How a Mormon Journalist Became a Degenerate Gambler

The Next Big Idea

Next Big Idea Club

Education, Social Sciences, Science, Society & Culture

4.4 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 23 March 2026

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

On a muggy spring day in 2018, the Supreme Court handed down a decision that transformed America. In a 6-3 ruling, the high court cleared the way for legal sports betting from coast to coast. Since then, all bets have been off: Americans have wagered more than $500 billion on sports. And now, thanks to prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket, we're betting on everything — the weather, where the next US airstrike will land in Iran, whether Jesus Christ will return before 2027. McKay Coppins, a staff writer at The Atlantic, wanted to write about this brave new world of betting. He got more than he bargained for. His story — "My Year as a Degenerate Gambler" — is the cover of The Atlantic's April issue. Watch The Next Big Idea on YouTube! You can find our episodes ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Follow Rufus on ⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠, subscribe to our ⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠⁠, or send us an email at ⁠podcast@nextbigideaclub.com⁠. We love getting fan mail. Sponsored By: Fabric — Join the thousands of parents who trust Fabric to help protect their family at ⁠⁠meetfabric.com/nbi⁠⁠ Factor — Head to ⁠⁠⁠factormeals.com/idea50off⁠⁠⁠ and use code idea50off to get 50% off your first box Granola — Get three months free at ⁠⁠granola.ai/idea⁠⁠ Shopify — Start your $1/month trial at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠shopify.com/nbi⁠⁠⁠⁠

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Caleb Bissinger, and I'm Rufus Grisgham.
0:02.8	And this is the next big idea.
0:05.1	Today, how gambling took over America. In 2017, Americans legally bet $5 billion on sports.
0:37.3	Last year, that number skyrocketed to $160 billion.
0:43.0	Roughly half of all American men, ages 18 to 49, have an active account with an online sports book like draft kings or fan duel.
0:50.4	And nearly a third of 11-year-old boys have gambled in the past year. And with the rise of
0:56.5	prediction markets like Calci and Polymarket, Americans are now betting on everything. I started
1:02.9	talking to my editors about doing a story about the kind of explosive growth of the sports
1:08.1	betting industry in America and also sort of what gambling is doing
1:12.1	to American culture. That's McKay Coppins, a staff writer at The Atlantic. His new cover story for the
1:18.0	magazine is called My Year as a Degenerate Gambler. As the title suggests, McKay wasn't just a
1:24.5	skeptical observer of the gambling boom. He went all in.
1:29.1	I looked at my phone and I started to do the mental math
1:33.2	and I realized that I had lost $2,500 in like 13 days.
1:38.6	What he learned, what he lost,
1:40.9	and what it can teach the rest of us after these ads.
1:54.0	Okay. what he lost and what it can teach the rest of us after these ads. Today's episode of the next big idea is sponsored by Shopify Fabric Granola and Factor.
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2:02.7	Sign up for your $1 per month trial today at Shopify.com slash NBI.
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2:12.3	Apply in just minutes at meetfabric.com slash NBI.
2:16.6	Eat like a pro this month with Factor.
	...

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