Against The Rules With Michael Lewis

For the International Day of Happiness, we're sharing a special episode from The Happiness Lab. It's a chance to talk about happiness and what we can all do to be happier. March 20th also sees the release of the World Happiness Report. A big finding of 2025's report is that more of us are dining alone—and that's bad news.  The report's editor Jan-Emmanuel De Neve shares the stark figures showing that shared meals are in decline, while Dr. Anne Fischel of The Family Dinner Project gives tips on how to dine better with friends, families and colleagues. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is anyone trying to regulate sports gambling on the federal level in the US? In the fall of 2024, Connecticut Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal introduced a bill with New York Congressman Paul Tonko. The SAFE Bet would restrict sports gambling ads and would help fund more gambling addiction treatment, among other things. Blumenthal speaks with Michael Lewis about why he sees sports gambling as a public health disaster in the making. Further reading: Blumenthal’s press release on the SAFE Bet Act.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Michael Lewis invites over Yale psychology professor Dr. Laurie Santos, host of The Happiness Lab at Pushkin, for a chat about what scientific research has to tell us about sports fandom, teenagers, and gambling. You can sign up for The Happiness Lab newsletter here.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As an anthropologist, Natasha Schüll spent more than a decade doing field work in Vegas casinos, especially among the slot machine addicts. She tells Michael Lewis why many of those who play slots actually hate to win. And she talks about how the digital overhaul of Vegas has made all forms of gambling, including sports gambling, more like slots. For further reading: Addiction by Design: Machine Gambling in Las Vegas by Natasha Schüll.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Perhaps you have someone in your life who’s prone to sports gambling. Michael Lewis has someone. So he comes up with a scheme to “inoculate” his 17-year-old son against the lure of placing bets online. All the while, Lewis tries to craft the perfect “master class” for would-be gamblers to understand the dangers of what they might be getting themselves into. Here's his reading list: The Logic of Sports Betting by Matt Davidow and Ed Miller Stephen Pinker’s Rationality: What It Is, Why It Seems Scarce, Why It Matters Weapons of Math Destruction by Cathy O’Neil  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Michael Lewis gets a glimpse of sports gambling's future by talking with writers in Great Britain and Australia, where the industry is even more entrenched. But the US has its own peculiar history of failing to regulate dangerously addictive new products, and blaming the users instead. Especially when powerful industry advocates are able to pay scientists to sow doubt and delay the day of reckoning. For further reading: Lying for Money: How Legendary Frauds Reveal the Workings of our World by Dan Davies Crikey’s coverage on sports gambling in Australia: Punted Patrick Radden Keefe’s Empire of Pain: The Story of the Sackler Family and Purdue Pharma Merchants of Doubt by Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Has betting based on inside intel on games gone down since sports gambling was legalized in the US? Not really, as Michael Lewis finds out. But what's gone up is misery for athletes. We hear from Atlanta Hawks forward Larry Nance, Jr. about the rage, threats and wheedling that pro athletes now endure. The NCAA, former Massachusetts governor Charlie Baker, is trying to protect student athletes on campus, while their friends all bet on them, often underaged. Overall, the “integrity landscape” for US sports looks more and more pot-holed by the day. For further reading: NCAA sports wagering surveySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Just recently, Michael Lewis was a guest on the "Prof G" podcast with Scott Galloway. He talks about the rise of sports betting and why the consequences might be a "disaster" for US society. And the two discuss the subject of Lewis's latest book, "Going Infinite." See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On a visit to Las Vegas, Michael Lewis meets three old-school sports bookies. Chris Andrews, Jimmy Vaccaro, and Vinny Magliulo book bets and set odds at the South Point Hotel Casino. They talk about how they got started in Vegas, the origins of the prop bet, and why it's bad for business to limit smart bets.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Michael Lewis sits down with Billy Walters, one of the most famous sports bettors of all time. They talk about Walters' impoverished childhood in Kentucky, and his transformation from an auto dealer to a professional poker player in Las Vegas to a sobered-up millionaire who's been indicted five times. For further reading: Gambler: Secrets from a Life at Risk by Billy Walters.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As a resident of California, Michael Lewis cannot place bets on any of the online sports books at the center of this season. They’re not allowed to operate in the state. But why? We hear from pastors, Native Americans and short-sellers about why a handful of states are still holding out, and why those efforts are most likely doomed. For further reading: Steve Ruddock’s gaming newsletter Straight to the Point Inside the $400 million fight to control California sports betting by Gus Garcia-Roberts, Washington Post. This episode has been corrected to reflect the accurate title of Victor Rocha. He is Conference Chair of the Indian Gaming Association, not the Chair.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What does it mean to be a “very important person” in the world of online sports betting? Not necessarily what you think. We hear from recovering gambling addicts and state regulators frustrated with some of the perverse incentives to keep people on a losing streak. Meanwhile, our show’s own producers hope for a VIP night at the concert of the year. For further reading: Legalizing Sports Gambling Was a Huge Mistake by Charles Fain Lehman. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The role has many names: “Runner,” “mover,” “betting partner,” and “mule.” As skilled sports gamblers find themselves limited on apps, they turn to these affiliates to place their bets in return for a piece of the proceeds. Against the Rules decides to explore this murky world by signing up for mule-dom with one of the world’s most skilled sports bettors.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Constitutional lawyer and former US Solicitor Ted Olson recently died at the age of 84. Olson represented the state of New Jersey in its efforts to overturn a federal ban on sports gambling. Those efforts succeeded, as we hear in our episode "Welcome to the Garden State." But Olson and Michael Lewis talked about many other aspects of his vivid legal career. We're offering their full conversation today.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Michael Lewis heads to Las Vegas to explore the way sports betting used to work, up until the day it was rapidly legalized by states around the country. We meet the betting sharps who figured out what others couldn’t and set the odds for other bookies. That is, up until everyone seemed to have a casino on their smartphone. But the new online casino differs from the old ones in an important way: It doesn’t take all bets. For further reading:  Edward Thorp’s Beat the Dealer “Cigars, Booze, Money: How a Lobbying Blitz Made Sports Betting Ubiquitous” by  Eric Lipton and Kenneth P. VogelSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As the US election nears, Michael Lewis sits down with Nate Silver, co-host of the Pushkin podcast Risky Business (along with the writer, psychologist and professional poker player Maria Konnikova). They talk about why people bet on elections, the problem with sports gamblers in the United States, and Silver’s new book, On the Edge: The Art of Risking Everything. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is there a difference between fandom and religion? In Pittsburgh, it can be hard to tell. Fans of the city’s football team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, seem to have a cradle-to-grave devotion, complete with a golden relic, the “terrible towel.” Michael Lewis talks with sociologist Marci Cottingham, a native of Steeler Nation, about her work studying the religious overtones of fandom, and why the positive experiences of sports fans should get more scholarly attention. For further reading: Marci Cottingham’s Practical Feelings: Emotions as Resources in a Dynamic Social WorldSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It may seem like sports gambling got legalized overnight in the US. But it was in fact a winding road to get there. Michael Lewis speaks with legal historian and University of Chicago professor Alison L. LaCroix about all the factors that led to the Supreme Court overturning, in 2018, a federal law called the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act. And they explore why, in some eras of US history, the Court tends to lean towards “states rights” arguments. For further reading: Alison LaCroix’s The Interbellum Constitution: Union, Commerce, and Slavery in the Age of FederalismsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How did we get from fantasy sports to legalized sports betting? The path is convoluted, but most of it winds through New Jersey. Michael Lewis speaks with former governor Chris Christie, among other Jersey politicians, as well as lobbyists for the gaming industry. Plus we hear from Ted Olson, the lawyer who kept bringing the Garden State’s constitutional challenge until it finally reached the Supreme Court — and hit a jackpot. For further reading: Albert Chen’s Billion Dollar Fantasy Murphy v. NCAA ESPN timeline of how sports betting was legalized SCOTUS Blog: The Tenth Amendment, Anti-Commandeering and Sports BettingSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bill Bradley was already famous in college as the epitome of certain American virtues: integrity, honesty, and athleticism. As an NBA star, he took those virtues to the big leagues. As a US Senator, he had a chance to codify some of them into law and prevent the rise of sports betting. But at the same time, others in Bradley's state were making huge money on this illicit form of gambling. For further reading: John McPhee’s A Sense of Where You Are American Bettors Voice, non-profit advocacy for sports bettors co-founded by Gadoon “Spanky” Kryollos. Bill Bradley’s Values of the Game David Hill's The Vapors: Southern Family, the New York Mob, and the Rise and Fall of Hot Springs, America's Forgotten Capital of Vice Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992.https://www.congress.gov/bill/102nd-congress/senate-bill/474See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.