Risky Business with Nate Silver and Maria Konnikova
iHeart Podcast Network
Risky Business is a weekly podcast about making better decisions. The hosts, Maria Konnikova and Nate Silver, are both journalists who moonlight as high-stakes poker players. On Risky Business, they bring their analytical framework to everything from politics to poker to personal decisions.
Maria has a PhD in psychology and is the author of several books including, most recently, The Biggest Bluff. While researching the book, she inadvertently became a professional poker player, with over $500,000 in tournament winnings. She is a PokerStars Team Pro.
Nate is the founder and former editor-in-chief of FiveThirtyEight, and one of the country’s leading election forecasters. He has over $800,000 in lifetime poker tournament winnings and his forthcoming book, On the Edge, is about gambling and risk.
Risky Business is a co-production of iHeart Media and Pushkin Industries.
Location:
United States
Networks:
iHeart Podcast Network
Description:
Risky Business is a weekly podcast about making better decisions. The hosts, Maria Konnikova and Nate Silver, are both journalists who moonlight as high-stakes poker players. On Risky Business, they bring their analytical framework to everything from politics to poker to personal decisions. Maria has a PhD in psychology and is the author of several books including, most recently, The Biggest Bluff. While researching the book, she inadvertently became a professional poker player, with over $500,000 in tournament winnings. She is a PokerStars Team Pro. Nate is the founder and former editor-in-chief of FiveThirtyEight, and one of the country’s leading election forecasters. He has over $800,000 in lifetime poker tournament winnings and his forthcoming book, On the Edge, is about gambling and risk. Risky Business is a co-production of iHeart Media and Pushkin Industries.
Language:
English
Website:
https://www.pushkin.fm/
Episodes
Frisky Business: Olivia Nuzzi, Ryan Lizza, and Journalistic Ethics
12/3/2025
Nate and Maria game out the comparative benefits (and risks) of flying vs. driving vs. taking the train when traveling for the holidays. They also discuss Olivia Nuzzi’s new memoir, her ex-fiancé Ryan Lizza’s substack revelations about her, and the current state of journalistic ethics.
For more from Nate and Maria, subscribe to their newsletters:
The Leap from Maria Konnikova
Silver Bulletin from Nate Silver
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Duration:00:40:26
How to Experience the Joy of Giving Right Now: A Giving Tuesday Special from The Happiness Lab
12/2/2025
According to the science, it really is better to give than receive. Donating a dollar; sharing a kind word or lending someone a hand changes lives, but can also hugely boost your happiness. So we're teaming up with other podcasts from Hidden Brain to Revisionist History to ask you to give to a charity helping some of the poorest people around. We're calling it #PodsFightPoverty.
Go to givedirectly.org/happinesslab right now and give whatever you can.
Even a small donation will make you feel good and have a much larger impact on the world than you thought possible. To help inspire you, this special episode examines the science of giving and shares stories of heartwarming and impactful acts of kindness.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Duration:00:47:42
The Prisoners’ Dilemma of Performance-Enhancing Drugs
11/29/2025
This week we answer a question from listener Brandon, who’s noticed a rise in performance-enhancing drugs outside of sports. Nate and Maria discuss their own philosophies on PEDs, their impact on equilibriums, and what people risk when they decide to juice.
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The Leap from Maria Konnikova
Silver Bulletin from Nate Silver
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Duration:00:37:29
NO LIMIT, Some AI… Poker’s Documentary-Gate
11/26/2025
The WSOP’s NO LIMIT docuseries has been scrubbed from the internet following revelations that it includes AI-generated content, despite creator Dustin Ianotti’s explanation that the material “tracked closely” with other quotes and was only used for “faster scene transitions and narrative pacing."
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Duration:00:42:01
Risky Business Live! How To Read People In Poker And Beyond
11/22/2025
Most people are bad at spotting bluffs and tells – but there are ways to get better. Nate and Maria discuss tips and tricks from the poker table s with a live audience at Ludlow House in New York City.
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The Leap from Maria Konnikova
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Duration:00:52:25
Will The Epstein Files Sink Trump?
11/19/2025
After months of resistance, President Trump made a striking reversal on the Epstein files this week, signaling he would sign legislation to release them. Nate and Maria discuss whether this is the start of a “lame duck” spiral for Trump, and whether (or to what extent) it will impact his tenure if the files do finally come to light.
For more from Nate and Maria, subscribe to their newsletters:
The Leap from Maria Konnikova
Silver Bulletin from Nate Silver
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Duration:00:37:48
Society is betting on AI – and the outcomes aren’t looking good (with Nate Soares)
11/15/2025
Humanity’s attempts to achieve artificial superintelligence will be our downfall, according to If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies. That’s the new book out by AI experts Nates Soares and Eliezer Yudkowsky. And while their provocation may feel extreme in this moment when AI slop abounds and the media is hyping a bubble on the verge of bursting, Soares is so convinced of his argument that he’s calling for a complete stop to AI development.
Today on the show, Nate and Maria ask Soares how he came to this conclusion and what everyone else is missing.
For more from Nate and Maria, subscribe to their newsletters:
The Leap from Maria Konnikova
Silver Bulletin from Nate Silver
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Duration:00:51:40
The Democrats Are Folding on the Shutdown
11/12/2025
Despite a blue wave in recent state and local elections, Senate Democrats caved to Republican demands on the shutdown, giving up the health care subsidies they started the shutdown over nearly 50 days ago.
Nate and Maria argue that the Democrats are squandering their momentum, and discuss the consequences for key figures like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. They also reflect on the election of Zohran Mamdani, the Mayor-Elect of New York City, and talk about the difference between campaigns and reality.
For more from Nate and Maria, subscribe to their newsletters:
The Leap from Maria Konnikova
Silver Bulletin from Nate Silver
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Duration:00:46:31
Even Our Economy Is Gamified Now
11/8/2025
From social media and dynamic pricing to meme stocks and AI hype, gamification has taken over our lives—and a recent op-ed argues that it’s even spread into our economy, driven by Trump. Nate and Maria discuss the psychology behind the “casino economy” and why speculation and risk are so addicting. They talk about what it means when governments, businesses, and individuals lean into risk even as buffers against bad bets shrink—and why it’s easy not to object until it’s already too late.
Further Reading:
From the New York Times: It Is Trump’s Casino Economy Now. You’ll Probably Lose
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Duration:00:36:00
What Happens in Vegas...Might Tell Us Something About the US Economy
11/5/2025
With traffic down, gambling down, and hotel prices bottoming out, everyone’s asking: Is Las Vegas dead? Nate and Maria wade into the frenzy with some real data and hard-won experience. They talk about why casinos are struggling, what this indicates for the broader economy, and why high-end steak houses are, in fact, a recession indicator.
For more from Nate and Maria, subscribe to their newsletters:
The Leap from Maria Konnikova
Silver Bulletin from Nate Silver
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Duration:00:43:40
What to Make of the NBA Sports Betting Scandal
11/1/2025
Last week, two federal indictments and several high-profile arrests rocked the NBA. One indictment accused defendants of sharing insider information to cheat at sports betting, and the other accused over 30 co-conspirators, including members of various mafia families, of rigging poker games.
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The Leap from Maria Konnikova
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Duration:00:41:09
Lessons From A Marathoner (with Nicholas Thompson)
10/29/2025
Nate and Maria sit down with the elite amateur runner Nicholas Thompson (who also happens to be the CEO of The Atlantic) to talk about his new book The Running Ground. They discuss what running can teach about productivity and fulfillment, his favorite brand of gels, and…his late-father’s brothel in Bali.
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The Leap from Maria Konnikova
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Duration:00:42:25
The Canal, the Crash and the Ketamine - Pushkin's Reign of Error
10/25/2025
We have a special episode for you today! In which Nate and Maria join their fellow Pushkin hosts to dive deep into the art of failure.
Tim Harford of Cautionary Tales shares stories of minor mistakes with massive consequences. Jonathan Goldstein of Heavyweight speaks with his friend, the writer Sheila Heti about the cost of mistakes and whether we're really in control of how many we make. And, our very own Nate and Maria give a gambler's take on the strange science of regret.
Cautionary Tales and Heavyweight are available wherever you get your podcasts.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Duration:00:44:25
What Democrats Should Take from No Kings Protests
10/22/2025
Over the weekend, some 5 million people across the United States marched in ‘No Kings’ protests. Nate and Maria sit down to talk about why this matters, the psychology of protests, and how Democratic strategists can build on the momentum going forward.
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The Leap from Maria Konnikova
Silver Bulletin from Nate Silver
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Duration:00:45:11
What the Nobels Tell Us About the World Right Now
10/18/2025
The 2025 Nobel Prizes have now been announced, and Maria convinces Nate to learn about the winners. They discuss the selection process, the economic award for research on “creative destruction,” and what prizes they should be considered for.
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The Leap from Maria Konnikova
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Duration:00:40:56
Good Call/Bad Call: Bari Weiss as CBS’s New Editor-in-Chief
10/15/2025
Last week, Paramount bought digital news site The Free Press for $150 million, and made one of its founders, Bari Weiss, the new editor-in-chief of CBS. Everyone has opinions on Weiss…and so do Nate and Maria. They debate whether Weiss has the expertise to be editor-in-chief of a TV network, discuss what her appointment says about Paramount CEO David Ellison’s vision for the company, and judge whether this was a good or a bad call.
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Duration:00:38:01
What Jane Goodall Teaches Us About Outsider Thought
10/11/2025
Pioneering primatologist and anthropologist Jane Goodall died last week at 91. Nate and Maria talk about Jane’s career path and how her research influenced the fields of both animal and human cognition. They also discuss the significance of the outsider status she held when she began her research, and what everyone can learn from outsiders.
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Duration:00:41:36
With Sora 2, We’re Climbing Higher on the Dystopia Scale
10/8/2025
Nate and Maria discuss how and when the government shutdown is most likely to end. Then, they turn to OpenAI’s newest release: Sora 2, an AI video generation app that allows users to create a video from a text prompt. As Maria struggles to think of some possible positive uses for this app, Nate considers what its release tells us about Open AI's goals for the future.
From The Information: Why OpenAI Offered to Pay $500 Million For A Startup With Videogame Data
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Duration:00:44:30
Sleep, Track, Don’t Multitask: How To Succeed In Online Poker
10/4/2025
Nate and Maria discuss their favorite topic: poker! In this episode, they dive into the nuanced strategy of online poker: how to manage your schedule, how to prioritize information, and whether quantity trumps quality as you strive to improve.
For more from Nate and Maria, subscribe to their newsletters:
The Leap from Maria Konnikova
Silver Bulletin from Nate Silver
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Duration:00:36:01
Will Eric Adams’s Exit Change the NYC Mayoral Election?
10/1/2025
Eric Adams is out of the NYC mayoral race! Nate and Maria discuss his tenure as mayor, the timing of his announcement, and what this means for the remaining candidates. And — because it can be hard to remember a time before his multiple scandals and single-digit polling — they talk about the enthusiasm that once surrounded Adams, and what that arc says about the Democratic leadership vacuum. (And yes, they talk about Nate’s tweet).
For more from Nate and Maria, subscribe to their newsletters:
The Leap from Maria Konnikova
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Duration:00:44:23