Episode 216 #TheBiggestBluff with Maria Konnikova

This week we talk to <a href="https://www.mariakonnikova.com/">Maria Konnikova</a> about her new book, <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/562852/the-biggest-bluff-by-maria-konnikova/">The Biggest Bluff: How I Learned to Pay Attention, Master Myself, and Win</a>. <br/><br/>After a series of devastating health and financial setbacks, Konnikova, a former New Yorker staffer whose other books include <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1183/9780143124344">Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock</a> and <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1183/9780143109877">The Confidence Game: Why We Fall for It&#8230;Every Time</a>set out to understand how luck, skill and human behavior contribute to the trajectory of our lives. Though she&#8217;d never played a hand of poker in her life, she convinced Poker Hall of Fame inductee <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_Seidel">Erik Seidel</a> to become her coach. Konnikova quit her job at the New Yorker and set aside a year to learn poker as a way to master her luck and her life. <br/><br/>One career in professional poker and more than $300,000 later, Konnikova found at least some of the answers she sought. <br/><br/>Links from the Podcast:<br/><br/>Long Form Storytelling, <a href="http://thegriftpodcast.com/">The Grift Podcast</a><br/><br/>Slate daily podcast, <a href="https://slate.com/podcasts/the-gist">The Gist</a><br/><br/>#AmReading<br/><br/>Maria: <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1183/9780316418485">Weird</a> by Olga Khazan<br/><br/>KJ: <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1183/9781984878618">The Authenticity Project</a> by Claire Pooley<br/><br/>Jess: <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1183/9781501137808">Sunny Days</a> by David Kamp<br/><br/>Thanks to everyone who supports the podcast financially. To join that team, click the button below:<br/><br/>But it&#8217;s all good. The pod is free as it always has and always will be. This shownotes email is free, too, so please&#8212;forward it to a friend, and if you haven&#8217;t already, join our email list and be on top of it e