Backroom Deals in Our Backyards: How Government Secrecy Harms Our Communities and the Local Heroes Fighting Back

Written by Miranda S. Spivack

Narrated by Kristin James

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, 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.



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.



For readers of Chain of Title and Superman's Not Coming, Spivack's revealing take on a hidden dimension of American politics will outrage and educate anyone who cares about the forces shaping their own communities.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: May 6, 2025
• ISBN: 9798331966546

Miranda S. Spivack

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 and the author of Backroom Deals in Our Backyards (The New Press), she lives in Maryland.

Reviews for Backroom Deals in Our Backyards

[davidwineberg · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

We’re used to the story of the parents who create an activist non-profit to deal with some situation or condition that ruined the life of their child. A huge number of charities start that way. Miranda Spivack now extends that to citizens coming up against local blockades that hide corruption, incompetence and fear of the law, in Backroom Deals in our Backyards. They are thrust into their new missions unprepared and unintentionally. Yet it becomes their greatest skill and life accomplishment. No previous experience required or expected.

In five overly detailed stories, Spivack finds people who are forced to learn how to fight city hall, and win, though it usually takes a large number of years to accomplish. We see these kinds of stories in the news all the time: a wife makes it her mission to get to the bottom of why her fit and trim fireman husband developed cancer. It turns out the makers of fire protective clothing use PFAS carcinogenic forever chemicals, leading to far higher rates of cancer among firefighters generally. A man researches murky drinking water, and comes up against city hall, which refuses to release public documents to him, causing him to seek workarounds, and eventually suing, breaking open a huge story of – surprise – corruption.

One of the more nefarious factors accidental activists come up against is trade secrets. Bad software that makes bad decisions and ruins lives is beyond reproach (or even research) because the makers claim trade secrets. If the public knew what was going on, competitors would too. It’s a risk every time a government entity goes outside for contractors and vendors: “When government employees enter into non-disclosure agreements with private companies, they increase the power of the companies, prevent the government from sharing information about agreements they have reached, and even keep from the public the fact that the non-disclosure agreements exist.” And there’s no expiry date on trade secrets.

Everything is secret – even traffic studies on a killer road in another of Spivack’s stories. The accidental activist in this case even ran for council and won, but was still denied the reports he wanted to see. Another story features a municipal water service where customers – the public – are not permitted to obtain raw samples for analysis. Everything everywhere is top secret, especially if someone is raking in cash from it.

What’s great about the book is that Spivack includes a how-to at the end, listing resources for accidental activists. This is great, because it’s just a big waste that everyone has to start from zero and learn everything the hard way. Learning how sunshine laws and freedom of information laws work can help accidental activist accelerate their research, if only to come up against their barriers earlier in the process.

What I didn’t like about the book is Spivack’s exhaustive style. She examines every nuance of every step event and statement, covering all conceivable angles, and leaving nothing to the imagination. It makes a simple narrative everyone can understand and many can relate to directly – into painfully long diaries of events, developments, setbacks, incremental steps, and stubborn barriers. The excessive granularity is wearying.

It makes the book an easier read, ironically, because readers can skim, knowing full well that what they’re missing is stuff they’ve already figured out.

David Wineberg