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‘You can’t make this stuff up’: why we remain fascinated by Elizabeth Holmes
By Extra Extra Editorial
Cross-spectrum analysis, synthesized with AI from 10 sources · Updated
A documentary about Elizabeth Holmes, the disgraced Theranos founder, is generating significant media attention ahead of its theatrical release, with projections suggesting a substantial opening weekend box office performance. The film, directed by Nathan Fielding, examines Holmes's rise, the collapse of her blood-testing company, and her subsequent conviction on fraud charges. Coverage spans questions about the documentary's approach to its subject, what new information it reveals, and whether the filmmaking itself raises ethical concerns about access and portrayal.
Left-leaning outlets focus on examining whether the documentary adequately interrogates Holmes's culpability or inadvertently enables her to control her narrative through the filmmaking process. These sources emphasize the ethical dimensions of documentary access and whether sympathetic framing risks obscuring the real harms caused by Theranos's fraudulent claims.
Center and independent sources lead with the commercial and informational angle, highlighting box office projections and cataloging specific revelations the documentary contains. This framing treats the film primarily as a cultural event and information source rather than as a subject of ethical scrutiny.
Right-leaning coverage raises questions about the filmmaker's relationship with Holmes and whether directorial choices compromised journalistic distance. This perspective emphasizes potential conflicts of interest and the risk that documentary access becomes a form of rehabilitation.
Key Differences
- Left outlets interrogate the documentary's framing and whether it risks humanizing a convicted fraudster, while center sources focus on box office performance and factual revelations without ethical critique.
- Right-leaning coverage specifically questions the filmmaker's proximity to Holmes and potential bias, a concern largely absent from left and center reporting.
- Left and center sources treat the documentary as newsworthy primarily for its content and commercial success, whereas right-leaning outlets foreground concerns about documentary ethics and filmmaker accountability.
How this story is being covered
Extra Extra has grouped 10 reports on this story from 10 news outlets across the political spectrum. By political lean, that breaks down as 7 left-leaning, 2 center, and 1 right-leaning sources.
Its coverage-diversity score of 73 out of 100 means the story is being reported across multiple parts of the spectrum, though the volume leans toward one side.
On reliability, 10 of the 10 rated outlets carry a high or mostly-factual reliability rating (A or B). Ratings are drawn from independent assessments and are meant to help you weigh each report, not to tell you which to trust.
Coverage of this story has developed over roughly 21 hours, so the perspectives below capture how the framing shifted as the story matured.
Below, the same story is laid out side by side as left, center, and right outlets reported it. Read across the columns and watch what changes: the headline emphasis, which facts lead, the adjectives, and what each side leaves out. The story itself rarely changes — the framing almost always does.
Outlets covering this story: The New Yorker, New York Times, The Atlantic, The Guardian, Business Insider, TIME, Vanity Fair, STAT News, Forbes, The Free Press.
Left(7)
The New YorkerAOct 17, 10:00 AM
We Can Never Understand Elizabeth Holmes, or Nathan Fielder
Unlike Fielder’s past work, “You Can See Everything” isn’t very funny. Instead, the documentary, co-directed by Lance Oppenheim, is a haunting exploration of the limits of other people’s knowability.
New York TimesAOct 17, 9:02 AM
The Reporter Who Exposed Elizabeth Holmes on Nathan Fielder’s Documentary
Ms. Holmes handed the makers of “You Can See Everything” — and the rest of the world — a microscope with which to observe and dissect her lies.
The AtlanticAOct 16, 4:02 PM
Can Elizabeth Holmes Drop the Act?
Nathan Fielder follows the Theranos founder for a brilliant study of self-perception.
The GuardianAOct 17, 9:00 AM
‘You can’t make this stuff up’: why we remain fascinated by Elizabeth Holmes
The entrepreneur turned fraudster is the subject of an Oscar-tipped new documentary that takes an unusual look at her strange legacy David Agus’s first encounter with Elizabeth Holmes at a health conf
Business InsiderBOct 17, 9:13 AM
I went to see why Silicon Valley can't stop laughing at Elizabeth Holmes
Extend booked out a theater at AMC Lincoln Square. Henry Chandonnet/Business Insider Tech companies and venture capital firms are hosting private screenings of the Elizabeth Holmes doc. I went to one
TIMEBOct 16, 5:36 PM
Elizabeth Holmes Is Not the Problem With You Can See Everything
The Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim film is not actually that groundbreaking
Vanity FairBOct 16, 4:54 PM
‘You Can See Everything’: 11 Revelations From the Elizabeth Holmes Doc
The top secret documentary from Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim has finally hit theaters. Here’s what shocked us the most.
Center(2)
STAT NewsAOct 16, 12:34 PM
What to read before you go see that new documentary on Elizabeth Holmes
Ahead of "You Can See Everything" hitting theaters, let's rewind the last decade and review some of the most significant news tied to Elizabeth Holmes, who was convicted in 2022…
ForbesBOct 17, 1:56 AM
Elizabeth Holmes Documentary ‘You Can See Everything’ Eyes $12 Million Opening Weekend
"You Can See Everything," Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim’s buzzy documentary about disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, is headed for a big opening weekend in limited release,
Right(1)
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