Elizabeth Holmes was convicted of deliberately deceiving investors. Why is the conversation now about feeling sorry for her?

Her new documentary, You Can See Everything, presents a softer image: a mother facing separation from her children. In this episode of Psychobabble, I examine that sympathetic portrait alongside her conduct, her deposition footage, and the evidence of deliberate fraud.

Using the triarchic model of psychopathy—boldness, meanness, and disinhibition—I explore the personality traits behind deception, exploitation, intimidation, and calculated image management.

Did Holmes believe her own claims? What does her response to scrutiny reveal about accountability? And why do motherhood and allegations of abuse change how people interpret her actions?

A closer look at Elizabeth Holmes, female psychopathic traits, and the behavior that sympathy can lead people to overlook.

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CHAPTERS

00:00 Elizabeth Holmes’s new image

01:36 Theranos, the conviction, and the documentary

04:11 The whistleblower on patient harm

06:27 The three dimensions of psychopathy

07:51 Self-deception or calculated fraud?

08:33 Examining the evidence of deliberate deception

13:26 “Why would I deceive you?”

15:55 Elizabeth Holmes’s deposition under scrutiny

19:02 Exploitation, intimidation, and secrecy

21:23 Planning, obligations, and recklessness

24:22 Abuse claims and shifting blame

26:30 Why sympathy cannot replace accountability