Skip to content
The Big Short: I Smell Money
Go to my account

The Big Short: I Smell Money

Fact or fiction?

Scott Lincicome, The Dispatch’s economics guru and author of the Capitolism newsletter, joins Sarah to fact check The Big Short’s retelling of the 2008 financial crisis and explain how the movie accurately portrayed finance bros. What actually caused the financial crisis? Is The Big Short a story of extreme luck or extreme expertise? And is Braveheart the best movie of all time?

To easily get the latest episodes of The Dispatch Book Club podcast, subscribe to The Skiff—the members-only podcast superfeed.
To follow The Skiff on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or wherever you catch your podcasts, please follow these instructions:

  1. Choose which device you prefer to listen on (Mac, iOS, Android…).
  2. Click here to get your personal feed. (Make sure you’re logged in as a Dispatch member!)
  3. Select The Skiff.
  4. Select your device and podcast player (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts, etc.): This will let you subscribe to the feed for direct updates!

Note: If your preferred podcast player asks you to subscribe by RSS feed you’ll need to copy and paste a URL link. To get that link, go back to the menu with all of the options to subscribe (the page with all of the player logos), scroll to the bottom, and copy the link you see there. Then, go back to your player and paste it in the field.

Sarah Isgur is a senior editor at The Dispatch and is based in northern Virginia. Prior to joining the company in 2019, she had worked in every branch of the federal government and on three presidential campaigns. When Sarah is not hosting podcasts or writing newsletters, she’s probably sending uplifting stories about spiders to Jonah, who only pretends to love all animals.

Scott Lincicome is the author of Capitolism, vice president of general economics and trade at the Cato Institute, and a visiting lecturer at Duke University Law School.

Share with a friend

Your membership includes the ability to share articles with friends. Share this article with a friend by clicking the button below.

Please note that we at The Dispatch hold ourselves, our work, and our commenters to a higher standard than other places on the internet. We welcome comments that foster genuine debate or discussion—including comments critical of us or our work—but responses that include ad hominem attacks on fellow Dispatch members or are intended to stoke fear and anger may be moderated.

You are currently using a limited time guest pass and do not have access to commenting. Consider subscribing to join the conversation.

With your membership, you only have the ability to comment on The Morning Dispatch articles. Consider upgrading to join the conversation everywhere.