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Civics 101

Civics 101

NHPR

Education, History, Supreme Court, American History, Elections, Democracy, Society & Culture, Government, Civics, Politics, Social Studies

4.6 • 2.4K Ratings

Overview

How do landmark Supreme Court decisions affect our lives? What does the 2nd Amendment really say? Why does the Senate have so much power? Civics 101 is the podcast about how our democracy works…or is supposed to work, anyway.

307 Episodes

What is the Rule of Law?

What is the rule of law? It's certainly not the same as the rule of men.

Transcribed - Published: 22 April 2025

Efficiency v. Democracy

Unpacking the relationship between tech and the executive branch. Or, more specifically, the relationship between President Donald Trump and Elon Musk.

Transcribed - Published: 15 April 2025

Why do we have the National Weather Service?

What is the federal government's role in predicting the weather?

Transcribed - Published: 10 April 2025

Who decides what politicians should say?

Brought to you by the words "weird," "quiddich," and "Pepsi."

Transcribed - Published: 8 April 2025

April Fools: Politicians, the press, and more

Pranks are a staple of April Fools' Day - even when it comes to politics and the press.

Transcribed - Published: 1 April 2025

The Politics Behind Your Taxes

How politicians decide who pays taxes, and how much they pay.

Transcribed - Published: 25 March 2025

How does the Post Office work?

How the government visits every American home, and how and why we pay for it.

Transcribed - Published: 18 March 2025

The Kids are Alright: Civics Ed Update

To kick off Civic Learning Week, we see how students are (and aren't) being civically prepared.

Transcribed - Published: 11 March 2025

Who's running the country? (Part 2)

Meet your president's Cabinet!

Transcribed - Published: 4 March 2025

Who's running the country? (Part 1)

Meet your president's Cabinet.

Transcribed - Published: 4 March 2025

A midwife's early American story

Ariel Lawhon discusses the real-life early American midwife at the center of her novel The Frozen River.

Transcribed - Published: 27 February 2025

NY Times v Sullivan: What if the press couldn’t tell the truth?

What would happen if the press couldn't tell the truth?

Transcribed - Published: 25 February 2025

All The President's Lawyers

The White House counsel, the Department of Justice, and the unprecedented appointments and moves being made by the Trump administration

Transcribed - Published: 18 February 2025

What is a Constitutional crisis?

You keep using that word...

Transcribed - Published: 11 February 2025

What are Executive Orders?

When a president makes law all by themselves. With some help.

Transcribed - Published: 4 February 2025

The Great Fluoride Debate

Cities and towns all over the country add fluoride to their water supply. That wasn't always the case, and the controversy over the element continues today.

Transcribed - Published: 29 January 2025

Trump's Executive Orders

A slew of executive orders and promises kept.

Transcribed - Published: 28 January 2025

Birthright Citizenship: The SCOTUS case that solidified the 14th Amendment

Not many people have ever heard of Wong Kim Ark and the landmark Supreme Court decision that decided both his fate and the fate of a U.S. citizenship policy that endures to this day.

Transcribed - Published: 23 January 2025

What is the Department of Education?

Dismantling the Department of Ed? It's been tried before.

Transcribed - Published: 21 January 2025

What are Trump's Climate Plans?

What should we expect from his second term when it comes to the environment?

Transcribed - Published: 14 January 2025

Secretary of Transportation with Pete Buttigieg

We talk SOT and DOT with Pete Buttigieg... the SOT.

Transcribed - Published: 7 January 2025

Presidential Funerals: How and Why We Mourn Our Leaders

How do we mourn our presidents? We break down the history and mystery of presidential funerals.

Transcribed - Published: 31 December 2024

Holiday Trivia: What's been on the White House Christmas menu?

In our latest edition of Holiday Trivia, a rundown of some of the quirky food, drinks, and celebratory ephemera at the White House during the most wonderful time of the year.

Transcribed - Published: 24 December 2024

How do tariffs work?

What they are, who pays them, and how they might affect our lives.

Transcribed - Published: 17 December 2024

What is authoritarianism?

What happens when the people have no power?

Transcribed - Published: 10 December 2024

What can (and can't) the Secretary of Health and Human Services do?

Former HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius talks about the powers - and limits - of the role in the wake of President-elect Donald Trump's pick of RFK Jr. for the role.

Transcribed - Published: 3 December 2024

The Supreme Court's Criminal Trial

It happened once and never again.

Transcribed - Published: 26 November 2024

What is the Cabinet? And how can appointments work?

The people who advise (or don't advise) the president, and how they get the job.

Transcribed - Published: 19 November 2024

Trump's "Day One" Promises

What Trump promises to do when he's "dictator" for a day.

Transcribed - Published: 12 November 2024

How do presidential transitions happen?

What happens when you have to turn over the largest institution in the world?

Transcribed - Published: 8 November 2024

What happens to ensure your vote for president is counted?

You voted for president. So what happens to your ballot next? We talk about ALL of it.

Transcribed - Published: 5 November 2024

Life in the wake of January 6th

Emilia's Thing: A story about a former Capitol Police officer who's life has been shaped by the events of January 6th.

Transcribed - Published: 31 October 2024

US vs: Healthcare

How do we measure up to the rest of the world when it comes to taking care of the sick?

Transcribed - Published: 29 October 2024

What Remains: Science, ethics, and the Smithsonian’s bone collection

The Smithsonian's bone library and the conflict between ethics and science

Transcribed - Published: 22 October 2024

Why does corruption matter?

We are told corruption is a force of nature. It is not.

Transcribed - Published: 15 October 2024

How can the president stop a strike?

Whenever there's a big strike in the news, someone inevitably invokes the phrase "Taft-Hartely Act" when talking about whether or not the president should intervene. But what is Taft-Hartley?

Transcribed - Published: 8 October 2024

How YOU can help preserve our democracy (really)

A special episode recorded in front of a live audience!

Transcribed - Published: 1 October 2024

What is "Originalism?"

The relatively recent philosophy of channeling the people who wrote our founding documents.

Transcribed - Published: 24 September 2024

The MIghty Mississippi

How we turned one of our country’s biggest rivers into a machine - and what happens when that machine starts to break down.

Transcribed - Published: 17 September 2024

The Mighty Mississippi

How we turned one of our country’s biggest rivers into a machine - and what happens when that machine starts to break down.

Transcribed - Published: 17 September 2024

It's Been A Minute: Video Games vs. Journalism vs. Robert Frost

Hannah and Nick face off on It's Been a Minute from NPR

Transcribed - Published: 13 September 2024

What Does the President DO?

Why focus on George Washington? Because the candidate was picked before they wrote the job description.

Transcribed - Published: 10 September 2024

Why is the voting age 18?

Let's just say it took a lot of fighting.

Transcribed - Published: 3 September 2024

Middle Class, Totally Relatable & Elite! (The Campaign Jargon Trivia Episode)

A breakdown of some common campaign jargon, along with some quasi-related trivia for your listening pleasure.

Transcribed - Published: 27 August 2024

So Long, Chevron

The courts don't have to listen to the experts anymore.

Transcribed - Published: 20 August 2024

Go play a game.

Games can teach us about civics in completely new ways.

Transcribed - Published: 13 August 2024

What is a whistleblower?

Why they do it and what happens to them.

Transcribed - Published: 6 August 2024

How does the Order of Succession work?

How we fill the shoes of the Commander in Chief. In certain circumstances.

Transcribed - Published: 30 July 2024

How Are Cities Chosen For The Olympics?

How is a particular city chosen to be the site of the Olympic Games? You probably guessed it...politics.

Transcribed - Published: 26 July 2024

Kamala Harris will be the nominee. What now?

What are the systems and processes when a presumptive nominee is replaced at the last minute?

Transcribed - Published: 24 July 2024

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