Scratch & Win | 5. The Cherry Sheets

This podcast has featured two stories about government endeavors: the much-criticized infrastructure project known as ‘The Big Dig,’ and of course the wildly successful state lottery. So why do these two stories play out so differently?In the final interview episode for this season, host Ian Coss speaks with Marc Dunkelman, a research fellow at Brown University, about why some parts of government draw intense scrutiny while others run quietly in the background. Dunkelman’s new book is "Why Nothing Works: Who Killed Progress -- and How to Bring It Back."

There’s a lot of talk lately about patronage politics returning to Washington – a system based on loyalty, relationships, favors and transactions – but this kind of system is not new. Patronage was once the beating heart of the Democratic Party, and of course, the Massachusetts state lottery. So what changed? How did the party of patronage become the party of technocrats?In this second interview episode, host Ian Coss speaks with historian Lily Geismer, co-editor of a new book about the evolution of the Democratic Party: “Mastery and Drift: Professional Class Liberals Since 1960.”

Lotteries are part of a long trend toward more and more legal gambling: bingo helped open the door for lotteries, just as lotteries helped open the door for casinos. And by that logic, sports betting is just the latest addition to the trend. So why does it feel so different?In the first of three interview episodes expanding on themes from the series, host Ian Coss speaks with gambling historian Jonathan Cohen about why this expansion of legal gambling is unlike anything that came before it.Cohen’s new book "Losing Big: America’s Reckless Bet on Sports Gambling” is out April 1st, 2025.

Part 8: Most lottery games follow a predictable life cycle: a burst of interest followed by a long decline. But something else happened with the scratch ticket, and it changed how every lottery in the country operates. Credits:Host an Scriptwriter: Ian CossExecutive Producer: Devin Maverick RobinsProducers: Isabel Hibbard and Ian CossStory Editor: Lacy RobertsEditorial Advisor: Jenifer McKimFact-checkers: Ryan Alderman and Isabel HibbardScoring and Music Supervision: Ian CossProject Manager: Meiqian HeGraphic Design: Bill Miller

Part 7: By 1986 Treasurer Bob Crane has turned the lottery into the most successful operation of its kind, but now he’s in the fight of his political life with a challenger who says he’s the real crook. To cement his legacy he will have to win one last election, and it’s a dirty one.Credits:Host and Scriptwriter: Ian CossExecutive Producer: Devin Maverick RobinsProducers: Isabel Hibbard and Ian CossStory Editor: Lacy RobertsEditorial Advisor: Jenifer McKimFact-checkers: Ryan Alderman and Isabel HibbardScoring and Music Supervision: Ian CossProject Manager: Meiqian HeGraphic Design: Bill Miller

Part 6: The Mass Lottery stumbles when it attempts to launch the nation’s first ‘lotto’ game. But that failure soon becomes an opportunity – and a national craze – when Treasurer Bob Crane brings in a new agency to take over the state’s marketing efforts.Credits:Host and Scriptwriter: Ian CossExecutive Producer: Devin Maverick RobinsProducers: Isabel Hibbard and Ian CossStory Editor: Lacy RobertsEditorial Advisor: Jenifer McKimFact-checkers: Ryan Alderman and Isabel HibbardScoring and Music Supervision: Ian CossProject Manager: Meiqian HeGraphic Design: Bill Miller

Part 5: The lottery was never just about stopping crime; it was about bringing in money. In 1980, an anti-tax ballot measure throws Massachusetts state finances into chaos, putting new pressure on the lottery to close the gap.Credits:Host and Scriptwriter: Ian CossExecutive Producer: Devin Maverick RobinsProducers: Isabel Hibbard and Ian CossStory Editor: Lacy RobertsEditorial Advisor: Jenifer McKimFact-checkers: Ryan Alderman and Isabel HibbardScoring and Music Supervision: Ian CossProject Manager: Meiqian HeGraphic Design: Bill Miller

Part 4: The state lottery can’t run the mob out of the numbers business on their own. Luckily they’ve got help from the FBI, who are just launching a daring operation of their own – to bug the headquarters of the Boston mafia.Credits:Host and Scriptwriter: Ian CossExecutive Producer: Devin Maverick RobinsProducers: Isabel Hibbard and Ian CossStory Editor: Lacy RobertsEditorial Advisor: Jenifer McKimFact-checkers: Ryan Alderman and Isabel HibbardScoring and Music Supervision: Ian CossProject Manager: Meiqian HeGraphic Design: Bill Miller

Part 3: Before the Massachusetts Lottery can claim to be number one, they have to take out the competition. So in 1976 the state lottery challenges organized crime head on by copying their most popular game: 'the numbers.'Credits:Host and Scriptwriter: Ian CossExecutive Producer: Devin Maverick RobinsProducers: Isabel Hibbard and Ian CossStory Editor: Lacy RobertsEditorial Advisor: Jenifer McKimFact-checkers: Ryan Alderman and Isabel HibbardScoring and Music Supervision: Ian CossProject Manager: Meiqian HeGraphic Design: Bill Miller

Part 2: When states got into the gambling business, they wanted the same thing organized crime wanted: money and power. The question now is who in government will get to wield that awesome power? Credits:Host and Scriptwriter: Ian CossExecutive Producer: Devin Maverick RobinsProducers: Isabel Hibbard and Ian CossStory Editor: Lacy RobertsEditorial Advisor: Jenifer McKimFact-checkers: Ryan Alderman and Isabel HibbardScoring and Music Supervision: Ian CossProject Manager: Meiqian HeGraphic Design: Bill Miller