Author Michael Lewis on writing, grief, and Sam Bankman-Fried | BBC News

The BBC’s Katty Kay visits a bookshop with author Michael Lewis, known for bestselling books such as Moneyball, The Blind Side, The Big Short, and Going Infinite.

They discuss storytelling, money, Sam Bankman-Fried, and his singular approach to grief.

You’re watching Influential with Katty Kay.

New episodes every week on BBC News and the BBC News YouTube channel.

#Books #USA #BBCNews

[broakland]

I admire Michael Lewis and read all his books, so I was devastated for him when I heard he lost his daughter, especially since I had just finished his book Home Again. On a walk in Berkeley, I came upon a bench engraved in memory of her. I’m glad he doesn’t feel guilt, when you have a good relationship, given your best, all that’s left when it is gone is immense sadness, and grief.

An interesting interview, Michael Lewis is one of my fav authors. I lost my daughter to cancer 8 months after her 25th birthday. Circumstances--her mother's mental health issues; her being bullied at school; a shared love of books and libraries--lead to our being friends as well as father/daughter. I grieve what I lost when she died, but I am happy for what we had during her all too brief life...RogerC 1/17/24

[taylorw]

Great conversation. Katy’s skill and empathy, a little master class. I am always moved by Lewis’s interest in finding the essential rivets of the Republic: those never heard of: like Dept. of Energy’s massive bank, or the team of overlooked pandemic specialists that actually had it right. Always looking for those toenails!

[Antti_Nannimus]

This is an incredible interview with such an incredibly fine writer. Michael Lewis is very talented and insightful, and this interview drills down further into his methodology, persona, and underlying character than anything I've ever seen about such an essentially private, careful, inscrutable, professional, and discrete public figure. Well done! [By the way, I attribute his obvious, detailed, wide-ranging, and critical sensitivity and instincts to his early education in art history. It gave him an instinct and intuition for knowing what is good and great, and what isn't. I wish somebody would ask him about that.]

[kyushujet]

That was a real conversation, nicely done.

[elainerempel]

Maybe cynical, but such a smart truth-teller. Sadly, The Fifth Risk is prescient again. Read The Premonition. Yes, I will follow Michael Lewis into another sleepless night trying to finish his book about a subject I previously cared nothing about.

[julieb]

So generous of him to speak openly on a profoundly personal and painful topic.

[judiamel]

Great interview. He is a joy to listen to!

[radman]

Wow, what a great interview Katy. Bravo. I hated his latest effort. But because of this interview I can't wait for his next. I somehow had forgotten how much enjoyment he's given me. I must've bought a dozen copies of "The Big Short" and gifted them to people who seemed to not sufficiently credit my endorsement.

[videzlamer]

Lewis' bizarre celebrity worship of SBF is so hard to understand, especially when Lewis admits halfway through his own book that he *does not understand* crypto. And his dismissal of the scores of victims who lost money at SBF's hands truly destroys any credibility the author had at speaking on behalf of victims of financial fraud.

[grif]

Thank you katy kay, very nice interview. 21st century nice, not 15th. Thanks for sharing mr. L.

[peterjensen]

An exceptionally interesting discussion…

[simonFellows-pc]

21 mins in. He's describing predictive processing which all mammals do and it's looking likely all vertebrates. Best most accessible book on the uber humbling subject, Andy Clarks The Experience Machine how our minds predict and shape reality.
And grief.. Both books by George Bonanno. Really.

[johnblake]

michael lewis is such an amazing and brilliant human. wow. great interview

[rdgist]

This was an agile interview & exchange! 👏🏼

[softwaresignals]

I've always liked Michael Lewis, as many have. Hard not to like him. What is it with his warped take on Sam Bankman-Fried? That is so strange, I might never be able to figure out what in heck is going on in his mind about THAT subject.... The rest of Lewis's work, brilliant.

[Redandranger]

I liked Michael's writing until he wrote about Sam Bankman-Fried. Come on Michael. SBF is smart for sure but he's a conman. The BS about him being too smart for MIT etc is just stupid and playing the sycophant. I expected better.

[mehmet.albyrk]

How can I watch this show outside of UK, even not knowing its name.

[CLulk]

OT: Benny Hill considered funnier than Monty Python by two TV stations--WOR and WLVI!

[bellascharfenstein]

god, you actually still have bookshops?? !!! about the only place you'll find a book in australia is a library. Australia: desert geographically, desert culturally.