If you spend any time reporting on the world of crypto currency and Bitcoin, then you’re going to run across the name Molly White. She’s a software engineer who has been called "the cryptocurrency world's biggest critic." Michael Lewis gets her on the line for a lively conversation about why she spotted hucksterism and fraud early on in crypto's rise. Questions for Michael? Submit them by visiting atrpodcast.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Often when a corporation declares bankruptcy, that happens at the end of a long and difficult road. But entering bankruptcy proceedings also means setting out on a new and equally difficult road. That’s where Michael Lewis finds the subject of his next book, Sam Bankman-Fried. The company Bankman-Fried founded, FTX, entered bankruptcy late last year. For some perspective on what could be one of the messiest bankruptcy cases of recent times, Michael turns to David Skeel. Skeel is a professor of corporate law at the University of Pennsylvania and one of the foremost historians of bankruptcy in the US. Send a question to Michael Lewis, and he might answer it on an upcoming episode of Against the Rules. Head to atrpodcast.com.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why do people commit white-collar crimes? And how has the way we think about — and prosecute — white-collar criminals changed over time? As part of the background research for his next book, which is about Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX, Michael Lewis wants the historical view of financial fraudsters, embezzlers and Ponzi schemers. So he speaks with Eugene Soltes, professor at the Harvard Business School and author of Why They Do It: Inside the Mind of the White-Collar Criminal. If you have a question for Michael Lewis about his writing process, head to atrpodcast.com.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For his next book, Michael Lewis wants to find out how investigators manage to trace the murky trail of illicit crypto. Cryptocurrency started with the dream of cash changing hands without a trace. But that dream has turned into a nightmare for many would-be criminals. A new field has emerged of data geeks and law-enforcement experts trying to find out who’s behind transactions on the blockchain. Michael calls up Andy Greenberg, senior cybersecurity writer for WIRED and author of “Tracers in the Dark: The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of Cryptocurrency” to find out how investigators crack the code of crypto.    Questions for Michael? Submit them by visiting atrpodcast.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Michael Lewis's next book is all about Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of the crypto-currency exchange FTX, who now faces federal charges. As with all of his books, Lewis is talking with experts to get background context on the world his characters inhabit. For the first time, these interviews will be recorded, on the record.In this special monthly series from Against the Rules, we'll hear Lewis in conversation with experts such as a tech wizard who traces secrets on the blockchain; a scholar of white-collar crime and punishment; a regulator who knows what crypto firms are – and aren’t – allowed to do with other people’s billions; and an insider who can follow the influence of crypto on campaign finance. “On Background” from Michael Lewis and Against the Rules drops monthly, starting February 14th, 2023.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.