Sarah Vowell and Dave Eggers Celebrate Public Servants in ‘Who is Government’

KQED's Forum

KQED

Politics, News, News Commentary

4.6 • 656 Ratings

🗓️ 19 March 2025

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Who is the Government? Dave Eggers and Sarah Vowell attempt to answer that question in essays about the scientists who discover new planets at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California and the archivists who safeguard the nation’s historical record. They’re both featured in the new anthology, “Who is Government: The Untold Story of Public Service.” We talk to Vowell and Eggers about the civil servants who make up what their editor Michael Lewis calls “the vast, complex system Americans pay for, rebel against, rely upon, dismiss and celebrate.” And we’ll get an update on the legal challenges to the Trump administration’s efforts to slash the federal workforce. What public servant in your life would you like to celebrate? Guests: Dave Eggers, founder, McSweeney's; co-founder, 826 Valencia; author, many books including “The Eyes and the Impossible” and “The Circle” Sarah Vowell, author, seven nonfiction books including “Lafayette in the Somewhat United States”, “Unfamiliar Fishes" and “Assassination Vacation" Stephen Fowler, political reporter covering the restructuring of the federal government, NPR Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Support for Forum comes from Rancho La Puerta, a wellness resort in Baja, California, just an hour from San Diego,
0:07.4	recently voted the number one destination spa by readers of travel and leisure magazine.
0:12.8	Summer retreat packages of three, four, or seven nights including hiking, water classes, mindfulness,
0:19.9	spa therapies, and culinary adventures with
0:22.8	farm-fresh ingredients. Learn more at Rancho LaPuerta.com.
0:27.3	Switch to Comcast Business Mobile and save hundreds a year in your wireless bill.
0:31.4	Comcast Business, powering possibilities.
0:33.9	Restrictions apply. Comcast Business Internet required.
0:36.0	Compar as two unlimited intro lines and lowest price 5D plans of top three carriers. Tax on fees extra, reduce speeds after 30 gigabytes of usage. Data thresholds may vary. From KQBD in San Francisco, this is Forum.
1:03.0	I'm Mina Kim.
1:04.1	As the Trump administration attempts to slash the federal workforce,
1:07.6	a new essay collection edited by Michael Lewis asks,
1:11.6	Who is government? Who makes up the, quote, vast complex system Americans pay for, rebel against, rely upon, dismiss and celebrate?
1:18.6	Essay contributors Dave Eggers and Sarah Vowell join us to talk about the scientists who discover new planets
1:24.6	and the archivists who safeguard the nation's historical records
1:27.9	will also get an update on the legal effort to get federal workers' jobs reinstated.
1:33.3	What public servant would you like to shout out? Join us. Welcome to Forum. I'm Mina Kim.
1:49.0	As federal workers suffer the ordeal of being hastily fired by the Trump administration,
1:54.2	then maybe fully reinstated under court order, a new essay collection, written before the chaos,
1:59.6	but published yesterday, aims to recognize and celebrate civil servants, called Who Is Government?
2:05.1	It offers insight into their contributions and motivations for working on behalf of the public.
2:09.8	We'll learn this hour from Sarah Vowell and Dave Eggers, who contributed essays to the collection about scientists at NASA and recordkeepers at the National Archives.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

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

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