Against the Rules with Michael Lewis

Exciting news! I have an all new book coming out on October 6th: BLOCKERS. You can pre-order your copy of the audiobook exclusively at blockers.fm. The hardcover is available at michaellewiswrites.com. A blocker is the worst thing you could be during President Trump's second term—especially if you worked in the federal government and wanted to keep your job. A blocker was a holdover, an impediment, and, most of all, someone who didn’t belong. BLOCKERS tells the story of seven people who believed they had a calling, who were convinced they were doing something the country couldn’t do without, and then discovered they were no longer wanted. One kept Americans’ most sensitive tax data out of the wrong hands and another made sure that politicians and civil servants played by the rules. One figured out how to stop wildfires from destroying suburban neighborhoods, another helped uncover the mysteries of cystic fibrosis. BLOCKERS is an inside look at the early days of Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) as told by the public servants it targeted and asks the question: If public servants can’t survive in government today, then what does that say about our country? Pre-order your copy of the audiobook exclusively at blockers.fm. We'll send you a code for 25% off all Pushkin titles, including mine like Liar’s Poker and The Big Short, through the end of the year. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 1968, in the dense jungles of Vietnam, a team of Green Berets was pinned down by an overwhelming North Vietnamese Army force. Their last hope was a young Air Force pilot named James Fleming. Despite being low on fuel and facing a wall of enemy fire, Fleming refused to turn back. The rescue mission seemed destined to fail, but a split-second decision would earn Fleming the nation’s highest military honor. Binge the full season of Medal of Honor, ad-free, with a Pushkin+ subscriptions. Sign up on the Medal of Honor show page in Apple or at Pushkin.fm/plus and use the code MOH25 for 25% off an annual subscription. Connect with the team!  Follow Pushkin on social @pushkinpods  Follow JR Martinez @iamjrmartinez  Email the team: [email protected] Episode resources: “SOG Combat in Cambodia: Under the Gun at Tango Five-One” by Randy Harrison, Soldier of Fortune Magazine, August 1982  Green Hornets: The History of the U.S. Air Force 20th Special Operations Squadron by Wayne Mutza (Schiffer Military History, 2007)  Secret Green Beret Commandos In Cambodia: A Memorial History of MACVSOG's Command and Control Detachment South (CCS) And Its Air Partners, Republic of Vietnam, 1967-1972 by Fred S. Lindsey (AuthorHouse, 2012)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Drilled, a new addition to the Pushkin network, is a true-crime climate change podcast exposing how corporate corruption and political operatives built decades of climate denial and delay. Award-winning investigative journalist Amy Westervelt unravels evidence of deception, disinformation, and the power structures keeping real climate solutions out of reach. Her new season, Carbon Cowboys, traces how the ethanol kingpin of Iowa became the king of corn in Brazil. In September 2025, a group of Brazilian ministers trekked all the way to chilly North Dakota to see a presentation on a new type of clean energy project, one that promised to help them deliver Brazilian President Lula’s dream of turning Brazil into "the Saudi Arabia of sustainable aviation fuels." It was the latest in a string of projects from Midwest Republican kingmaker Bruce Rastetter, whose investments in Brazil might just transform him into a global carbon czar, even as his Summit pipeline carbon project faces fierce opposition from Iowa to North Dakota. The problem? It all requires loads of land and none of it does a thing about climate change. Here's episode 1. Find more of Drilled: Carbon Cowboys wherever you get podcasts.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sir David Attenborough turns 100 this year—and no one has done more to shape how humanity sees our planet. But for years, there was one issue he didn’t talk about...Every week on the new Pushkin show, Big Lives, hosts Kai Wright and Emmanuel Dzotsi dig into the BBC archive to explore the story behind the icons who shape our culture—trailblazers like David Bowie, George Michael, Muhammed Ali, and Tina Turner—and better understand how each legend set the stage for our contemporary cultural landscape. Here, Emmanuel and Kai chart the story of how one nerdy rock-collecting kid became one of TV’s biggest stars, and took on the most important mission of his life. If you like what you hear, find more episodes of Big Lives wherever you get podcasts.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Here's an episode from Slate Money: Money Talks. Host Felix Salmon is joined by journalist Mariana van Zeller, who has spent years reporting on black and gray markets around the world and has a new podcast, The Hidden Third, that delves into these powerful underground economies. They’ll get into what Mariana has seen embedded with criminal operators, from the surprisingly mundane to the darker side of working outside the system. Podcast production by Jessamine Molli and Cheyna Roth.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Streamed by millions every day, porn is everywhere. It shapes our culture, our relationships, and even technology. Yet, nobody seems to know who really controls the business. The power brokers tend to lurk in the shadows, while their performers remain quite literally exposed. In Pushkin's new audiobook, The Kink Machine: The Hidden Business of Adult Entertainment, two Financial Times journalists, Patricia Nilsson and Alex Barker, start digging into the porn industry and following where the money flows. Their reporting uncovers a shadowy power structure that includes billionaires, tech geniuses, and the most powerful finance companies in the world. A gripping exposé of how power operates behind the most taboo corner of the internet, Nilsson and Barker unravel a story about control, influence, and an industry with staggering cultural reach that no one really wants to talk about—until now. Find The Kink Machine on Audible, Spotify, pushkin.fm, or wherever you get audiobooks.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Michael Lewis joins his friend and fellow Pushkin podcaster Maya Shankar (host of A Slight Change of Plans) for a live conversation in San Francisco. They discuss her new book in a candid conversation about identity, loss, and what happens when the thing that once defined you falls away. (00:02:02) Get The Other Side of Change at Apple Books or wherever you get audiobooks. Find A Slight Change of Plans wherever you get podcasts.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Here's a preview of another podcast, Here's the Scoop from NBC News. Democrats racked up big political wins in New York, New Jersey, and Virginia this year with a laser-focus on affordability, despite President Trump touting an “A+++++” economy. Now, heading into 2026, the question is: Whose message will be more compelling to voters in the November midterms? And what impact will that have on the administration? Here’s the Scoop host Yasmin Vossoughian takes stock of politics in 2025 with NBC News Chief Data Analyst Steve Kornacki and Chief Capitol Hill Correspondent Ryan Nobles and looks ahead to 2026, the midterms and more. Find Here's the Scoop wherever you get podcasts.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, we're sharing a new podcast from Pushkin Industries we think you'll enjoy, Business History. Former Planet Money hosts Jacob Goldstein and Robert Smith examine the surprising stories of businesses big and small, bringing to life the greatest innovations, the boldest entrepreneurs and the craziest mavericks in the archives of commerce and finance. In this episode: Curt Flood vs. Major League Baseball. Curt Flood was the best center fielder in baseball and one of the game's highest payed players. He helped the St. Louis Cardinals reach the 1968 World Series... but then got traded. The rules said had no say in the decision. He either could go to Philly, or quit the sport. So Curt decided to sue. Curt argued that Major League Baseball should act like any other business and let workers sell their labor to whichever team they liked. But for decades, courts had ruled in favor of the team owners. Curt's fight would destroy his career; anger many parts of American society; and change the sport forever. (00:01:05) Listen to Business History, on Apple Podcasts & Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Recently, Michael Lewis spoke with Nicolle Wallace, host of the podcast The Best People, at Symphony Space in New York. They discussed what it was like re-visiting the Big Short 15 years on. And we hear the actor Zach Grenier dramatize a portion of The Big Short. Order The Big Short audiobook, now narrated by Michael Lewis, on Audible, Spotify, pushkin.fm/bigshort or wherever you get audiobooks.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.