On Background: Effective Altruism Still Has Friends
One-time crypto-currency king Sam Bankman-Fried was a big proponent of a philosophical movement known as “effective altruism,” or EA. Advocates of EA say we should use data and reason to find the best...
13 Jun 202334min
On Background: Crypto Skeptic Proven Right
If you spend any time reporting on the world of crypto currency and Bitcoin, then you’re going to run across the name Molly White. She’s a software engineer who has been called "the cryptocurrency wor...
16 Mai 202331min
On Background: A History of Bankruptcy in the US
Often when a corporation declares bankruptcy, that happens at the end of a long and difficult road. But entering bankruptcy proceedings also means setting out on a new and equally difficult road. That...
11 Apr 202333min
On Background: White-Collar Crime and Punishment
Why do people commit white-collar crimes? And how has the way we think about — and prosecute — white-collar criminals changed over time? As part of the background research for his next book, which is ...
14 Mar 202339min
On Background: Bad Actors on the Blockchain
For his next book, Michael Lewis wants to find out how investigators manage to trace the murky trail of illicit crypto. Cryptocurrency started with the dream of cash changing hands without a trace. Bu...
14 Feb 202336min
On Background from Against the Rules
Michael Lewis's next book is all about Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of the crypto-currency exchange FTX, who now faces federal charges. As with all of his books, Lewis is talking with experts to get bac...
31 Jan 20232min
Episode 7: The Person Who Knows
The United States had a pandemic plan. But when a pandemic came, we hesitated to follow it. The country was hobbled by argument and doubt. Much of that doubt came from experts who proposed that Covid ...
24 Mai 202245min
Episode 6: The Overconfidence Game
In which several people, including Rebecca Solnit, Katty Kay, and Maria Konnikova, help Michael understand the not-so-secret power of men to offer themselves up as experts, when they clearly are not. ...
17 Mai 202233min
