All the Worst Humans: How I Made News for Dictators, Tycoons, and Politicians Cover
Podcast Mentions

All the Worst Humans How I Made News for Dictators, Tycoons, and Politicians

Phil Elwood

"A rollicking, unexpectedly affecting story. . . It’s going to be one of the big, buzzy Beltway books of the year." After nearly two decades in the Washington PR business, Elwood wants to come clean, by exposing the dark underbelly of the very industry that’s made him so successful. The first step...

Podcasts 2
Quotes 22
Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard

He talked about his own memoir, All the Worst Humans, which details his experiences making news for dictators, tycoons, and politicians.

"

His book is called All the Worst Humans

— Episode: Phil Elwood (on the dark side of PR)

Episode: Phil Elwood (on the dark side of PR)

He talked about his own memoir, All the Worst Humans, which details his experiences making news for dictators, tycoons, and politicians.

"

His book is called All the Worst Humans

All the worst humans How I made news for dictators, ty coons and politicians

Episode: Phil Elwood (on the dark side of PR)

Elwood described his memoir as an expose of his work making news for dictators, tycoons and politicians, showing the dark side of PR.

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His book is called All the Worst Humans - How I Made News for Dictators, Ty Coons and Politicians.

All the worst humans - How I made news for dictators, tycoons and politicians - was among the most interesting topics we've ever got to cover.

The book is a little bit like a pen and teller routine, showing how the magic of PR works.

Episode: Phil Elwood (on the dark side of PR)

Phil Elwood's memoir was praised as fascinating and described as an expose of his twodecade career manipulating news for dictators, tycoons and politicians.

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His book is called All the Worst Humans, How I Made News for Dictators, Tycoons and Politicians. I loved this one. It was so fascinating.

your book, All the Worst Humans, what you explain in this is your experience as a public relations expert over two decades, helping shape the national narrative, narrative within the government, and the main tool of which is the press.

the second chapter in the book, I titled, Everyone Deserves Representation.

when I was reading your book, I definitely see a lot of crazy parallels between Hollywood and DC, the ultimate company towns, the ultimate networking places.

All The Worst Humans, how I made news for dictators, tycoons and politicians. Phil, this was among the most interesting topics we've ever got to cover.

The Jordan Harbinger Show

The book was described as a similar concept to the movie "Thank You for Smoking", but for despotic regimes, focusing on the author's experience working for dictators and their offspring.

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That's what I compared it to. And he's like, yeah, that guy wrote the forward to my book or whatever. I'm like, yeah, that makes total sense. So and of course, it did take a toll on his mental health....

— Episode: 1019: Grandfather to Blame in Niece's Pr...

Episode: 1019: Grandfather to Blame in Niece's Pregnancy Sh...

The book was described as a similar concept to the movie "Thank You for Smoking", but for despotic regimes, focusing on the author's experience working for dictators and their offspring.

"

That's what I compared it to. And he's like, yeah, that guy wrote the forward to my book or whatever. I'm like, yeah, that makes total sense. So and of course, it did take a toll on his mental health. It's a whole thing. That's what we talked about.

This guy was actually really interesting. So his job, Gabriel, was basically like if you're Gaddafi's son who tortures people as some kind of sport and you want to go to Las Vegas and have a fixer, he would do that kind of thing.

Episode: 1018: Phil Elwood | Manipulating Media for All the...

The book talks about the author's career as a PR operative, working for notorious figures, including dictators, royals, spies, and politicians, and the moral toll it took on him. It also offers a glimpse into the dark underbelly of global PR and political spin.

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The purpose of this book was not to increase cynicism or skepticism, but rather to increase media literacy.

I deserve whatever the opposite of a Pulitzer is.

I'm not terribly interested in getting a reporter to write a story unless it does something kinetically out in the world.

I told him that my job was to get a positive piece of press for the Libyans that week or else we were in danger of losing our contract.

If you printed it out, it would have been four pages long and it was a list of demands from Matassim Gaddafi, who was one of the sons of Muammar Gaddafi, the brother leader.

Episode: 1018: Phil Elwood | Manipulating Media for All the...

The book details the author's experiences as a PR operative for dictators, royals, spies, and crooked politicians, highlighting the ethically dubious practices involved in manipulating public perception.

"

The purpose of this book was not to increase cynicism or skepticism, but rather to increase media literacy.

The way I put it in the book is that I deserve whatever the opposite of a Pulitzer is.

I'm not terribly interested in getting a reporter to write a story unless it does something kinetically out in the world.

It was the first PR assignment I'd ever worked on.

I think I will be banned from ever working on another FIFA bid because I'm admitting this.

Note: The book recommendations on this page are discovered automatically from podcast transcripts, and may be incorrect or incomplete.