285: Going Infinite with Michael Lewis
The Lincoln Project
The Lincoln Project
4.6 • 9.1K Ratings
🗓️ 10 October 2023
⏱️ 31 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Host Reed Galen is joined by New York Times bestselling author Michael Lewis to discuss the rise of Sam Bankman-Fried, his (and his crypto exchange FTX’s) rise to prominence, and how it all unraveled. Plus, what seems to draw Americans to the likes of Sam Bankman-Fried, Elon Musk, and Donald Trump? For more on this topic be sure to pick up Michael Lewis’ latest book, Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon. To hear more from Reed Galen, subscribe to his brand new Substack, The Home Front. If you’d like to connect with The Lincoln Project, send an email to podcast@lincolnproject.us.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey everyone, it's October. It's hard to believe. We're in the fourth quarter of 2023. And in the last two weeks, we have seen more maga madness than we've seen in a while. But gang, it's not going to get better. These people don't become normal overnight. And they're not likely to unless they are defeated and defeated badly next year. |
| 0:22.8 | I need you to go to join the union.us or Lincolnproject.us and sign up, join our movement, gang. |
| 0:30.0 | It matters. It takes all of us, and with all of us, we can make this happen. And now, on with the show. |
| 0:50.3 | Thank you. we can make this happen. And now, on with the show. Welcome back to the Lincoln Project. I'm your host, Reed Yalen. Today, I'm pleased to welcome back the New York Times bestselling author, Michael Lewis. Michael has chronicled America for the last three decades with classics such as |
| 0:57.1 | Liars Poker, Moneyball, and The Big Short. |
| 1:00.4 | He joined us last year to discuss his book about the COVID response, The Premonition. |
| 1:04.6 | His latest book, released last week and available wherever fine books are sold, is Going Infinite, |
| 1:09.8 | The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon |
| 1:12.2 | and tells the story of Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX, his crypto exchange, and the cryptocurrency space. |
| 1:18.5 | Michael is also a columnist for Bloomberg View and a contributing writer for Audible. His articles have |
| 1:23.8 | appeared in Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, Sports Illustrated, and many other outlets. |
| 1:28.3 | He is a bachelor's degree in art history from Princeton and a master's in economics from the London School of Economics. |
| 1:34.3 | Michael, welcome back. |
| 1:36.3 | Thanks, Reid. Good to see you. Good to catch sight of you. |
| 1:38.3 | So, look, your book is making a lot of news. |
| 1:42.3 | Probably more coincidentally than anything, the week that your |
| 1:46.0 | book drops, the subject of said book is going on trial in federal court in New York on fraud |
| 1:52.5 | charges. So let me ask you this. I appreciate the fact that at the very beginning of the book, |
| 1:58.7 | you say, I didn't want to be taken in by this guy. |
| 2:01.3 | I was told not to be taken in by this guy and I was anyway. |
| 2:04.8 | Tell me about how this happens. |
| 2:07.0 | And candidly, because you hear the guy, Sam Bankman-Fried, he's like, you know, the tube socks, the shorts, the hair, the very high, nasly voice. |
... |
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