The Zach Show

Casinos don’t just rely on luck, they rely on psychology, design, and timing, and in this episode Dr. Sally Gainsbury explains exactly how. Dr. Gainsbury, an internationally recognized gambling-harm researcher, Professor of Psychology at the University of Sydney, and Director of Australia’s only university-based Gambling Treatment and Research Clinic, walks through how early wins can reshape expectations, why “losses disguised as wins” keep people playing, and how modern platforms deliberately separate users from the feeling of spending real money. The conversation traces her upbringing around Australia’s race-betting culture to her research on slot machines engineered with “random reinforcement schedules” that override normal learning and keep people returning even while losing. She also explores the rise of app-based betting, celebrity sponsorships, youth exposure through gaming economies, and how sports culture itself is being reshaped by wagering. Finally, Dr. Gainsbury outlines evidence-based interventions, from smarter friction to personalized prompts, that can reduce harm while preserving autonomy.Guest bio: Professor Sally Gainsbury is a leading researcher on gambling harms and digital behavioral risk. She is Professor of Psychology at the University of Sydney and Director of the Gambling Treatment and Research Clinic. Her work informs global policy on platform design, prevention strategies, and technology-driven interventions that reduce gambling-related harm.Subscribe to The Zach Show 2.0 to gain early access to all future episodes, exclusive AMAs, the ability to suggest guest questions, bonus content, and more: https://thezachshow.supercast.com/Dr. Sally Gainsbury Links:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sallygainsbury/Professor Profile: https://profiles.sydney.edu.au/sally.gainsburyGambling Research Page: http://bit.ly/4mr7M4WThe Zach Show Links: The Zach Show 2.0: https://thezachshow.supercast.com/Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3zaS6sPYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@auxoroInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/auxoro/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@zachshowpod Website: https://www.auxoro.com/Substack: https://thezachshow.substack.com/If you’re not ready to subscribe to The Zach Show 2.0, rating the show on Spotify or Apple Podcasts is free and massively helpful. It boosts visibility, helps new listeners discover the show, and keeps this thing alive. Thank you:Rate The Zach Show on Spotify: https://bit.ly/43ZLrAtRate The Zach Show on Apple Podcasts: https://bit.ly/458nbha

Most people think the OceanGate Titan disaster was a tragic accident. It wasn’t. It was the predictable outcome of an egomaniacal mindset.In this episode, Zach and his brother Dave break down the OceanGate disaster through the lens of the Netflix documentary 'Titan: The OceanGate Disaster,' unpacking how Stockton Rush’s obsession with proving carbon fiber could work at Titanic depth slowly turned engineering into ideology. The film reveals that multiple experts warned the sub was unsafe long before the implosion, yet those warnings were repeatedly dismissed. From a monitoring system that couldn’t actually detect failure to whistleblowers who were pushed out for raising concerns, the red flags weren’t subtle. They were everywhere. Engineers described the hull as impossible to properly inspect and capable of failing without warning, but the mission continued anyway.We also explore how startup-style thinking, move fast and break things, collides with safety-critical industries, and what happens when a founder starts believing he alone understands the technology. Because the Titan didn’t just fail underwater. It failed years earlier, when doubt stopped being allowed inside the company and Stockton Rush's ego reigned supreme. Guest bio: David Grossfeld is a med student at Touro University, a content creator, and Zach's younger brother. Subscribe to The Zach Show 2.0 to gain early access to all future episodes, exclusive AMAs, the ability to suggest guest questions, bonus content, and more: https://thezachshow.supercast.com/DAVID GROSSFELD LINKS:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/creativemedman/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@creativemedmanYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@deaddogcomedyTHE ZACH SHOW LINKS: The Zach Show 2.0: ⁠https://thezachshow.supercast.com/⁠Spotify: ⁠https://spoti.fi/3zaS6sP⁠YouTube: ⁠https://bit.ly/3lTpJdj⁠Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/auxoro/⁠ TikTok: ⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@zachshowpod⁠ Website: ⁠https://www.auxoro.com/⁠Substack: ⁠https://thezachshow.substack.com/⁠If you’re not ready to subscribe to The Zach Show 2.0, rating the show on Spotify or Apple Podcasts is free and massively helpful. It boosts visibility, helps new listeners discover the show, and keeps this chaos alive. Thank you:Rate The Zach Show on Spotify: ⁠https://bit.ly/43ZLrAt⁠Rate The Zach Show on Apple Podcasts: ⁠https://bit.ly/458nbha

In this conversation, Zach sits down with acclaimed author Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, the writer behind Chain-Gang All-Stars and Friday Black, to explore the uneasy relationship between violence, justice, and entertainment in modern culture. They discuss how violent spectacle, from gladiators to modern media, captures our attention and forces us to confront our own role as spectators. Nana explains how Chain-Gang All-Stars uses brutal prison death matches as a lens to examine the American carceral system, state violence, and the moral contradictions around punishment. The conversation also dives into Nana’s writing process, including why he sometimes writes longhand, how Metroid Prime influenced the book’s unique footnote structure, and why humor can coexist with the darkest subject matter. They also discuss Succession, the psychology of audiences misreading satire, and how growing up with a defense-attorney father shaped Nana’s views on crime and compassion. Ultimately, the episode wrestles with a bigger question: what stories about violence reveal about who we are, and who we’re becoming.Guest bio: Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah is the acclaimed author of the bestselling novel Chain-Gang All-Stars and the award-winning short story collection Friday Black. A National Book Foundation “5 Under 35” honoree, his work has appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker, and Esquire, exploring violence, justice, and the American imagination.NANA KWAME ADJEI-BRENYAH LINKS:Chain Gang All-Stars (Buy Local): https://bit.ly/4cqaXqzFriday Black (Buy Local): https://bit.ly/4luPKylWebsite: https://www.nanakwameadjei-brenyah.com/Spotify: https://bit.ly/4bblEuUSubstack (WISLY): https://nanakwame.substack.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/king_nk/Stream All of Nana's Music: https://bit.ly/40MSD3GTHE ZACH SHOW LINKS: The Zach Show 2.0: https://thezachshow.supercast.com/Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3zaS6sPYouTube: https://bit.ly/3lTpJdjInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/auxoro/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@zachshowpod Website: https://www.auxoro.com/Substack: https://thezachshow.substack.com/If you’re not ready to subscribe to The Zach Show 2.0, rating the show on Spotify or Apple Podcasts is free and massively helpful. It boosts visibility, helps new listeners discover the show, and keeps this chaos alive. Thank you:Rate The Zach Show on Spotify: https://bit.ly/43ZLrAtRate The Zach Show on Apple Podcasts: https://bit.ly/458nbha

On this episode of The Zach Show, Andrew Iliadis explains how companies like Palantir, Anduril, and SpaceX are reshaping warfare, surveillance, and state power by building autonomous defense technologies faster than governments can regulate them. He traces the roots of this shift to post-9/11 defense expansion, cloud computing, and Silicon Valley’s deep ties to military funding. By analyzing Palantir’s patents and products, Iliadis argues these firms don’t just analyze data, they define reality through “ontology,” shaping who is watched, predicted, detained, or targeted. When prediction becomes policy and private tech sets the agenda, democratic oversight struggles to keep up.Guest bio: Andrew Iliadis is an Associate Professor of Media Studies and Production at Temple University’s Klein College of Media and Communication. His research examines how data science, AI, and digital infrastructure are reshaping media, governance, and power, with a focus on surveillance, automated decision-making, and national defense. He is the author of Semantic Media and the forthcoming Autonomous Defense (UC Press, 2026), and serves on multiple editorial boards. Subscribe to The Zach Show 2.0 to gain early access to all future episodes, exclusive AMAs, the ability to suggest guest questions, bonus content, and more: https://thezachshow.supercast.com/Clarification: As noted by Andrew, Intel and Fairchild Semiconductor were founded after World War II and emerged from a Silicon Valley ecosystem shaped by WWII-era defense research and military contracting (e.g., Fairchild Camera, HP, Varian, and Stanford’s wartime mobilization). ANDREW ILIADIS LINKS:Website: https://andrewiliadis.com/CV: https://andrewiliadis.com/cv/Publications: https://andrewiliadis.com/publications/Autonomous Defense (Book) Coming Soon on UC Press: https://bit.ly/4t37uEa THE ZACH SHOW LINKS: The Zach Show 2.0: https://thezachshow.supercast.com/Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3zaS6sPYouTube: https://bit.ly/3lTpJdjWebsite: https://www.auxoro.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/auxoroTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thezachshowpod If you’re not ready to subscribe to The Zach Show 2.0, rating the show on Spotify or Apple Podcasts is free and massively helpful. It boosts visibility, helps new listeners discover the show, and keeps this chaos alive. Thank you: Rate The Zach Show on Spotify: https://bit.ly/43ZLrAtRate The Zach Show on Apple Podcasts: https://bit.ly/458nbha 

For years, the Epstein story sat half-exposed and half-buried—until the DOJ quietly released over 40,000 files. In this episode, investigative biographer Andrew Lownie breaks down what actually matters: missing evidence, sanitized redactions, and an investigation that admits to 10 co-conspirators yet charged only one person. From Clinton and Trump to Prince Andrew, the files suggest not incompetence, but protection.   Guest bio: Andrew Lownie is an award-winning investigative biographer, journalist, and publisher, widely regarded as one of Britain’s most relentless royal historians. He is the author of Traitor King, The Mountbattens, and his latest book Entitled, which examines Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson. Known for deep archival research and award-winning writing, Lownie has built a reputation for exposing power, corruption, and institutional cover-ups at the highest levels of the British establishment. Subscribe to The Zach Show 2.0 to gain early access to all future episodes, exclusive AMAs, the ability to suggest guest questions, bonus content, and more: https://thezachshow.supercast.com/ ANDREW LOWNIE LINKSEntitled: https://bit.ly/3YpacFTWebsite: https://andrewlownie.me/Substack: https://andrewlownie.substack.com/All Books: https://andrewlownie.me/books THE ZACH SHOW LINKS: The Zach Show 2.0: https://thezachshow.supercast.com/Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3zaS6sPYouTube: https://bit.ly/3lTpJdjWebsite: https://www.auxoro.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/auxoroTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thezachshowpod If you’re not ready to subscribe to The Zach Show 2.0, rating the show on Spotify or Apple Podcasts is free and massively helpful. It boosts visibility, helps new listeners discover the show, and keeps this chaos alive. Thank you: Rate The Zach Show on Spotify: https://bit.ly/43ZLrAtRate The Zach Show on Apple Podcasts: https://bit.ly/458nbha