Gabfest Reads is a monthly series from the hosts of Slate’s Political Gabfest podcast. This month, John Dickerson talks with journalist and author Andrew Ross Sorkin about his new book 1929: Inside the Greatest Crash in Wall Street History and How It Shattered a Nation.

Their conversation covers how leverage and speculation reshaped American finance — and what parallels Sorkin sees in today’s tech-driven markets.

This partial transcript has been edited and condensed for clarity.

John Dickerson: So the crash happens over a period of time. And help us understand just how bad it got for people. And speak in general terms so that they don’t get associated with specific … But, I mean, we all hear about the stories of people jumping out of buildings. They jumped out of buildings.

Andrew

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