Media Coverage (selected)
“In Oregon, a Bid for Urban Casinos Threatens a Gambling ‘Arms Race’”
New York Times, July 29, 2024
“No Powerball winner for billion-dollar jackpot, reviving (slim) hopes of fortune”
Los Angeles Times, April 3, 2024
“Those Billion-Dollar Lottery ‘Jackpots’ Aren’t Even Half That Big”
New York Times, March 29, 2024
“Playing Texas Lottery for the kids? It pays for 5 days of school, and that number is down”
Dallas Morning News, January 29, 2024
“One man's trash, another man's $44 million: Did a Florida lotto winner toss the ticket?”
USA Today, December 12, 2023
“Gamble on a Dream”
New Statesman, November 28, 2023
“History-making NY Lottery mystery as winning $12M ticket goes unclaimed on Staten Island in 1992”
Staten Island Live, October 20, 2023
"Inside the dazzling, $113 billion world of scratch-off lottery tickets"
Fast Company, September 2, 2023
“The settlers brought the lottery to America. It's had a long, uneven history”
NPR, August 9, 2023
“Lotteries Are a Sucker’s Bet and a Gift to the Ultra-Rich”
Daily Beast, August 5, 2023
“Woman Doesn’t Want To Share Lottery Winnings With Husband’s Friend, Gets Told To Stay Wary ”
Bored Panda, August 3, 2023
“Want to see Pat Benatar at the Colorado State Fair? Until today, you had to buy lottery tickets”
Denver Post, July 26, 2023
"Is there a strategy to winning Powerball and Mega Millions? Tips for picking numbers"
USA Today, July 7, 2023
“How the modern lottery was born, and fine-tuned, in New England”
Boston.com, June 8, 2023
“A race to keep up – or to the bottom? Lottery bets big on $50 scratch ticket, online games”
Commonwealth Magazine, June 1, 2023
“What the lottery sells — and who pays”
Vox, April 14, 2023
“Expiring dreams: $833 million in winning New York Lottery tickets uncashed since 2018”
Buffalo News, April 14, 2023
“Despite Billion-Dollar Jackpots, Critics Say the Lottery Is a Losing Game”
Asheville Citizen-Times, January 21, 2023
“Millions prepare for Friday's Mega Millions jackpot draw”
AOL, January 13, 2023
"Mega Millions: Why the US has massive lottery jackpots"
BBC, January 11, 2023
"Why do we play the lottery even when the odds of winning are slim?"
ABC10 San Diego, January 10, 2022
“The Lottery—Still Bad for North Carolina Residents”
Asheville Citizen-Times, December 9, 2022
“Advent of mobile sports betting in Maryland brings caution, excitement and thrill”
Baltimore Sun, November 18, 2022
“A $76 million jackpot? Naw, I’m good.”
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, November 15, 2022
“Lotteries Unfairly Target Blacks, Poor as Jackpots Lure Players”
Casino.org, November 14, 2022
“The Working Class Lost the $2 Billion Powerball Lottery”
Truthout.org, November 12, 2022
“Why these five states don’t sell lottery tickets”
CNN, November 9, 2022
“‘Stacked against you’: Critics say the lottery system is preying on poor communities”
CNN, November 9, 2022
“How inflation — and resistance to tax hikes — drove the Powerball jackpot to a record $2 billion”
Grid News, November 8, 2022
“A Winner in California Takes Record $2 Billion Powerball Jackpot After Delay”
Wall Street Journal, November 8, 2022
“Powerball used to have a jackpot limit. Then it exploded”
CNN, November 7, 2022
"Enough with the Powerball Hype”
New York Daily News, November 4, 2022
“Record $2.3 billion lotto jackpot offered in Australia”
Yahoo! News, November 4, 2022
“Qué hay detrás de la “adicción” en Estados Unidos por participar de la lotería que ofrece premios millonarios”
La Nacion, October 28, 2022
“California’s wrinkled brow at sports gambling”
Christian Science Monitor, October 18, 2022
“What We’ve Lost Playing the Lottery”
The New Yorker, October 17, 2022
“Mega Millions is now over $1.2 billion because Americans need hope, says lottery expert”
Marketwatch, July 29, 2022
“Massachusetts To Take Its Time On Sports Betting”
Gambling Compliance, April 22, 2019
“How Sports Betting Could Change Gambling in Massachusetts”
Wicked Local (Cambridge, MA), February 19, 2019.
“Lotteries are Doing More Damage to Those Who Can Least Afford It”
Bloomberg, September 12, 2018
“Powerball jackpot grows to $478 million, but mania is nowhere to be found”
Mercury News (San Jose, CA), July 29, 2016
Podcast and Radio
“The Long Shot Bid for a Utah Lottery”
RadioWest, February 27, 2024
"Why marginalized communities lose more than dreams on lottery tickets"
The 21st Show, Illinois Public Media, October 17, 2023
"The Gambler’s Meritocracy"
Cult or Just Weird, August 29, 2023
"The luck of the draw: A deeper look at lotteries "
The Colin McEnroe Show, Connecticut Public Radio, August 23, 2023
"Have we reached peak lottery?"
Central Time, Wisconsin Public Radio, August 14, 2023
"Do lotteries really deliver what they promise?"
KNX News, July 20, 2023
"For a dollar and a dream"
99% Invisible: April 11, 2023
"Has the Lottery Played Us?"
Why Is This Happening?: The Chris Hayes Podcast, January 17, 2023
“Here's who really wins and loses in American lotteries”
NPR, All Things Considered, January 14, 2023
“The real winners and losers in America's lottery obsession”
On Point, WBUR, January 4, 2023
“State Lose from Lotteries, Too’”
KERA-Think, December 14, 2022
“Why No One Wins the Lottery”
Factually, December 14, 2022
“Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Long Walk Home’”
The Way of Improvement Leads Home, December 5, 2022
“For a Dollar and a Dream”
The Tully Show, November 21, 2022
Interview with Tavis Smiley
KBLA Talk 1580, November 4, 2022
"Five Big Ideas: For a Dollar and a Dream”
Next Big Idea Club, November 2, 2022
“Lottery Fever”
WURD Radio, August 2, 2022
“Who Invented the Scratch Ticket?”
Every Little Thing Podcast (Gimlet Media), May 14, 2018
“American Gambling and its Virginia Roots”
Michael Paul Williams Show (Richmond Times-Dispatch), April 26, 2018
TV Appearances
“How the lottery became a national obsession”
CBS Morning News, March 27, 2024
“You Have Zero Chance of Winning the Top Prize for Several Illinois Lottery Games”
NBC5 Chicago, February 21, 2023
“Why Does the Lottery exist?”
Newsy, December 14, 2022
“America’s Lottery Obsession”
Bob Herbert’s Op Ed.TV, December 5, 2022
“One winning ticket for $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot”
Fox5 News, New York, November 8, 2022
“New book takes a close look at the history of state lotteries”
WGN9 Chicago, November 4, 2022
“Playing the $1 billion Powerball is understandable, but beware, says expert”
PIX11 NY, October 31, 2022