Risky Business with Nate Silver and Maria Konnikova

By: Pushkin Industries
Listen for free

  • Summary

  • 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.
    2025 Pushkin Industries & iHeartMedia, Inc. 2024
    Show more Show less
Political Science Politics & Government Social Sciences
Show more Show less
Episodes
  • China’s Best Moves, and How to React to a Dealer’s Mistake

    China’s Best Moves, and How to React to a Dealer’s Mistake
    Mar 13 2025

    Last week, Nate and Maria talked about the game theory of American diplomacy right now. This week, they look at it from the perspective of America’s biggest rival: China. How should China respond as the US turns away from the global stage? What new opportunities do they have?

    Plus, both hosts weigh in on the poker controversy surrounding a recent big win… that was actually a loss.

    For more from Nate and Maria, subscribe to their newsletters:

    The Leap from Maria Konnikova

    Silver Bulletin from Nate Silver

    Get ad-free episodes, and get your questions answered in an exclusive weekly bonus episode, of Risky Business by subscribing to Pushkin+ on Apple Podcasts or Pushkin.fm. Pushkin+ subscribers can access ad-free episodes, full audiobooks, exclusive binges, and bonus content for all Pushkin shows.

    Subscribe on Apple: apple.co/pushkin
    Subscribe on Pushkin.fm: pushkin.fm/plus

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
    Show more Show less
    39 mins
  • How Trump is Getting the Game Theory Wrong

    How Trump is Getting the Game Theory Wrong
    Mar 6 2025

    This week, Nate and Maria discuss Trump’s tariffs and analyze his strategy from a game theory perspective. They get into the difference between zero-sum and cooperative games, speculate on how Trump would act in the dictator game, and discuss the rationality of revenge. Then, they talk about the reboot of the infamous Fyre Festival, and why con artists so rarely reform.

    For more from Nate and Maria, subscribe to their newsletters:

    The Leap from Maria Konnikova

    Silver Bulletin from Nate Silver

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
    Show more Show less
    40 mins
  • Thinking Smart About Low-Probability Events

    Thinking Smart About Low-Probability Events
    Feb 27 2025

    This week, Nate and Maria discuss the asteroid that had a 3% chance of colliding with Earth. That risk is now closer to 0%—but, what does this example reveal about how to consider extremely costly events that are fairly unlikely to come to pass?

    Then, they touch on the latest World Series of Poker drama and challenge each other to a game of Roshambo.

    For more from Nate and Maria, subscribe to their newsletters:

    The Leap from Maria Konnikova

    Silver Bulletin from Nate Silver

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
    Show more Show less
    43 mins

What listeners say about Risky Business with Nate Silver and Maria Konnikova

Average customer ratings

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Audible.com reviews

Amazon reviews
No Reviews are Available