Michael Lewis on Wall Street Madness, Michael Milken vs Sam Bankman-Fried, & Steve Bannon Connection

Michael Lewis reveals an incredible professional connection with Steve Bannon, tells how he’s recently been in touch with Sam Bankman-Fried while SBF has been incarcerated, names the key ingredients he needs to have to make a great book, describes the reaction of his boss at Salomon Brothers when he was first working on Liar’s Poker and writing articles for the Wall Street Journal in the 1980s, determines who has committed the greater crime between Michael Milken and SBF, relates the filmmaking process for The Blind Side and The Big Short, and suggests which professional sports leagues you should own and which you should short. Michael Lewis: Sazerac (coat a chilled glass with absinthe, mix 2 1/2 ounces rye, sugar, bitters and chill with ice, add to glass with a twist) 00:00 Welcome & Michael Lewis introduction 01:30 Growing up in New Orleans & early career path 08:00 How Michael stumbled into Wall Street and Salomon Brothers 14:15 Writing Liar’s Poker while still on the trading floor 17:30 The shocking reaction from his Salomon Brothers boss 23:00 How Liar’s Poker accidentally inspired a generation of bankers 27:45 The wild “Animal House” culture of 1980s Wall Street 33:10 How Michael Lewis picks his book topics and characters 36:30 The key ingredients he needs to make a great book 44:00 Turning complex financial stories into bestsellers 47:10 Inside the making of The Blind Side and The Big Short 52:20 The unbelievable Steve Bannon connection to Liar’s Poker 1:11:10 Michael Milken vs. Sam Bankman-Fried: who’s worse? 1:12:30 Lewis reveals he’s still in touch with SBF in prison 1:13:50 His surprising take on SBF’s 25-year sentence 1:14:30 Which pro sports leagues to buy… and which to short 1:16:45 Michael Lewis’s final advice on incentives and gratitude