Lawfare Daily: Patrick Radden Keefe on ‘London Falling’
The Lawfare Podcast
The Lawfare Institute
4.7 • 6.4K Ratings
🗓️ 6 May 2026
⏱️ 36 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Patrick Radden Keefe, a staff writer at the New Yorker and the author of “Say Nothing” and “Empire of Pain,” sits down with Lawfare Associate Editor Peter Beck to discuss his most recent book, “London Falling.” The two talk about Radden Keefe’s investigation of a London teenager’s fatal plunge into the Thames, the United Kingdom’s acquiescence to foreign influence, and his process in writing about the book.
To receive ad-free podcasts, become a Lawfare Material Supporter at www.patreon.com/lawfare. You can also support Lawfare by making a one-time donation at https://givebutter.com/lawfare-institute.
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/lawfare.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hi, I'm Tyler McBrion, managing editor here at Lawfare. You might recognize my voice |
| 0:09.6 | from our coverage of Donald Trump's New York criminal trial, a podcast series called |
| 0:14.6 | Escalation that I co-hosted with Lawfares Ukraine Fellow Anastasia Lapata, or the occasional |
| 0:20.1 | episode of Rational Security in the Lawfare |
| 0:22.3 | podcast. Here at Lawfare, we have many unofficial mantras, but I want to talk about one of them, |
| 0:28.9 | which is, we'll tell you when to panic. Look, I get it. The pace of news these days can feel |
| 0:35.5 | relentless. We hear over and over that we live in unprecedented |
| 0:39.5 | times, and in many ways we do. But if everything is an emergency, nothing is an emergency. And that's why |
| 0:47.1 | I'm so grateful for lawfare. To help me parse whether something in the headlines is awful but |
| 0:52.7 | lawful, whether it's a novel legal interpretation, |
| 0:55.6 | or whether it's just a blatant violation of the law. When it comes to understanding our world today |
| 1:01.6 | and what to do about, well, everything, that distinction can make all the difference. Unfortunately, |
| 1:10.0 | our unprecedented times come as an independent and fact-based media is under threat. |
| 1:15.9 | Fortunately, though, that's where you come in. |
| 1:19.2 | None of our work happens without support from people like you. |
| 1:22.9 | Lawfare is a non-profit. |
| 1:24.7 | We always keep our content free and out from behind a paywall. So we rely on |
| 1:29.4 | our readers and listeners to keep this work going. If you found yourself nodding your head |
| 1:34.3 | in agreement to any of this or shaking it in despair, I hope you'll head to lawfaremedia.org |
| 1:40.3 | slash support and become a material supporter. Just $10 a month or more if you're able really makes a difference. |
| 1:48.5 | Plus, you'll help us continue to offer all of our content for free to everyone. |
| 1:54.8 | Thanks for considering. Gradually over time, over months and months, as Zach kept promising that he was going to come through with money for these guys and ultimately didn't, it became clear to them that something was amiss. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Lawfare Institute, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of The Lawfare Institute and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.