Blowout

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

By: Rachel Maddow

Narrated by: Rachel Maddow

Length: 15 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

2021 GRAMMY® Winner for Best Spoken Word Album

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

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

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

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

Blowout is a call to contain the lion: to stop subsidizing the wealthiest businesses on earth, to fight for transparency, and to check the influence of the world’s most destructive industry and its enablers. The stakes have never been higher. As Maddow writes, “Democracy either wins this one or disappears.”

©2019 Rachel Maddow (P)2019 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“At its heart, this book is a tale of two countries, the United States and Russia, and how, as Maddow sees it—individually and together—they have been warped by a rapacious fossil fuel industry. . . . Fulminating comes easy to Rachel Maddow. What sets her apart from other serial fulminators is that she does it with facts—and sardonic wit.”—Washington Post

“[Maddow] may be a popular, progressive news-and-commentary anchor on MSNBC, but it's not to be forgotten that she holds a doctorate in politics from Oxford and seems to devour whole libraries of data before breakfast each day. . . . Expect a tweetstorm as Maddow’s indictment of a corrupt industry finds readers—and it deserves many.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Known for her intense inquiries into complex subjects, Maddow brings her laser-like intuitiveness and keen and wily perception to Big Oil, that stalwart of global economics, and the shadowy nexus of commerce and politics. Maddow likes murky, the murkier the better, and her examination of the intricacies of off-shore drilling, transnational pipelines, and hydraulic fracking is as deep as the coveted wells themselves. . . . Like trailblazing journalists before her, Maddow exposes both the slapdash and sinister practices underlying geopolitics and energy policies and revels in peeling back the layers of malfeasance to stoke righteous outrage.”—Booklist (starred review)

it's all about the oil

My first experience at listening to a book with audible. Rachel's new book was excellent and her reading it was an extra bonus. Blowout does a great job of of explaining how oil is the biggest influencer of our world. Not just economically but geopolitically also. The amoral way oil companies have influenced countries and contributed to the oppression of third world countries.

Best book ever on corruption at its oily core.

Rachael is a wonderful narrator of this important and believable expose of the rotten core beneath the oil and gas industry and all it supports. In many ways it explains so much so clearly, it is a true masterpiece.

wow fantastic and I like Marmite..

With Rachel narrating her own book made it altogether more interesting, the contents are so relevant to this country's current political situation.

Thank you

Well done. Recommend this book to all of us looking for answers in these dark times of troubles.

In-depth international research with a clear path to answers

Let’s not be defined by troll farms.
Let’s not let industries and political payoffs pretend to protect us while those industries roam free to harm for profit.
Our leaders and heros are stepping forward to protect us. We are listening and we hear you Rachel.
Keep it up and take care of yourself if at all possible. Your leadership and our free country are things we don’t want to be without.

Fascinating!

I'm not generally tempted to read about the oil/gas industry but I like the way Rachel Maddow weaves a story so I thought I'd give it a try. I was gobsmacked by this take of greed, intrigue, and political maneuvering.

It all makes sense now.

We cannot continue to be at the mercy of oil & gas companies. Too much damage has occurred over too many continents.

Maddow connects the lust for oil & gas to election 2016 in a remarkable way. No one else has connected these dots. Greed may be man’s downfall. It really looks like it.

Wonder book well told by the author.

Context for anyone wondering why the world is the way it is

I would say quite strongly that this book this not without an agenda, but nevertheless worth a listen. As an employee of the big and dangerous oil and gas industry it does give me a new perspective of looking at the way our business is done and buying Zafiro is brought into stark reality. Read and listen and keep an open mind! Linking day to day decisions with geopolitical consequences

You like freedom?

If you are like the vast majority of people you have no idea of how close we are to the brink. In depth explanation of oil and the its behemoth power and how it is wielded. The president likes to name people and I've got one for him. TRAITOR TRUMP. Read and wake up USA before it is too late.

He captivating book which requires uninterrupted reading

Outstanding this book is extremely well researched and written. It is a specially well received when using the Audible
P version. This book richly deserves it's number one ranking, currently, on the New York Times bestseller list.