Q&A with George Packer

Q&A with George Packer George Packer talked about his historical narrative, The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America. He said the book traces the stories of three people over the preceding 20 years and their struggle to make a life for themselves in an America whose “institutions have failed them.” One was entrepreneur Dean Price. Another was Tammy Thomas, who lost her retirement because of the bankruptcy of General Motors. There was a 1998 video clip of one of the main people profiled, Jeff Connaughton, whose political career included fundraising work for then Senator Joe Biden (D-DE) before writing what he termed a “bridge burning” book about money and politics. A clip from an April 7, 1987, Biden presidential campaign event was shown. These stories were interwoven with ten celebrity profiles of people who influenced the country. Video clips were shown of then-incoming Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (R-GA) in 1994 and former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin testifying April 8, 2010. close