Civics 101
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Civics 101
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.
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How did federal income taxes get this way?
We haven't always had a federal income tax, and in the beginning, it only applied to the very richest Americans. So how did we end up with the permane...
What is the 25th Amendment?
Sometimes, news happens in the real world, and suddenly a political or civics topic becomes very top of mind for members of the public.
...
The Raw Milk Question
Today we bring you a story from our sister podcast Outside/In, produced and reported by Marina Henke.
In 2009, the state of Maine ordere...
Can American elections be "nationalized"? What does that mean?
In this country, the states run elections. Congress is empowered to step in; the president is not. So what does it mean for the president to call on a...
Why are we paying more for gas right now?
Four years ago we made an episode about how the president has very limited powers when it comes to lowering the price of gas. Turns out, we hadn't con...
Someone oughta open up a window
Today we take a field trip to Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where Nick explains why he's like this via an obsession with 1776, the m...
The Civic Role of Religious Leaders
Why do religious leaders step out from behind the pulpit and take to the streets? What does it mean to practice what you preach? As faith groups acros...
Are you really mad? What can you do about that?
As hosts of a civics podcast, we are not allowed to advocate for policy. But you can. Here are three things you can do to get your elected officials t...
What does "detention" mean?
We've used the word "detention" many times when we've talked about immigration laws and ICE. But what does that word actually mean? A listener wanted...
Why did the FBI keep tabs on high school students?
About a week ago, host Hannah McCarthy stumbled on an article by an historian named Dr. Aaron Fountain Jr. What she read kind of blew her mind, so sh...
When did immigrants become "illegal?"
The rules about who could and could not come and live in the United States have changed many times over the last 250 years, but exactly when restricti...
What is ICE's job?
We examine what the current presidential administration tells us about Immigration and Customs Enforcement and what the numbers, courts and history of...
Safe to Drink
Introducing “Safe to Drink:” A New Hampshire town finds out its water has been contaminated by a chemical. The most basic question — whether the water...
What happens when it's not NASA bringing civilians to space?
In 1985, high school teacher Christa McAuliffe was selected to become the first private citizen to travel to space. After the Challenger explosion tha...
What is the Monroe Doctrine?
After its inception in 1823, the Monroe Doctrine was largely ignored. But after a while, different administrations saw the value in maintaining cont...
How does asylum work? And what has changed?
On this episode, we’re talking about the history and evolution of United States’ refugee and asylum policy. We have been a country of exclusion for ab...
What's happening with Venezuela?
Sometimes, we just have to make a "101" episode of Civics 101. That is the case this week, in the wake of the arrest of Venezuela's sitting president...
Restoring Civility in our Politics (on The Middle)
This week Nick appears on The Middle, with Jeremy Hobson. The topic is civility in politics, and they're joined by former New Hampshire State Legislat...
Probable Claus: Is Santa a Criminal?
Today we answer this question from a listener, "Is Santa a criminal?"
We get to the bottom of the myriad actions of the jolly old elf, and wheth...
What is the filibuster?
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 wh...
The Lottery: How it happened, and what it pays for
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 Revolutionar...
What is SNAP?
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, once upon a time called food stamps, helps nearly 42 million Americans every month. While the 2025 gove...
How did the Epstein Files Transparency Act happen?
Today we talk about the myriad procedures involved in getting the Epstein Files Transparency Act passed in record time. How do discharge petitions wor...
What can we learn from the American Revolution?
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 tho...
Billionaires
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 fro...
Why are so many voters sitting out this week?
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...
Project 2025: What it is and what it's doing
The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, has published a Mandate for Leadership since 1981, making policy recommendations to the federal go...
Who's the most outdoorsy president? (A trivia crossover)
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...
The government is shut down....again. But what does that mean?
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 shut...
What Could Go Right: Whatever Happened to Civics?
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, host...
Making Fun of Politicians
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 Viet...
The Grievances in the Declaration (part 2)
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 compar...
Can the president legally hide their health status?
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) t...
The Grievances in the Declaration (part 1)
"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 t...
Why does the government fund things, and what happens when it stops?
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...
Civics Trivia: Taxes, terrifying birds, and The West Wing
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 master...
Is same-sex marriage in legal peril?
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-...
Obergefell v Hodges, 2015
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 mar...
What happens when enough states want to change the Constitution?
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...
How can the president take over a city's police department?
On Monday, August 11th, Trump announced a takeover of Washington, D.C.'s Metropolitan police. He also deployed National Guard troops and federal agent...