podcast

Civics 101

NHPR

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.

Nothing here is transcribed yet. Tick the episodes you want and we'll transcribe them.

one credit per hour of audio for a new episode · 1 credit for one we have · up to 25 at a time

Our 250th Annual Trivia Episode! 2026-09-01 · 31m
Article II of the Constitution 2026-08-25 · 38m
SCOTUS Decision Roundup 2026-08-19 · 36m
What is communism, socialism, and fascism? 2026-08-11 · 34m
Article I of The Constitution 2026-08-05 · 49m
Why do Americans love conspiracy theories? 2026-07-28 · 43m
Do we have separation of church and state? 2026-07-21 · 32m
Why is our union so imperfect? (With Jill Lepore) 2026-07-14 · 55m
How we started, how it's going 2026-07-07 · 24m
America's other origin story 2026-07-03 · 31m
Why is Congress like this? 2026-06-30 · 28m
When a flag is against the rules... or the law 2026-06-23 · 29m
Lessons from the American Revolution (with Ken Burns) 2026-06-16 · 47m
How to Make Things Better 2026-06-09 · 28m
How did we get so red, white and blue? 2026-06-02 · 28m
Why Students Are Having a Tough Time 2026-05-26 · 28m
How making people wait sparked the American Revolution 2026-05-19 · 44m
Why Teachers Are Having a Tough Time 2026-05-12 · 29m
What did the world really think about the Declaration of Independence? 2026-05-05 · 32m
Ask a Judge: What is Pro Se? 2026-04-28 · 25m
What's the Strait of Hormuz? And how do blockades work? 2026-04-21 · 24m
How did federal income taxes get this way? 2026-04-14 · 40m
What is the 25th Amendment? 2026-04-09 · 29m
The Raw Milk Question 2026-04-07 · 37m
Can American elections be "nationalized"? What does that mean? 2026-03-31 · 34m
Why are we paying more for gas right now? 2026-03-24 · 22m
Someone oughta open up a window 2026-03-17 · 30m
The Civic Role of Religious Leaders 2026-03-11 · 31m
Are you really mad? What can you do about that? 2026-03-03 · 48m
What does "detention" mean? 2026-02-24 · 36m
Why did the FBI keep tabs on high school students? 2026-02-17 · 38m
When did immigrants become "illegal?" 2026-02-10 · 31m
What is ICE's job? 2026-02-03 · 38m
Safe to Drink 2026-01-30 · 34m
What happens when it's not NASA bringing civilians to space? 2026-01-27 · 33m
What is the Monroe Doctrine? 2026-01-20 · 28m
How does asylum work? And what has changed? 2026-01-13 · 42m
What's happening with Venezuela? 2026-01-06 · 22m
Restoring Civility in our Politics (on The Middle) 2025-12-30 · 57m
Probable Claus: Is Santa a Criminal? 2025-12-23 · 27m
What is the filibuster? 2025-12-16 · 31m
The Lottery: How it happened, and what it pays for 2025-12-09 · 35m
What is SNAP? 2025-12-02 · 38m
How did the Epstein Files Transparency Act happen? 2025-11-25 · 27m
What can we learn from the American Revolution? 2025-11-18 · 47m
Billionaires 2025-11-11 · 28m
Why are so many voters sitting out this week? 2025-11-03 · 31m
Project 2025: What it is and what it's doing 2025-10-28 · 31m
Who's the most outdoorsy president? (A trivia crossover) 2025-10-21 · 37m
The government is shut down....again. But what does that mean? 2025-10-16 · 28m
What Could Go Right: Whatever Happened to Civics? 2025-10-14 · 57m
What are the rules for making fun of politicians? 2025-10-07 · 25m
The Grievances in the Declaration (part 2) 2025-09-30 · 32m
Can the president legally hide their health status? 2025-09-23 · 35m
The Grievances in the Declaration (part 1) 2025-09-16 · 28m
Why does the government fund things, and what happens when it stops? 2025-09-09 · 45m
Civics Trivia: Taxes, terrifying birds, and The West Wing 2025-09-02 · 55m
Is same-sex marriage in legal peril? 2025-08-26 · 32m
Obergefell v Hodges, 2015 2025-08-26 · 36m
What happens when enough states want to change the Constitution? 2025-08-19 · 30m
How can the president take over a city's police department? 2025-08-15 · 35m
What's it like being a scientist facing federal funding cuts? 2025-08-12 · 36m
Cinema Civics: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington 2025-08-05 · 60m
The Supreme Court rulings that aren't rulings 2025-07-29 · 28m
Is it possible for a president to serve a third term? 2025-07-22 · 40m
A country with no kings 2025-07-15 · 41m
How are tariffs affecting American businesses? 2025-07-14 · 32m
Civics lessons from Karen Read's retrial 2025-07-11 · 55m
Forget hypotheticals: How are tariffs affecting American businesses? 2025-07-08 · 29m
Cinematic Civics: Independence Day 2025-07-04 · 55m
What does the Senate Parliamentarian do? 2025-06-30 · 30m
How political “framing” shapes our thoughts 2025-06-24 · 30m
Cinematic Civics: The Manchurian Candidate 2025-06-17 · 55m
How is the Alien Enemies Act being used right now? 2025-06-10 · 35m
What is the Alien Enemies Act? 2025-06-03 · 22m
How President Trump is trying to change elections 2025-05-27 · 25m
Fixing a problem that doesn't exist 2025-05-20 · 30m
How can Congress check the president? 2025-05-13 · 31m
Who pays for public media? 2025-05-06 · 53m
What happens when we don't trust democracy? 2025-04-29 · 32m
What is the Rule of Law? 2025-04-22 · 34m
Efficiency v. Democracy 2025-04-15 · 38m
Why do we have the National Weather Service? 2025-04-10 · 36m
Who decides what politicians should say? 2025-04-08 · 32m
April Fools: Politicians, the press, and more 2025-04-01 · 45m
The Politics Behind Your Taxes 2025-03-25 · 60m
How does the Post Office work? 2025-03-18 · 26m
The Kids are Alright: Civics Ed Update 2025-03-11 · 31m
Who's running the country? (Part 2) 2025-03-04 · 27m
Who's running the country? (Part 1) 2025-03-04 · 30m
A midwife's early American story 2025-02-27 · 43m
NY Times v Sullivan: What if the press couldn’t tell the truth? 2025-02-25 · 26m
All The President's Lawyers 2025-02-18 · 55m
What is a Constitutional crisis? 2025-02-11 · 53m
What are Executive Orders? 2025-02-04 · 28m
The Great Fluoride Debate 2025-01-29 · 34m
Trump's Executive Orders 2025-01-28 · 30m
Birthright Citizenship: The SCOTUS case that solidified the 14th Amendment 2025-01-23 · 29m
What is the Department of Education? 2025-01-21 · 33m
What are Trump's Climate Plans? 2025-01-14 · 43m
Secretary of Transportation with Pete Buttigieg 2025-01-07 · 28m
Presidential Funerals: How and Why We Mourn Our Leaders 2024-12-31 · 47m
Holiday Trivia: What's been on the White House Christmas menu? 2024-12-24 · 47m
How do tariffs work? 2024-12-17 · 29m
What is authoritarianism? 2024-12-10 · 32m
What can (and can't) the Secretary of Health and Human Services do? 2024-12-03 · 27m
The Supreme Court's Criminal Trial 2024-11-26 · 48m
What is the Cabinet? And how can appointments work? 2024-11-19 · 38m
Trump's "Day One" Promises 2024-11-12 · 23m
How do presidential transitions happen? 2024-11-08 · 26m
What happens to ensure your vote for president is counted? 2024-11-05 · 71m
Life in the wake of January 6th 2024-10-31 · 57m
US vs: Healthcare 2024-10-29 · 38m
What Remains: Science, ethics, and the Smithsonian’s bone collection 2024-10-22 · 38m
Why does corruption matter? 2024-10-15 · 53m
How can the president stop a strike? 2024-10-08 · 33m
How YOU can help preserve our democracy (really) 2024-10-01 · 55m
What is "Originalism?" 2024-09-24 · 32m
The Mighty Mississippi 2024-09-17 · 28m
It's Been A Minute: Video Games vs. Journalism vs. Robert Frost 2024-09-13 · 30m
What Does the President DO? 2024-09-10 · 30m
Why is the voting age 18? 2024-09-03 · 41m
Middle Class, Totally Relatable & Elite! (The Campaign Jargon Trivia Episode) 2024-08-27 · 54m
So Long, Chevron 2024-08-20 · 42m
Go play a game. 2024-08-13 · 53m
What is a whistleblower? 2024-08-06 · 30m
How does the Order of Succession work? 2024-07-30 · 26m
How Are Cities Chosen For The Olympics? 2024-07-26 · 49m
Kamala Harris will be the nominee. What now? 2024-07-24 · 34m
Why was the documents case against Donald Trump dismissed? 2024-07-17 · 21m
Introducing “The Youth Development Center” 2024-07-16 · 4m
Where History and Love Collide: Doris Kearns Goodwin on the 60s and Today 2024-07-16 · 61m
Moyle v U.S.: Why did SCOTUS punt an abortion case? 2024-07-09 · 48m
The CPB and the Politics of Public Media 2024-07-02 · 55m
What does the Supreme Court's immunity decision mean? 2024-07-01 · 24m
What is the Smithsonian? 2024-06-25 · 43m
The Second Amendment - What does it mean? 2024-06-18 · 50m
What's up with those flags? 2024-06-11 · 34m
Strikes, Unions and Workers' Rights 2024-06-04 · 72m
Why do we have the National Zoo? 2024-05-28 · 32m
What's it like to report on Congress? 2024-05-21 · 26m
Why ballot design matters 2024-05-14 · 36m
What is Money? 2024-05-07 · 24m
A city government, a looming disaster, and a complicated choice 2024-04-30 · 34m
"I see a temple that we built." 2024-04-26 · 38m
Why are we printing so much paper money? (D.C. field trip dispatch) 2024-04-26 · 31m
The Constitution is not vegan! (D.C. field trip dispatch) 2024-04-24 · 22m
Why is Marbury v. Madison in Trump’s Supreme Court brief? 2024-04-23 · 49m
What do the RNC and DNC do? 2024-04-16 · 29m
How to file your taxes 2024-04-09 · 41m
Why do we pay income taxes, again? 2024-04-09 · 39m
Promises, Promises: What Biden and Trump are saying they'll do if elected 2024-04-02 · 48m
How did Lochner v. New York end up on the naughty list? 2024-03-26 · 43m
How Can The Government Ban TikTok? 2024-03-18 · 23m
Can the Supreme Court save us from ourselves? 2024-03-12 · 28m
Amending the Constitution 2024-03-05 · 22m
What's Going On With Civics Education? 2024-02-27 · 60m
Extra Credit: How to Argue Against Disinformation; Trump Trials Update 2024-02-20 · 34m
What Are Presidential Pardons? 2024-02-13 · 32m
How Should We Govern the Algorithm? 2024-02-06 · 51m
What is Federalist 10? 2024-01-30 · 25m
Election 2024: What Is Happening? 2024-01-23 · 26m
How much do government employees get paid? 2024-01-16 · 25m
Rumors and Lies, the American Version 2024-01-09 · 61m
Expulsion from Congress 2024-01-02 · 23m
Can we fix school lunch? 2023-12-26 · 44m
The Politics of School Lunch 2023-12-19 · 36m
Does Santa Break The Law? 2023-12-12 · 27m
What is a Federal Holiday? 2023-12-05 · 28m
Term Limits for Congress? 2023-11-28 · 30m
What is the Order of Succession? 2023-11-21 · 26m
SCOTUS Watchlist 2023-11-14 · 32m
What powers does the Speaker of the House have? 2023-11-07 · 24m
The After School Satan Club 2023-10-31 · 26m
Heather Cox Richardson on the State of America 2023-10-24 · 69m
The National Weather Service 2023-10-17 · 35m
Separation of Church and State 2023-10-10 · 33m
BONUS: American Girl Dolls and YOU 2023-10-04 · 31m
What Are Government Shutdowns? 2023-10-03 · 27m
A (Sorta) Civics Trivia Battle 2023-09-26 · 30m
Did American Girl Dolls Do Right By History? (Part 2) 2023-09-19 · 52m
Did American Girl Dolls Do Right By History? (Part 1) 2023-09-19 · 45m
Classified Documents 2023-09-12 · 35m
What is RICO? 2023-09-05 · 25m
The Republican and Democratic Parties 2023-08-29 · 45m
Civics Education 2: When the Curriculum is Against the Law 2023-08-22 · 32m
What Is (or Was) Affirmative Action? 2023-08-15 · 40m
When Espionage Means The Death Penalty 2023-08-08 · 29m
The Presidential Records Act 2023-08-01 · 39m
What Moore v Harper Means for Elections 2023-07-25 · 26m
Civics Education 1: What Do We Teach? 2023-07-18 · 31m
America's "War on Drugs" 2023-07-11 · 43m
What Is "The Shadow Docket?" 2023-07-04 · 26m
How Have Supreme Court Arguments Changed? 2023-06-27 · 43m
Socialism, Communism, Fascism 2023-06-20 · 32m
The 14th Amendment 2023-06-12 · 41m
Supreme Court Ethics 2023-06-06 · 35m
What's the Debt Ceiling and the National Debt? 2023-05-30 · 27m
The Fairness Doctrine 2023-05-23 · 26m
BONUS: Talking to Kids About the News 2023-05-19 · 12m
Reconstruction: The Laws of the Land 2023-05-16 · 57m
Reconstruction: The Big Lie 2023-05-08 · 57m
Reconstruction: Why We Didn't Learn About It 2023-05-02 · 42m
Defamation, Libel, and Dominion, Oh My! 2023-04-23 · 32m
US vs: Freedom 2023-04-18 · 29m
How Can The Government Ban An App? 2023-04-11 · 21m
How Do Indictments and Grand Juries Work? 2023-04-02 · 26m
Jury Duty: What To Expect When You Get That Summons 2023-03-28 · 46m
Who Writes Bills? 2023-03-21 · 27m
Paying Income Taxes 2023-03-14 · 41m
A Primary Battle 2023-03-07 · 46m
Who owns the sky? 2023-02-28 · 40m
The 2008 Financial Crisis Explained 2023-02-21 · 59m
Why Do We Have an Income Tax? 2023-02-14 · 42m
What's Up With The Space Force? 2023-02-07 · 43m
The Government and Housing: Policy 2023-01-31 · 28m
The Government and Housing: One City's Story 2023-01-31 · 37m
Federal Courts: Muhammad Ali and the Draft 2023-01-24 · 43m
The Last State To Hold Out Against Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2023-01-16 · 61m
The Life of a Political Operative 2023-01-10 · 33m
The Lavender Scare 2023-01-03 · 45m
How the Government Makes a Holiday 2022-12-27 · 29m
Is Santa a Criminal? 2022-12-20 · 27m
The President & The 25th Amendment 2022-12-13 · 29m
Who gets to run for president? 2022-12-06 · 24m
Propaganda 2022-11-29 · 32m
Post-Presidency Perks 2022-11-22 · 34m
The White House Press Corps & The Press Secretary 2022-11-15 · 44m
Are We A Democracy? Or Are We A Republic? 2022-11-08 · 27m
American Myths Part Two: Progress 2022-11-01 · 26m
American Myths Part One: Origins 2022-11-01 · 40m
Host v Host: A Trivia Battle of Wits 2022-10-25 · 43m
Civics 101 Presents: Future Hindsight on the Asian American Vote 2022-10-18 · 41m
Nina Totenberg Live On Stage 2022-10-11 · 39m
Taking the Fifth: When What You Say Could Be Used Against You 2022-10-04 · 48m
Oaths 2022-09-27 · 25m
Federal Courts: The Trial of the Chicago 7 2022-09-20 · 52m
How Powerful Is The President's Veto? 2022-09-13 · 34m
Disinformation and Misinformation 2022-09-06 · 38m
What's The Difference Between The House & The Senate? 2022-08-30 · 34m
Federal Courts: Espionage and the Rosenbergs 2022-08-23 · 29m
Everything You Need to Know About Midterms 2022-08-16 · 27m
Federal Courts: Our First Treason Trial 2022-08-09 · 31m
What is the National Debt? 2022-08-02 · 27m
How to Vote 2022-07-26 · 23m
Why You Should Vote (Even When They Don't Want You To) 2022-07-26 · 27m
The Declaration Does Not Apply 2022-07-19 · 52m
The 1965 Voting Rights Act 2022-07-12 · 42m
The 4th of July Myth (and Other Patriotic Trivia) 2022-07-04 · 28m
The National Park Service 2022-06-28 · 34m
M, F & X: Gender Markers & Government Documents 2022-06-21 · 30m
What Does The 2nd Amendment Say? 2022-06-14 · 45m
Precedent and the Leaked Draft SCOTUS Opinion 2022-06-10 · 27m
Precedent and the Supreme Court 2022-06-07 · 27m
Update: Happy the Elephant is Not a Person 2022-06-03 · 8m
Should Animals Have Human Rights? 2022-06-02 · 28m
Quick Update 2022-05-31 · 8m
District, Circuit, Supreme: How does the federal court system work? 2022-05-24 · 27m
Freedom of the Press, Part 2 2022-05-17 · 28m
Freedom of the Press, Part 1 2022-05-17 · 25m
The Shadow Docket 2022-05-10 · 26m
Roe v Wade: Facts of the Case 2022-05-03 · 33m
The First National Park 2022-04-26 · 43m
What is NATO? 2022-04-19 · 36m
Citizens United v FEC 2022-04-12 · 41m
US vs: Constitutions 2022-04-05 · 33m
Why Is The Senate Parliamentarian So Powerful? 2022-03-29 · 28m
The Constitution and the Bill of Rights 2022-03-22 · 63m
Election Security 2022-03-15 · 47m
Why You Should Care About the Federal Reserve 2022-03-08 · 27m
When the Supreme Court Got It Wrong: Civil Rights and Dred Scott 2022-03-01 · 55m
How Realistic is National Treasure? 2022-02-24 · 24m
What are Committees? 2022-02-22 · 27m
Who Writes the President's Speeches? 2022-02-15 · 33m
How Does Security Clearance Work? 2022-02-08 · 29m
The President and the Price of Gas 2022-02-01 · 28m
The Politics Of The Olympics 2022-01-26 · 48m
The USDA 2022-01-18 · 32m
Congressional Investigations 2022-01-11 · 25m
Declaring War 2022-01-04 · 26m
A Civics Trivia Special! 2021-12-28 · 47m
The Lottery 2021-12-21 · 34m
Federal Holidays 2021-12-14 · 30m
Civics at the Movies: NASA and Hollywood 2021-12-09 · 19m
Emergency Powers of the President 2021-12-07 · 25m
US vs: Two Party System 2021-11-30 · 30m
Diplomacy 2021-11-23 · 31m
Gerrymandering 2021-11-16 · 28m
After 9/11: The Department of Homeland Security 2021-11-02 · 34m
Government Shutdown 2021-10-19 · 25m
State Attorneys General 2021-10-05 · 26m
After 9/11: The FBI 2021-09-08 · 34m
John Marshall and the Supreme Court 2021-08-24 · 33m
Civil Rights: Obergefell v Hodges 2021-08-10 · 37m
Civil Rights: Loving v Virginia 2021-07-27 · 37m
Civil Rights: Brown v Board of Education of Topeka 2021-07-13 · 33m
Japanese American Internment 2021-06-29 · 32m
Civil Rights: Korematsu v United States 2021-06-15 · 34m
Civil Rights: Plessy v Ferguson 2021-06-01 · 24m
Civil Rights: Dred Scott v Sandford 2021-05-18 · 31m
There Ought to Be a Law: Student Contest Finalists 2021-05-04 · 22m
The Chinese Exclusion Act 2021-04-20 · 28m
Right to Privacy: Roe v Wade 2021-04-06 · 33m
Right to Privacy: New Jersey v T.L.O. 2021-03-23 · 16m
Right to Privacy: Griswold v Connecticut 2021-03-09 · 26m
Right to Privacy: Mapp v Ohio 2021-02-23 · 20m
Electoral College Addendum 2021-02-09 · 14m
Insurrection, Protest, Terrorism, Sedition, Coup 2021-01-22 · 11m
Ask Civics 101: The 25th Amendment 2021-01-08 · 10m
The Election 2020-10-27 · 27m
Freedom of the Press: Part 2 2020-10-20 · 27m
Presidential Debates 2020-10-06 · 22m
Freedom of the Press: Part 1 2020-09-22 · 25m
Declaration Revisited: The Declaration of Sentiments 2020-09-08 · 20m
Birthright Citizenship: US v Wong Kim Ark 2020-08-25 · 27m
The Declaration Revisited: Native Americans 2020-08-11 · 21m
The Declaration Revisited: Black Americans 2020-07-28 · 18m
Civic Action: Voting, Part 2 2020-07-14 · 23m
Civic Action: Voting, Part 1 2020-07-02 · 27m
Posse Comitatus 2020-06-16 · 23m
Civic Action: Protest 2020-06-09 · 28m
The United States Postal Service 2020-05-19 · 27m
AP US Government Prepisode 2020-05-08 · 26m
Emergency Powers of the Governor 2020-04-14 · 19m
19th Amendment: Part 2 2020-04-07 · 23m
19th Amendment: Part 1 2020-03-24 · 28m
Money 2020-03-10 · 22m
Independents 2020-02-26 · 22m
The Republican Party 2020-01-28 · 26m
The Democratic Party 2020-01-14 · 23m
Third Parties 2019-12-18 · 28m
Becoming a U.S. Citizen 2019-12-03 · 23m
Census 2019-11-19 · 23m
Electoral College 2019-11-05 · 19m
Conventions 2019-10-22 · 33m
Impeachment 2019-10-08 · 19m
Primaries and Caucuses 2019-09-24 · 31m
How to Run for President 2019-09-10 · 35m
Starter Kit: How A Bill (really) Becomes a Law 2019-08-06 · 28m
Starter Kit: Federalism 2019-07-30 · 28m
Starter Kit: Judicial Branch 2019-07-23 · 24m
Starter Kit: Legislative Branch 2019-07-16 · 27m
Starter Kit: Executive Branch 2019-07-09 · 25m
Starter Kit: Checks and Balances 2019-07-02 · 19m
Life Stages: Death 2019-05-14 · 32m
Life Stages: Retirement 2019-05-07 · 31m
Life Stages: Marriage 2019-04-30 · 37m
Life Stages: Work 2019-04-23 · 37m
Life Stages: School 2019-04-16 · 31m
Life Stages: Birth 2019-04-09 · 33m
Founding Documents: Bill of Rights 2019-02-26 · 27m
Founding Documents: The Federalist and Anti-Federalist Papers 2019-02-19 · 32m
Founding Documents: The Constitution 2019-02-12 · 40m
Founding Documents: Articles of Confederation 2019-02-05 · 24m
Founding Documents: Declaration of Independence 2019-01-29 · 30m
Founding Documents: Magna Carta 2019-01-22 · 32m
Midterm Edition: Why Vote? 2018-11-06 · 30m
Midterm Edition: Propositions 2018-10-30 · 27m
Midterm Edition: Campaigning 2018-10-23 · 29m
Midterm Edition: House v Senate 2018-10-16 · 27m
Midterm Edition: State and Local Elections 2018-10-09 · 23m
Midterm Edition: 5 Things to Know about the Midterms 2018-10-02 · 23m
The Death Penalty 2018-07-31 · 21m
The Equal Rights Amendment 2018-07-24 · 20m
The Affordable Care Act 2018-07-17 · 18m
Contest Winner: Unconventional 2018-07-03 · 22m
The Draft 2018-06-26 · 22m
The Federal Register 2018-06-19 · 11m
National Institutes of Health (NIH) 2018-06-12 · 14m
Police 2018-06-05 · 19m
Infrastructure – Water! 2018-05-29 · 17m
Freedom of Information Act 2018-05-22 · 18m
NASA 2018-05-15 · 18m
The White House Press Secretary 2018-05-11 · 15m
ICE 2018-05-08 · 19m
The National Guard 2018-05-01 · 19m
Presidential Transitions 2018-04-24 · 20m
IRL 2: The Flag and the Pledge 2018-03-06 · 28m
IRL 1: Free Speech in Schools 2017-11-24 · 25m
U.S. Territories 2017-07-25 · 15m
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