Show notes
In 2023, Patrick Radden Keefe met a man who told him, "I might have a story for you." When you're Patrick — New Yorker staff writer, author of "some of the most memorable nonfiction books of the last decade" (that's the New York Times talking) — this is a hazard of the trade. But he heard the guy out.The guy said he knew a family whose 19-year-old son had died in mysterious circumstances. "He went off the balcony of a luxury apartment building overlooking the Thames." When the boy's parents started looking into it, they made an astonishing discovery: Their son — a nice, upper-middle-class Londoner — had been running around the city posing as the son of a Russian oligarch."This guy said only about that much," Patrick tells us in today's episode, "and I knew if the family would talk to me, this was my next thing." His new book is London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family's Search for Truth. The Next Big Idea is now on YouTube! You can find our episodes here.Follow Rufus on LinkedIn, subscribe to our Substack, or send us an email at [email protected].The best way to support the show is by becoming a Next Big Idea Club member. Learn more at nextbigideaclub.com, and use code PODCAST for a super secret discount (spoiler: it’s 20% off).Sponsored By:Fabric — Join the thousands of parents who trust Fabric to help protect their family at meetfabric.com/nbiFactor — Head to factormeals.com/idea50off and use code idea50off to get 50% off your first boxGranola — Get three months free at granola.ai/ideaShopify — Start your $1/month trial at shopify.com/nbi