
About this episode
The National Archives might seem like a distant trove of documents and arcane laws for Americans far from Washington. But many of these national treasures are actually relevant to our lives. Author Sarah Vowell found the people inside the Archives who are making sure everybody can access these documents and find their stories.
Read Sarah Vowell’s full story here: The Equalizer
And check out the rest of the “Who is government?” series.
The Canary, by Michael Lewis
The Sentinel, by Casey Cep
The Searchers, by Dave Eggers
The Number, by John Lanchester
The Cyber Sleuth, by Geraldine Brooks
The original version of this audio mistakenly referred to one of the Citizen Archivists as Bernard Weintraub, but his name is Joel Weintraub. We regret the error.
Get every episode summarized
Each time Reasonably Optimistic publishes, we email you a written briefing from the transcript — the topics, who appeared, and any specific claims, with the ad reads skipped.
Email me new episodesFree for 3 shows. No card needed.
Hosts & guests
No transcript yet
This episode has not been transcribed. Request it and it moves to the front of the queue.
More episodes
More from Reasonably Optimistic

The temperature is rising on AI. What comes next?
Reasonably Optimistic

I'm not anti-tax. But this one should go.
Reasonably Optimistic

What a Catholic feminist dares to say
Reasonably Optimistic

Where AI will be in a year — and in a decade
Reasonably Optimistic
