WEBVTT - The Big Short Companion from Against the Rules

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<v Speaker 1>Pushkin way back in the spring of two thousand and eight,

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<v Speaker 1>after many years of ignoring Wall Street, I started paying

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<v Speaker 1>attention to it again. After all, these big banks began

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<v Speaker 1>to announce these massive trading losses. These people, Morgan Stanley

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<v Speaker 1>and Lehman Brothers, and Baris Stearns and Merrill Lynch, who

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<v Speaker 1>were meant to be the smartest in the world at

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<v Speaker 1>managing financial risk, suddenly looked like complete idiots. And then

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<v Speaker 1>one day the losses grew so large that the banks

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<v Speaker 1>began to fail and bring the entire financial system down

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<v Speaker 1>with them. My name is Michael Lewis. I wrote a

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<v Speaker 1>book about this time. I told the story through the

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<v Speaker 1>eyes of the relative handful of people who made fortunes

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<v Speaker 1>from the crisis. They took the other side of the

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<v Speaker 1>bets made by the big Wall Street banks, and those

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<v Speaker 1>bets paid off when the market collapsed. I called the

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<v Speaker 1>book The Big Short. It came out in twenty ten,

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<v Speaker 1>which is now fifteen years ago. Five years later it

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<v Speaker 1>became an Oscar winning movie. And now I've narrated the

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<v Speaker 1>audiobook of The Big Short for the first time. Steve

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<v Speaker 1>is using his fingers to speak on his behalf zero.

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<v Speaker 1>They said yes, asked the obviously irritated CEO. Is that

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<v Speaker 1>another question? No, said Eisman, It's a zero. Why am

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<v Speaker 1>I bringing this story back now? Well, for one, the

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<v Speaker 1>financial crisis of two thousand and eight has entirely reshaped

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<v Speaker 1>the world we live in, and I think there's a

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<v Speaker 1>lot more we can learn from this event. So that's

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<v Speaker 1>what we're going to do over the next seven weeks.

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<v Speaker 1>Here and Against the Rules, a companion podcast series for

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<v Speaker 1>The Big Short, I speak with many of the characters

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<v Speaker 1>that I followed back when I was writing the book,

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<v Speaker 1>the hedge fund manager Steve Eisman. But after the meeting,

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<v Speaker 1>like you know, guys, thought said, what do you think?

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<v Speaker 1>I said, what do I think? Somebody just told me

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<v Speaker 1>how to make a gazillion dollars. I'm ready to go.

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<v Speaker 1>I also spent some time with Eisman's posse at Front

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<v Speaker 1>Point Partners Vinnie, Danny, and Porter. And what do you

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<v Speaker 1>say to him when he says, Vinnie, what the hell's

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<v Speaker 1>going on? There's a problem with the housing market? Which

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<v Speaker 1>you don't want to say. Is I've been trying to

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<v Speaker 1>tell you this, but I was scared. You know, humans

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<v Speaker 1>are humans, will make the same mistakes all over again.

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<v Speaker 1>All the consequences of all those things that happened seventeen

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<v Speaker 1>years ago are not only still with us, potentially end

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<v Speaker 1>up getting a lot worse. We're also going to unpack

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<v Speaker 1>a bit the way the financial crisis broke politics in America.

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<v Speaker 1>Draw me a line between the financial crisis and Donald Trump?

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<v Speaker 1>Was his rise directly a result of the anger that

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<v Speaker 1>was generated by the financial crisis? One million percent? Do

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<v Speaker 1>you worry about the Fed's independence? Of course, that absolutely

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<v Speaker 1>can be destroyed. But I think also this is the

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<v Speaker 1>story of how a story gets told. If you aim

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<v Speaker 1>for art and you miss, you end up with comedy.

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<v Speaker 1>If you aim for comedy and you miss, you end

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<v Speaker 1>up with crap. I hope you'll join me for this

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<v Speaker 1>special behind the scenes series on the making and the

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<v Speaker 1>meaning of The Big Short. You can get your copy

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<v Speaker 1>of The Big Short audiobook, newly narrated by me over

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<v Speaker 1>at Pushkin dot FM or wherever audiobooks are sold. Then

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<v Speaker 1>come back here to Against the Rules. Episodes of The

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<v Speaker 1>Big Short Companion podcast drop weekly starting October the fourteenth.

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<v Speaker 1>See you then,