Mistrust : Why Losing Faith in Institutions Provides the Tools to Transform Them

FEATURING ETHAN ZUCKERMAN – Public trust in the federal government of the United States has been low for years now. But during the pandemic it fell even lower. Just 20% of Americans as per the latest Pew survey in Fall 2020 said they trusted Washington to “do the right thing” just about always or most of the time.

My guest writes that in spite of the dangers of mistrust in institutions, the loss of public faith can be an important first step in transforming those institutions for the better.

Ethan Zuckerman is the founder of the Institute for Digital Public Infrastructure at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and associate professor of public policy, information, and communication. His new book is called Mistrust: Why Losing Faith in Institutions Provides the Tools to Transform Them.