Open Book with Anthony Scaramucci

Open Book is an interview show built around books, with Anthony Scaramucci putting one author and one work at the center of each interview. The first thing to notice is the range. Jamison Firestone comes on to discuss Rule of Lies and tells the story of Putin's rise: Yeltsin, ailing and surrounded by corruption, went on television to wish the country a happy new year and announce he was resigning, handing power to Putin, whose first act was to pardon him. Firestone describes a justice system used against enemies, attacks on the media and universities, and the country's most popular comedy show taken off the air for mocking Putin. His warning is that this sounds a lot like Trump now. He frames it as a question about the system, not party politics. Jay Cohen, co-founder and former president of the World Sports Exchange, discusses Odds Man Out, whose subtitle calls it the untold story of how professional sports crushed the pioneers of online betting. He describes a letter from Debevoise and Plimpton on behalf of the leagues, the team names and links his company removed, and his refusal to stop serving U.S. residents, before prosecutors in the Southern District built a case. Monte Burke brings Men of Troy and Pete Carroll, described in the conversation as an unconventional coach who drew on psychology and Far Eastern mysticism and was overshadowed by Nick Saban and Bill Belichick. Michael J. Tougias, who says he has interviewed more than 100 survivors, tells the story of three men who survived 28 hours surrounded by sharks, including the moment one refused to give up on a failing companion. What ties these together is Scaramucci himself. He reads for the lesson. In the Carroll story he finds a business point about working within the culture you land in, and he asks Tougias what the survivors teach about adversity at work. The answer is to take a crisis hour by hour. He is open about his own views, stopping at one point to say it is his podcast and that he considers a scandal in the Carroll story hypocritical. The monthly Q&A episodes turn that frankness on himself. In one, titled 'Jun 2026 Q&A: Breaking From Trump, Reforming American Democracy & Book Recs', he accepts a listener's criticism, calls himself a flawed human being, and says the lesson is to admit mistakes and move on. Asked about the New York Democratic primary results, he makes the case for open primaries, arguing that low turnout makes a small bloc look like a mandate. Interviews close with the title and author repeated and an unreserved recommendation. Of Rule of Lies, he says the book is that good. For a first listen, the Firestone conversation shows the show's political side, and the Tougias episode shows its habit of turning a story into advice.