Andrew Ross Sorkin

Hell & High Water with John Heilemann

Andrew Ross Sorkin is arguably the country's most important and influential financial and business journalist — and, without doubt, its most plugged in. Having started his career at the New York Times as intern when he was still in high school, he now presides over DealBook, which began its life in 2001 as a newsletter about Wall Street and the mergers and acquisitions game, but over the past 20 years has grown into a sprawling finance, business, and economic news fiefdom within the larger Times empire. At the same time, Sorkin is a co-anchor of Squawk Box, the daily CNBC morning show avidly watched by titans of industry and hopped-up day traders alike. He is also the author of "Too Big To Fail," the definitive chronicle of the 2007-2008 financial crisis, which was adapted into a star-studded movie of the same name by HBO; a co-creator of the hit Showtime series "Billions"; and is currently developing another film for HBO on the GameStop/Robinhood meme-stock saga.

On this episode of Hell & High Water, Heilemann and Sorkin discuss how big business sees the new political era dawning in Washington, DC: from President Biden's $1.9 trillion COVID relief and economic recovery legislation to the possibility of raising the minimum wage to the deep polarization that continues to hobble American politics in the wake (and still under the influence) of Donald Trump. They also dive into the many speculative manias currently gripping the financial markets, whether this latest Big Casino moment presages a long-predicted crash, and what if anything regulators might do about the stunning power being amassed by Big Tech. Finally, Heilemann asks Sorkin to list his top five Wall Street films, and the two men riff on the unique place that the financial masters of the universe occupy in popular culture — as objects of fascination, fetishism, reverence, and revulsion in roughly equal measure.

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