Patrick Radden Keefe

Patrick Radden Keefe grew up in Dorchester, Massachusetts. He completed his undergraduate degree from Columbia University and his graduate studies at Cambridge and London School of Economics, as well as subsequently obtaining a Juris Doctor degree from Yale Law School. He worked as a policy adviser in the Office of the Secretary of Defense before moving into journalism. Keefe’s writing has appeared extensively in publications, including Slate, the New York Times Magazine and the New Yorker where he is staff writer. He is also the host of award-winning podcast Wind of Change.

Keefe’s investigative journalism has formed the basis of many of his books, including The Snakehead (2009) on the titular gang operating in New York City’s Chinatown; Say Nothing (2018) on the Troubles in Northern Ireland which won both the Orwell Prize 2019 and the National Book Critics Circle Award 2019 in the United States; and Empire of Pain (2021) – a revelatory account of the Sackler dynasty’s responsibility in the manufacturing and marketing of the painkiller OxyContin, which scooped the Baillie Gifford Prize 2021. His other books include Rogues (2022) and London Falling (2026).