Against the Rules with Michael Lewis

Feb 11 2025 97 ep. 30 mins 42.6k
Against the Rules with Michael Lewis Podcast artwork

Journalist and bestselling author Michael Lewis explores the figures in American life who rely on the public's trust, whether in sports, in business, in the courtroom, or on TV. What happens when that trust erodes and we can no longer agree on what's fair and what's not?

In the latest season of his podcast, Michael takes on America’s newest form of legalized gambling, sports betting, and how it’s changing what it means to be a player…a teenager…and most of all, a fan.

iHeartMedia is the exclusive podcast partner of Pushkin Industries.

  Society & Culture  Business  Sports
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Sen. Richard Blumenthal on the SAFE Bet Act

Feb 11 2025 29 mins  
Is anyone trying to regulate sports gambling on the federal level in the US? In the fall of 2024, Connecticut Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal introduced a bill with New York Congressman Paul Tonko. The SAFE Bet would restrict sports gambling ads and would help fund more gambling addiction treatment, among other things. Blumenthal speaks with Michael Lewis about why he sees sp

Dr. Laurie Santos on Group Psychology, the Teen Brain, and Happiness

Feb 04 2025 29 mins  
Michael Lewis invites over Yale psychology professor Dr. Laurie Santos, host of The Happiness Lab at Pushkin, for a chat about what scientific research has to tell us about sports fandom, teenagers, and gambling. You can sign up for The Happiness Lab newsletter here.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Natasha Schüll on the Antisocial Lure of Gambling

Jan 28 2025 30 mins  
As an anthropologist, Natasha Schüll spent more than a decade doing field work in Vegas casinos, especially among the slot machine addicts. She tells Michael Lewis why many of those who play slots actually hate to win. And she talks about how the digital overhaul of Vegas has made all forms of gambling, including sports gambling, more like slots. For further reading: Addiction

Episode 10: “Anybody Can Win, but Everybody’s Gonna Lose”

Jan 21 2025 46 mins  
Perhaps you have someone in your life who’s prone to sports gambling. Michael Lewis has someone. So he comes up with a scheme to “inoculate” his 17-year-old son against the lure of placing bets online. All the while, Lewis tries to craft the perfect “master class” for would-be gamblers to understand the dangers of what they might be getting themselves

Episode 9: Framing the Gambler

Jan 14 2025 29 mins  
Michael Lewis gets a glimpse of sports gambling's future by talking with writers in Great Britain and Australia, where the industry is even more entrenched. But the US has its own peculiar history of failing to regulate dangerously addictive new products, and blaming the users instead. Especially when powerful industry advocates are able to pay scientists to sow doubt and delay the

Episode 8: The Integrity Landscape

Jan 07 2025 38 mins  
Has betting based on inside intel on games gone down since sports gambling was legalized in the US? Not really, as Michael Lewis finds out. But what's gone up is misery for athletes. We hear from Atlanta Hawks forward Larry Nance, Jr. about the rage, threats and wheedling that pro athletes now endure. The NCAA, former Massachusetts governor Charlie Baker, is trying to protect stude

The Riskies: The Best, Worst, and Most Interesting Decisions of 2024

Dec 27 2024 21 mins  
We hear from Nate Silver and Maria Konnikova, poker sharps and co-hosts of the Pushkin show “Risky Business,” as they share the year’s most notable decisions in their first annual Riskies award show. What were the best, worst and wildest decisions of 2024, from politics to sports to business? Also: degen of the year, nit of the year, and the cognitive bias that be

Michael Lewis on the Prof G Pod

Dec 24 2024 31 mins  
Just recently, Michael Lewis was a guest on the "Prof G" podcast with Scott Galloway. He talks about the rise of sports betting and why the consequences might be a "disaster" for US society. And the two discuss the subject of Lewis's latest book, "Going Infinite." See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Vegas Sports Bookies on Old-School Betting

Dec 17 2024 30 mins  
On a visit to Las Vegas, Michael Lewis meets three old-school sports bookies. Chris Andrews, Jimmy Vaccaro, and Vinny Magliulo book bets and set odds at the South Point Hotel Casino. They talk about how they got started in Vegas, the origins of the prop bet, and why it's bad for business to limit smart bets.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gambler Billy Walters on the Sharp's Life

Dec 10 2024 37 mins  
Michael Lewis sits down with Billy Walters, one of the most famous sports bettors of all time. They talk about Walters' impoverished childhood in Kentucky, and his transformation from an auto dealer to a professional poker player in Las Vegas to a sobered-up millionaire who's been indicted five times. For further reading: Gambler: Secrets from a Life at Risk by Billy Walters.See om