New books by Irene Vega, Tim Weiner chronicle changes to federal agencies under Trump

NPR's Book of the Day

NPR

Arts, Books

4.2 • 672 Ratings

🗓️ 1 August 2025

⏱️ 17 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Two new books add context to changes at federal agencies under the Trump administration. First, Irene Vega interviewed 90 ICE agents over a number of years for her book Bordering on Indifference. In today's episode, she speaks with NPR's A Martínez about the frequent tension between agents' professional and personal backgrounds. Then, Tim Weiner's new book The Mission considers how the CIA is reimagining the art of espionage in the modern era. In today's episode, he talks with NPR's Mary Louise Kelly about what he calls an "ideological purge" at the CIA under President Trump and how technology can make spying more difficult.

To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hey, it's Empire's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbaugh. The federal government is going through a lot of
0:08.4	changes right now. But the changes aren't the same across the board. Under President Trump,
0:13.5	some agencies have been cut, some have been expanded, and some are in the middle of
0:17.7	redefining their mission. Today, we've got two books that tell the story of two arms of the federal government
0:24.0	feeling vastly different pressures.
0:26.5	In a bit, we'll hear about what the CIA looks like today.
0:30.1	But first, one of the agencies that has been vastly expanded under the president is
0:34.6	Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.
0:38.1	I mean, Vega is a scholar who's got a new book out titled Bordering on Indifference,
0:42.2	Immigration Agents Negotiating Race and Morality.
0:45.4	For the book, she interviewed nearly 100 ICE agents to get a deeper understanding as to
0:50.1	why they do what they do.
0:52.4	And Vega talks to MPR's A. Martinez about the numerous ice agents she spoke with,
0:56.8	who are Latino, and were really struggling with balancing their jobs and their background.
1:03.2	That's ahead.
1:04.5	In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life.
1:09.3	Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors
1:13.3	on our new show, Sources and Methods. NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real
1:18.7	people helping you understand why distant events matter here at home. Listen to sources and methods
1:24.8	on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.
1:35.8	President Trump's tax cut and policy bill allocates about $170 billion to border and immigration enforcement.
1:46.9	The expanded budget provides U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE with the funding to hire 10,000 new agents in addition to the estimated 20,000 law enforcement and support personnel across 400 offices.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of NPR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.