You Can Bet on Everything Now. What Could Go Wrong?

April 23, 2026 · 48 min

About this episode

The episode explores the impact of gambling and prediction markets on American life, news, and politics.

Gambling is infiltrating American life. Ads for online sportsbooks are everywhere. Prediction markets – which are not legally considered gambling – now allow betting on everything from the unemployment numbers, to the war in Iran, to how many times Elon Musk will tweet this week. Lots of news outlets are getting in on the action: CNN, CNBC, the AP, and others are partnering with prediction markets to use their stats in coverage. What could go wrong?  On today’s show, we’re joined by three journalists who cover gambling and prediction markets to answer that question. They tell stories about how gambling has already transformed sports, the unsettling ways betting seems like it’s already influencing the news and politics, and the not-so-crazy arguments for how it could lead to better informed citizens.  Also: hours after we posted this episode, federal authorities charged a soldier -- Master Sgt. Gannon Ken Van Dyke -- with being the mystery bettor we talk about in the show, who made $400,000 on Polymarket by trading on the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. When asked about it, President Trump said, "The whole world…

People in this episode

Host: Brian Reed

Guests: Joon Lee, Danny Funt

Topics covered

gambling
prediction markets
sports
news influence
politics
American culture

Keywords

gambling
prediction markets
sports betting
news influence
politics
Elon Musk
Nicolás Maduro
KCRW
Brian Reed

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: CNN, CNBC, AP, KCRW, Placement Theory

Places: Iran, Venezuela