Bernie Madoff Reveals All In ‘Ponzi Supernova’ Podcast

Bernie Madoff Image by Getty Images

By Daniel J. Solomon February 11, 2017

Almost a decade after he was arrested for running the largest Ponzi scheme in financial history, Bernie Madoff is opening up about his life and experiences with journalist Steve Fishman in a new podcast called “Ponzi Supernova.”

“We’re running through his story and we’ve developed a kind of rapport. I mean, you know, there’s a different generation, Jewish roots, New York area, this is a guy who’s familiar to me,” the writer said, describing his phone conversations to the public radio program “Radiolab.” He also said that Madoff reminded him of his “uncle.”

Fishman had been trying to get in touch with Madoff for years, sending him letters and novels at his North Carolina medium-security prison, where he’s serving an 150-year sentence. According to him, the disgraced investor one day rang him at his home, leading the two to form a relationship.

There are some fun vignettes that Fishman uncovers — like how Madoff cornered the prison market on hot chocolate, or how he goes to a therapist in prison every week (you can take the Jew out of New York …). But there’s also serious talk about how the Madoff family has fallen apart in the wake of scandal, with Madoff’s two sons dying since their father’s conviction, with Andrew Madoff succumbing to lymphoma and Mark Madoff dying from his own hand.

Contact Daniel J. Solomon at [email protected] or on Twitter @DanielJSolomon

Daniel J. Solomon is the former Assistant to the Editor/News Writer at the Forward. Originally from Queens, he attended Harvard as an undergraduate, where he wrote his senior thesis on French-Jewish intellectual history. He is excited to have returned to New York after his time in Massachusetts. Daniel’s passions include folk music, cycling, and pointed argument.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO