Image - Miranda Spivack and her book cover
Past Event

Miranda Spivack: Backroom Deals in Our Backyards

While we are continually being inundated with news about what the federal government is up to, and wondering what else is going on that we don’t know about, Miranda Spivack reminds us that most Americans are more likely to encounter the effects of government malfeasance or neglect closer to home—from their governors, mayors, town councils, school boards, police and prosecutors. Deals shrouded in darkness are regularly made at the state and local levels, the result of closed-door discussions between government officials and industry leaders without any scrutiny whatsoever from the public.

As Spivack’s groundbreaking investigative reporting makes clear, residents are intentionally kept on the outside, struggling to get information about significant issues affecting their communities—from car crashes and dirty drinking water, to failing safety gear—until the backroom deals are done and it’s too late to challenge them effectively.

Based on years of original reporting, Spivack tells the story of five “accidental activists”—people from across the United States who started questioning why their local and state governments didn’t protect them from issues facing their communities and why there was a frightening lack of transparency surrounding the way these issues were resolved. The secret deals, lies, and corruption they uncovered shook their faith in government but also moved them to action. Spivack’s revealing take on a hidden dimension of American politics will outrage and educate anyone who cares about the forces shaping their own communities. And it will show how ordinary people are fighting back against their local and state governments to keep their communities safer.

Organizer
George Hammond
Notes

A Humanities Member-led Forum program. Forums at the Club are organized and run by volunteer programmers who are members of The Commonwealth Club, and they cover a diverse range of topics. Learn more about our Forums.

Spivack photo by Dan Gross.

July 22, 2025

Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California
110 The Embarcadero
Toni Rembe Rock Auditorium
San Francisco, CA 94105
United States

Speakers
Image - Miranda Spivack

Miranda Spivack

Journalist; Author, Backroom Deals in Our Backyards: How Government Secrecy Harms Our Communities and the Local Heroes Fighting Back

Moderator TBA

Image - George Hammond

Introduction by George Hammond

Author, Conversations With Socrates; Chair, Humanities Member-led Forum, Commonwealth Club World Affairs—Moderator