Best of 2025: Michael Lewis on Who Is Government?

We the People

National Constitution Center

News, News Commentary, History

4.6 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 29 January 2026

⏱️ 58 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this Best of 2025-episode, Best-selling author Michael Lewis discusses his new book, Who Is Government?: The Untold Story of Public Service. As Americans’ distrust in the government continues to grow, Lewis’ book examines how the government works, who works for it, and why their contributions continue to matter. Jeffrey Rosen, CEO Emeritus of the National Constitution Center, moderates. This conversation was originally streamed live as part of the NCC’s America’s Town Hall series on March 26, 2025. Resources Michael Lewis, ed., ⁠Who Is Government? The Untold Story of Public Service⁠ (2025) Michael Lewis, “⁠The free‑living bureaucrat⁠,” The Washington Post (March 2025) Michael Lewis, “⁠Directions to a journalistic gold mine⁠,” The Washington Post (Nov. 2024) Michael Lewis, ⁠The Premonition: A Pandemic Story⁠ (2022) Michael Lewis, ⁠The Fifth Risk ⁠(2018) ⁠CURE ID Stay Connected and Learn More Questions or comments about the show? Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠podcast@constitutioncenter.org ⁠⁠⁠⁠ Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr Explore the ⁠⁠⁠⁠America at 250 Civic Toolkit⁠⁠⁠⁠ Explore ⁠⁠⁠⁠Pursuit: The Founders’ Guide to Happiness⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Sign up⁠⁠⁠⁠ to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate Follow, rate, and review wherever you listen Join us for an upcoming ⁠⁠⁠⁠live program⁠⁠⁠⁠ or watch recordings on ⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠ Support our important work ⁠⁠⁠⁠Donate

Transcript

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0:00.0	From the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, this is We the People.
0:07.3	I'm Bill Pollock.
0:09.1	The National Constitution Center is a nonpartisan nonprofit, chartered by Congress,
0:14.0	to increase awareness and understanding of the Constitution among the American people.
0:19.6	Today, we revisit a 2025 conversation with best-selling author Michael Lewis about his book,
0:26.6	Who is Government, the untold story of public service.
0:30.6	Jeffrey Rosen, CEO Emeritus of the National Constitution Center, moderates.
0:35.6	This conversation is from the America's Town Hall series on March 26, 2025.
0:41.3	Here's Jeff to get the conversation started.
0:44.3	Michael is one of America's great nonfiction storytellers, and in the book and in our conversation,
0:50.3	he explores the human stories of the heroic civil servants who make
0:55.2	government work, what motivates them, and why their work matters. It's a joy to share Michael's
1:01.1	light with all of you, dear We the People listeners, enjoy the show. Michael, welcome.
1:07.7	Jeff, thank you for having me. So your timing is always impeccable, and you
1:14.2	begin this book by saying that you were inspired to write it. After writing the fifth risk,
1:20.8	your account of the able public servants who served during the Trump transition, you said that
1:26.6	book was such a runaway bestseller.
1:28.3	It sold so many copies that it convinced you that this was an untapped market.
1:32.3	People were hungry for positive stories of effective public servants.
1:36.3	You then commissioned some of your friends to write about them for the Washington Post.
1:40.3	You've collected them in this new book, Who is Government?
1:42.3	And lo and behold, the central question of our day is whether or not we should gut the federal government. Tell us more
	...

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