Alle afleveringen
388 afleveringen, van nieuw naar oud
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What is the filibuster?
16 december 2025 · 31 min
Why does it take, in practice, 60 votes for a bill to pass in the Senate? Why doesn't it seem like anyone is up there talking for days anymore? And why do we even have it in the first place?
Today is all about the filibuster; from its benign origins to its use and misuse, the arguments for and against it, and what it would take to eliminate it entirely. Our guest is Molly Reynolds from the Brookings Institution.
To learn about the tumultuous back and forth between the federal and state government in Little Rock, here's our episode on Federalism.
And here is the full, 88-page transcript of Strom Thurmond's day-long filibuster. Lees meerCLICK HERE: Visit our website to see all of our episodes, donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more!
To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!
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The Lottery: How it happened, and what it pays for
9 december 2025 · 35 min
The lottery generates over $70 billion in revenue each year. Today on Civics 101 we explore how we got here; from failed lotteries in the Revolutionary War to the Golden Octopus to the Numbers Game to a Mega Millions ticket from your neighborhood shop. Where does all of that money GO? And why are states so dependent on them in the first place?
Taking us on this madcap journey are two experts on the lottery in the US; Kevin Flynn (author of American Sweepstakes) and Matthew Vaz (author of Running the Numbers). Lees meerCLICK HERE: Visit our website to see all of our episodes, donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more!
To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!
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What is SNAP?
2 december 2025 · 38 min
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, once upon a time called food stamps, helps nearly 42 million Americans every month. While the 2025 government shutdown showed us what happens when SNAP dries up, we have yet to see the effects of major new legislative changes to the program.
So what, exactly, is SNAP? How does it work? Who gets it? Why do we have it to begin with, and what does it look like now? Our guide is Sara Bleich, Professor of Public Health Policy at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Lees meerCLICK HERE: Visit our website to see all of our episodes, donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more!
To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!
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How did the Epstein Files Transparency Act happen?
25 november 2025 · 27 min
Today we talk about the myriad procedures involved in getting the Epstein Files Transparency Act passed in record time. How do discharge petitions work? What did HR 581 do exactly? How did it get through the Senate so quickly? And while we're at it, why did it take a record seven weeks to swear in a new representative?
Here is the discharge petition signed by 218 members of Congress.
Here is the full text of HR 581, passed by the House on 11/17.
And finally, here is HR 4405, related to HR 185, which was brought to the floor by HR 581. Lees meerCLICK HERE: Visit our website to see all of our episodes, donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more!
To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!
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What can we learn from the American Revolution?
18 november 2025 · 47 min
Ken Burns and Sarah Botstein spent nearly a decade making a twelve-hour documentary on the American Revolution. This is what they learned from the thousands of stories and events that resulted in the United States of America. It's a story of world-changing ideas, contradictory figures, myths that do us no good and what it means to be in pursuit of a more perfect union.
You can watch Ken Burns The American Revolution on PBS, PBS.org and the free PBS app. Lees meerCLICK HERE: Visit our website to see all of our episodes, donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more!
To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!
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Billionaires
11 november 2025 · 28 min
In sixty years, we have gone from 2 billionaires in the United States to just under 2,000. How on earth did that happen?
Today, Timothy Noah from the New Republic takes us all the way from our framers fearing excessive wealth to the country's first (potential) trillionaire. To learn about their proliferation, their desires, and their outsized effect on American policy, check out his article, How the Billionaires Took Over. Lees meerCLICK HERE: Visit our website to see all of our episodes, donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more!
To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!
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Why are so many voters sitting out this week?
3 november 2025 · 31 min
Off-year elections -- as in, not a presidential or a midterm -- have fairly dismal voter turnout. Yet they matter a great deal. Most of our lives are lived at the local, not the national, level. So why do so many skip their state and local elections?
We spoke with Luis Lozada, the CEO of Democracy Works, to understand why people don't show and why they should.
Democracy Works is a nonpartisan nonprofit dedicated to helping America vote. Click here to access their free tool, TurboVote, to help you check your registration, find your polling place, get personalized reminders for every election, and more. Lees meerCLICK HERE: Visit our website to see all of our episodes, donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more!
To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!
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Project 2025: What it is and what it's doing
28 oktober 2025 · 31 min
The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, has published a Mandate for Leadership since 1981, making policy recommendations to the federal government. The latest edition is part of something much bigger: Project 2025. The newest Mandate is part of a four-pillar project designed to fundamentally change the federal government from the inside. Though President Trump and his team spent his third presidential campaign claiming they had nothing to do with it, Trump is no longer distancing himself from Project 2025. So let's dig in.
Our guide to Project 2025 is the former director of factcheck.org and author of A Guide to Project 2025, Eugene Kiely.
For more information on Project 2025, you can access the full policy playbook at the link above or by clicking here. You can watch the fourteen hours of instructional videos obtained by ProPublica here. More information about The Heritage Foundation and its stated values and goals can be found at their website. Lees meerCLICK HERE: Visit our website to see all of our episodes, donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more!
To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Who's the most outdoorsy president? (A trivia crossover)
21 oktober 2025 · 37 min
This episode is a crossover with our sister NHPR podcast, Outside/In.
What do pastries have to do with environmental justice? Cat butts with the climate crisis? And what US president ate a half-chewed piece of salmon leftover from a bear on reality TV?
Grab a pencil (and maybe a pint?) and get ready for the inaugural Outside/In trivia episode we’re calling “Natural Selection.” We’ve got a game called “Guess That Animal!” We’re testing our panel’s knowledge on the environment in movies and music. And, maybe, we’ll learn a thing or two along the way about environmental policy, past and present. Lees meerCLICK HERE: Visit our website to see all of our episodes, donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more!
To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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The government is shut down....again. But what does that mean?
16 oktober 2025 · 28 min
In this episode, we give a brief explanation of what's behind the current government shutdown. The, we explain all the ins and outs of government shutdowns. Have they always been part of our legislative process? How do they happen? And what happens when they happen? Our guest is Charles Tiefer, professor at the University of Baltimore School of Law. Lees meer
CLICK HERE: Visit our website to see all of our episodes, donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more!
To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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What Could Go Right: Whatever Happened to Civics?
14 oktober 2025 · 57 min
Today we’re bringing you an episode of What Could Go Right from our friends at The Progress Network.
Each Wednesday on What Could Go Right, hosts Zachary Karabell and Emma Varvaloucas converse with diverse experts to have sharp, honest conversations about what’s going on in the world, even during difficult times. In this episode, Nick spoke with Emma and Zachary about the state of civics education in the US, as well as how we can start to talk to each other civilly in an increasingly polarized political landscape.
You can listen to What Could Go Right here or, as they say, wherever you get your everything. Lees meerCLICK HERE: Visit our website to see all of our episodes, donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more!
To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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What are the rules for making fun of politicians?
7 oktober 2025 · 25 min
Did you know cartoonists were on Nixon's enemies list? Or that LBJ prevented a cartoonist from getting a medal when he made a cartoon against the Vietnam War? Today we talk about the history of editorial cartoons and political satire, from "Join or Die" to the Obama fist bump, from Thomas Nast to Jimmy Kimmel. Our guide is New Yorker cartoonist Tom Toro, author of And to Think We Started as a Book Club.
To see the illustrations we discuss in the episode, click here. Lees meerCLICK HERE: Visit our website to see all of our episodes, donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more!
To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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The Grievances in the Declaration (part 2)
30 september 2025 · 32 min
Click here to listen to part one of our airing of the grievances if you haven't yet! Today we tackle charges 13-27 against the King, as well as comparisons that have been made between George III and Donald Trump.
Our guide is once again Craig Gallagher from Colby-Sawyer College, who breaks down what exactly got the colonists so darn mad.
Make sure to listen to our episode on the modern-day effects of the declaration on the Native American community. Lees meerCLICK HERE: Visit our website to see all of our episodes, donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more!
To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Can the president legally hide their health status?
23 september 2025 · 35 min
The American public has long been on the lookout for unsteadiness in the leader of the free world. It's important to us (or, historically, has been) that the president seems, well, well. If not robust. Of course, the president is a human, and as such is not immune to malady.
So why do we care so much about the president's health? Are they under obligation, legal or otherwise, to keep us in the loop? What happens when they don't?
Our guide today is clinical ethicist Joel Wu. Lees meerCLICK HERE: Visit our website to see all of our episodes, donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more!
To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!
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The Grievances in the Declaration (part 1)
16 september 2025 · 28 min
"He" has done bad things. Twenty seven of them. And these things were so bad that the colonists used them to demonstrate that they had no choice but to become an independent nation. King George III was, in their eyes, a despot. So what did he do?
Today we talk about grievances 1-12 in the Declaration of Independence. We will cover the rest, as well as modern-day parallels, in a few weeks. Our guest is Craig Gallagher, professor at Colby-Sawyer College.
To hear about the entire Declaration of Independence, please listen to our episode on it here. Lees meerCLICK HERE: Visit our website to see all of our episodes, donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more!
To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Why does the government fund things, and what happens when it stops?
9 september 2025 · 45 min
Congress appropriates funds, the executive branch ensures those funds are spent and spent wisely. That is how it works. It is not, however, how it is working right now. The Trump Administration has, in recent months, repeatedly and often successfully frozen the funds that Congress assigned to certain departments and agencies. Jobs have been lost, research shelved, life-saving care ended, budgets and plans thrown into disarray.
So why and how has this happened? Why were we funding education, science, medicine and foreign aid in the first place? Our guide to this tumult is Samuel Bagenstos, professor of law at the University of Michigan and former Chief Counsel at both the Office of Management and Budget and the Department of Health and Human Services. Lees meerCLICK HERE: Visit our website to see all of our episodes, donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more!
To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Civics Trivia: Taxes, terrifying birds, and The West Wing
2 september 2025 · 55 min
It's another edition of Civics 101 Trivia! This time, it's also the swan song for one of our own.
Senior Producer Christina Phillips, our mastermind of minutiae and all things related to taxes, joins us to convene a final round of her trademark trivia.
Here is the link to the FOIA documents about the government's involvement in Hollywood productions. Lees meerCLICK HERE: Visit our website to see all of our episodes, donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more!
To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Is same-sex marriage in legal peril?
26 augustus 2025 · 32 min
In 2015, the Supreme Court made marriage equality the law of the land. However, for the first time in over five years, Kim Davis (an opponent of same-sex marriage) petitioned for a writ of certiorari to overturn Obergefell. Is there a possibility the court will revisit its finding? How does this decision compare to other recently overturned decisions like Roe v Wade? And is even talking about this a problem in itself??
Talking us through the situation and possible scenarios is Danaya Wright, Professor in Constitutional Law at the University of Florida Levin College of Law. Lees meerCLICK HERE: Visit our website to see all of our episodes, donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more!
To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Obergefell v Hodges, 2015
26 augustus 2025 · 36 min
This is the decision that said the fundamental right to marry is protected under the 14th Amendment. How did it come about? What was the status of marriage before June of 2015? And why is the government so involved in the marriage business anyways?
This episode features the voices of Melissa Wasser from the Project on Government Oversight and Jim Obergefell, the named party in Obergefell v Hodges. Lees meerCLICK HERE: Visit our website to see all of our episodes, donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more!
To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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What happens when enough states want to change the Constitution?
19 augustus 2025 · 30 min
Our Constitution provides for its own changes -- the framers knew that, while they worked hard, the law of the land was neither perfect nor should it be entirely immutable. So they included Article V, which allows either Congress OR the states to amend the Constitution if enough people agree. We've never had a constitutional convention of the states before, but that doesn't mean we won't. There's currently a movement trying to make it happen -- we dig into the why and how of this totally legal but very difficult path to change. Lees meer
CLICK HERE: Visit our website to see all of our episodes, donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more!
To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!
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How can the president take over a city's police department?
15 augustus 2025 · 35 min
On Monday, August 11th, Trump announced a takeover of Washington, D.C.'s Metropolitan police. He also deployed National Guard troops and federal agents to the streets, all in the name of cracking down on crime. We called on political scientist and historian Dan Cassino to help us understand what happened, why it's legal and what could happen next. Lees meer
CLICK HERE: Visit our website to see all of our episodes, donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more!
To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!
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What's it like being a scientist facing federal funding cuts?
12 augustus 2025 · 36 min
It’s a weird time to be an environmental scientist. The proposed cuts to federal science funding in the United States are profound, and if they come to pass, it’s not clear what American science will look like on the other side. But for many researchers, science is much more than a career: it’s a community, lifestyle, and sometimes even a family business.
This episode was produced by our fellow NHPR podcast Outside/In. You can check out photos and more related to this episode right here. Lees meerCLICK HERE: Visit our website to see all of our episodes, donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more!
To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Cinema Civics: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
5 augustus 2025 · 1 uur
When Mr. Smith Goes to Washington came out in 1939, it infuriated politicians, the press, and fascist nations. At the same time, it delighted audiences and informed them on the legislative process decades before Schoolhouse Rock.
Today we talk about the film, as well as corruption, earnestness, our families, lost causes, and hope.
Listen to our episode of Hannah's visit to the Lincoln Memorial here. Lees meerCLICK HERE: Visit our website to see all of our episodes, donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more!
To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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The Supreme Court rulings that aren't rulings
29 juli 2025 · 28 min
"The shadow docket," refers to orders from the Supreme Court that are (often) unsigned, inscrutable, and handed down in the middle of the night. Professor Stephen Vladeck takes us through this increasingly common phenomenon.
Note: This episode was originally produced in 2022. Lees meerCLICK HERE: Visit our website to see all of our episodes, donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more!
To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Is it possible for a president to serve a third term?
22 juli 2025 · 40 min
Is there a way President Trump (or any president) can serve a third (or fourth) term in office? Maybe there is.
Most people assume the 22nd Amendment limits a president to two terms, period. What happens when the president, or legal scholars, challenge that assumption? Joining us to talk about that is Bruce Peabody of Fairleigh Dickinson University. Lees meerCLICK HERE: Visit our website to see all of our episodes, donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more!
To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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A country with no kings
15 juli 2025 · 41 min
As subjects of the British king, the very idea of criticizing monarchy -- or King George III himself -- was a dangerous one. So how did we become a country where "no kings" is a guiding principle? Something we take for granted?
Holly Brewer is our guide to the resistance, risk and eventual revolution that transformed a British colony into a democratic country that would have no king. Lees meerCLICK HERE: Visit our website to see all of our episodes, donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more!
To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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How are tariffs affecting American businesses?
14 juli 2025 · 32 min
Today on Civics 101, we answer listener questions about tariffs. And then, we look at how they've affected one American Industry. It's not a game, but these companies do make them, and they've been hit hard by President Trump's ever-changing tariff policies.
NOTE - This episode was republished because of a technical issue .
Click here to check out our 2024 episode on how tariffs work. Lees meerCLICK HERE: Visit our website to see all of our episodes, donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more!
To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Civics lessons from Karen Read's retrial
11 juli 2025 · 55 min
The team delves into some of the many civics lessons the public got while watching Karen Read’s retrial, which ended with her acquittal on all major charges in June. Topics include the First Amendment, judicial discretion, courtroom tactics, and more. Our expert for this episode is Colin Miller, blogger, podcaster, and professor at University of South Carolina School of Law.
Read Vanity Fair's extensive reporting on this case. Lees meerCLICK HERE: Visit our website to see all of our episodes, donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more!
To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Cinematic Civics: Independence Day
4 juli 2025 · 55 min
Is there a civics lesson in the 1996 film Independence Day? We think so.
Join the Civics 101 team for a conversation about the film, its politics, and what it says about the United States and its place in the world.
There's even a fire-jumping dog! Lees meerCLICK HERE: Visit our website to see all of our episodes, donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more!
To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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What does the Senate Parliamentarian do?
30 juni 2025 · 30 min
The Senate Parliamentarian is many things. A nonpartisan referee, an appointed official, and at some times one of the most powerful people in our government.
This week, Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough found several provisions in the currently debated budget appropriations bill violated something called the "Byrd Rule."
Today we explore this complicated and often-unseen role with Sarah Binder, professor at George Washington University, and a person who spent over thirty years in the office, former Senate Parliamentarian Alan Frumin. Lees meerCLICK HERE: Visit our website to see all of our episodes, donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more!
To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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How political “framing” shapes our thoughts
24 juni 2025 · 30 min
We know why we feel the way we do about certain political issues, don't we? Don't we??
It turns out that politicians, political strategists, and the media are working every day to alter what we think about something before we know we're thinking about it. And the way this is done is through "framing."
So what is framing? How long have people been doing it? And most importantly, how can we push back against it? Taking us through the Frame Wars is Dr. Jennifer Mercieca, professor of communication and author of Demagogue for President: The Rhetorical Genius of Donald Trump.
For those who want to know more, check out our episode on Propaganda, as well as Jen's article on Frame Warfare. Lees meerCLICK HERE: Visit our website to see all of our episodes, donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more!
To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!
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Cinematic Civics: The Manchurian Candidate
17 juni 2025 · 55 min
The Civics 101 team delves into the 1962 film The Manchurian Candidate, a political satire and thriller that is more than relevant in today’s political climate.
Note: this episode contains spoilers for the film. Lees meerCLICK HERE: Visit our website to see all of our episodes, donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more!
To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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How is the Alien Enemies Act being used right now?
10 juni 2025 · 35 min
Now that we have explored what the Alien Enemies Act is, we dive in to how it's being used to shape deportation policy under President Donald Trump.
Note: We recommend listening to the prior episode first! Staying in your podcast feed? It's the episode right before this one, called "What is the Alien Enemies Act." Lees meerCLICK HERE: Visit our website to see all of our episodes, donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more!
To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!
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What is the Alien Enemies Act?
3 juni 2025 · 22 min
The Alien Enemies Act is a war power granted to the president that has only been used four times in US history since its creation in 1798. It allows the president to order the detention and deportation of noncitizens from "enemy" nations during war, invasion, or predatory incursion. When it was created, the US had a very different understanding of Constitutional rights, including due process, than we do today. We talk about how the Alien Enemies Act has been used throughout history, and how Constitutional law has evolved since 1798.
Helping us out is Liza Goitein. She is the senior director of the Brennan Center’s Liberty and National Security Program. Lees meerCLICK HERE: Visit our website to see all of our episodes, donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more!
To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!
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How President Trump is trying to change elections
27 mei 2025 · 25 min
In March, President Trump signed an executive order that promises to preserve and protect the integrity of American elections. The data shows the integrity of our election system is intact despite the claims of many politicians and the perception of many voters. So what is the president trying to change about a system that isn't broken? Who will it affect and how much will it cost them? Finally, while Congress and the States are constitutionally-empowered to make election law, the president is not. So... can he?
Our guide to this executive order is Jason Carter of the Carter Center. Lees meerCLICK HERE: Visit our website to see all of our episodes, donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more!
To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!
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Fixing a problem that doesn't exist
20 mei 2025 · 30 min
The SAVE Act passed the House in April, 2025. As it awaits consideration in Congress, we spoke with Jason Carter from the Carter Center. Yes, like that Carter. Jason is asking why Congress is working on a vanishingly rare problem: noncitizen voting. The SAVE Act, if it becomes law, will require additional proof of citizenship for all Americans seeking to register -- or reregister -- to vote. The goal? To stop all noncitizens from voting -- which rarely happens. Lees meer
CLICK HERE: Visit our website to see all of our episodes, donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more!
To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!
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How can Congress check the president?
13 mei 2025 · 31 min
Checks and balances are at the absolute core of our governmental workings.
The framers designed a system that was directly opposed to one person or one group of people having all the power, and we see that through the myriad ways Congress can check the president. So what are those checks? How have they waned over the last few decades? And finally, why would Congress opt to use (or not use) them?
Joining us today is Eric Schickler, professor of Political Science at UC Berkeley and author of Investigating the President: Congressional Checks on Presidential Power.
Referenced in this episode:
Our Starter Kit series.
Our episode on impeachment from 2019. Lees meerCLICK HERE: Visit our website to see all of our episodes, donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more!
To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!
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Who pays for public media?
6 mei 2025 · 53 min
Public media funding makes up less than 0.001% of the federal budget, and calls to defund it have existed essentially since the creation of the CBP in 1967. However, the history of public media is much longer, and more complicated, than the creation of Sesame Street or NPR.
We revisit our episode from last year about how the government funds public media, through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and how that money is spent. We also talk about free press, and the firewall that prevents politicians and the government from controlling the flow of public information and educational programming.
Since the episode first came out in July, 2024, President Trump has re-entered office, and has taken a number of steps to discredit and disassemble the free press, including public media. Trump has called for the FCC, the Federal Communications Commission, to investigate NPR and other public media organizations for their use of corporate support. He also recently announced that he had fired three members of the CPB’s five-member board, something the CPB has said he does not have the authority to do, in a lawsuit they filed against his administration. And finally, alongside calling for Congress to defund the CPB, he issued an executive order telling the CPB to halt all funding to public media, which, as you’ll learn more about in the episode, is the kind of political directive that the CPB was created to prevent in the first place. Lees meerCLICK HERE: Visit our website to see all of our episodes, donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more!
To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!
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What happens when we don't trust democracy?
29 april 2025 · 32 min
Generations of Americans were not taught how to live in a democracy. That, ultimately, is what civic education is about. So what happens when we lose that knowledge? Where are we today and why should we care? Where do we go from here?
In partnership with iCivics we're bringing you conversations with the people who are paying attention and doing something about it. Civics can have a future in this democracy -- in fact, civics is how this democracy will have a future. Lees meerCLICK HERE: Visit our website to see all of our episodes, donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more!
To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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What is the Rule of Law?
22 april 2025 · 34 min
What is the rule of law? It's certainly not the same as the rule of men.
This episode was recorded live at the John J. Moakley Courthouse in Boston. It features the voices of Justice Patricia Alverez and Justice Gustavo A. Gelpí. Lees meerCLICK HERE: Visit our website to see all of our episodes, donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more!
To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Efficiency v. Democracy
15 april 2025 · 38 min
Today we were going to explore how "big tech" has woven itself into the fabric of the Trump administration. But after a conversation with Allison Stanger, professor at Middlebury College, we decided to focus exclusively on Elon Musk and his relationship with Donald Trump.
What is DOGE, the "Department of Governmental Efficiency?" And while we're at it, what is efficiency anyways? Has DOGE saved Americans any money? What information of ours are they trying to access? And is there any chance they've already succeeded? Lees meerCLICK HERE: Visit our website to see all of our episodes, donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more!
To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Why do we have the National Weather Service?
10 april 2025 · 36 min
Most Americans can look down at their phone and see a prediction of the future. How is that even possible?
Well, we'll tell you. Today it's all about the weather; from early predictive methods and almanacs to the National Weather Service's modern-day practices of collecting, analyzing, and sharing a staggering amount of data. First we talked with Kris Harper, a professor of history and philosophy at the University of Copenhagen, and then with Felicia Bowser, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Tallahassee, Florida. Lees meerCLICK HERE: Visit our website to see all of our episodes, donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more!
To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!
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Who decides what politicians should say?
8 april 2025 · 32 min
Today we explore the nebulous world of political consultants.
These are the people who run political campaigns. They use a mixture of science and gut-feeling to determine what a candidate should say and do, and in one particular instance, what they should NOT say and do.
How do they do it? How effective are they? What actually moves the needle in a campaign? Talking to us today are two campaign experts; David Karpf from the School of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University, and Rasheida Smith, political consultant at Dunton Consulting. Lees meerCLICK HERE: Visit our website to see all of our episodes, donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more!
To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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April Fools: Politicians, the press, and more
1 april 2025 · 45 min
Pranks are a staple of April Fools' Day - even when it comes to politics and the press.
On this special edition of Civics 101, Senior Producer Christina Phillips tests our April Fools knowledge with some surprising trivia, and a whole lot more! Lees meerCLICK HERE: Visit our website to see all of our episodes, donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more!
To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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The Politics Behind Your Taxes
25 maart 2025 · 1 uur
Taxes on wages make up the bulk of federal revenue every year. Where does that money go, and who decides how much you should pay?
The process is extremely complicated - and deeply political - which is why it's important for everyday taxpayers to understand how the people they elected choose to spend the money voters give out of their paychecks every year.
We talk with tax policy expert Beverly Moran, a Paulus fellow at Boston College Law School and professor emerita at Vanderbilt, about how budget reconciliation works: where Congress decides where it will cut taxes, and how it will make up for those cuts. We also talk about how those decisionsaffect the vast majority of taxpayers, who earn most of their wealth from salary or wages... and how it looks different for the wealthiest Americans. Find Beverly's research on the impact of the 2017 TCJA here. Lees meerListen to our episodes on the history of the income tax in the United States, and how the tax return process works.
We used a number of sources in this episode. Here are some, in order of appearance:
How much revenue has the US government collected this year? from the US Treasury Department.
Reconciliation explainer from the Congressional Budget Office.
Budget Reconciliation: Tracking the 2025 Trump Tax Cuts from the Tax Foundation.
What are itemized deductions and who claims them? from the Tax Policy Center.
How did the TCJA change taxes of families with children? from the Tax Policy Center.
The 2017 Tax Law Was Skewed to the Rich, Expensive, and Failed to Deliver on Its Promises from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
Lifting the SALT Cap: Estimated Budgetary Effects, 2024 and Beyond from Penn Wharton Budget Model at the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business.
Differences between the traditional CPI and Chained CPI from the Congressional Budget Office.
Republicans say Medicaid cuts won't happen. But does their budget work without them? from NPR.
Republicans want to lower taxes. The hard part i… -
How does the Post Office work?
18 maart 2025 · 26 min
It’s the government on your doorstep — the only Executive Branch agency that visits every home in the country on a regular basis. So how does the USPS do it? And what happens when an agency this essential is in trouble? Our guests for this episode are Allison Marsh, history professor at the University of South Carolina and Kevin Kosar, a Vice President at R Street. Lees meer
CLICK HERE: Visit our website to see all of our episodes, donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more!
To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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The Kids are Alright: Civics Ed Update
11 maart 2025 · 31 min
Two years ago today, we attended Civic Learning Week and produced an episode on the state of civics education in the US. We heard some good things and some frustrating things. Today we're getting an update on civics education with Emma Humphries from iCivics, hearing some student audio submissions from our friends at the Youth Media Challenge, and getting advice on how students can make change with Cheryl Cook-Kallio.
Click here to livestream the National Forum for Civics Learning Week.
Click here to listen to our episodes on civics education in the US.
Click here to read the full State of Young People report published by America's Promise Alliance.
And finally, click here to check out the work students are producing (and submit your own!) for KQED's Youth Media Challenge. Lees meerCLICK HERE: Visit our website to see all of our episodes, donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more!
To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Who's running the country? (Part 2)
4 maart 2025 · 27 min
Meet your president's Cabinet! Who was appointed, by what margin, and a look at the backgrounds of the people filling these critical roles.
In other words, who is running our country? Let's find out.
This is the second part of a two-part episode. Lees meerCLICK HERE: Visit our website to see all of our episodes, donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more!
To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Who's running the country? (Part 1)
4 maart 2025 · 30 min
Meet your president's Cabinet. Who was appointed, by what margin, and a look at the backgrounds of the people filling these critical roles.
In other words, who is running our country? Let's find out.
This is the first part of a two-part episode. Lees meerCLICK HERE: Visit our website to see all of our episodes, donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more!
To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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A midwife's early American story
27 februari 2025 · 43 min
Ariel Lawhon discusses the real-life early American midwife at the center of her novel The Frozen River. Lees meer
CLICK HERE: Visit our website to see all of our episodes, donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more!
To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices