# How did prediction markets get so big?

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-global-story-6677479/how-did-prediction-markets-get-so-big
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-global-story-6677479/how-did-prediction-markets-get-so-big.md
Podcast: [The Global Story](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-global-story-6677479)
Published: 2026-06-01T09:00:00+00:00
Episode link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct8mc2
Audio file: http://open.live.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/6/redir/version/2.0/mediaset/audio-nondrm-download-rss/proto/http/vpid/p0npdtk5.mp3
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-global-story-6677479/episodes/how-did-prediction-markets-get-so-big
Duration seconds: 1589

## Resource

On prediction markets such as Polymarket people are placing sometimes huge wagers on questions ranging from the sublime (‘will Jesus Christ return by the end of the year?’) to the very serious (‘will the US invade Iran?’). Gambling is restricted across many US states but prediction markets are not classified as gambling. Their rapid rise over recent years speaks – some say – to an increasing nihilism among young men in particular, who feel they may as well try to profit from world events they cannot control. Supporters say prediction markets are a smart way to make money. Critics say they are enabling insider trading. So what is the truth behind their rise? We speak to senior business journalist at the BBC, Mitch Labiak. Producer: Hannah Moore Mix: Travis Evans Executive producers: Richard Fenton-Smith and James Shield Senior news editor: China Collins Photo: Polymarket logo appears in this illustration. Credit: Reuters/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

## Actions

- request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-global-story-6677479/episodes/how-did-prediction-markets-get-so-big/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
- read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-global-story-6677479/how-did-prediction-markets-get-so-big.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.