Scratch & Win
5.0/5
Critic Rating
Seemingly dry topics become gripping political dramas in this Peabody Award winning show from creator Ian Coss and GBH News. Each season of “The Big Dig” uncovers a different facet of society – infrastructure, gambling, food, healthcare – together the pieces connect to tell the story of modern America. Season One: The Big Dig The highway project known as “The Big Dig” is infamous – a shorthand for government failure – but it all started as one engineer’s dream to correct the wrongs of the past, and its legacy is far from simple. Season Two: Scratch & Win America’s most successful state lottery – and its greatest innovation...
Critic Reviews
Score: 5
Chloe Walker • PodcastReview.org • Mar 17, 2025
"Though a podcast about the history of the Massachusetts State Lottery may seem quite specific, the remit of Scratch & Win is surprisingly vast...The podcast is at its most interesting when it’s dealing with the issues head-on, as it does in the opening and closing episodes, rather than sideways, as it does in the rest of them. As well-researched and warmly presented as it is, that tendency to lose the forest for the trees prevents Scratch & Win from maintaining the cohesiveness needed to become a truly compulsive listen."
Score: 5
Lauren Passell • Podcast The Newsletter • Feb 3, 2025
"The answer is fascinating, Ian takes us on side trails from Catholicism to Vaudeville. And it all starts to make sense...While Ian is presenting us with staggering facts about how much money we spend on scratch tickets or how quickly America took the leap to instant gambling, he’s also bringing in so much emotional investigating."
