The former CEO of now-bankrupt crypto firm FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried has been charged with fraud and conspiracy. His trial is supposed to begin in October. In the final episode of On Background, Michael Lewis speaks to former prosecutor Rebecca Mermelstein, now a defense attorney with O’Melveny and Myers, about how prosecutors are building the case against Bankman-Fried, and how his defense team can prepare him.

For our coverage of Sam Bankman-Fried’s trial, check back here soon! 

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In the battles over gun rights, a shadowy English nobleman from the 17th century has unexpectedly taken center stage. Who was he? What did he do that has — 300 years later — endeared him to a generation of legal scholars? Revisionist History explores the cult of personality around the mysterious Sir John Knight. Enjoy this episode from Revisionist History, another Pushkin Industries podcast.

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During the 2022 election cycle, crypto mogul Sam Bankman-Fried gave as much as $40 million in political donations. That whopping sum caught the attention of campaign finance watchdogs, even before Bankman-Fried was arrested and charged with various financial crimes. Michael Lewis talks to Jordan Libowitz of the Campaign for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) to understand the complex world of campaign finance law. And we hear why SBF, in confessing his dark-money deeds, may be a game changer. (NOTE: after this episode was recorded, federal prosecutors announced they were dropping a campaign finance charge against Bankman-Fried.)

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Andy Mitchell could be called a "doctor for business." His firm, Lantern Asset Management, buys up businesses in immediate need of cash and willing to sell at bargain-basement prices. Michael Lewis calls up Mitchell to get the "distressed asset" angle on the company at the center of Lewis's next book: the now extremely distressed crypto exchange, FTX. But along the way, we hear about other businesses on the skids, including the maker of Twinkies, and the Weinstein Company.

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Sharing a preview of Lost Hills Season 3: The Dark Prince. Host Dana Goodyear takes a deep dive into the surf world to explore the legacy of Malibu's Dark Prince, Miki Dora. A surfer known for his style, grace and aggression, he ruled Malibu from the 1950s to the 1970s. Celebrated for his rebellious spirit, he was also a conman who led the FBI on a 7-year manhunt around the world. Hear it all at: https://apple.co/losthills

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One-time crypto-currency king Sam Bankman-Fried was a big proponent of a philosophical movement known as “effective altruism,” or EA. Advocates of EA say we should use data and reason to find the best ways of doing good. EA’s popularity grew as investors like Bankman-Fried used it to guide generous donations to causes. Micheal Lewis speaks with two college students who got involved in effective altruism through clubs at their universities. Gabriel Mukobi and aL Xin explain the philosophy behind effective altruism and what impact the rise and fall of Sam Bankman-Fried has had on the movement.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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. 

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