The concept of government is under attack. In the United States, Donald Trump has fired tens of thousands of federal workers; ignored congressional statutes; insulted judges; and allowed Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, access to sensitive government information in a slash-and-burn campaign against the US government.
On June 19, Michael Lewis the renowned author of bestselling non-fiction masterpieces including Moneyball, The Big Short, Flash Boys and Liar’s Poker comes to the Intelligence Squared stage to tell a new story of public service which blows up the stereotype of the disposable bureaucrat. In an era where Elon Musk's DOGE is drastically cutting jobs in the US federal government and Prime Minister Keir Starmer is vowing to fight the ‘flabby state’, Lewis offers a full-throated defence of why government matters to us all.
Drawing from his new collection of essays Who is Government? The Untold Story of Public Service, Lewis will discuss the often overlooked ways government officials do work that is deeply consequential and beneficial to everyone. He will tell some of the most impactful stories of public service to date, such as a coal miner devoted to making mine roofs less likely to collapse; an Internal Revenue Service agent fighting tax evasion like a character straight out of a crime thriller; and a manager who made the National Cemetery Administration the best-run organisation – public or private –in the United States.
Join us live in London and ask your questions in the audience Q&A.
