The Hank Show

How a House-Painting, Drug-Running DEA Informant Built the Machine That Rules Our Lives

By: McKenzie Funk

Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin, McKenzie Funk

Long-listed, Library Journal Best Books of the Year, 2023

This program features a prologue read by the author.

The bizarre and captivating story of the most important person you've never heard of.

The world we live in today, where everything is tracked by corporations and governments, originates with one manic, elusive, utterly unique man—as prone to bullying as he was to fits of surpassing generosity and surprising genius. His name was Hank Asher, and his life was a strange and spectacular show that changed the course of the future.

In The Hank Show, critically acclaimed author and journalist McKenzie Funk relates Asher's stranger-than-fiction story—he careened from drug-running pilot to alleged CIA asset, only to be reborn as the pioneering computer programmer known as the father of data fusion. He was the multimillionaire whose creations now power a new reality where your every move is tracked by police departments, intelligence agencies, political parties, and financial firms alike. But his success was not without setbacks. He truly lived nine lives, on top of the world one minute, only to be forced out of the companies he founded and blamed for data breaches resulting in major lawsuits and market chaos.

In the vein of the blockbuster movie Catch Me if You Can, this spellbinding work of narrative nonfiction propels you forward on a forty year journey of intrigue and innovation, from Colombia to the White House and from Silicon Valley to the 2016 Trump campaign, focusing a lens on the dark side of American business and its impact on the everyday fabric of our modern lives.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin’s Press.

©2023 McKenzie Funk (P)2023 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"Beautifully reported, utterly fascinating, and often chilling, The Hank Show is the story of the brilliant madman who helped give computers the power to track each of us through our daily lives, or as Funk calls it, 'the power to know everything about someone without actually knowing them.'”—Bethany McLean, co-author of The Smartest Guys in the Room

"McKenzie Funk chronicles the birth of Big Data through the story of Hank Asher, who may be the most important person you've never heard of. The Hank Show is deeply researched, thoroughly entertaining, and totally terrifying. Your every move is, indeed, being tracked."—Elizabeth Kolbert, author of Field Notes from a Catastrophe

"This is the story of a half-mad master of data, a crazed genius who figured out early on how to sneak into the lives of others on a grand scale. Hank Asher could be the hero of a science fiction fantasy. But in a world in which everything can be traded for money, his methods were real, legal, and very profitable—and ultimately superseded by a corporate America whose cupidity is even more unrestrained than he was. Funk’s research is impressive, the story fascinating and dreadful."—Tracy Kidder, author of Rough Sleepers and The Soul of a New Machine

fascinating

compelling history of big data and one of its early pioneers who happened to be a bit bonkers. very worthwhile book if you are interested in the implications of big data and its origins.

rip hank

Hank was a hero who's ideas could have made the world better. but in weaker minds they have been used to enslave.

Well constructed story, excellent narration

Hard to stop listening. This was a really well told and built story. Highly engaging. Great choice for the narrator.

your life isn't private

this is an amazing history of data collection. it'll answer those questions for you and why certain ads pop up on your phone. why certain policies may be designed? why there's more information about you than you would ever imagine. it's a fascinating story about data. well told. Worth to read

If you use data then you should read this

I believe that everyone benefits from knowing the history and background of important aspects of their world. Most people simply aren’t that curious. This book won’t change your life but it may cause you to stop and think. That can’t hurt and will probably work to your advantage.