the human cost was to actually BE a billionaire and kept herself insulated from ever accepting that truth.
Its depressing to think of how many managers and people running start ups are trying to use their authority to regain their own personal agency at the expense of their coworkers/employees. Its a combination of trauma and alienation.
I think this is one my favourite essays ever. It's not even that it's informative and eye opening (although it very much is), it's that it ties together so beautifully and engages you throughout. I'm so glad I watched this.
Also, per request, you're pretty.
respect for making a video on such a dark story that still managed to be very entertaining in parts! something about the dry humour of the phrase "you can't miniaturise blood" really stuck in my brain lol
The "what would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail" was such a powerful framing device! Great video Sophie!
You’re pretty. But you are also thoughtful and insightful. Love this look into startup culture. What shocks me about the Theranos story is how much money got thrown at it with no evidence. Like Holmes was one thing, but what about the mentality of all her rabid supporters.
Also, I went through the whole ‘slow down you’re working too fast thing’ which I found insane. I was actually encouraged to drag out my day to fill the required 8 hours.
I had a fucking awful time during my second attempt (also a failure.) at getting a masters with startup culture. I can’t describe how it felt. I was bright and trusting and… I don’t know how to explain how I felt afterwards. I would do readings of the rejection email with my friends and we would take turns talking about how we would probably get blacklisted from a company if we wrote an email to them like that (random capitalisation of words and exclamation marks cmon) but all these years later I feel… betrayed? Used? I don’t know. I think I’m angry with myself for believing their bullshit. They can say fake it till you make it but the faking it goes beyond saying the right things and knowing the right things. It’s a deeper level of faking. It’s a faking that is not like a mask you can take off you need to be so fake you fool yourself that’s how you get in. And for all my faults (and I have many) myself is someone I can’t bring myself to betray.
Then any company doing blacklisting themselves should be terrified about talking badly about other workers and companies
Connecting Theranos with Vampire the Masquerade is an absolute masterwork of commentary
It's bloody brilliant.
@@timothymclean I see what you did there
I haven't commented in a long time but to answer the question at the end, I would write a story I've had in my head for the longest time even if it wasn't good or anything, I don't do it now because of the lack of resources. I hope you know that you glow nowadays, and seeing you come so far has been a great experience as an audience member. I wish you peace and safety in your future
The conclusion to this piece slaps so hard!
I've been thinking on how to elaborate on this for a few minutes, but i just really want you to know how cathartic it was (i.e. what an excellent job you -did- [do])!
Thank you for paving the way of the revolution with understanding, compassion & hope; comrade!
What makes me most angry about Elizabeth Holmes is that whatever punishment she receives will be for defrauding rich people and not for the untold damage Theranos did to patients.
It's funny how the way you describe start up hell rings so familiar because to me it's the same as many of the small companies I've worked for and they weren't start ups at all, just service sector companies that happen to be small but the same story was there: questionable hiring process, being given way more responsabilities than you should be required to handle specially for the pay check and everybody on the chain of command above you either praising your sucess if you come up with the goods or blaming you for all failures when (not if) you come up short.
Not to say that larger companies are any better: the ones that have (And currently) employ me that I would consider 'Large' were a lot slower moving and far less demanding but because they had other ways to cover their more steady but a lot slower movement: most of them are just as chaotic an inefficient but are big enough to be able to just save money through other tactics like outsourcing, near-shoring, etc, Just get people on the cheap from somewhere else while of course all the lucrative managerial and executive positions those are in-house only but the actual work being done? Yeah somewhere outside the country that gets coded while we make the real money.
Can we all just take a moment to appreciate the final line? *That* is a concluding sentence.
Startups are awful. One time the CEO at my first job scolded everyone at the company for wasting time because a senior software developer decided to clean the kitchen himself. Instead of seeing this as a nice gesture, the CEO said his time was too valuable for that and it was the job of one of the HR people who was also his girlfriend
this is a great video but i especially enjoyed the Sophie's CV chapter haha I love people talking about their weird work experiences. Two of my friends left a small game development company last week, after dealing with an incredibly toxic environment for several months, and every week i would vibrate out of my seat to hear the new tea and the absolute bullshit they were experiencing. First job and my friend is completely disillusioned with the entire industry lmao
I just went "Yeeeeaaaahhhh" out loud when she came up with "Bleeding Out"
Loved the video, some of the responses to this situation remind me of the framing used in the Heard/Depp trial. Two flawed people making mutiple mistakes in an incredibly toxic relationship yet Depp is viewed through the lens of a hero wronged opposed to Heard as the lying abuser.
So I'm a woman (adjacent person) who for ever thought I was attracted to men and had a ginormous crush on you when I first started watching your videos, but I realized finally that I'm actually a lesbian and when I saw this video come up I was like holy shit you're so attractive, I finally got it right! but then you made that comment in your video about people being more concerned with commenting on your looks than ur ideas... I'm not that smart but I think your analysis is brilliant and you've taught me so much about the world! wish I had more to say on that front except that I'm a giant fan and hope to be more like you!
It's okay, I'll never really get sick of being told I'm pretty, it's just when there's no engagement intellectually by anyone (or very very little) that it gets depressing haha
Agreed, her main ‘crime’ was embarrassing Rich PeopleTM and my favourite nugget was how many of the super rich threw their money at her without any due diligence whatsoever because she framed it as ‘we’re looking for a few high-quality families as investors’. They’re desperate to be royalty and all sense flies out the window if you can flatter them that way.
There were companies and people who did do due diligence. They did not invest.
Anna Delvey was punished for something similar, embarrassing Rich People and exposing how extremely shallow they are.
So honestly, Sophie is so shockingly pretty, my poor bi heart kept getting distracted. I kept thinking that, when Sophie said that they gets told they're not pretty, and I was so shocked I decided to comment something I normally don't comment. You're super beautiful, inside and out!
I swear high society is so... alien.
Not that I think they are actual aliens, but rather, that their priorities and their actions are just so... far away from anything I could ever reach...
Strange, alienating, terrifying. That is rich people, and capitalism, to me.
Sophie, it is always a marvel to see you dissect and analyze these subjects... even if I am reluctant to seek subjects such as the whole Theranos mess, because it just... gives me psyquic damage every time, but I've come to realize that you'll lead me through it safely, and for that, I am thankful
Also yes, you are very pretty!
Literally just wanting to get by with a normal, grounded job so you never have to take part in/hear about this stuff again. All those people are so artificial, fake smiles, horrid. Makes me want to hide away even more in my small village, secluded world.
Thank you so much for sharing you experiences within startup culture as my experience has been extremely similar and for a very long time I considered it a personal failing, that I wasn’t good enough. But hearing someone else speak about how they were treated and how the system is the problem was extremely comforting
I have nothing interesting to say but I’m always down to fight the algorithm for a wonderful princess (gender neutral) like Sophie so please, it’s a dangerous world out there, take this sword just in case 🗡️🗡️
People tend to pretend like innovation is somehow intrinsically linked to capitalism. Thank you for once again making a brilliant argument for the contrary being true!
Magnificently insightful as ever, Sophie. The fact that I think a lot of people don't want to face is that every single cruel or evil or just apathetic person at the top of our society is someone who our society has failed, by teaching them about capitalism.
Okay, I initially watched this because the Theranos story has always been interesting to me. I stayed because of Sophie’s stories and experiences hit so close to home.
1. The CV section and Angry Feminist Noises section reminded me of a time when I was working for a startup that would edit videos for advertising. A videographer had compiled a video file holding all of his footage for a hotel. As an in-house editor, I never met the man, but what he did made me sick. He was taking footage for a hotel which happened to have a spa. I was scrubbing through the footage, and the first third of it was lovely shots of the hotel: the lobby, the property, the rooms, the views from the rooms, etc. The remaining two thirds of this footage, at least 2 hours worth, was of a woman in the spa getting a massage. She was naked, face down, and the camera was sliding over her like grease in a schlubby car salesman’s hair. I was sick, and I felt forced to be complicit in watching this display of the Male Gaze on someone who probably wasn’t even an actor, just someone minding their business getting a massage. This moment already happened, there was nothing I could do to stop it, and I felt that I had to scrub through hours of footage to see if there was anything I could use. All the time, repeated shots of the camera lusting for her. Since he’d compiled all the footage into one file, I couldn’t skip the clip without having to check if other important shots were in the file. I was disgusted and felt forced to watch this woman get exploited, under the capitalist coercion to keep my head down and do my job or risk losing it.
I used a single shot of the spa room in it for less than a second and moved on. I should have said something, but my boss turned out to be a terrible person too, so maybe it’s good that I hadn’t.
2. I can’t believe people still think trans women aren’t women when I hear things like the Angry Feminist Noises part of the video. Your experience here is so quintessentially female that it is unfair to say that you aren’t as much of a woman as any cis woman. I’m a cis woman and I related HARD to the scrutiny, and I don’t even have the compounding factor of being part of other discriminated groups, at least at first glance.
TLDR: Sophie, thank you.
Oh! Apologies about the assumptions I made in Point 2 here. I saw a comment mention that you may be gender neutral fluid, or otherwise, and I’m sorry for any pronoun/gender expression leaps I made. I basically want to say that your experiences are very valid as a person who displays feminine-coded expression, and that as a femme-presenting cis woman, I very much relate.
If I had a nickel for every time the last line of a sophie from mars video made me cry, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's cool that it happened twice!
(first one was the dante/cloudpunk closing bit, which still gets me every time)
Ah, a Vampire: the Masquerade reference, and an apt one at that! Thank you for this absolutely excellent video. Every time I watch something of yours, I come away appreciating the thoughtfulness and care that you put into your work. (And also an appreciation for your eye makeup, my god I love your eyeshadow in the latter half of this video, aaaaa)
The entire time I was watching the part where Sophie was reading out her CV I kept thinking "Sophie's so pretty" and "Sophie's so smart" over and over again. Real hearts in my eyes kinda stuff. Sometimes its really nice to hear someone thinks that you're pretty.
Thanks for another great vid, whenever I see one pop up in my subscriptions tab I really really really look forward to it
never seen your work before but that was excellent. ending line was a gut punch. genuinely brought tears to my eyes. instant sub. keep it up
45:26 This reminds me of a video from InnuendoStudios called “The Cost of a doing Business” where he says “an all white cast in a movie isn’t about race but an all black cast in a movie is.” Since men or male are the “default,” they see women as inherently otherly. We in a way are always aware of our gender whereas men aren’t.
I did in fact say 'oh shit!' out loud when you turned around that 'if you knew you could not fail' quote at the end there. Excellent rhetorical touchdown, and a really interesting essay!
Couple of folks have recently put in a lot of work to undermine the perceived truth of the myth of the uber-CEO... thanks for putting a spotlight on one of them. Your videos are always insightful and delightful.
I almost didnt watch this because there's been a deluge of Theranos content recently but I'm so glad that I did. Lots of angles I hadn't considered previously. Fantastic vid
Agreed! I work in lab sciences so we've all talked the science and logistics of the Theranos debacle to death, but Sophie always brings a fascinating new lens to these things
As someone who did not study electrical engineering and doesn’t really understand the whole technical side of things, thank you for the explanation!
I've never seen Larry Ellison before, only his massive weeb collection that he keeps on his private island, and he 1000% looks like exactly the type of guy who'd have a massive weeb collection on a private Hawaiian island
Oh my god, Sophie, this is legitimately one of your best videos so far. I am so SO happy to see someone discuss how capitalism is such a massive driver of stories like Theranos and Elizabeth Holmes, without absolving the main players of their deliberate choices to exploit and abuse the people working for them.
The point that Holmes will be sentenced based wholly on stealing money from the poor widdle billionaires who bought into her lies, and not the real harm she caused to actual human beings is such an important one, I am glad how front and center you made that in the wrapup.
I also really loved the section where you talked about your own experience in startup land (oh my god, I am so sorry) and my jaw about hit the floor when you talked about the mental health startup. Like, fuckin yikes.
Anyway, loved the video! I am excited to see what you explore next!❤
Maybe ‘Blood Money’ would work as a title. Love your stuff Sophie! I am very happy that you have a platform to educate people. Your work is some of the best on this platform.
Thank you, Sophie, for putting this out there! This has to be by far the best take on the whole Theranos/Holmes story.
As a sociology graduate and a Marxist I highly appreciate this systemic overview that puts the spotlight on the cancerous profit incentive, addresses the personal story without sensationalizing it, all the while building up the most convincing case for a communist progressive intersectionality I've ever seen on breadtube ✊
Love to see a girlworker win, keep up the good work!
P.S.
print('YOU ARE PRETTY')
Sophie, this is brilliant. You have so much valuable insight. I especially love how you insisted on looking at the experiences, both good and horrible, that led Holmes to become the person that caused all that harm. This is a brilliant case study in how a small measure of empathy for monsters can let us see problems that are otherwise missed. Because you're right, those are points that are all too often neglected. As they were in other accounts of this case.
I have to say, as a cis man, that while I have heard all about the problems of misogyny in our society (because I've been listening), it always seems so surreal. It is hard for me to imagine how utterly _vile_ some people can be to others on the basis of essentially nothing of relevance. This, despite having experienced some aspects of it for being neurodivergent. Another reminder that no, this _evil_ is actually happening and needs to be stopped can never be a bad thing. You are beautiful, by the way. It's your insight and vision for the future, though, that makes me keep coming back. Beauty takes effort, and that effort should be more appreciated -- but also, right now, the world desperately needs more minds like yours, regardless of the shape of the body they come with.
I’ve hated homes for what she’s done but I never thought about the people who enabled her alomg the way and why they don’t get thier share of hate and infamy
I’ve hated child killers for what they've done but I never thought about the children who enabled them alomg the way and why they don’t get their share of hate and infamy
Finding this very difficult to follow with the auto-captions. The sound-balancing changes the volume and audio quality a lot between video and voice-over sections so it's hard to find an appropriate playback volume, and there's a lot of unfamiliar names being used which are mangled by the auto-captions. Since there's not good subtitling it's hard to supplement the audio with text - I'm having to relisten to sections repeatedly to take in the full meaning of what's being said.
Edit: I think a particular issue is that the voice-over audio is very crispy and that's creating a lot of noise that's making comprehension difficult. The audio shifts between both sources frequently, so it's not really possible to adjust.
Edit2: As an additional note, it's not possible to read editor's notes with captions on if they're placed at the bottom of the screen. Since this is the standard place for captions, editor's notes should go at the top.
excellent work, soft eyes, deep gaze. Side note: as a trans man, you a a small number of other british trans femmes are helping me to survive this dark time by showing me how to straigthen my back. Thank you.
Yes. Hell yeah! a deep dive on everyone's favourite grifter, who at a young age wanted to be like her favourite anime vampire villain when she grew up, including the aesthetic and mannerisms.
There were folks who used to sit in her court cases *IN COSPLAY OF HER.*
Hey now, Holmes doesn't deserve that kind of shade. Steve Jobs isn't from an anime.
At the 45 minute mark, wow... I love your statements about this. Overall this piece is very good in describing the systems and social expectations that basically create these self-defeating prophesies, and it's a great deep dive into a singular example as the example to describe the way this happens in entirely.
I remember looking for my first job after graduating. In one interview the boss of a tech start up was expecting me to make the website and graphic design work all by myself. With zero work experience.
I'm glad I have a decent job now.
thank you for covering this! i've been following this saga since it started gaining traction in the news cycle, and i'm overjoyed that you were the one to provide the perspective i've been looking for. wonderful video, and you look lovely in orange! 🧡
Ah, another episode of Sophie being insightful and inspiring (and also hot). This was a great overview and essay, and I especially liked the focus on the social context around Theranos and the rest of us. It can be exasperating to see people wail and gnash their teeth about the world-eating vampires created by our world-eating vampire machine. Also that VtM reference was such a great way of illustrating how "justice" often works in our society. I'll definitely be tossing that one out whenever appropriate, which is actually pretty frequently due to my spouse being in a long-running Vampire game (and also because I'm an anarcho-soapboxist).
I really love how you add personal details to your videos, and it really helps illustrate your overall point. I know being vulnerable on the internet can really suck, but thank you for sharing!
Also, my sister right now is really running into disillusionment with the whole grindset culture. She is an engineer and has been surrounded by engineers, all while living in LA. I know we've had a lot of talks about what all of her friends various projects actually do, and how she's freaked out watching her friends burn out on shit that does.... Nothing, really. (Meanwhile, I'm a teacher in a struggling district, which is a very different lived experience) She's no longer a conservative, at least?
Anyway, not sure if you'll read this comment, but your videos are always wonderful! Have a good day!!
Can I just say that as someone that has recently fallen down the fascinating rabbit hole that is research into tech startups, this video is really compelling and enlightening.
First time posting on your content. I gotta say, you make some points I haven't seen before. Like, I've watched multiple videos on this topic, but none of them have brought up Holmes' assault before. It explains a lot about her approach if she rebuilt her life around her company after the assault. It doesn't excuse it, but it does explain it.
Definitely gonna be looking up more videos from you
it is distressing how often i hear human zoos coming from white leftists, usually as a jokey way to say "i'm a prison abolitionist but"
yeah i get that this is mostly an expression of how frustrating it is that there are so few consequences that ever fall upon the powerful
but
human zoos were very much a real thing that presented living victims of colonialist and eugenic genocidal violence for the edutainment of colonizers and white museums, universities, and private collectors still claim ownership of the bodies of dead victims of same to this very day to our lasting collective shame
so maybe we should find ways to express our frustration that don't also invoke very specific genocidal atrocities for jokey funtimes when we aren't among those targeted
The thing that bugs me most about startup culture is that they have had a decade of access to the best minds and functionally unlimited resources. What did we get? A few crappy apps and a slight upgrade to the big Sears catalogs we got back in the day.
I'm not saying that startup culture didn't provide anything. I'm saying that when you look at how much resources they consumed they didn't provide anything anywhere near comparable.
We can understand a bad person's motives AND disagree with what they've done. There's no harm in critical thinking, and I commend Sophie for trying to lay out what Miss Manson-Lamps might have been thinking and feeling.
This has definitely been one of the best videos on UA-cam I’ve seen on this subject. Great work 💜
The part about Sophie's past jobs did make me think about how many other cases like Holmes' may exist that just don't get as much publicity because they don't anger the wrong people. I like when this people are forced to end their operation when their business practices are revealed but, at the same time, it feels like this only gives an appearance of justice to the system that encouraged them. I'm definitely calling that diablerie from now on.
Been dying for some empathy to be extended to her. Thank you for this video soph
She deserve no empathy… save it for Rochelle Gibbons and the whistleblowers whom she vindictively and ruthlessly persecuted.
@@PungiFungi she did a lot of bad things, but everyone deserves empathy. She does not deserve to be forgiven
im a straight male, or was at some point before my life was ruined at 21, utterly, by my best friend and family. Your smile always contends with your beauty in inspiring me to keep going in my broken fashion, as i listen to your intelligence. i apologise for my poor spelling and hope my intended message is conveyed. youre amazeing
I'm just here for the Raichu color coordination 😗👌
Edit: I realize now that nearer to the end that this could be seen as a superficial aesthetic take, I just didn't have anything smart to say. I just saw the match between the orange dress and Raichu. Your takes are insightful, and make me think about the world
ah, yes, commenter’s regret, i’ve been there lmao
the recontextualization of the quote at the end, [chef's kiss] perfection
This was such an eerily close to home watching experience as someone who works in a nonprofit in Silicon Valley and who has many of the same qualms about Tech Culture while doing work that is directly funded by foundations attached to it. I empathize so much with your experiences as a fellow worker in that culture no matter where it operates.
45:15 thank you for letting us familiar with the hanky code know what's up, I appreciate it
I wasn't expecting this to go in such a personal direction but I just wanted to say that I'm really grateful that you did delve into your experience, because I can definitely relate to being in the position of being exploited by directionless start-up culture. Glad to see you back and doing well Sophie :)
I really like the focus on the system that produces people like Holmes, and your own experiences here. Thanks for a fascinating video!
That final line is such a perfect finisher.
I do like the end point about how hard people had to push the narrative that something had to be WRONG with Holmes to understand her actions when I've seen a hundred smaller Holmes in my corporate career over the decades that just didn't lie about something so lethal or have access to that much money.
In the end, her only "crime" was scale. I've been on the conference calls when the client found out the sales team had sold them on absolute bollocks. Promised stuff everyone knew we could never deliver, but now that the contract was signed it would cost more to leave than to find what solution we COULD deliver and manage expectations going forward.
And half the time those sales people jumped ship to a new company, on the accolades of landing these bad deals, before they would face direct consequences for their actions.
I’ve worked in a phlebotomist lab and hearing that theranos only ran on a single drop of blood and immediately knew what she planned wouldn’t work
The real question then is why none of the investors never acted an expert in the field if the company's promises were realistic.