A great interview. Humor and insight is needed and appreciated. I’ve learned a lot about stuff that I know is important nationally and locally, but don’t yet understand. Thank you.
"Do as little as possible, and that unwillingly, for it is better to receive a slight reprimand than to perform an arduous task." 😂😂😂 What a magnificent motto. I did enjoy you laughing so wholeheartedly at that, Rory, unbridled mirth is a great gift.
I think the fact that Alastair and Rory are so natural, is one of the main reasons I enjoy their videos. I get to laugh along with the jokes and learn so much more information that gives context to what I hear from other sources. I kinda trust them and they don't preach.
I like to think I’ve lived my life doing the opposite of that motto and in truth I think I’d walk through shit rather than be rebuked for not having walked through shit if it was necessary but that motto was so in your face I don’t give a shit laugh out loud funny. I’ve spent the last twenty minutes chuckling to myself about it.
As good a description of the idle rich as I have ever heard. Considering what the rich often get up to when they aren't idle, perhaps the rest of us are better off if they loaf around and do as little as possible.....
Hands down the best epsiode I've watched on Leading. Could've listened to this for another hour. Michael is a wonderful writer and even better talker and you guys ask such high quality questions. Loved it
I listened a second time just as “treat” as I had time to “kill” (unwillingly caught up in bureaucracy but with access to TH-cam). This was so engaging, so intelligent, and serious as hell while somehow managing to keep “insurmountable” or “heavy” world problems either “manageable” or “laughable” (manageable or risible, in an ironic sense … just as that word (“irony”) is taken apart/defined with so many connotations, in this erudite conversation). Heaven to listen to intelligent people after taking some time away from so many (to spend alone in nature)!
The moment when Lewis observed that billionaires and their culture were “instinctively hostile to givers” was a lightbulb moment for me. I always thought that they were just too cynical to BELIEVE in givers, but this is clearer, and somehow a lot worse. As a federal employee for decades (child psychiatrist with the Indian Health Service) we were horrified when Trump first came up with the idea that the civil servants above a certain pay grade should serve at the pleasure of an elected politician, because the very idea made it clear that Trump had no idea what any of us did, why expertise is important, or what would happen if it came unraveled.
No offense. But US taxpayers resent the civil servants acting like they are angels. In Covid nurses made good money and my job was shut down, and I was supposed to applaud them as heroes. Heroes dont charge overtime.... Yes cases vary. But being lectured how govt workers in US earning more than us with no fear of firing, teachers, are heroes is annoying. My job is worse than theirs.... Cases vary. But my god US teachers are annoying.
@@alexwilliamrussell Offense taken. As a retired nurse, have you or anyone you care about been hospitalized recently? I don't wish you ill, but none of us get out of here alive. How is your job worse than a nurse's? I hope you only encounter nurses who are not forced to work double shifts. But I'm not optimistic on that score.
My knees are ruined from construction. Ive never heard of nurse injuries. My hearing is starting to go from hi noise environments... Frankly our grandparents had it tougher, neither you nor me are heroes, but I know it my grandpa was hero for not giving up... No you're not a hero the public should call a hero, why are upset being told that? Heroes also don't take money, thats not how we defined heroes in the past. .. Nurses make above average incomes , when the richest person on the block is a nurse they don't get to be called a hero for charging the rest for their work... And teachers too don't get to be called heroes when they only work 9 months, and I know teachers and they admit yeah the time off is nice and prep time is not that high for same subject every year... If an occupation has higher than avg life expectancy and income, thats a sign is not the most awful path, it's the shit jobs people do for little pay to raise a family that seems more heroic. That and dangerous jobs.... I had a waitress once say her job was tough, people can't image how crappy life is for most people, demanding label of hero is a big statement and just no way.
@@alexwilliamrussell You don't know any nurses. Don't take my word for it. Google work-related injuries for nurses. All of us tend to have had at least 1 back injury.
I am amazed that in 2024 that this is the first time that I hear journalists discussing the random element of luck for anyone who is successful. In my life and business we always recognised that many times success is the beneficiary of pure blind luck!
Malcolm Gladwell's 'Outliers' really opened my eyes to how much blind luck shapes people's fortunes. But it's a rare successful person's ego that will allow them to admit that...
Ditto for Gladwell. Watch Michael Sandel on the lie of meritocracy. Baby Boomers (I'm one) seem to be particularly disingenuous about the unprecedented opportunity & wealth we happened to be born into.
I’m seeing negative comments about Alastair again 😠 Yes, the Iraq dossier was a difficult and painful chapter, but it doesn’t change the fact that Alastair is, at heart, a genuinely good and honorable person. Since then, he’s shown strong morals, integrity, and a commitment to doing the right thing, time and time again. Maybe it’s time we let go of that one chapter and allow ourselves to see the person he truly is.
I find his tribalism grates. He supports his 'team' right or wrong with the same loyalty as a football fan. He could learn some lessons on introspection from Rory.
@@U5mR With all due respect - and I'm sure plenty is due - I can scarcely believe you and I have been listening to/watching the same podcast! I've lost count of the number of times I've heard Rory making a point, or taking a stand for this issue or that, and thought to myself, 'how on Earth was he ever a Conservative?!'. If anything, a great many views he's expressed here have been in opposition - at times subtle, at others direct - with the direction in which the Tory party would prefer us to travel. If I may ask, as I'm curious - what is it that incentivises you to keep coming back, if you know you're only going to get stressed listening to Rory Stewart anyway?
I agree with the sentiment but think it would be easier to forgive and forget if Alistair showed a hint of contrition and apology. Only then can we move on. In his Iraq episodes he took no personal responsibility and made no attempt at apology. Absent that I doubt the comments will ever stop. These are not minor misdemenours but the deaths of hundreds of thousands and a legacy of violence still playing out today.
13:00 SO TRUE about the luck. I realized this fully with the war in Ukraine. Because so many Ukrainian CVs started to look like this: Had loving parents. Did well at high school. Brilliant student. Got her Master´s Degree in Law. Started working in a promising start-up. Missile attack. The end.
Excellent. I remember reading Liars Poker when it came out in 1989, two years after I graduated from university. Many of my friends were working at investment banks in NY. Many now gone or absorbed. His book captured the roaring 80s very well. Found him a very engaging guest.
Lewis is a thoughtful, effusive and funny guest. I didn't read Moneyball or Liar's Poker, but Boomerang and The Big Short are excellent, and necessary.
Also read The Premonition. Read anything by Tracy Kidder. His most recent on the homeless in Boston, but also Mountains Beyond Mountains about Dr Paul Farmer & Partners in Health.
One of your most entertaining and podcasts. I don't think many can resist this easy southern style charm. I want him to come to dinner next week. You can come as well.
I grew up in New Orleans at the same time Michael did, and have always loved his writing. There was always a friendly rivalry between our high schools. He went to Newman, a private school with a terrific reputation. I came from a modest background, and went to the also highly regarded Ben Franklin HS, a public school. I didn't avoid arduous tasks, and was captain of the football team and an all-district linebacker. We lost all but 1 of our games. I wouldn't trade that experience for the world. I was lucky to work with low-profile financiers in Ft. Worth, and later got a law degree so I could understand what they were doing.
Trying to make health care & education profitable is ridiculous & obscene. "profit" as dollars vs expanding children's knowledge & exploring their potential.Maybe appointing Martha Stewart to find efficienceis makes as much sense as Elon Musk. The boundary for "inconceivable" keeps on getting moved.
34:15 it’s only half the story. Sam really did lose lots of money. The only reason people are getting paid back is because the bitcoin price rose from 20k to 69k. And you lost out if you had a bitcoin when FTX went bust because you are not getting it back. You are getting 20k USD plus 20% back. I’m afraid that doesn’t compensate for the bitcoin you lost and is worth 69k now.
Holding customer deposits in your hedge fund to use for margin requirements is not an optics problem. It's fraud and irresponsible. His take on ftx invalidates basically everything else he has to say.
Nah, it's just another view of banking and accounting. [view = optics]. It's only when we are losing 'our side' of the money tree that we want the rules set 'our way [for some definition of 'us', 😉]
@@philipoakley5498they were separate companies. Alemeda research and ftx were entirely separate. When Alemeda started going under they moved customer money out of the customer account at ftx to Alemeda illegally to cover Alemada's losses. It was fraud, it was illegal, it was a betrayal of trust. Users of ftx were not investors in Alemeda.
I grew up a few miles from Princeton and did pretty well academically but not Ivy-League well with a very middle-class background. During the time I was looking at colleges, me and a friend and his mom drove to Princeton as it was having a get-together for prospective students. At the time I didn't think of Princeton as "PRINCETON" but just a better school versus the other colleges in the area. The professor started asking various prospective students where they were from and what they did that summer. One girl said she was from California visiting (I was like "WHOA that's far to come here") and another spend their summer in the Peace Corps in Africa. It was from people all over the world doing things I could not afford to do with my time or things I'd never heard of before. The prof got to me and my friend ("LOCALS!" he said) and I forget if I told him I worked at a gas station that summer. It was a unique experience.
I don't think Michael particularly understands Elon Musk. His commercial success is based on effective management. Specifically it's based on something which doesn't generally happen in engineering companies. The guy with all the knowledge and ideas is rarely allowed to be in charge of anything never mind the whole company. He essentially cuts through the whole incentives argument and just goes out and finds it out for himself . Will it work in government, who knows, Tesla and SpaceX routinely cull 10% of their employees every few years, the same happened at Twitter.. Musk's general theory on product simplification is that if you're not needing to put back in 10% of the parts you take out then you've not been ambitious enough. He does the same with corporate management
Large companies are never "run" by their CEO, any more that wars are fought by Commanders in Chief. There can be a lot of layers of context/strategy/tactics/contact-with-reality in the success or failure of enterprises. Google is also said to practice more 'technology management' where many ideas are allowed to 'have a go' at flourishing, and then later there is a cull of the mediocrely performing implementations. It takes a village make the elder's 'wishes' happen for the children ["despite, not because"] ... Alignment is useful.
Great interview and such an entertaining subject. Rory, your 'Oxford exam' questions are so, so good. I really wish there had been a little more time to really explore those.
Great job gentlemen. This was interesting and fun. Your you tube channel has become my favourite and you both deserve credit for the consistently good content you create. God bless you both❤❤
When Rory was talking about his time with Liz Truss at the dept of environment , the way he talked about her reminded me very much about "modern management theory" . Essentially a "manager" can manage anything without having to "know" anything about what they are managing, in essence an accounting based management. For these type of people it is just another stepping stone to the top rung. You only need to look at Liz Truss time in the top job to see what a pigs ear she made of it and countless companies around the world like Boeing recently to see how fallacious that thinking is.
A riveting episode. You guys looked to be having a great time together, discussing potential catastrophic outcomes if existing technical experts are replaced by political appointees with no knowledge of the complexity of the work required. Managing the nuclear arsenal as well as the migration of plutonium residue remaining from the construction of the Nagasaki bomb, to name only two. It’s difficult for me to imagine the president elect having any idea of the existence or significance of responsibilities such as these. I couldn’t take my eyes off of this show.
Alastair is wrong. The hedge funds still create wealth that goes round, such as top end yachts and aircraft, hospitality makes a lot of good worthwhile work of interest that would otherwise not happen. I speak as someone who can't even smell the wealth; in fact I was born not eight miles from his mother.
Hanford Washington is DEFINITELY eastern Washington, or maybe south and central. Western Washington features Seattle, the city famous for constant rain, and the only temperate rainforest in the world. Hanford was put there because east of the Cascades is very arid, and it is obvious why you would put a reactor in a desert. But near a major river is very odd.
@@LeadingTRIP, as did I; but when you have a guest as effusive and insightful as Michael Lewis, *please don't interrupt him*. By the way, I quite liked Rory's "The Prince of the Marshes".
Imo as someone who would count as ‘neurodivergent’ it’s a pretty harmful stereotype to talk about people with neurological conditions as having some sort of godly superpower, when likely they’re the lucky few to forge a path to success that accommodates their cognitive difficulties.
Absolutely. I see this point in autistic discussion groups. Some autistic people have excellent memory or excellent aesthetic taste or out-of-the-box thinking about physics. But not all of them, and those feel twice "disabled" due to this myth. IMO it started as a supporting point for the argument that autism isn´t just straightforward disability. Which is a good argument. But it has very unfortunate consequences.
Most folks have at least a passing familiarity with Moneyball and The Big Short (especially because of the movie versions), and some have read one or both (Moneyball probably appealed more to our sports obsessed culture), but how many have read his book "Boomerang"? I highly recommend it.
[45:23] The moment where Rory goes "It's all about timing... timing..." and then just ONE more time than what's really necessary "... timing, yeah" without Lewis picking up on that Rory is being patrionizing... is precisely irony. 👏😄
And it's so simple... when you buy stock you need to hold on to it for a minimum of 2 months. Kills microtrading tech. Options should be banned. Kills stock gambling.
i would suggest that is a lot of electorates, when you are worried about if you can make it to the next week and eat well, in the western world, then you have other things on your mind. i'm not american, but i was really poor once..
That’s the perfect opening line for a particularly crap, and clearly very white, liberal rap song (Rick Mayall meets The Flying Conchords). Sue, you need to work on a second line. It’s got great comedic potential.
Bingo! But, I can't think of any moneyed Libertarian individuals or organizations who haven't eventually put their money and political access towards Authoritarian ends.
@@warheadsnation, you should listen to or watch the 4-part "Behind the Bastards" podcast about Peter Thiel; that guy is scarier than Musk, and he's Shady Vance's mentor and sugar daddy......
I just caught Alastair picking his ear with his glasses. STOP. My mum, a GP, forced my dad to take himself to A+E as she wouldnt take him due to the shere embarrasment, as the end of the glasses broke off and got lodged in his ear! 🤮
So, talking about traders who have "a total unawareness of the social consequences of their action" - we come to Anthony Scaramucci, who typified this approach to "greenbacks first". He revels in greed and Rolls Royces and shouts about it. It beyond difficult to now see him on TRIP US projecting himself as someone who gives the slightest toss about normal people. Lewis would benefit from slowing down, drinking less coffee and breathing more deeply. He very much risks being the type of male interviewee who just talks very fast - giving heat over light. Contrast Lewis to the considered, fluent, reflective style of George Mitchell. Half as many words, twice as much insight offered. Space is not decadent, it's a sign of self-possession. Step back, talk a breath, consider your audience.
I came here from listening to the Lithuanian US expert Mykolas Katkus. He talks so incredibly fast that sometimes, you can´t even understand what he´s saying. So at first, I had no idea what you were talking about. But yeah, I suppose you´re right. But he NEEDS to be fast. I worked in media service at a world championship and noticed all the journalists were restless and fast, as if they had ADHD. Perhaps they did. They need very short reaction time. It would be great if he could lose that for long serious interviews, but he probably can´t.
Interesting but his absolutes about places outside of New Orleans are not absolutely true. His view of the United States world, which I assume is what he means by 'America', is very shallow, and probably self serving.
Of course he's ultimately correct about irony being indicative of decadence. We Brits tend to be proud of it because it shows that we see through the visage, as it were, but it also means we lack real belief, which comes with often despair-inducing downsides and motivational deficits. The argument in favour of it might be that a look back through history shows that however valuable earnestly and strongly held belief may be, it's also spectacularly dangerous.
Very observant about why trump is popular. They are angry and can’t shout at anyone who matters. He is promising to get into the room and shout at the people they blame. Namely the left, woke, elite, etc etc. sticking it to the man
You weren't listening. People don't go into civil service or research to become "rich & famous". Read The Fifth Risk. At least watch the PBS News Hour interview 6 years ago with Michael Lewis.
The point around private management and incentives in public services being incompatible applies so precisely to the NHS. The nhs is the uk social conscience made real. Such a great creation. Wes is wise if he is aligning social targets with nhs strategy. An example: the covid app and vaccine delivery vs Tory grifting.
Adam McKay says he is going Green Party or some other 3rd party which is a vote for Trump. I have seen the movie several times this year and it is a picture of what Trump does and Adam thinks he is wonderful. He knows damn well what we are where we are and it is the villians in the Big Short.
Michael Lewis is the greatest. Thanks for the interview.
A great interview. Humor and insight is needed and appreciated. I’ve learned a lot about stuff that I know is important nationally and locally, but don’t yet understand. Thank you.
"Do as little as possible, and that unwillingly, for it is better to receive a slight reprimand than to perform an arduous task." 😂😂😂 What a magnificent motto.
I did enjoy you laughing so wholeheartedly at that, Rory, unbridled mirth is a great gift.
I think the fact that Alastair and Rory are so natural, is one of the main reasons I enjoy their videos. I get to laugh along with the jokes and learn so much more information that gives context to what I hear from other sources. I kinda trust them and they don't preach.
@Lerie2010able It helps when the guest is as engaging, smart, funny and insightful as Michael Lewis.
@@jasongray4517he’s absolutely frigging brilliant.
I like to think I’ve lived my life doing the opposite of that motto and in truth I think I’d walk through shit rather than be rebuked for not having walked through shit if it was necessary but that motto was so in your face I don’t give a shit laugh out loud funny. I’ve spent the last twenty minutes chuckling to myself about it.
As good a description of the idle rich as I have ever heard. Considering what the rich often get up to when they aren't idle, perhaps the rest of us are better off if they loaf around and do as little as possible.....
one of your best interviews in ages, perfect background material
I could listen to 8 solid hours of this! The three of you are a delight together, bravo!
Hands down the best epsiode I've watched on Leading. Could've listened to this for another hour. Michael is a wonderful writer and even better talker and you guys ask such high quality questions. Loved it
I listened a second time just as “treat” as I had time to “kill” (unwillingly caught up in bureaucracy but with access to TH-cam). This was so engaging, so intelligent, and serious as hell while somehow managing to keep “insurmountable” or “heavy” world problems either “manageable” or “laughable” (manageable or risible, in an ironic sense … just as that word (“irony”) is taken apart/defined with so many connotations, in this erudite conversation). Heaven to listen to intelligent people after taking some time away from so many (to spend alone in nature)!
I have to second that one. The best discussion I have heard in any online forum, maybe ever.
The moment when Lewis observed that billionaires and their culture were “instinctively hostile to givers” was a lightbulb moment for me. I always thought that they were just too cynical to BELIEVE in givers, but this is clearer, and somehow a lot worse. As a federal employee for decades (child psychiatrist with the Indian Health Service) we were horrified when Trump first came up with the idea that the civil servants above a certain pay grade should serve at the pleasure of an elected politician, because the very idea made it clear that Trump had no idea what any of us did, why expertise is important, or what would happen if it came unraveled.
No offense. But US taxpayers resent the civil servants acting like they are angels. In Covid nurses made good money and my job was shut down, and I was supposed to applaud them as heroes. Heroes dont charge overtime.... Yes cases vary. But being lectured how govt workers in US earning more than us with no fear of firing, teachers, are heroes is annoying. My job is worse than theirs.... Cases vary. But my god US teachers are annoying.
@@alexwilliamrussellyour spitting venom perfectly sums up our sad situation.
@@alexwilliamrussell Offense taken. As a retired nurse, have you or anyone you care about been hospitalized recently? I don't wish you ill, but none of us get out of here alive. How is your job worse than a nurse's? I hope you only encounter nurses who are not forced to work double shifts. But I'm not optimistic on that score.
My knees are ruined from construction. Ive never heard of nurse injuries. My hearing is starting to go from hi noise environments... Frankly our grandparents had it tougher, neither you nor me are heroes, but I know it my grandpa was hero for not giving up... No you're not a hero the public should call a hero, why are upset being told that? Heroes also don't take money, thats not how we defined heroes in the past. .. Nurses make above average incomes , when the richest person on the block is a nurse they don't get to be called a hero for charging the rest for their work... And teachers too don't get to be called heroes when they only work 9 months, and I know teachers and they admit yeah the time off is nice and prep time is not that high for same subject every year... If an occupation has higher than avg life expectancy and income, thats a sign is not the most awful path, it's the shit jobs people do for little pay to raise a family that seems more heroic. That and dangerous jobs.... I had a waitress once say her job was tough, people can't image how crappy life is for most people, demanding label of hero is a big statement and just no way.
@@alexwilliamrussell You don't know any nurses. Don't take my word for it. Google work-related injuries for nurses. All of us tend to have had at least 1 back injury.
This was one of the most refreshing podcasts I've listened to in a long time. Thank you so much for sharing.
I am amazed that in 2024 that this is the first time that I hear journalists discussing the random element of luck for anyone who is successful. In my life and business we always recognised that many times success is the beneficiary of pure blind luck!
Malcolm Gladwell's 'Outliers' really opened my eyes to how much blind luck shapes people's fortunes. But it's a rare successful person's ego that will allow them to admit that...
Ditto for Gladwell. Watch Michael Sandel on the lie of meritocracy. Baby Boomers (I'm one) seem to be particularly disingenuous about the unprecedented opportunity & wealth we happened to be born into.
I’m seeing negative comments about Alastair again 😠 Yes, the Iraq dossier was a difficult and painful chapter, but it doesn’t change the fact that Alastair is, at heart, a genuinely good and honorable person. Since then, he’s shown strong morals, integrity, and a commitment to doing the right thing, time and time again. Maybe it’s time we let go of that one chapter and allow ourselves to see the person he truly is.
Well said.
I find his tribalism grates. He supports his 'team' right or wrong with the same loyalty as a football fan. He could learn some lessons on introspection from Rory.
@@dereksmalls6494 You've got to be kidding... The number of times I've just turned this off because of Rory and his tory loving bullshit.
@@U5mR With all due respect - and I'm sure plenty is due - I can scarcely believe you and I have been listening to/watching the same podcast! I've lost count of the number of times I've heard Rory making a point, or taking a stand for this issue or that, and thought to myself, 'how on Earth was he ever a Conservative?!'. If anything, a great many views he's expressed here have been in opposition - at times subtle, at others direct - with the direction in which the Tory party would prefer us to travel. If I may ask, as I'm curious - what is it that incentivises you to keep coming back, if you know you're only going to get stressed listening to Rory Stewart anyway?
I agree with the sentiment but think it would be easier to forgive and forget if Alistair showed a hint of contrition and apology. Only then can we move on. In his Iraq episodes he took no personal responsibility and made no attempt at apology. Absent that I doubt the comments will ever stop. These are not minor misdemenours but the deaths of hundreds of thousands and a legacy of violence still playing out today.
13:00 SO TRUE about the luck. I realized this fully with the war in Ukraine. Because so many Ukrainian CVs started to look like this: Had loving parents. Did well at high school. Brilliant student. Got her Master´s Degree in Law. Started working in a promising start-up. Missile attack. The end.
This dude is ON TARGET .. .Brilliant
Absolutely love these discussions. Feels like an hour isn't enough
ML is a great storyteller. Of the cuff, immediately engaging.
And he explained in his bio how he got that way.
Great, great conversation. I loved it.
The banter in this one is great. I guess this one could have gone on for hours.
Another excellent guest, well done. Looking forward to this one.
An intelligent podcast in this awful world of madness!
Excellent. I remember reading Liars Poker when it came out in 1989, two years after I graduated from university. Many of my friends were working at investment banks in NY. Many now gone or absorbed. His book captured the roaring 80s very well.
Found him a very engaging guest.
Lewis is a thoughtful, effusive and funny guest. I didn't read Moneyball or Liar's Poker, but Boomerang and The Big Short are excellent, and necessary.
Fantastic interview. Thank you.
Great interview, great journalism.
Outstanding. I had ten minutes but listened through to the end.
I like to listen on the iPhone in the morning and come here for the comments. I really enjoy the education I’m getting. Thank you.
Held my attention from start to finish. What an engaging discussion. I need to read The 5th Risk.
Also read The Premonition. Read anything by Tracy Kidder. His most recent on the homeless in Boston, but also Mountains Beyond Mountains about Dr Paul Farmer & Partners in Health.
One of your most entertaining and podcasts. I don't think many can resist this easy southern style charm.
I want him to come to dinner next week. You can come as well.
I grew up in New Orleans at the same time Michael did, and have always loved his writing. There was always a friendly rivalry between our high schools. He went to Newman, a private school with a terrific reputation. I came from a modest background, and went to the also highly regarded Ben Franklin HS, a public school. I didn't avoid arduous tasks, and was captain of the football team and an all-district linebacker. We lost all but 1 of our games. I wouldn't trade that experience for the world. I was lucky to work with low-profile financiers in Ft. Worth, and later got a law degree so I could understand what they were doing.
Thanks!
I always love Michael Lewis.
Great interview, awesome author.
Trying to make health care & education profitable is ridiculous & obscene. "profit" as dollars vs expanding children's knowledge & exploring their potential.Maybe appointing Martha Stewart to find efficienceis makes as much sense as Elon Musk. The boundary for "inconceivable" keeps on getting moved.
Excellent interview, got me a good few chuckles at this dire time
34:15 it’s only half the story. Sam really did lose lots of money. The only reason people are getting paid back is because the bitcoin price rose from 20k to 69k. And you lost out if you had a bitcoin when FTX went bust because you are not getting it back. You are getting 20k USD plus 20% back. I’m afraid that doesn’t compensate for the bitcoin you lost and is worth 69k now.
Enjoyed that gentlemen, thank you 😊
Best one yet. Really interesting.
Hooray, someone at last has told Rory to stop interrupting.
I wanted to give Michael a hi five when he told Rory off 😂
And in such a gentlemanly way!
Spot on about sports gambling - will look to the podcast
Another brilliantly interesting and entertaining interview.
What a great interview
Holding customer deposits in your hedge fund to use for margin requirements is not an optics problem. It's fraud and irresponsible. His take on ftx invalidates basically everything else he has to say.
Hmmmm. Your comment is so beyond my pale you've become irrelevant.
Nah, it's just another view of banking and accounting. [view = optics].
It's only when we are losing 'our side' of the money tree that we want the rules set 'our way [for some definition of 'us', 😉]
@@jakebarnes28please do elaborate.
@@philipoakley5498they were separate companies. Alemeda research and ftx were entirely separate. When Alemeda started going under they moved customer money out of the customer account at ftx to Alemeda illegally to cover Alemada's losses. It was fraud, it was illegal, it was a betrayal of trust. Users of ftx were not investors in Alemeda.
Interesting take, throwing out the baby with the bathwater it sounds like to me.
Another great interview
Thank you !
I grew up a few miles from Princeton and did pretty well academically but not Ivy-League well with a very middle-class background. During the time I was looking at colleges, me and a friend and his mom drove to Princeton as it was having a get-together for prospective students. At the time I didn't think of Princeton as "PRINCETON" but just a better school versus the other colleges in the area. The professor started asking various prospective students where they were from and what they did that summer. One girl said she was from California visiting (I was like "WHOA that's far to come here") and another spend their summer in the Peace Corps in Africa. It was from people all over the world doing things I could not afford to do with my time or things I'd never heard of before. The prof got to me and my friend ("LOCALS!" he said) and I forget if I told him I worked at a gas station that summer. It was a unique experience.
"Hairless, muscleless math and physics people" was a laugh out loud moment.
+1. .. Copy that.
Outstanding ❤
superb interview on election day here in the states. he explains a lot really well. great interview.
I don't think Michael particularly understands Elon Musk. His commercial success is based on effective management. Specifically it's based on something which doesn't generally happen in engineering companies. The guy with all the knowledge and ideas is rarely allowed to be in charge of anything never mind the whole company. He essentially cuts through the whole incentives argument and just goes out and finds it out for himself . Will it work in government, who knows, Tesla and SpaceX routinely cull 10% of their employees every few years, the same happened at Twitter.. Musk's general theory on product simplification is that if you're not needing to put back in 10% of the parts you take out then you've not been ambitious enough. He does the same with corporate management
Large companies are never "run" by their CEO, any more that wars are fought by Commanders in Chief. There can be a lot of layers of context/strategy/tactics/contact-with-reality in the success or failure of enterprises.
Google is also said to practice more 'technology management' where many ideas are allowed to 'have a go' at flourishing, and then later there is a cull of the mediocrely performing implementations.
It takes a village make the elder's 'wishes' happen for the children ["despite, not because"] ... Alignment is useful.
Agree he doesn't understand Musk, and is obviously a musk hater I stopped watching shortly after 26 minute mark. Haters gonna hate.
Elon bought his position in Trump government. I’m interested to see what’s going to happen though.
@@philipoakley5498 CEO sets the tone. Like or hate Elon, he is an almost one of a kind management genius.
Just when Michael Lewis was making a great point about Trump's appeal, Rory kinda intervened and cut his opinion. I love your podcast, but ffs.
Great interview and such an entertaining subject. Rory, your 'Oxford exam' questions are so, so good. I really wish there had been a little more time to really explore those.
Enlightened once again - thank you all.
Great job gentlemen. This was interesting and fun. Your you tube channel has become my favourite and you both deserve credit for the consistently good content you create. God bless you both❤❤
Thank you !
Love his books - amazing guest to have on
One of the best episodes
Absolutely fascinating. Brilliant stuff.
I thoroughly enjoyed this one.
Thank you !
Having to explain who Liz Truss is always makes me laugh
It's deliberate, Rory likes to explain minutiae and that's what she is.
A political mayfly who lived for a day and died without spawning? 😉
When Rory was talking about his time with Liz Truss at the dept of environment , the way he talked about her reminded me very much about "modern management theory" . Essentially a "manager" can manage anything without having to "know" anything about what they are managing, in essence an accounting based management. For these type of people it is just another stepping stone to the top rung. You only need to look at Liz Truss time in the top job to see what a pigs ear she made of it and countless companies around the world like Boeing recently to see how fallacious that thinking is.
probably the only time I've watched the same interview back to back twice.
Me too - election day tomorrow - perfect distraction
@@yusuffulat6954 me too. A first for me.
Great interview!
For a man who doesn’t do Op Eds 28:34 he just did a really good one.
Very interesting. Thank you.
Watching men like this - hosts and guest - give me hope for the future.
A riveting episode. You guys looked to be having a great time together, discussing potential catastrophic outcomes if existing technical experts are replaced by political appointees with no knowledge of the complexity of the work required. Managing the nuclear arsenal as well as the migration of plutonium residue remaining from the construction of the Nagasaki bomb, to name only two. It’s difficult for me to imagine the president elect having any idea of the existence or significance of responsibilities such as these. I couldn’t take my eyes off of this show.
Thanks for pushing back against the nonsense.
That's it. I'm moving to New Orleans.
outstanding, chaps
As a Texan, that motto given by someone from New Orleans Louisiana is the most Louisianian phrase I’ve ever heard in my life
amazing interview
Just when you're about to give up and remove TH-cam from your tablet and go read a book on paper, you find something like this
22:45 explains a LOT of what's going on. For regular citizens - like 90 to 95% of the world's population.
Alastair is wrong. The hedge funds still create wealth that goes round, such as top end yachts and aircraft, hospitality makes a lot of good worthwhile work of interest that would otherwise not happen. I speak as someone who can't even smell the wealth; in fact I was born not eight miles from his mother.
Hanford Washington is DEFINITELY eastern Washington, or maybe south and central.
Western Washington features Seattle, the city famous for constant rain, and the only temperate rainforest in the world. Hanford was put there because east of the Cascades is very arid, and it is obvious why you would put a reactor in a desert. But near a major river is very odd.
Not odd at all. You need access to the river for cooling of reactors and various other related tasks.
"You didn't notice the British irony?" "No." Hahahahahahahaha! Hilarious.
2:22 New Orleans is south of Tijuana and Cuidad Juarez..
Loved this chat.
Thank you !
@@LeadingTRIP, as did I; but when you have a guest as effusive and insightful as Michael Lewis, *please don't interrupt him*. By the way, I quite liked Rory's "The Prince of the Marshes".
Imo as someone who would count as ‘neurodivergent’ it’s a pretty harmful stereotype to talk about people with neurological conditions as having some sort of godly superpower, when likely they’re the lucky few to forge a path to success that accommodates their cognitive difficulties.
Absolutely. I see this point in autistic discussion groups. Some autistic people have excellent memory or excellent aesthetic taste or out-of-the-box thinking about physics. But not all of them, and those feel twice "disabled" due to this myth. IMO it started as a supporting point for the argument that autism isn´t just straightforward disability. Which is a good argument. But it has very unfortunate consequences.
"Neurodivergent" seems like a long way of saying smart.
@@martavdz4972 define "autism." We may ALL be on the spectrum, depending on the spectrum. Eh?
@jakebarnes28 Perhaps it does....to an exceedingly ignorant person 🤷
Book discussion begins at 15:00
For viewers of this channel, I'd HIGHLY recommend "The Fifth Risk" by Lewis.
Thanks will check it out .
And The Premonition!!💕💕
Are you his mum?
Most folks have at least a passing familiarity with Moneyball and The Big Short (especially because of the movie versions), and some have read one or both (Moneyball probably appealed more to our sports obsessed culture), but how many have read his book "Boomerang"? I highly recommend it.
[45:23] The moment where Rory goes "It's all about timing... timing..." and then just ONE more time than what's really necessary "... timing, yeah" without Lewis picking up on that Rory is being patrionizing... is precisely irony. 👏😄
Absolutely superb!
I like him. Fast brain
Spot on, and a bit overwhelming at first blush..
The biggest issue is the absolute failure of regulators to identify let alone regulate the financial markets or technology.
And it's so simple... when you buy stock you need to hold on to it for a minimum of 2 months. Kills microtrading tech. Options should be banned. Kills stock gambling.
It would seem that 50% of the American electorate are moving through life with a very superficial understanding of what goes on around them.
i would suggest that is a lot of electorates, when you are worried about if you can make it to the next week and eat well, in the western world, then you have other things on your mind. i'm not american, but i was really poor once..
Noticing that are you. Much higher. And the same in Canada.
How you interpret that is also very split as well.
The Age of Rage. The Rise of Stupid.
The other 50% don’t even get that far. Oblivious. Distracted. Self-Absorbed. Indisciplined. Whiny.
I would put it at 80 percent or more. Honestly.
brilliant
Interesting discussion. Fascinating how uncomfortable he makes Rory.
Luck, luck and luck. “But I’ve worked hard”. Says that success simply requires hard work..if only!
I feel like there's at least another two interviews with Michael - especially given Trump did indeed win the election.
The Heritage Foundation was Libertarian, now it’s Authoritarian.
They finally realized they needed a Pinochet to impose their schemes. Though I think they figured it out long before Trump.
That’s the perfect opening line for a particularly crap, and clearly very white, liberal rap song (Rick Mayall meets The Flying Conchords). Sue, you need to work on a second line. It’s got great comedic potential.
Bingo! But, I can't think of any moneyed Libertarian individuals or organizations who haven't eventually put their money and political access towards Authoritarian ends.
@@warheadsnation, you should listen to or watch the 4-part "Behind the Bastards" podcast about Peter Thiel; that guy is scarier than Musk, and he's Shady Vance's mentor and sugar daddy......
@@goodun2974 I only refer to the VP now as Vice-President Thiel-Tentacle.
Rich and influential Men talking about rich and influential men
I just caught Alastair picking his ear with his glasses. STOP. My mum, a GP, forced my dad to take himself to A+E as she wouldnt take him due to the shere embarrasment, as the end of the glasses broke off and got lodged in his ear! 🤮
Genuine anger; Max Ferdinand Scheler (Philosopher, Anthropologist Historian; 1874-1928) agrees.
So, talking about traders who have "a total unawareness of the social consequences of their action" - we come to Anthony Scaramucci, who typified this approach to "greenbacks first". He revels in greed and Rolls Royces and shouts about it. It beyond difficult to now see him on TRIP US projecting himself as someone who gives the slightest toss about normal people.
Lewis would benefit from slowing down, drinking less coffee and breathing more deeply. He very much risks being the type of male interviewee who just talks very fast - giving heat over light. Contrast Lewis to the considered, fluent, reflective style of George Mitchell. Half as many words, twice as much insight offered.
Space is not decadent, it's a sign of self-possession. Step back, talk a breath, consider your audience.
😂
I came here from listening to the Lithuanian US expert Mykolas Katkus. He talks so incredibly fast that sometimes, you can´t even understand what he´s saying. So at first, I had no idea what you were talking about. But yeah, I suppose you´re right. But he NEEDS to be fast. I worked in media service at a world championship and noticed all the journalists were restless and fast, as if they had ADHD. Perhaps they did. They need very short reaction time. It would be great if he could lose that for long serious interviews, but he probably can´t.
I don't think Lewis is any less insightful, I took away a great deal from him.
Banter!
Interesting but his absolutes about places outside of New Orleans are not absolutely true. His view of the United States world, which I assume is what he means by 'America', is very shallow, and probably self serving.
Of course he's ultimately correct about irony being indicative of decadence. We Brits tend to be proud of it because it shows that we see through the visage, as it were, but it also means we lack real belief, which comes with often despair-inducing downsides and motivational deficits. The argument in favour of it might be that a look back through history shows that however valuable earnestly and strongly held belief may be, it's also spectacularly dangerous.
"The worst are filled with passionate intensity while the best lack convictiom...." Yeats
That may explain how some of the most spectacular espionage scandals center around the British.
Very observant about why trump is popular. They are angry and can’t shout at anyone who matters. He is promising to get into the room and shout at the people they blame. Namely the left, woke, elite, etc etc. sticking it to the man
Correct. Every person that votes for Trump also doesn't necessarily believe everything he says or think he's a savior.
Since when have civil servants been 'selfless'? They're just people doing their jobs for the same reasons other people do their jobs.
Ever since we had Trump to compare them to? 🤔 The timeline fits...
You weren't listening. People don't go into civil service or research to become "rich & famous". Read The Fifth Risk. At least watch the PBS News Hour interview 6 years ago with Michael Lewis.
The point around private management and incentives in public services being incompatible applies so precisely to the NHS. The nhs is the uk social conscience made real. Such a great creation. Wes is wise if he is aligning social targets with nhs strategy. An example: the covid app and vaccine delivery vs Tory grifting.
Our health-care clusterfuck is our social conscience (revealed to be a cardboard cutout,) so there 🤷
Come on Michael, let's get that Elon book next.
Great interview for both its insights from Michael and the mirth. Please add a 30 mins BTS of you three trading gleeful, ironic barbs.
Adam McKay says he is going Green Party or some other 3rd party which is a vote for Trump. I have seen the movie several times this year and it is a picture of what Trump does and Adam thinks he is wonderful. He knows damn well what we are where we are and it is the villians in the Big Short.