About this episode

The episode discusses the rise of prediction markets and their implications on culture and politics with guest John Herrman.

CUJO is a podcast about culture in the age of platforms. Episodes drop every other week, but if you want the full experience, we recommend signing up for a paid subscription. Paid subscribers also get access to our CUJOPLEX Discord and The Weather Report , a monthly episode series where we take stock of where the cultural winds are blowing and tell you what’s rained into our brains. Besides the Bad Bunny vs. Kid Rock faceoff, arguably the biggest headline to come out of Superbowl LX was the sheer volume of money being traded on prediction markets , online exchanges where anyone 18 and older can bet on event outcomes. Fans exchanged a whopping $1.5 billion on the winning team alone through prediction platforms like Kalshi and PolyMarket. But these markets aren’t just limited to sports: During the game itself, more than $100 million changed hands every three minutes over which song Bad Bunny would drop first in the halftime show. John Herrman , New York Magazine tech columnist and our guest on last year’s episode about the future of the internet , has been all over how prediction markets are creeping into just about every area of life. And in our 2026 culture predictions episode…

More episodes of The Culture Journalist

• The slow cancellation of the future: A Mark Fisher primer · May 8, 2026 · 1h 35m
• The experience economy arms race and the end of the recording artist · April 10, 2026 · 1h 24m
• Opinionated software: AI and the arts, revisited · March 20, 2026 · 1h 38m
• Brooklyn's lost indie decade · March 6, 2026 · 1h 18m
• The network state moment · January 29, 2026 · 1h 27m
• 36 predictions about culture in 2026 · January 15, 2026 · 1h 4m

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the The Culture Journalist podcast page.