Michael Lewis’ podcast, Judging Sam, provides insight into how Lewis thinks. He thinks no one can tell when Sam doesn’t answer a question, especially not the jury. He seems to think speaking in a word salad that deflects the question is Sam’s “super power.” He thinks the judge is “interested” in Sam, perhaps perceiving his brilliance? He thinks Sam is an excellent teacher and that the judge likes his long winded explanations. He thinks court cases are boring (and that his book tells the story better). He believes the defense case is following the narrative structure of his book--and that’s good because he’s the only one to know the real story. Yeah, okay.
SBF testifying in his own criminal trial and starting an answer with "so I should preface this by saying I'm not a lawyer" is extremely funny. Definitely up there with best moments from this whole case. Right next to John Jay Ray III calling Caroline Ellison an “obvious complete fucking weirdo.” Really great stuff.
Thank you for your marathon streams; I spent a large chunk of my weekend watching them! And this is a brilliant summation. Monday's going to be interesting.
Tiffany Fong has a good analysis of the Friday testimony. She points out how Nishad's and Adam's testimonies about key conversations with Sam are more detailed than Sam's (which are relatively vague) so when weighing which to believe, she argues the more detailed version is more likely true. Of course, they described being shocked by their conversations, which might engrave the details more clearly.
Tiffany also points out that if the jury thinks any of Sam's claims aren't true, then they may conclude that none of his claims are true.
The FTX trial, day thirteen: Sam Bankman-Fried gets a dress rehearsal
Great coverage! I'm fine waiting for these write-ups rather than watching your livestreams, but it's great that you're offering both.
Excellent coverage and writing. Thank you.
On SBF: We really need to discuss as a culture how we define brilliance.
Michael Lewis’ podcast, Judging Sam, provides insight into how Lewis thinks. He thinks no one can tell when Sam doesn’t answer a question, especially not the jury. He seems to think speaking in a word salad that deflects the question is Sam’s “super power.” He thinks the judge is “interested” in Sam, perhaps perceiving his brilliance? He thinks Sam is an excellent teacher and that the judge likes his long winded explanations. He thinks court cases are boring (and that his book tells the story better). He believes the defense case is following the narrative structure of his book--and that’s good because he’s the only one to know the real story. Yeah, okay.
SBF testifying in his own criminal trial and starting an answer with "so I should preface this by saying I'm not a lawyer" is extremely funny. Definitely up there with best moments from this whole case. Right next to John Jay Ray III calling Caroline Ellison an “obvious complete fucking weirdo.” Really great stuff.
Thank you for your marathon streams; I spent a large chunk of my weekend watching them! And this is a brilliant summation. Monday's going to be interesting.
I was on the second night of the livestream and it was really fun!
Also, LOL at SBF's defense lawyer snapping at him.
Thank you, Molly. Best coverage of the trial I've read.
There was also a nice piece in Slate by Ben McKenzie on Michael Lewis earlier this month.
Tiffany Fong has a good analysis of the Friday testimony. She points out how Nishad's and Adam's testimonies about key conversations with Sam are more detailed than Sam's (which are relatively vague) so when weighing which to believe, she argues the more detailed version is more likely true. Of course, they described being shocked by their conversations, which might engrave the details more clearly.
Tiffany also points out that if the jury thinks any of Sam's claims aren't true, then they may conclude that none of his claims are true.
https://twitter.com/TiffanyFong_/status/1718665007183872243
Oh, pleeease put here that one-pager answer of Sam to that one question 😆