Open Book with Anthony Scaramucci
by SALT & Goalhanger
You may think you know Anthony Scaramucci: a Harvard Law School graduate who cut his teeth at Goldman Sachs, went on to build two successful businesses and had an 11-day stint in the White House. What people don’t know is he’s an avid reader, endlessly curious, history buff with a restless mind.On Open Book, listeners will hear and get to know the real Anthony: the proud son of immigrant parents, a long-suffering New York Mets fan, and a father of five. Each week, he’ll invite you into an intimate and open conversation with some of the brightest minds out there, from business, politics, entertainment, and more. Together, they’ll go deep into a piece of work - whether it's a highly anticipated book, an in-depth feature story, or an opinion piece – to dig into why it matters to you, what we can learn from the past, and how their work is shaping our future.Along the way, you’ll learn more about The Mooch – beyond the headlines – where he came from and how he got here. He’ll turn the
Episodes
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The Terrifying Similarities Between 1937 and America Today — Catherine Grace Katz
Are we repeating the mistakes of the 1930s without realizing it, and are the warning signs of history unfolding right before our eyes? This week on Open Book, I'm joined by historian and bestselling author Catherine Grace Katz to uncover the untold story of the Hindenburg disaster, how Hitler's...
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CNN's Dana Bash Reveals Why Trump Is Unlike ANY President in History
What can Julius Caesar, Abraham Lincoln, and Nelson Mandela teach us about today's political chaos? This week on Open Book, I'm joined by CNN's Dana Bash to explore the elections that changed history, the dangers of unchecked power, and why Donald Trump may be unlike any political figure we've…
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How to Turn Life's Greatest Challenges Into Your Greatest Strengths - Domenic Ionta
Connect with top talent ready to help your business grow: https://www.upwork.com/ What does it take to overcome extraordinary odds and turn a fight for survival into a life dedicated to serving others? Today on Open Book, I'm joined by Domenic Ionta, author of "From Children's to the Capital", to...
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The Dangerous Mistake Western Leaders Keep Making - Dickie Shearer
Connect with top talent ready to help your business grow: https://www.upwork.com/ For more than a century, America and the West have dominated the global order, but as new powers emerge, are our leaders still trying to govern a world that no longer exists? Today on Open Book, I'm joined by…
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Baseball Icon Dusty Baker: The Life Lessons Baseball Taught Me
Johnnie B. “Dusty” Baker Jr. is the former manager of the San Francisco Giants, Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, Washington Nationals, and Houston Astros. Baker was drafted by the Atlanta Braves after graduating high school in California in 1967 and went on to win the World Series in 1981 with the...
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Why Trump Survives Scandals That Destroy Other Politicians – Stephen Sackur
Connect with top talent ready to help your business grow: https://www.upwork.com/ What happens to democracy when the truth no longer matters, politicians are rewarded for lying, and the institutions meant to hold them accountable are losing their power? This week, I sit down with legendary BBC...
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How Hollywood Sold Out to China — Chris Fenton
Hollywood thought China represented the biggest growth opportunity in the world, but somewhere along the way, we started changing our movies, compromising our values, and teaching them how to compete with us. Chris Fenton was in the room when those deals were being made, and today he’s sounding…
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The Decisions That Changed the Middle East Forever - Akbar Shahid Ahmed
My guest today is Akbar Shahid Ahmed, an award-winning foreign affairs journalist whose new book Crossing the Red Line takes us inside the Biden administration’s handling of Israel and the war in Gaza. We get into what Washington knew before October 7th, the warnings that were missed, and how the...
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Billionaire David Rubenstein: Owning a Sports Team Is Harder Than Anything I've Done Before
I am honored to be joined by my friend and repeat guest on Open Book, David Rubenstein. He has built one of the most successful careers in private equity, but he’ll be the first to tell you that owning a baseball team may be even harder. We talk about what he’s learned inside the owner’s box, why...
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The Historian Who Explains Why the Middle East Is Messed Up - Simon Sebag Montefiore
The Middle East didn’t become a cauldron overnight, and to understand what’s happening there today, you have to understand the history that brought us here. Simon Sebag Montefiore joins me to unpack the revolutions, empires, wars, and extraordinary personalities that shaped the region, and why...
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How Wall Street’s Billionaires Became Untouchable - William D. Cohan
What happens when you accumulate so much money and power that the normal rules no longer seem to apply? William Cohan joins me to unpack the extraordinary rise of Leon Black and Apollo, and a story of ambition, rivalry, Jeffrey Epstein, and the hubris that can turn unimaginable success into a...
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Harlan Coben Sold 100 Million Books. Here’s His Advice for Aspiring Writers.
He has sold more than 100 million books, but what I love most about Harlan Coben is that he’ll be the first to tell you he still wrestles with self-doubt, and that fear can either paralyze you or fuel you. We talk about why it’s never too late to start, why your first draft is supposed to be…
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The KGB Spy Who Exposed Russia’s Secret Plan to Attack The West - Richard Kerbaj
This is an unbelievable true story of a KGB defector who helped MI5 blow apart the Soviet spy network in Britain, and why British intelligence decided it couldn’t trust the CIA with the secret. It’s a story about espionage, paranoia and betrayal during the Cold War, but as Richard explains, the...
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How Politics Destroyed American Universities - Neil Gross
Neil Gross joins me for a conversation about what happened to the American college experience, how politics, polarization, and fear of speaking your mind have damaged one of the greatest institutions this country ever built. We get into where the left went too far, why the right’s attacks on…
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Chicago Is at a Breaking Point (But She Says She Can Fix It) - Susana A. Mendoza
Today on Open Book, we're not joined by an author, but by a woman fighting to become the next mayor of Chicago. Susana Mendoza grew up in Chicago learning how to stand up to bullies, fight for what she believes in, and never back down. We talk about what’s gone wrong in Chicago, why she says the...
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The Secretive Family Behind a $13 Trillion Financial Empire
Fidelity is one of the most powerful financial institutions in America, but the story of the family behind it has largely remained hidden. Justin Baer joins me to reveal how the Johnson dynasty built a $13 trillion empire, and how Abigail Johnson had the courage to reinvent it before the old...
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Ex-CIA Officer: America Has a 20% Chance of Splitting Apart - James Telfer
A former CIA officer sat down to write a "fun airport novel" and ended up putting a 20% probability on America actually splitting apart. James Telfer joins me to talk about what he saw from the inside that made him think the unthinkable, and why he's not laughing at his own fiction anymore. James...
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America is Deeply Broken (Here's How We Can Fix It) - Rye Barcott
What does real courage look like when the cameras stop rolling, and the tribe wants you to fall in line? On this episode of Open Book, I sit down with Rye Barcott, Marine, author, and founder of With Honor, to talk about his book "Courage to Save Us," and why the ten Americans he profiles just...
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He Repaired My Marriage And Then We Lost Him Forever - Mike Maimone
I got fired from the White House, my marriage was falling apart, and the guy who talked me off the ledge was my publicist, Howard Bragman, a man so full of life he'd call you 'numbnuts' one minute and heal your family the next. On this episode of Open Book, musician Mike Maimone tells me what it...
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July 2026 Q&A: Will I Run For Office? How I Read So Much? How To Fix The American Education System?
You send me the questions, I give you the answers, no filter, no spin, straight from the gut. This month: would I actually run for office, how I manage to read a book a week, why Independence Hall is the one thing I'd save in a disaster, my brutally honest advice on stress, and so much more....
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The Heartbreaking Atrocity of The Ukraine War (And Why You Should Care) - James Verini
After reading his book on the war in Ukraine, you will understand the significance of this conflict as you never have before. Putin thought he could topple Kyiv in days and convinced himself Ukraine wasn't even a real country, and he could not have made a dumber decision. This is an immensely...
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The Truth About Guns In America They Don't Want You To Know! - Mike McIntire
Three-time Pulitzer winner Mike McIntire joins me to talk about his new book Ricochet (out today), and this one hit me hard. We've got more guns than people in this country, and I wanted to know how we got here and why we can't fix it. Mike broke down the NRA's radicalization, the Second…
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The Real Reason Politics & Society Is Broken (And Fixing It) - Susan MacKenty Brady & Stuart Kliman
We're all walking around convinced we're right and everyone else is the problem, and it's tearing apart our politics, our workplaces, our families. Stu Kliman and Susan McKenty Brady join me to break down the four hidden landmines killing our ability to disagree without destroying each other.…
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The Billionaire Class Has No Idea What's Coming - Daniel Silva
Daniel Silva is back for the 4th appearance on Open Book, with a new must-read book, Ransom, and once again, he's writing tomorrow's headlines before they even happen, from Russia's shadow war on Europe to the drones nobody wants to admit are already changing everything. Gabriel Allon gets pulled...
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Russia Expert: Putin Destroyed Democracy And Trump's Doing It Too - Jamison Firestone
Putin weaponized the justice system; he went after the media, the universities, and even pulled a comedy show off the air because it made fun of him. On this episode of Open Book, I sit down with Jamison Firestone, a guy who survived mobsters, bugged the Russian police, and watched his friend...
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He Invented Online Betting...Then Went To Prison For It - Jay Cohen
He built a betting exchange three decades ahead of its time, got prosecuted for it while John Roberts almost took his case, and served time for something states are now making legal one by one. This week on Open Book, Jay Cohen, the man the pro sports leagues crushed, tells me what really…
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"They Should've Been Dead": How 3 Men Survived 28 Hours Surrounded by Sharks - Michael J. Tougias
They made a vow to survive together, no blame, no panic, just 28 hours of pure will against sharks, jellyfish, and the open ocean. My guest, Michael Tougias, lived inside this story for years to bring it to you, and I promise you'll never look at the water the same way again. This episode is...
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Jun 2026 Q&A: Breaking From Trump, Reforming American Democracy & Book Recs
It's the June Q&A on Open Book, and you came at me with everything this month: aliens, whether there's a reckoning coming when Trump's term ends, and the honest reason it took me so long to break from him. I'm dodging none of it, plus I'm handing you a summer's worth of book recommendations. Keep...
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The Coach Everyone Called a Failure (He Proved Them Wrong) - Monte Burke
Pete Carroll was written off as a flake, a fraud, and a two-time NFL failure, but then he built one of the greatest dynasties in college football history. This week on Open Book, Monte Burke and I get into the Men of Troy: the wins, the wild LA nights, and the scandal that brought it all crashing...
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America Repeats the Same Crisis Every 80 Years. Here's How We Overcome It - Bob Crawford
Does America face a defining crisis every 80 years? In this episode, I sit down with musician and author Bob Crawford to explore the remarkable life of John Quincy Adams, why history may be rhyming once again, and what one of our most overlooked founding leaders can teach us about democracy…
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Historian: The Untold Story of WWII's Most Fascinating Person - Geoffrey Roberts
Kathleen Harriman was there at the center of it all, at Churchill's side in the Blitz, in Stalin's Moscow, at Yalta, and somehow history almost forgot her. My guest today, renowned historian Geoffrey Roberts, is fixing that, and I promise you, once you hear her story, you won't. Geoffrey Roberts…
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High Performance Psychologist: The #1 Fear Holding You Back From Your Full Potential
What if the biggest thing standing between you and your best life isn't failure, it's what other people think of you? Today, I sit down with world-renowned high-performance psychologist Michael Gervais to break down the hidden fear holding back even the greatest athletes, executives, and leaders…
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The Rise and Fall of a Tech Titan - Katie Prescott
Mike Lynch was a working-class kid from East London who built one of Britain's greatest tech companies, and then watched it all collapse in a fraud scandal that stretched across two continents, two courtrooms, and ultimately, cost him his life. Katie Prescott joins me on Open Book to tell the…
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You Can't Understand America Without Understanding New York - Russell Shorto
Before New York was New York, it was New Amsterdam, a Dutch colony built on pluralism, capitalism, and a radical idea that tolerance could be a competitive advantage. Russell Shorto joins me on Open Book to tell the story of how a bloodless standoff in 1664 didn't just transfer a city from one...
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The AI Expert Who Will Change Your Mind About AI - Josh Tyrangiel
I've been saying it for years, AI is the most important conversation we're having right now. Josh Tyrangiel spent a year hunting for the people actually using it to save lives, and what he found will change the way you think about this technology forever. Josh Tyrangiel is a writer for The...
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The Dark Side of FDR Nobody Talks About - David T. Beito
Most of us grew up believing FDR saved America — my grandparents certainly did. But historian David Beito just changed everything I thought I knew about one of the most celebrated presidents in American history by providing a compelling counter-narrative. David T. Beito is Professor Emeritus at…
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The Ancient Secret to Finally Breaking Free From Your Past - Steven Pressfield
Back for a second time on Open Books is a living legend: Steven Pressfield!!! He's spent his entire career writing about warriors, and what he told me in this conversation stopped me cold: the only way out of the cycle is through the pain, not around it. This is one of the great writers of our...
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Bestselling Historian: The Revolution That Shouldn't Have Happened - Douglas Brunt
Before the Soviet Union, before Stalin, before communism swallowed half the world — there was one man who almost stopped all of it, and history buried him on purpose. Douglas Brunt brings him back to life, and what he uncovered will change the way you see the entire 20th century. Douglas Brunt is...
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WWII Historian: 3 Decisions That Built The West and How We're Destroying It - James Holland
James Holland is one of the greatest WWII historians alive, and his new book should be on the desk of every world leader. We get into the three decisions that built the entire postwar order, and why dismantling them might be the biggest mistake of our lifetime. James Holland, one of WWII’s finest...
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Why People Feel Empty, Lonely, and Like Nothing They Do Matters - Jennifer Breheny Wallace
Jenny Wallace has written the book for our moment, a masterclass on why so many of us feel empty, disconnected, and like nothing we do actually matters. This isn't just self-help; this is a diagnosis of our culture, and trust me, you need to hear it. Jennifer Breheny Wallace is an award-winning...
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May 2026 Q&A: Rebuilding After Trump, 3 Books That Changed My Life, Young Men in Crisis
This month's Q&A, we're getting into everything: the three books that changed how I think about money, how I went from Goldman Sachs to sick in bed on day one of my own company, and why I still say my biggest do-over would be working for Donald Trump. No scripts, no filters, just me, your...
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The One Thing That Will Bring China Down - Simon Elegant
I've spent time in Hong Kong, I've watched this city transform firsthand, and I can tell you what Beijing has done there is the blueprint for everything that comes next. Today I'm sitting down with Simon Elegant, former China bureau chief for the Washington Post, to talk about what the West is...
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NYT Bestselling Historian: Why George Washington Was the Greatest Leader Who Ever Lived — H. W. Brands
George Washington didn't just win the American Revolution; he invented what it means to lead with honor, and my guest today, award-winning historian H.W. Brands, is going to tell you exactly why this man, who could have been king, chose to walk away. On this episode of Open Book, we're going back...
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Peter Diamandis: AI Will Cure All Disease, Reverse Aging, and You Have to Prepare
Peter Diamandis is one of the most extraordinary minds I've ever had the privilege of calling a friend, a man who doesn't just predict the future, he builds it. Today on Open Book, we're diving into his new book "We Are as Gods", and trust me, what he has to say about AI, aging, and the next…
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The Tiny Daily Habits That Rewire Your Brain - Jake Humphrey & Damian Hughes
I sat down with Jake Humphrey and Damian Hughes — the guys behind one of the biggest podcasts on the planet — and what they told me completely reframed how I think about success. Forget the big goals, forget the hustle porn — turns out the only thing separating the best in the world from everyone...
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How 3 Gamblers Stole Millions From Casinos - Kit Chellel
Imagine you're smart enough to go to Wall Street, but instead you move into a Vegas apartment with six other guys and spend the next decade quietly robbing casinos blind — that's the wild true story Kit Chellel lays out in Lucky Devils, and I promise you it reads like the HBO series nobody's made...
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Historian: This Event Created Trump, Giuliani & Rupert Murdoch - Heather Ann Thompson
Today's guest has done something I didn't think was possible: she made me understand the world I grew up in better than I understood it when I was living it. Heather Ann Thompson is a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, and her new book, Fear and Fury, traces everything we're living through right…
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Fmr Goldman Sachs CEO: What Surviving The 2008 Financial Crisis Taught Me — Lloyd Blankfein
Lloyd Blankfein is one of the most consequential figures in the history of American finance — a kid from the Brooklyn projects who climbed to the top of Goldman Sachs and steered the firm through the worst financial crisis of our lifetime. This is a conversation I've been looking forward to for a...
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Historian: America's Origin Story Is A Lie - Craig Fehrman - Craig Fehrman
Today's guest spent five years digging through archives to uncover the real story of Lewis and Clark — and what he found will completely change the way you think about America's origin. Craig Fehrman is a journalist, a historian, and the author of The Vast Enterprise, and I'm telling you right…
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April 2026 Q&A: What Trump is Really Like, Repeal Citizens United, Declining US Dollar
We are back with another Open Book Q&A — the episode where you ask, I answer, and nobody's feelings are guaranteed to survive intact. From repealing Citizens United to what Trump is really like behind closed doors, we're getting into all of it today, so let's go. 📚Books mentioned in this…
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About this show
You may think you know Anthony Scaramucci: a Harvard Law School graduate who cut his teeth at Goldman Sachs, went on to build two successful businesses and had an 11-day stint in the White House. What people don’t know is he’s an avid reader, endlessly curious, history buff with a restless mind.On Open Book, listeners will hear and get to know the real Anthony: the proud son of immigrant parents, a long-suffering New York Mets fan, and a father of five. Each week, he’ll invite you into an intimate and open conversation with some of the brightest minds out there, from business, politics, entertainment, and more. Together, they’ll go deep into a piece of work - whether it's a highly anticipated book, an in-depth feature story, or an opinion piece – to dig into why it matters to you, what we can learn from the past, and how their work is shaping our future.Along the way, you’ll learn more about The Mooch – beyond the headlines – where he came from and how he got here. He’ll turn the
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