The Gist Jonathan Cohen: "Add Friction" to the Super Bowl of Gambling
Feb 5, 2026
Jonathan Cohen, author and critic of modern sports betting who urges policy reforms, and Conor Patrick Heffernan, historian of physical culture, join to discuss two big threads. Cohen argues for adding friction to slow betting and curb harm. Heffernan traces how strength ideals shifted from Charles Atlas to bodybuilding and how resistance shapes bodies across eras.
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Super Bowl Is Gambling's Peak Moment
- The Super Bowl is the single biggest day for sports gambling in the U.S. and concentrates unprecedented betting attention and money on one game.
- Jonathan Cohen calls it the 'Super Bowl of gambling' because its scale and focus amplify gambling's societal impact.
Small Share Produces Most Harm
- Expanding the number of people who gamble inevitably raises the number who develop problems because of how risk is distributed.
- Cohen notes a small share of heavy bettors produce the majority of sportsbook revenue, revealing concentrated harm.
Diagnoses Understate Broader Harms
- Diagnosable gambling disorder still hovers around 1–2% of adults, but many harms occur outside formal diagnosis.
- Cohen emphasizes that measurable addiction is rare compared to broader financial and social harms from gambling.
