Aug 27, 2026 · 1 hr 6 min · 11 segments
Our founders did not want all of American governance to diverge from England. In fact, the founders were inspired by Parliament's structure, which attempted to represent the desires of the people…
Jay CostHost
Sean TrendeHostFacts are stubborn things, and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.
The law will not bend to the uncertain wishes, imaginations, and wanton tempers of men.
The law no passion can disturb.
Welcome to Stubborn Things, a podcast about American politics where we chase the facts wherever they lead.
Before joining AEI, Dr. Wallach was a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution, where he authored To the Edge, Legality, Legitimacy, and the Responses to the 2008 Financial Crisis.
He was later affiliated with the R Street Institute and served as a fellow with the House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress in 2019.
But today we're here to talk about his latest book, Why Congress? In that book, Dr.
Wallach defends the centrality of Congress in America's constitutional system, traces the roots of current dysfunction, and suggests how the institution might be restored.
So one way we usually start out with guests, we like people to kind of get an idea of who it actually is they're talking to.
We always ask people to talk a little bit about how they grew up, how they got interested in politics, early political memories before we kind of shift to the content of the book or whatever is being discussed.
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Facts are stubborn things, and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.
The law will not bend to the uncertain wishes, imaginations, and wanton tempers of men.
The law no passion can disturb.
Welcome to Stubborn Things, a podcast about American politics where we chase the facts wherever they lead.
Before joining AEI, Dr. Wallach was a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution, where he authored To the Edge, Legality, Legitimacy, and the Responses to the 2008 Financial Crisis.
He was later affiliated with the R Street Institute and served as a fellow with the House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress in 2019.
But today we're here to talk about his latest book, Why Congress? In that book, Dr.
Wallach defends the centrality of Congress in America's constitutional system, traces the roots of current dysfunction, and suggests how the institution might be restored.
So one way we usually start out with guests, we like people to kind of get an idea of who it actually is they're talking to.
We always ask people to talk a little bit about how they grew up, how they got interested in politics, early political memories before we kind of shift to the content of the book or whatever is being discussed.
