Silver and Konnikova Combine Expertise in New Podcast Risky Business

Maria Konnikova, a journalist and high-stakes poker player with a doctorate in psychology, and Nate Silver, the founder of FiveThirtyEight and a leading election forecaster, are teaming up to launch a new weekly podcast called Risky Business. The series, which focuses on making good decisions in poker, politics, and everyday life, is set to launch on May 16 and will be produced by Malcolm Gladwell’s Pushkin Industries and iHeartPodcasts.

Silver is known for founding and editing the political and statistical analysis website FiveThirtyEight as well as being a successful poker player. He has also written a forthcoming book about gambling and risk called On the Edge. Konnikova became a professional poker player while researching her book The Biggest Bluff and has won over $500,000 in tournaments. Both Silver and Konnikova will be competing at the World Series of Poker this year.

In Risky Business, Silver will not only discuss politics but also poker tactics and strategies leading up to the 2024 U.S. presidential election. The podcast will help listeners understand difficult decision-making frameworks through probabilities, tactics, and strategies around current events to apply them to their own lives.

Pushkin Industries is known for producing popular podcasts like Against the Rules from Michael Lewis, A Life in Lyrics from Paul McCartney, The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos, Broken Record and more. The podcast trailer can be found on their website. Silver remarked that he wanted to explore how things like expected value or game theory affect our daily lives’ decisions with Konnikova adding that when you play high-stakes poker you not only learn how to play cards but also how to think about the world differently.”