This week, we speak with Michael Lewis. We discuss Season 3 of his podcast Against the Rules. We also delve into the 30th anniversary of Liar’s Poker: Rising Through the Wreckage on Wall Street, and his new audio recording of the book. He is also the author of Undoing Project, Moneyball, Flashboys, The Big Short, and so many others.
Now, 30 years post-publication, the audio rights to Liar’s Poker reverted back to Lewis. He recorded a complete, uncut audio version of Liar’s Poker himself along with a companion podcast.
We discuss how difficult it was for him to reread Liar’s Poker for the first time since it was published in 1989. His first book reveals a new writer who has not quite found his voice yet but still resonates with readers as authentic and insightful. He observes that what he thought was funny when writing turns out to fall flat now, but the characters and story end up being (unintentionally) hilarious.
He also explains why expertise has become devalued, despite ongoing improvements in nearly every field. Expertise has become probabilistic and data-based when people prefer more squishy narratives. The preference is for confident, bold certainty rather than nuanced probability and doubt, to the detriment of the lay observer.
A list of his current reading is here; A transcript of our conversation is available Monday.
You can stream and download our full conversation, including the podcast extras on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google, Bloomberg, and Acast. All of our earlier podcasts on your favorite pod hosts can be found here.
Be sure to check out our Masters in Business next week with Alex Guervich of Hon Te Advisors, a discretionary global macro hedge fund. Previously, Guervich ran JP Morgans’s macro book. In 2020, Hon Te was ranked 2nd in net return, and a top 10 emerging manager. He is the author of The Next Perfect Trade and most recently, The Trades of March 2020.
Previously:
Revisiting Liar’s Poker, 30 Years Later (April 22, 2022)
MiB: Michael Lewis on Pandemic Planning (May 8, 2021)
MiB: Michael Lewis on Coaches and Risk (May 25, 2020)
MIB: Michael Lewis, Podcaster (April 6, 2019)
MIB: Michael Lewis on a Writer’s Life (December 13, 2016)
Michael Lewis’ Portrait of Two Men Who Changed the World (December 5, 2016)
Michael Lewis’ current reading
Horse by Geraldine Brooks
The Yellow House: A Memoir by Sarah M. Broom
