Episode 10: Money, Power and Gambling with Rebecca Cassidy

Money Power Health with Nason Maani

Hello everyone, and welcome back to Money Power Health.

Today I have the great privilege of speaking to Rebecca Cassidy, professor of social anthropology at Goldsmiths, on the gambling industry and her experience of working on gambling industry research.

The gambling industry has experienced tremendous growth in recent years, particularly through online and mobile gaming, and is increasingly consolidating globally. Gambling has significant health and social implications for both users and their families, particularly as the industry relies on a small proportion of players for the majority of gambling revenue. Notably, a significant proportion of gambling-related public health research is industry-funded, as are most academic conferences, despite a clear conflict of interest. Professor Cassidy and her colleagues were among the first to step into these spaces, and critically examine how the industry had coopted gambling research, terminology, and outcomes, and so besides being something of a hero of mine, her experience and example is relevant to anyone who has to stand up and say the unwelcome, but important truth about the root causes of health problems. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

You can find out more about the work she refers to below.

The report Fair Game on gambling research: https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/11731/1/Fair-Game-Web-Final.pdf

Her book, Vicious Games: https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/9780745340395?gC=5a105e8b&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwkY2qBhBDEiwAoQXK5e8ilKkXnT5UqoYDR8RressAYaK72CcDuitgLkPtZEdBB_WAFBKFFBoCFm4QAvD_BwE

A recent paper she co-authored on a public health approach to gambling regulation:

https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S2468-2667(21)00098-0

Music in this podcast was composed and performed by Daniel Maani. You can find out more about his music here:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/4GDF0XnCn78nce0gesJoC7

And here:
https://open.spotify.com/artist/0Gs6V1gnUYEkZLfU2kjBdK

See you in the next episode.