Episode · Pod Save America · 2025-04-06
Books mentioned on Michael Lewis Explains Elon Musk, Trump 2.0 and the Real Cost of DOGE
Jon Lovett discussed Who Is Government? by Michael Lewis, The Premonition by Michael Lewis, Liar's Poker by Michael Lewis, Flash Boys by Michael Lewis, and Going Infinite by Michael Lewis. Michael Lewis discussed The Fifth Risk by Michael Lewis.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Who Is Government?
Discussed“Michael's most recent book, Who is Government? Showcases the thankless, unglamorous work of doctors and engineers and civil servants inside the government at a time when the government is under attack.”
Where to get it
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The Fifth Risk
The Fifth Risk by Michael Lewis is an accessible exploration of the critical, often unseen functions performed by the federal civil service and government agencies.
Discussed“So I just thought I started got interested in the characters and then I found this character towards at the end of the fifth risk. I just picked him basically out of h out of a hat.”
Where to get it
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The Premonition
The Premonition by Michael Lewis is a non-fiction narrative that investigates the public health system and the government officials who attempted to warn leadership about the impending COVID-19 pandemic.
Discussed“And and I and I think that comes back to like kind of a a problem from both directions which is you catalog in this is in the premonition. in in the fifth risk and and and and and you and your fellow writers in in this book”
Where to get it
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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“And I was think about how much the ability to report on powerful figures has changed since you wrote say Liars Poker, right?”
Where to get it
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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“and what whether it's Flash Boys or Going Infinite leads you to wonder about what these companies are doing.”
Where to get it
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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.
Discussed“and what whether it's Flash Boys or Going Infinite leads you to wonder about what these companies are doing.”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (6) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“So I just thought I started got interested in the characters and then I found this character towards at the end of the fifth risk.”
“my first step in answering that question is I think that people first place um red badge of courage you know not of course that this Danny Conaman used to love the psychologist who I wrote about in the doing project used to love this story as an example of what he thought was true that behavior so context dependent”
“One aspect of trust in a society is journalism. And I was think about how much the ability to report on powerful figures has changed since you wrote say Liars Poker, right?”
“And what happens is, you know, it's the equivalent of what is that Timothy Snyder line about uh the guy who wrote on tyranny, anticipatory obedience.”
“and what whether it's Flash Boys or Going Infinite uh leads you to wonder about what these companies are doing.”
“and what whether it's Flash Boys or Going Infinite uh leads you to wonder about what these companies are doing.”