Has McKinsey Tried To Kill Me Yet?

The response to the biggest story of my career

I recently published the biggest article of my career, a cover story in the Nation magazine detailing my time at McKinsey working for ICE and Rikers Island.

The response has been overwhelming and tremendously exciting (with only a small fraction of Twitter users telling me to kill myself).

The National Review published an entire piece responding to the story (my Twitter thread response here).

Le Monde Diplomatique, a monthly magazine subsidiary of the French newspaper Le Monde, translated my story into French and Spanish (which took both me and my editor by surprise!).

One of my favorite writers and commentators, Luke Savage, interviewed me for Jacobin. (The full interview audio is available on the subscriber feed for Michael and Us—a fantastic podcast that strikes the rare balance between entertainment, humor, and insight.) Unsurprisingly, he asked great questions, and we covered some new ground.

Back in 2018, Current Affairs magazine published a list of topics they wanted pitches on, and McKinsey was on the list. I sent a pitch and was ecstatic to get the story commissioned. I decided to publish anonymously because I was afraid of publicly attacking such a powerful institution (and my former employer). Titled “Capital’s Willing Executioners,” the essay analyzes how McKinsey embodies and exacerbates many of the worst things about capitalism while answering to no one.

I had always enjoyed writing but had no real plans to pursue it professionally until I wrote that essay. The joy of writing it and the warm response it received prompted me to upend my whole career plan.

I finally put my name to the piece, leading a friend to tell me that sci-fi legend Ted Chiang repeatedly references it in a New Yorker essay from May! I may have more thoughts to share on the actual essay later, but needless to say, this has been one of the most exciting moments of my writing career.

Given how pivotal the magazine was to my career, I was excited to go on the Current Affairs podcast with editor Nathan Robinson and am really pleased with how the conversation came out.

Most bizarrely, my Twitter thread about the story led to a modest deluge of pictures of Best Jeanist, a character from the anime My Hero Academy, who, like my whistle-blowing, weirdly high turtle-neck-wearing alter ego, hides his face in what appears to be a denim collar inspired by a dog cone.

I also appeared on The Majority Report, SiriusXM radio with John Fugelsang, This is Hell! (which I had previously gone on in 2019, to talk psychedelics), and Breakthrough News.

The advice I’ve heard for talking to the media is to have a few talking points, ignore the question, and say your talking points (see: any experienced politician). I promptly forgot all that, which resulted in interviews that are pretty distinct from each other. In addition to the Jacobin and Current Affairs interviews, I’m happiest with the Fugelsang interview (he’s interviewed basically everyone and is a real pro).

A friend of mine was talking to a friend of theirs at McKinsey. The friend mentioned me and the McKinsey guy said, “you know the rat!?”

And perhaps my favorite: Martin Shkreli, AKA Pharma Bro, called me a snitch.

Oh, I also appeared on John Oliver! …in the most literal definition of the word.

Last Week Tonight did a fantastic segment on McKinsey, which features a few seconds of me sitting next to Erik Edstrom, fellow snitch, as he explains McKinsey’s habit of serving harmful clients knowing “exactly what the repercussions are going to be, and then [saying], ‘We're gonna do it anyway.’” Erik and I were interviewed for CBS News Sunday Morning last year as part of the release of the book When McKinsey Comes to Town.

My 3 seconds of fame

They were planning to use a speaking clip of me, but cut it last minute. C’est la vie. A producer still hooked me and my partner up with live tickets for the following week’s show, which was a blast!

My silent few seconds led to way more people reaching out to me than anything else I’ve ever done, which really speaks to the relevance and reach of John Oliver with our generation (and maybe the irrelevance of everything else I’ve ever done…).

I’m now writing another cover story on perhaps the most significant topic imaginable (out this winter). There’s also been some early interest in a book and/or adapting my McKinsey story for film or TV!

McKinsey’s allowing me to remain intact for now, but the cost-benefit calculation could change any day…