28 Episodes

  1. An architecture mystery from Antiques Roadshow

    Published: 5/14/2025

  2. How to sue the government, and win

    Published: 4/9/2025

  3. Why do some parts of government work better than others?

    Published: 4/2/2025

  4. Should we be nostalgic for machine politics?

    Published: 3/26/2025

  5. Why does sports betting feel different?

    Published: 3/19/2025

  6. Part 8: The Other Massachusetts Miracle

    Published: 3/12/2025

  7. Part 7: The Dirtiest Race in the Commonwealth

    Published: 3/5/2025

  8. Part 6: The Game Dreams Are Made Of

    Published: 2/26/2025

  9. Part 5: The Cherry Sheets

    Published: 2/19/2025

  10. Part 4: The Last Mafia Boss of Boston

    Published: 2/12/2025

  11. Part 3: Have You Played Your Number?

    Published: 2/5/2025

  12. Part 2: The Lottery Czar

    Published: 1/29/2025

  13. Part 1: The Instant Ticket

    Published: 1/29/2025

  14. Introducing: Scratch & Win

    Published: 1/22/2025

  15. A note from The Big Dig team

    Published: 6/12/2024

  16. Introducing: What Is Owed?

    Published: 2/29/2024

  17. Introducing: Detours from Antiques Roadshow

    Published: 1/29/2024

  18. Introducing: The Frontline Dispatch

    Published: 1/3/2024

  19. Part 9: Hearts and Minds

    Published: 11/15/2023

  20. Part 8: I Want Justice for What Happened

    Published: 11/8/2023

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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 and distributed by PRX. --------------------------- Credits: Host and scriptwriter: Ian Coss Executive Producer: Devin Maverick Robins Producers: Isabel Hibbard and Ian Coss Story Editor: Lacy Roberts Editorial Advisor: Jen McKim Fact Checkers: Ryan Alderman and Isabel Hibbard Scoring and Music Supervision: Ian Coss Graphic Design: Bill Miller Project Manager: Meiqian He