Judging Sam: Going Infinite – Jacob Weisberg interviews Michael Lewis

Judging Sam: Going Infinite – Jacob Weisberg interviews Michael Lewis

Author: Pushkin Industries October 2, 2023 Duration: 33:05

For the past year and a half, journalist Michael Lewis has been following crypto entrepreneur and former CEO of FTX Sam Bankman-Fried. The resulting book, "Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon", is out October 3. When Michael started his reporting, SBF was heralded as a wunderkind, a genius, a crypto innovator, a major philanthropist and political donor. Now, Sam Bankman-Fried is standing trial on multiple charges, including wire fraud, securities fraud, and misusing billions of dollars of customer funds. If convicted, he could spend the rest of his life behind bars. Michael was there – with unprecedented access – to see it all happen. In this episode, Pushkin's Jacob Weisberg interviews Michael about how he chose Sam as his book subject, what he thought the book was going to be about, and when he sensed things were going to come crashing down for Sam and FTX.

This conversation was recorded on September 13.

Questions for Michael? Submit them by clicking the link in our show notes or visiting atrpodcast.com

To listen to all of our coverage ad-free, sign up for Pushkin plus on the Against The Rules show page in Apple Podcasts or at Pushkin.fm/plus

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.


Fifteen years have passed since Michael Lewis published his defining work, Against the Rules: The Big Short Companion. In that time, the story of the 2008 financial crisis, first told in his best-selling book and later in an Oscar-winning film, has only grown more relevant. This audio companion, produced by Pushkin Industries, is not a simple retrospective. Instead, Lewis, joined by co-host Lidia Jean Kott, uses the anniversary as a starting point for a deeper investigation. They examine the enduring legacy of that seismic event-how its lessons were absorbed, ignored, or misunderstood in the worlds of business, culture, and even sports. Listeners are brought directly into conversations that feel both urgent and reflective, including Lewis catching up with the film's director, Adam McKay, and revisiting the real-life individuals whose stories fueled the original narrative. The result is a podcast that functions as a vital, living appendix to a modern classic, asking what we truly learned and how the rules of the game have-or haven't-changed since the house of cards came tumbling down. It’s an essential listen for anyone who wonders how the past continues to shape our present.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 100

Against the Rules: The Big Short Companion
Podcast Episodes
Don't Be Good – Be Great [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:31
Michael revisits his high school days in New Orleans to tell the story of Billy Fitzgerald, the baseball coach who changed his life; and makes the case for the old-school, tough- love coaching that many parents find hard…
The Invisible Coach [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:11
Credit card companies are making billions of dollars off of people who don’t understand the rules of the money game. Can a good coach help level the playing field? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpo…
Introducing Against the Rules Season 2 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:13
Journalist and bestselling author Michael Lewis (Liar's Poker, Moneyball) takes a searing look at what’s happened to fairness. It feels like there's less of it every day—whether it comes to lending practices, college adm…
Bonus Against the Rules: Help in a Crisis [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 19:04
While working on the next season of Against the Rules coming later this spring, Michael Lewis has had some conversations that we didn’t want to hold. Conversations with people who are helping others through the Covid-19…
Against the Rules Presents: Cautionary Tales [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:58
A new show from Pushkin Industries: Cautionary Tales. We tell our children unsettling fairy tales to teach them valuable life lessons, but these Cautionary Tales are for the education of the grown ups – and they are all…
Live Episode: Michael Lewis and Malcolm Gladwell [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 54:02
Around the launch of Against the Rules, Michael spoke with his friend and co-producer, the author Malcolm Gladwell, at the 92Y in New York. Hear them talk about podcasting, referees, and the magic of “conversational deli…
The Magic Shoebox [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 53:34
Where is a millisecond worth a million dollars? The New York Stock Exchange. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Baby Judge School [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:49
Judges now want us to know they’re human. But maybe we’d be better off if we didn’t know. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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