How To Fail With Elizabeth Day· Staffel 20· Folge 189

Anthony Scaramucci - My Biggest Failure? Working For Donald Trump

Mittwoch, 14. Oktober 2026 · 1 h 07

MP3

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Scaramucci’s 11-day tenure as the White House Communications Chief under President Donald Trump’s first term ended in a blaze of recrimination. Scaramucci was advised by a PR consultant to disappear for five years. He refused - and reinvented his career.

Now, he is the co-host of the US version of The Rest is Politics podcast alongside British journalist Katty Kay.

After Harvard Law School, he joined Goldman Sachs and built a career in finance, eventually founding the investment firm SkyBridge Capital.

In this revealing conversation we discuss what working on Wall Street in the 80s was like, getting fired from Goldman Sachs, his failed first marriage, not being there for his son’s birth, getting fired from The White House and rebuilding his current marriage.

His book, All the Wrong Moves, looks at how three catastrophic decisions and years of ‘sh*tshow politics’ led to Trump.

IN THIS EPISODE:

Introduction montage

Learning optimism and pronoia

Self forgiveness after failure

Growing up and getting to Tufts

Why he wrote the book

Fired then rehired at Goldman

Money mindset and marriage cracks

Work Taxes Burnout

Marriage Neglect Regrets

Conflict Avoidance Trap

Affair Self Forgiveness

Fatherhood After Divorce

Trump Ego Decision

Firing from The Whitehouse

Rebuilding and Looking Ahead

💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:

When bad things happen, take a step back, and get into a channel that is the adult channel. Act in a rational way.

I trained my brain to be optimistic.

If you’re not careful, wealth can make you very depressed and lonely.

Trump's bullying reminded me of my dad… but I was better prepared for it.

🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

Anthony’s book, All the Wrong Moves, is available to buy now: www.penguin.co.uk/books/476667/all-the-wrong-moves-by-scaramucci-anthony/9781847929235

Join the How To Fail community: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

Elizabeth’s Substack: www.theelizabethday.substack.com

📚 WANT MORE?

Bernie Sanders - swap.fm/l/pH8V6cBejDnhH47ega6D

Andy Burnham - swap.fm/l/IpwatiJ5cM1h0UfcyFiA

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Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan

Engineer: Matias Torres

Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson

Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot

Executive Producer: Alex Lawless

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