Episode 47: Inside Code for America's Mission to Modernize Government

Episode 48: "We the Possibility" and Public Entrepreneurship ft. Mitchell Weiss

Episode 49: Exploring the Government's Colonial Pipeline Hack Response

Episode 50: Do Deficits Matter? Ft. Steve McMillin

Here's to 50 and a Look Ahead

Episode 51: Talking Government Innovation with Beth Simone Noveck

Episode 52: Talking Infrastructure

Episode 53: Year in Review — The Pandemic Reveals Gaps in Citizen Trust

Episode 54: Revisiting Trust's Impact on the Role of Government

Episode 55: Inside the Russia-Ukraine War, with National Security Expert Troy Thomas

Episode 56: The Future of Cities, w/ Maura Brophy

Episode 57: The Supreme Court's Impact on Federal Regulations, w/ Stuart Shapiro

Episode 58: Gov Actually is Back, ft. Gov. Charlie Baker and a New Fill-In Co-Host

People are nervous. Tensions are high. Morale is low.

It's been eight years since the federal government has experienced a presidential transition, and many federal workers haven't been through such a drastic change. Adding in the fact that President-elect Donald Trump campaigned on platforms of "draining the swamp" and that Washington is broken, many civil servants may be questioning whether they want to stay on for the new administration.

In this episode of the Gov Actually podcast, hosts Dan Tangherlini and Danny Werfel, who've both experienced presidential transitions firsthand, make the case that federal employees shouldn't let their anxieties get the best of them.

Giving a pep talk of sorts, Werfel says in the podcast "I actually feel this is the exciting moment. This is what you signed up for when you're a civil servant, which is this moment where things are going to shift underneath your feet in terms of the direction your agency is going, and above your head the politics are moving in very different directions. Yet you have to keep moving forward and serve the institution, and serve the mission, and continue on your path as a career civil servant."

Tangherlini published a blog post about this in November in response to the many talented members of the U.S. Digital Service and 18F who were considering leaving government, putting the future of their young organizations in jeopardy. As he explains in this episode, he believes those civil servants should give the new administration a shot.

As always, let us know what you think of the podcast and what you might want to hear on future episodes.

And if you missed it, catch up on the first episode of Gov Actually.

Episode 2: The Transition Pep Talk

Episode 3: Trimming the Fat of the Federal Government

Last Friday, around closing time, the White House dropped a bomb in the form of an executive order — one that restricts travel of citizens from seven predominantly Muslim nations to the United States, suspends the entry of any refugees for 120 days, and bars Syrian refugees indefinitely.

In this week’s episode of Gov Actually, hosts Dan Tangherlini and Danny Werfel talk about the political communication cycle in government, their firsthand experience with it, and if what seems like a stodgy and dated process remains that way for a reason, in light of the way the new White House handled the news over the weekend.

On episode 6, Gov Actually features its second guest, Eric Schultz, the former principal deputy press secretary under Barack Obama, in his first public interview since leaving the White House. Schultz has since take a senior advisory position with former President Obama for his post-presidency communications.

Chatting with Dan and Danny, Schultz recalls his work managing communications around crises. “Nobody wanted to see me in their meetings,” he says.  “I always got bad looks whenever I entered a room.”

The three go on to discuss how the administration handles hot-button news items, navigates the press, and conveys an image of trust and transparency with the public during trying times.

Spoiler alert: Schultz explains there’s no “secret sauce” and his team didn’t have some “monopoly on wisdom.” They just experimented, balancing tried-and-true techniques with the creativity needed in the era of new media, he says.

Episode 6: The Political Communication Cycle, ft. Eric Schultz

Episode 11: How Regulation Works

Episode 13: How Infrastructure Works

Episode 14: Everything You Need to Know About CBO

TASCAM DR-07MK2

Episode 16: The Oscars of Government Service — Meet the 2017 Sammies Finalists pt.1

Episode 26: Procurement

Episode 28: Get Ready for Oversight

Episode 30: The 'Dave' Episode

Episode 31: Media and the government, with James Rosen

Episode 39: How Government Balances Saving Lives with Economic Cost w/ Cass Sunstein

Gov Actually

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