How the government wastes our time

August 31, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

Journalist Annie Lowry spent five years in near-constant physical discomfort before being diagnosed with a rare degenerative disease. During that time, she had to navigate insurance forms, short-term disability paperwork, and workplace accommodations while holding down a job, raising kids, and writing a book. She felt lucky—she had a flexible employer and ample resources. Most people don't. That experience crystallized something she had been reporting on for nearly two decades: the "time tax," the hours Americans lose to paperwork, phone calls, appointments, and lines trying to obtain benefits they qualify for and exercise rights guaranteed to them. Her new book, The Time Tax, argues that this isn't simply bureaucratic dysfunction. Sometimes making a system difficult is the point.

What the time tax is and who pays it

Lowry defines the time tax as "administrative burden"—the experience of bureaucracy from the end user's perspective. It's not about the system or the paperwork itself, but about how much time, effort, and emotional strain a person must give up to receive something they're supposed to have. She calls it a tax because it's purposeful, modifiable, and often rooted in sexism and racism. The people charged the most are those with the least time and fewest resources: poor people, the sick, and the disabled.

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What you'll learn

1 (00:00) **Introduction: The Time Tax Defined** - Tanya Mosley introduces guest Annie Lowry and the concept of the "time tax"—the hours lost to government paperwork, waiting, and red tape.
2 (02:20) **How a Reporter Started Seeing the Tax** - Lowry recounts a formative experience meeting unsheltered homeless veterans in D.C. who couldn't navigate VA benefits despite being eligible.
3 (03:44) **Writing the Book from Inside the Machine** - Lowry describes how her own five-year struggle to get a diagnosis for a rare degenerative disease became a personal case study for the book.
4 (05:33) **Defining the Time Tax Simply** - Lowry explains that "administrative burden" is the time, effort, and emotional strain an end-user experiences when dealing with bureaucracy.
5 (06:44) **The Government Programs with the Worst Time Tax** - Lowry highlights the IRS and programs for the most at-risk Americans as having the heaviest burdens.
6 (08:53) **The Case of Jenny Olsen and Unemployment Insurance** - Lowry details how Jenny Olsen, who lost four jobs in spring 2020, faced a system that answered 0.5% of calls and left her unable to access pandemic benefits for weeks.
7 (12:32) **The New Work Requirements and the "Big Beautiful Bill"** - Lowry discusses how new paperwork rules have already cut over 3.5 million people from food assistance, calling the stated goal of "accountability" a moral failure.

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Show Notes

Atlantic journalist Annie Lowrey explores the administrative burdens people face applying for government benefits like unemployment and food assistance. It's not just about wasted time: "When the government treats us like this, we don't trust it," she says. She spoke with Tonya Mosley about her book, The Time Tax: How the Government Wastes Our Time—and How to Fix It.

Ken Tucker reviews a new album by the trio The Womack Sisters, nieces of R&B great Bobby Womack.

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