Episode 56: Michael Shnayerson

In this episode we turn to an accomplished chronicler of our times. Michael Shnayerson is a contributing editor at Vanity Fair and the author of eight books on a range of nonfiction subjects, including “Boom: Mad Money, Mega Dealers, and the Rise of Contemporary Art,” which lays bare secrets of the largest unregulated financial market in the world. His wide-ranging interests have taken him into multiple facets of the 20th century—including laboratories combating disease, Harry Belafonte’s recollections, a political dynasty, and most recently a page-turner about the notorious gangster Bugsy Siegel. He’s not done with the art world—we learn about a current collaboration with Alec Baldwin to delve into spectacular tales of modern art forgeries.