Episode

In defense of paying your taxes

Podcast: Think from KERA
Published: Apr 15, 2026
Duration seconds: 4102
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Summary

Nobody enjoys paying taxes, but how would our nation function without them? Vanessa S. Williamson is a senior fellow in Governance Studies at Brookings and a senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. She joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the history of taxation in this country, why your hard-earned tax dollars are critical to a functioning democracy, and why low taxes might mean lower interest in getting your civic needs met. Her book is “ The Price of Democracy: The Revolutionary Power of Taxation in American History .” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices