Hey there, it's Michael Lewis, host of Against the Rules at Pushkin.

I've been working on a new book.

Can't give it all away, but it involves trips to the Bahamas and court dates and crypto

trading and ankle bracelets.

There's one thing I always do when I sit down to write.

A lot of interviews on background.

They almost never make it into the book, but they just give me a kind of context of what

my characters are going through.

And I'm at that phase right now.

I'm going to let you in on these background interviews.

On the record, once a month, listen in as I call up some esoteric expert, like a crypto

sleuth who traces secrets on the blockchain, or a regulator who knows what's against the

rules for crypto firms trading other people's money.

Listen to Against the Rules wherever you get your podcasts.

If there's one holiday I adore, and you can ask anyone who knows me well, it has to

be Halloween.

The candy, the costumes, all the general creepiness, I love it.

Sadly, I've never been all that enthusiastic about Christmas.

It's never really been my thing.

I also know a lot of people who have a really tough time during the Christmas season.

And so I wanted to do something to change that.

So even though we're busily working on a special New Year season of the Happiness Lab,

...