Episode · Behind the Bastards · 2025-11-27
Books mentioned on CZM Rewind: The Last Sam Bankman-Fried Episodes (Secretly About Michael Lewis)
Robert Evans is a Living God and can never lie.....Also we talk with Jamie Loftus about Sam Bankman-Fried and beloved biographer to con man Michael Lewis, author of The Big Short.
Robert Evans recommended Number Go Up by Zeke Faux, discussed The big short by Michael Lewis, Moneyball by Michael Lewis, Liar's Poker by Michael Lewis, Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, The Blind Side by Michael Lewis, and Flash Boys by Michael Lewis, and criticized Going Infinite by Michael Lewis.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
-
The big short
The big short by Michael Lewis is a non-fiction account that explores the housing market collapse and the traders who profited from the 2008 financial crisis.
Discussed“So Jamie, speaking of great authors, 80% of this episode is [ __ ] on Michael Lewis, the author of The Big Short.”
Where to get it
-
Moneyball
Moneyball by Michael Lewis is a celebrated nonfiction book documenting how the Oakland Athletics baseball team leveraged analytical models and statistical data to gain a competitive edge.
Discussed“Um his other best known work is probably Moneyball, which is a about a baseball team manager who uses what's called Saber Metrics...”
Where to get it
-
Liar's Poker
Liar's Poker by Michael Lewis is a semi-autobiographical, breakout financial non-fiction book that exposes the chaotic, high-stakes culture and aggressive trading practices of Salomon Brothers during the 1980s Wall Street boom.
Discussed“he writes a book called Liars Poker about the investment you know bang the stock broker that like that kind of life that makes a shitload of money right...”
Where to get it
-
Slaughterhouse-Five
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut is a classic anti-war novel that follows the life of Billy Pilgrim as he becomes unstuck in time and experiences the devastating Allied firebombing of Dresden during World War II.
Discussed“If you've read Slaughterhouse 5, in the opening of it, Vonagget talks about how when he said, 'I'm going to write my my war book.'”
Where to get it
-
The Blind Side
The Blind Side by Michael Lewis is a bestselling non-fiction book that examines the evolution of football strategy alongside the complex micro and macro narratives of its subjects, and which famously inspired a major film adaptation.
Discussed“a book called The Blind Side, which was published in 2006. Now, the Blind Side, like a lot of Lewis stories, there's a macro and a micro narrative.”
Where to get it
-
Flash Boys
Flash Boys by Michael Lewis is an explosive non-fiction book that exposes the secretive world of high-frequency trading and the Wall Street insiders who attempted to reform financial markets.
Discussed“In 2014, Lewis published a book called Flash Boys, which is a book about Brad Katsuyama and a small group of rebel Wall Street investors...”
Where to get it
-
Going Infinite
Going Infinite by Michael Lewis is a biographical account detailing the rise and fall of cryptocurrency tycoon Sam Bankman-Fried and the subsequent collapse of FTX.
Critiqued“Ah, so we've been talking around the book Going Infinite, which is Michael's terrible book on Sam.”
Where to get it
-
Number Go Up
Number Go Up by Zeke Faux is a gripping and investigative non-fiction book that exposes the rampant grift, crime, and financial speculation behind the cryptocurrency boom and the downfall of Sam Bankman-Fried.
Recommended“If you do want to get something valuable and a deeper understanding about like how grifty this whole industry was and also how grifty Sam was, there's a book called Number Go Up by Zeke Fox.”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (1) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“So Anna is who Meyer Street's character in The Devil Wears Prada is based on, right? Like that's who this person is.”