Civics 101

The presidential veto is a powerful tool, but just how powerful it is depends on political context, timing, and party alignment. We'll pull back the curtain on the origin of the veto, how it works, and discuss moments when vetoes have had a real impact on our history. And yes, we'll even find out what the deal is with that pen.

Our guests are Dr. Gisela Sin of the University of Illinois, and Ken Kato, a former historian at the U.S. House of Representatives.

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• 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!

The Fifth Amendment's self-incrimination clause says that no person "shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself." Basically, it means that the government, or law enforcement, can't force you to talk to implicate yourself in a crime. However, what that looks like in practice... is a little more messy. When do you have a right to remain silent? When do you become a suspect? What does compulsion look like? Can your silence be used against you?

We talk about how the Supreme Court has interpreted these questions, and how to exercise Fifth Amendment right when you are interacting with law enforcement, with Tracey Maclin, a professor of Constitutional law and Constitutional criminal procedure at the University of Florida's Levin School of Law, and Jorge Camacho, a clinical lecturer on law and policing at Yale University, where he is the policy director of the Yale Justice Collaboratory.

• CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO THE SHOW AND CHECK OUT OUR NEW TOTE BAG!
• 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!

When a monarch dies, power stays in the family. But what about a president? It was a tricky question that the founders left mostly to Congress to figure out later. Lana Ulrich, of the National Constitution Center, and Linda Monk, constitutional scholar and author of The Bill of Rights: A User's Guide, explain the informal rules that long governed the transition of presidential power, and the 25th Amendment, which outlines what should happen if a sitting president dies, resigns, or becomes unable to carry out their duties.

Know your candidates and causes, find your polling place, have a plan! There are plenty of small steps you can take to be ready for the midterm election. But if you want to know what they're about and why they matter? Look and listen no further. Keith Hughes (with some help from Cheryl Cook-Kallio and Dan Cassino) tells us the five things you need to know about midterms.

• CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO THE SHOW AND CHECK OUT OUR NEW TOTE BAG!
• 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!

Term limits for legislators, both in Congress and at the state level, are extremely popular among voters, and have been, since their heyday in the 1990s. And while we don't currently have term limits on members of Congress, they do exist in 16 states. What can we learn from the state legislatures that already have them? Do they deliver on their promises?

We talk with Carlos Algara, assistant professor of political science at Claremont Graduate University, where he studies political parties, electoral accountability, and legislative behavior, and Jordan Butcher, assistant professor of political science at Arkansas State University, where she studies state legislatures. She is the author of the forthcoming book Navigating Term Limits.

• CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO THE SHOW AND CHECK OUT OUR NEW TOTE BAG!
• 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!