Government is a vast, complex system that citizens pay for, rebel against, rely upon, dismiss, and celebrate. Since the beginning of time people have argued about what shape government should take and whether it is a better or worse system than the private sector for addressing society’s biggest problems.

On June 19, Michael Lewis the renowned author of bestselling non-fiction masterpieces including Moneyball, The Big Short, Flash Boys and Liar’s Poker returns to the Intelligence Squared stage to tell a new history of public service and to blow up the stereotype of the irrelevant bureaucrat. Lewis will argue that 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’, we need to remember the vital role government plays in all our lives.

Drawing from his new collection of essays Who is Government? The Untold Story of Public Service, Lewis will discuss the hidden and 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 the 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 the 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