Scratch and Win cover art

Scratch and Win

Scratch and Win

By: GBH News
Listen for free

About this listen

Never in American history has it been so easy to gamble, legally at least. We’ve got casinos, sports betting, online poker, keno — but it was all made possible by state lotteries, which brought gambling out of the shadows and into the public square — into the government itself.

“Scratch & Win” follows the unlikely rise of America’s most successful lottery. We begin in 1970s Boston, with state bureaucrats going toe to toe with mafia bookmakers, and each other, as they struggle to launch the state's greatest innovation: the scratch ticket. But the story reaches all the way to the present moment. How do we feel about the gambling industry that lotteries helped summon into being? And should the state be in this business at all?

“Scratch & Win” is made by the Peabody Award-winning team behind “The Big Dig,” produced by GBH News.

©2023 WGBH Educational Foundation World
Episodes
  • Introducing Season Two: Scratch & Win

    Introducing Season Two: Scratch & Win
    Jan 22 2025

    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 to beat the mob at their own game.

    ---------------------------

    Credits:

    Host and Scriptwriter: Ian Coss

    Executive Producer: Devin Maverick Robins

    Producers: Isabel Hibbard and Ian Coss

    Story Editor: Lacy Roberts

    Editorial Advisor: Jenifer McKim

    Fact-checkers: Ryan Alderman and Isabel Hibbard

    Scoring and Music Supervision: Ian Coss

    Project Manager: Meiqian He

    Graphic Design: Bill Miller
    Show More Show Less
    4 mins
  • Scratch & Win | 1. The Instant Ticket

    Scratch & Win | 1. The Instant Ticket
    Jan 29 2025

    Part 1: 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 Scriptwriter: Ian Coss

    Executive Producer: Devin Maverick Robins

    Producers: Isabel Hibbard and Ian Coss

    Story Editor: Lacy Roberts

    Editorial Advisor: Jenifer McKim

    Fact-checkers: Ryan Alderman and Isabel Hibbard

    Scoring and Music Supervision: Ian Coss

    Project Manager: Meiqian He

    Graphic Design: Bill Miller
    Show More Show Less
    50 mins
  • Scratch & Win | 2. The Lottery Czar

    Scratch & Win | 2. The Lottery Czar
    Jan 29 2025

    Part 2: 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: Ian Coss

    Executive Producer: Devin Maverick Robins

    Producers: Isabel Hibbard and Ian Coss

    Story Editor: Lacy Roberts

    Editorial Advisor: Jenifer McKim

    Fact-checkers: Ryan Alderman and Isabel Hibbard

    Scoring and Music Supervision: Ian Coss

    Project Manager: Meiqian He

    Graphic Design: Bill Miller
    Show More Show Less
    57 mins
No reviews yet
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.