Moneyball

In this narration, we step into a version of Major League Baseball where the biggest budgets don’t always create the biggest wins. Michael Lewis explores how the Oakland Athletics—working with one of the smallest payrolls in the game—kept beating richer teams by rethinking what “talent” really looks like.

At the center is general manager Billy Beane, a former player whose own career taught him how misleading traditional scouting can be. Guided by statistical thinkers like Bill James, Beane and his colleagues begin to treat baseball like a puzzle: if the market overpays for certain traits, what valuable traits are being ignored? The story becomes not only about games and seasons, but about learning, resilience, and seeing people more clearly.

• Listeners who enjoy underdog stories about smart strategy, unconventional thinking, and finding value where others don’t look.
• Leaders, managers, and team-builders who want a gentler, practical reminder that better decisions often start with better questions.
• Anyone who’s felt underestimated—and wants encouragement that being overlooked doesn’t mean being unimportant.

Michael Lewis is a nonfiction author known for explaining complex systems through vivid human stories. In this book, he uses baseball as a window into decision-making, bias, and the surprising power of data-informed thinking—especially when resources are limited.