NAMED A MOST-ANTICIPATED BOOK OF 2024 BY FT, The Guardian, and The Sunday Times
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Signal and the Noise, the definitive guide to our era of risk—and the players raising the stakes
In the bestselling The Signal and the Noise, Nate Silver showed how forecasting would define the age of Big Data. Now, in this timely and riveting new book, Silver investigates “the River,” the community of like-minded people whose mastery of risk allows them to shape—and dominate—so much of modern life.
These professional risk-takers—poker players and hedge fund managers, crypto true believers and blue-chip art collectors—can teach us much about navigating the uncertainty of the twenty-first century. By immersing himself in the worlds of Doyle Brunson, Peter Thiel, Sam Bankman-Fried, Sam Altman, and many others, Silver offers insight into a range of issues that affect us all, from the frontiers of finance to the future of AI.
Most of us don’t have traits commonly found in the River: high tolerance for risk, appreciation of uncertainty, affinity for numbers—paired with an instinctive distrust of conventional wisdom and a competitive drive so intense it can border on irrational. For those in the River, complexity is baked in, and the work is how to navigate it. People in the River have increasing amounts of wealth and power in our society, and understanding their mindset—and the flaws in their thinking— is key to understanding what drives technology and the global economy today.
Taking us behind the scenes from casinos to venture capital firms, and from the FTX inner sanctum to meetings of the effective altruism movement, On the Edge is a deeply reported, all-access journey into a hidden world of power brokers and risk-takers.
* This audiobook edition includes a downloadable PDF of charts and a glossary of terms from the book.
Download and start listening now!
"This is one of the best audiobooks I have ever listened to. On the Edge is an engaging and thought-provoking audiobook that masterfully blends suspense, emotion, and introspection. Narrated with precision and passion, it immerses listeners in a gripping tale that lingers long after the final chapter."
— Vineet (5 out of 5 stars)
A clever look into a unique realm. An enlightening study of the people who play the game of risk and win.
— Kirkus Reviews (starred)Be the first to write a review about this audiobook!
Nate Silver is a statistician, writer, and founder of the New York Times political blog FiveThirtyEight.com. He also developed PECOTA, a system for forecasting baseball performance that was bought by Baseball Prospectus. He was named one of the world’s 100 most influential people by Time magazine and lives in Brooklyn, New York.