Scratch & Win
Episodes
Episodes of Scratch & Win
Mark All
Last week, we heard about a movement to challenge the authority of government agencies and push power down to the people. This week, the story of a central figure in that movement: Ralph Nader. This episode comes from NPR’s Throughline, co-host
This podcast has featured two stories about government endeavors: the much-criticized infrastructure project known as ‘The Big Dig,’ and of course the wildly successful state lottery. So why do these two stories play out so differently?In the f
There’s a lot of talk lately about patronage politics returning to Washington – a system based on loyalty, relationships, favors and transactions – but this kind of system is not new. Patronage was once the beating heart of the Democratic Party
Lotteries are part of a long trend toward more and more legal gambling: bingo helped open the door for lotteries, just as lotteries helped open the door for casinos. And by that logic, sports betting is just the latest addition to the trend. So
Most lottery games follow a predictable life cycle: a burst of interest followed by a long decline. But something else happened with the scratch ticket, and it changed how every lottery in the country operates. ---------------------------Credit
By 1986 Treasurer Bob Crane has turned the lottery into the most successful operation of its kind, but now he’s in the fight of his political life with a challenger who says he’s the real crook. To cement his legacy he will have to win one last
The Mass Lottery stumbles when it attempts to launch the nation’s first ‘lotto’ game. But that failure soon becomes an opportunity – and a national craze – when Treasurer Bob Crane brings in a new agency to take over the state’s marketing effor
The lottery was never just about stopping crime; it was about bringing in money. In 1980, an anti-tax ballot measure throws Massachusetts state finances into chaos, putting new pressure on the lottery to close the gap.--------------------------
The state lottery can’t run the mob out of the numbers business on their own. Luckily they’ve got help from the FBI, who are just launching a daring operation of their own – to bug the headquarters of the Boston mafia.--------------------------
Before the Massachusetts Lottery can claim to be number one, they have to take out the competition. So in 1976 the state lottery challenges organized crime head on by copying their most popular game: 'the numbers.'---------------------------Cre
When states got into the gambling business, they wanted the same thing organized crime wanted: money and power. The question now is who in government will get to wield that awesome power? ---------------------------Credits:Host and scriptwriter
It’s 1974, illegal bookies are everywhere and the brand new state lottery is struggling to compete. But a simple piece of paper is about to change the game forever: the nation’s first scratch ticket. ---------------------------Credits:Host and
Trailer
Legal gambling is everywhere. But how did it get like this? And why can't we fully embrace it? "Scratch & Win" looks for answers in the unlikely story of America's most successful lottery, and the charismatic state treasurer who was determined
Heads up: in two weeks this feed will transform into a new show produced by the same team as the Big Dig. It's called Scratch & Win. Stay tuned.
Just dropping in to share some news about the show, and what's coming next.
An episode from a new GBH News podcast about reparations: "When a City Tries to Heal Itself"Boston, a city entrenched in the history of the American Revolution, creates a task force to explore the city’s history of slavery and economic discrimi
An episode from our colleagues at Detours: The Hardest Fact I Ever CheckedAdam Monahan, producer for GBH’s Antiques Roadshow, attempts to verify what could be one of the most valuable objects to ever appear on the program: a flag from John F. K
An episode from our colleagues at The Frontline Dispatch: Documenting the Siege of Mariupol20 Days in Mariupol is an unflinching, first-hand account of the early days of Russia’s invasion of the port city of Mariupol, which remains under Russia
It’s been fifty years since the Big Dig was first conceived, thirty years since construction began, more than a dozen years since it was completed – and the final twist is: the project has largely delivered on its promises. How do we reconcile
Just as the project turns the corner towards completion, its entire legacy becomes clouded. The tunnels are leaking, concrete suppliers are being arrested, and everyday drivers are forced to wonder: are these tunnels safe?Credits:Host and scrip
By the year 2000, the Big Dig has passed through many hands, but in its final years a power struggle spills into public view – over who will determine the project’s fate, and who will take responsibility for its mistakes.Credits:Host and script
As work progresses through the 1990s and the tunnels take shape, the true cost of the Big Dig remains unknown to the public, until a series of revelations pulls down the curtain and shakes confidence in the whole project.Credits:Host and script
In 1991, the Big Dig is handed off to a new leader – the brash, aggressive, hatchet-toting Jim Kerasiotes – who makes it clear he plans to shake things up. The one thing he can’t shake is the equally aggressive private company managing the proj
The project faces an unexpected challenge on the home front: resistance from local environmentalists and residents – the very people the Big Dig was intended to please. Now, they say that Fred Salvucci has lost his way.Credits:Host and scriptwr
The Big Dig needs federal funding. House Speaker Tip O’Neill is determined to get it; President Ronald Reagan is determined to stop it – setting up a final showdown in one of the great political rivalries of the 20th century.Credits:Host and sc
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