Journalist and bestselling author Ted Gup writes on a broad range of American institutions, exposing how and why they keep secrets from the very people they are supposed to serve. Drawing on original reporting and startling analysis, Gup argues that a preoccupation with secrets has undermined the very values—security, patriotism, privacy, the national interest—in whose name secrecy is so often invoked. Listen to his conversation with Michael on his book "Nation of Secrets: The Threat to Democracy and the American Way of Life." Original air date 29 May 2007. The book was published on 29 May 2007.