# The ex-ballerina betting big on prediction markets

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/business-daily-480879/the-ex-ballerina-betting-big-on-prediction-markets
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/business-daily-480879/the-ex-ballerina-betting-big-on-prediction-markets.md
Podcast: [Business Daily](https://stenobird.com/podcast/business-daily-480879)
Published: 2026-05-21T19:30:00+00:00
Episode link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct6rtd
Audio file: http://open.live.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/6/redir/version/2.0/mediaset/audio-nondrm-download-rss-low/proto/http/vpid/p0mzc41c.mp3
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/business-daily-480879/episodes/the-ex-ballerina-betting-big-on-prediction-markets
Duration seconds: 1048

## Resource

On Meet the Founders, we meet Luana Lopes Lara, creator of Kalshi, a prediction markets startup that allows users to trade on the outcome of real-world events - from inflation and interest rates to elections and geopolitics. Kalshi drew attention for showing Zohran Mamdani as a favourite in the NYC mayoral race, as prediction markets gain traction as political barometers. But the wider industry has also faced scrutiny: a trader on rival platform Polymarket reportedly made nearly half a million dollars betting on the capture of Venezuela’s former president Nicolás Maduro before it was announced. The controversy around prediction markets has placed Lopes Lara and her company at the centre of a growing regulatory and ethical debate in the US. In this episode, the Brazilian founder explains how the discipline and resilience of ballet has shaped her approach to building a business, and why she believes markets can often forecast the future better than experts. (First broadcast/podcast on 06 February 2026) If you'd like to get in touch with the team, our email address is businessdaily@bbc.co.uk Presenter: Sam Fenwick Producer: Amber Mehmood Sound mix: Toby James (Picture: Luana Lara Lopes, founder and Chief Operating Officer of Kalshi.)

## Actions

- request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/business-daily-480879/episodes/the-ex-ballerina-betting-big-on-prediction-markets/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
- read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/business-daily-480879/the-ex-ballerina-betting-big-on-prediction-markets.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed.

## Transcript

Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.