WMRA's November Books & Brews will feature Miranda Spivack, author of Backroom Deals in Our Backyards: How Government Secrecy Harms Our Communities and the Local Heroes Fighting Back.
Tuesday, November 11, 2025 at 7pm.
Our conversation will take place live at Pale Fire Brewing Company in Harrisonburg, and will be available to watch later on WMRA's Youtube Channel.
Signed copies of Backroom Deals in Our Backyards will be available at the event and online at Stone Soup Books - https://www.stonesoupbooks.net
WMRA's Books & Brews is made possible thanks to our series sponsor, Gaines Group Architects. The Gaines Group has offices in Charlottesville and Harrisonburg.
About the Book
Most Americans are likely to encounter the effects of government malfeasance or neglect close to home--from their governors, mayors, town councils, school boards, police, and prosecutors. In fact, deals shrouded in darkness are regularly made at the state and local levels, often the result of closed-door discussions between governments and industry without any scrutiny whatsoever from the public. Too often, as this groundbreaking new work of investigative reporting reveals, 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.
A work of riveting narrative nonfiction based on years of original reporting, Backroom Deals in Our Backyards 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 uncover shake their faith in government but move them to action.
About the Author
Miranda S. Spivack is a veteran reporter and editor who specializes in stories about government accountability and secrecy. She spent twenty years as an award-winning editor and reporter for the Washington Post. A former Fulbright Scholar and Distinguished Visiting Professor of Journalism at DePauw University, she is the author of Backroom Deals in Our Backyards (The New Press). Her work has appeared in Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting, The New York Times, USAToday and the McClatchy newspapers.