Dr. Richard Meserve is a unique individual—a lawyer, a research physicist, former chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Agency. In this episode, he explains the unique role that independent agencies play in the governance landscape of America. Independent agencies regulate the daily life of most Americans, yet most Americans don't know the critical role they play. Meserve takes us into the world of independent agencies and how they operate to protect democratic principles in the most technical dimension of American life.