Content warnings: gaslighting, death, gore, suicide, murder, neo-Nazis, anti-semitism, homophobia, racism, anti-immigration, gun, coup, mention of warContent warnings: gaslighting, death, gore, suicide, murder, neo-Nazis, anti-semitism, homophobia, racism, anti-immigration, gun, coup, mention of war, mention of torture
Short Review
If the oil and gas industry or Russian internet trolls are of interest, Blowout is a great, well-researched nonfiction with very clear arguments. Due to the immense information, reading on paper or an e-reader at the same time might have worked better for me. Despite being a little bit overwhelmed by all the names and companies throughout most of the book, there is no way I wouldn’t choose the audiobook version again. Hearing Maddow’s snark and brief singing lightened my mood during this heavy read.
Thoughts
What a time to finish this book.
In May 2020, I was spending several hours a week soldering, and I started listening to Blowout while doing so. It was very good but also intensely packed with historical facts and names and companies that I had a little trouble following. I didn’t pick it up again until months later, and by then, the first two-thirds of the book were already foggy to me.
But that was when things started to really make sense, even though I couldn’t remember who is who. The main structure of the book was linking the oil and gas industry to Russian power, and the affect of Putin’s internet trolls on the US politics. I didn’t actually have much idea about what this book would be about when I got it on audio; I thought listening to a nonfiction written and narrated by Rachel Maddow would be fun. And it was, apart from the terrifying theme of governments and companies gaslighting people.
To be honest, what really got my attention during the listen as a STEM graduate student was the part where hydraulic fracturing and wastewater injection induced seismic activities and how the scientific community wasn’t a politically neutral ground because of companies in power. It is both fascinating and terrifying.
Blowout is cautionary and ugly with entertaining writing and performance. I hope to get the most out of the book by revisiting it very soon....more
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