Episodes
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[Bonus] How to sue the government, and win
Last week, we heard about a movement to challenge the authority of government agencies and push power down to the people. This week, the story of a central figure in that movement: Ralph Nader. This episode comes from NPR’s Throughline, co-hosted by Rund Abdelfatah and Ramtin Arablouei. -
[Bonus] Should we be nostalgic for machine politics?
There’s a lot of talk lately about patronage politics returning to Washington – a system based on loyalty, relationships, favors and transactions – but this kind of system is not new. Patronage was once the beating heart of the Democratic Party, and of course, the Massachusetts state lottery. So what changed? How did the party of patronage become the party of technocrats? In this second interview episode, host Ian Coss speaks with historian Lily Geismer, co-editor of a new book about the evolution of the Democratic Party: “Mastery and Drift: Professional Class Liberals Since 1960.” -
[Bonus] Why does sports betting feel different?
Lotteries are part of a long trend toward more and more legal gambling: bingo helped open the door for lotteries, just as lotteries helped open the door for casinos. And by that logic, sports betting is just the latest addition to the trend. So why does it feel so different? In the first of three interview episodes expanding on themes from the series, host Ian Coss speaks with gambling historian Jonathan Cohen about why this expansion of legal gambling is unlike anything that came before it. Cohen’s new book "Losing Big: America’s Reckless Bet on Sports Gambling” is out April 1st, 2025. -
Part 8: The Other Massachusetts Miracle
Most lottery games follow a predictable life cycle: a burst of interest followed by a long decline. But something else happened with the scratch ticket, and it changed how every lottery in the country operates. -
Part 7: The Dirtiest Race in the Commonwealth
By 1986 Treasurer Bob Crane has turned the lottery into the most successful operation of its kind, but now he’s in the fight of his political life with a challenger who says he’s the real crook. To cement his legacy he will have to win one last election, and it’s a dirty one. -
Part 6: The Game Dreams Are Made Of
The Mass Lottery stumbles when it attempts to launch the nation’s first ‘lotto’ game. But that failure soon becomes an opportunity – and a national craze – when Treasurer Bob Crane brings in a new agency to take over the state’s marketing efforts. -
Part 5: The Cherry Sheets
The lottery was never just about stopping crime; it was about bringing in money. In 1980, an anti-tax ballot measure throws Massachusetts state finances into chaos, putting new pressure on the lottery to close the gap. -
Part 4: The Last Mafia Boss of Boston
The state lottery can’t run the mob out of the numbers business on their own. Luckily they’ve got help from the FBI, who are just launching a daring operation of their own – to bug the headquarters of the Boston mafia. -
Part 3: Have You Played Your Number?
Before the Massachusetts Lottery can claim to be number one, they have to take out the competition. So in 1976 the state lottery challenges organized crime head on by copying their most popular game: 'the numbers.' -
Part 2: The Lottery Czar
When states got into the gambling business, they wanted the same thing organized crime wanted: money and power. The question now is who in government will get to wield that awesome power?