WEBVTT - On Background from Against the Rules

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<v Speaker 1>Pushkin. I want to say, hide all listeners of Against

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<v Speaker 1>the Rules. I know you've been patient. It's Michael Lewis here.

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<v Speaker 1>You've been waiting a long time for season four, and

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<v Speaker 1>you're gonna wait a bit more though. I've been thinking

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<v Speaker 1>about it a lot. But at the same time, I've

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<v Speaker 1>been working on a new book about the crypto Exchange

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<v Speaker 1>FTX and its founder Sam Bankman Freed, who I met

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<v Speaker 1>now about a year and a half ago, and so

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<v Speaker 1>I've been marinating in the story. As the story has happened,

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<v Speaker 1>It's recently taken some pretty dramatic turns, and I can't

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<v Speaker 1>give it all away. I'm not going to give very

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<v Speaker 1>much of it away, but it involves lots of trips

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<v Speaker 1>to the Bahamas and court dates and crypto trading and

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<v Speaker 1>ankle bracelets. I feel a real obligation to this story,

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<v Speaker 1>so I love it if you just hang tight while

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<v Speaker 1>I finished writing it. However, there's one thing I always

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<v Speaker 1>do when I sit down and tell a complicated story.

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<v Speaker 1>I do a whole lot of interviews that are just

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<v Speaker 1>on background stuff that's going to end up on the

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<v Speaker 1>cutting room floor, just to educate myself around the boundaries

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<v Speaker 1>of the subject. It's stuff that will just never make

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<v Speaker 1>it into the book, and I know that going in,

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<v Speaker 1>but it helps me understand the deeper context of what

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<v Speaker 1>my characters are going through, and I'm at that phase

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<v Speaker 1>right now. I'm going to let you in on these

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<v Speaker 1>background interviews on the record once a month. You can

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<v Speaker 1>listen in as I call up some esoteric expert. It

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<v Speaker 1>might be a crypto sleuth who sniffs out secrets on

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<v Speaker 1>the blockchain, or someone who studied white color crime and

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<v Speaker 1>whether punishments fit offenses. I'd love, for example, to talk

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<v Speaker 1>to regulators who can tell us what the rules actually

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<v Speaker 1>are and aren't for crypto firms who trade in billions

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<v Speaker 1>of dollars of other people's money. I'm interested in the

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<v Speaker 1>way crypto is influenced American politics and taking advantage of

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<v Speaker 1>campaign finance rules. I'm also interested in the Bahamas and

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<v Speaker 1>learning why what you do in the Bahamas doesn't always

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<v Speaker 1>stay in the Bahamas. We're calling the series on background,

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<v Speaker 1>as in the reporter me, Michael Lewis talking with the

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<v Speaker 1>people who will make the author also Michael Lewis sound

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<v Speaker 1>like a smarter person. The first episode drops February fourteenth,

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<v Speaker 1>Right here in this fee but in the meantime, if

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<v Speaker 1>you have any questions for me, please do let me know.

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<v Speaker 1>I can't talk too much about the details of the

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<v Speaker 1>book I'm working on, but if you have questions about

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<v Speaker 1>like the writing process, or what music or podcasts I'm

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<v Speaker 1>listening to, or about books I'm reading, or about previous episodes,

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<v Speaker 1>or really anything else, submitted by clicking the link in

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<v Speaker 1>our show notes or visiting ATR podcast dot com. That's

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<v Speaker 1>atr podcast dot com. I'll be back soon with the

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<v Speaker 1>first episode of On Background from Against the Rules. Let's

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<v Speaker 1>see what we can learn together.