From doing our taxes to applying for financial aid, housing assistance, unemployment, disability, or Medicaid, dealing with government bureaucracy can be a nightmare. The paperwork, aggravation, and mental effort imposed on citizens to access their rights and benefits are what journalist and Atlantic staff writer Annie Lowrey has termed the “time tax.” In The Time Tax: How the Government Wastes Our Time—and How to Fix It, Lowrey traces the history of administrative burdens in the U.S. from the Civil War to today and shows that it doesn’t have to be this way. She provides a point-by-point guide for reclaiming our precious time. Lowrey will be in conversation with her husband Ezra Klein, a columnist and podcast host at The New York Times.