Scratch & Win: the Unlikely Rise of America’s Most Successful Lottery

How did gambling make its way from an illegal backroom operation to a state-run, multibillion dollar industry? Scratch & Win, a new podcast announced today from the Peabody Award-winning team behind The Big Dig podcast, follows the unlikely rise of America’s most successful state lottery, and how it transformed gambling in the United States. The eight-part limited series, hosted by Ian Coss, produced by GBH News and distributed by PRX, premieres on Jan. 29.

The podcast begins in 1970s Boston, when state bureaucrats went toe to toe with mafia bookmakers, and each other, as they struggled to launch one of the state’s greatest innovations: the scratch ticket. The story reaches all the way to the present moment. How do we feel about the gambling industry that lotteries helped summon into being? And should the state be in this business at all?

“There is a greyness and discomfort to the topics we cover in Scratch & Win, which is what I love about it,” said lead producer and host Ian Coss. “Almost everyone I talked to for the project has some personal doubts about legal gambling – what should be allowed, where it should happen, who should run it. My hope is that our podcast and the story of state lotteries captures all of those tensions.”

Scratch & Win is available free on-demand across all major podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, and NPR One, as well as on the GBH News website and as full video podcast episodes on the GBH News YouTube channel. Episodes drop weekly starting Jan. 29.

“The lottery, in all of its forms, has increasingly become a part of everyday life for many people, but the scratch ticket remains especially popular in Massachusetts,” said Dan Lothian, Editor-in-Chief for GBH News and The World. “We’re fortunate to have a powerhouse team that immersed themselves in the history and culture of Massachusetts politics to craft a deeply researched story that draws listeners through the many hiccups that the state lottery faced in its journey to modern juggernaut. We invite Scratch & Win listeners to join us for what I know will be a rich conversation.”

Coss – who previously served as a producer for PRX Productions, PRX’s team of audio creatives – joins GBH next month in a newly-created role as podcast producer and host. As GBH’s digital strategy continues to evolve, Coss will work to develop and produce original narrative podcast series for GBH News and provide creative guidance for other GBH podcasts.

“I’m excited to welcome Ian Coss to the GBH podcast unit, where he will play a central role in strengthening our pipeline of digital-first storytelling that resonates with local and global audiences alike,” said Devin Maverick Robins, Managing Director of Podcasts at GBH. “With The Big Dig, and now Scratch & Win, GBH News demonstrates a unique strength in transforming complex local stories into compelling national narratives that illuminate how Boston’s history has shaped America’s present.”

Coss is the Lead Producer and Host of Scratch & Win. The Executive Producer is Devin Maverick Robins. Jenifer McKim is editorial supervisor. Scratch & Win is a production of GBH News and distributed by PRX, one of the world’s top podcast and public radio distributors.

A public radio broadcast version of the program will be available to stations nationwide.