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The Fifth Risk: Undoing Democracy

The Fifth Risk: Undoing Democracy

Read Between The Lines · Michael Lewis

October 12, 202521m 46s

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Show Notes

What happens when a new administration, willfully ignorant and incurious, takes control of the vast, complex machine of the US government? Michael Lewis, the master of making the mundane thrilling, takes you inside the Departments of Energy, Agriculture, and Commerce during the chaotic 2016 presidential transition. You’ll meet the unsung heroes trying to protect a nation from its own leaders and discover the “fifth risk”—the catastrophic danger of sheer incompetence. It’s the terrifying story of the gears of democracy grinding to a halt.

Topics

U.S. governmentpresidential transitionTrump administrationbureaucracypublic servicegovernancerisk managementThe Fifth Riskwillful ignoranceDepartment of Energynuclear securityweather forecastingclimate datainstitutional decaycivil servantsmismanagementpolitical appointmentsnonfictionpolitical science