The USD 65 bn Madoff ponzi scheme was the biggest in history. We all think we know something about it, but have never heard the story from Bernie Madoff himself. Radiolab invited over reporters Steve Fishman and Ellen Horne to play snippets from their Audible series Ponzi Supernova, which features exclusive footage of Madoff. Madoff had “the greatest seat in the house to what was going on behind the scenes,” Fishman says, and he just wanted to know why someone, who was already rich, would build this ponzi scheme. Fishman and Horne interviewed dozens of FBI and SEC agents, investors, traders, and attorneys and also scrutinized Madoff’s account to understand exactly why he did it, how he managed to pull it off, and how culpable he actually was. Madoff’s calls from prison are fascinating in their own way, because everyone knows he did it and that he’s guilty, but it is interesting to hear how he describes what his life in prison is like and how he perceives himself. “I’m a good person,” Madoff says. His family had nothing to do with the scheme, “I kept them out of the loop,” as he recites his own story (runtime 39:35).