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Civics 101

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.

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Top 10 Civics 101 Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Civics 101 episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Civics 101 for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Civics 101 episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

Civics 101 - Oaths

Oaths

Civics 101

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09/27/22 • 21 min

From the Presidential Oath of Office to the Oath of Allegiance to sworn testimony, Americans take an awful lot of oaths. Today we explore the history of oaths in the US, the linguistic tinkering that's happened to oaths of office over the last few centuries and the repercussions of breaking an oath.

For anyone interested in a deeper dive into the Pledge of Allegiance and the American flag, as well as how statutes regarding them and your First Amendment rights have intermingled, check out our earlier episode here.

Also, we have trivia! 8 new questions each week tied to our most recent episode! Click here to test your civics knowhow. And for a more relaxed bit of quizzery, we have a daily worldle too.

Want our new "Civics is my cup of tea" mug? CLICK HERE TO DONATE AND GET YOURS!

  • 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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Civics 101 - How Should We Govern the Algorithm?
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02/06/24 • 47 min

Machine learning is being used in police precincts, schools, courts and elsewhere across the country to help us make decisions. Using data about us, algorithms can do almost instantly what it would take human beings both time and money to do. Cheaper, faster, more efficient and potentially more accurate -- but should we be doing it? How should we be using it? And what about our privacy and our rights?

Aziz Huq, Frank and Bernice J. Greenberg Professor of Law at the University of Chicago Law School, is our guide to the new world order.

Want our new "Civics is my cup of tea" mug? CLICK HERE TO DONATE AND GET YOURS!

  • 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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Civics 101 - Freedom of the Press, Part 1
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05/17/22 • 21 min

The only working-class job enshrined in the Bill of Rights, a free press is essential to the health of the democracy. The citizens deserve to know what’s going on, so the framers made sure that news could be printed and information disseminated. But how does the press actually do that? Are they upholding their end of the bargain? What does the best version of the press and the news look like?

Helping us report this one out are Melissa Wasser, Michael Luo and Erin Coyle.

This episode originally aired in September of 2020.

Want our new "Civics is my cup of tea" mug? CLICK HERE TO DONATE AND GET YOURS!

  • 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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The House and the Senate have mostly the same powers: they both propose and vote on bills that may become law. So why does the House have 435 members, and the Senate have 100? Why does legislation have to pass through both sides, and what kinds of power do each have individually? And finally: what role do you, as a voter, play in ensuring that Congress, and your Congressional delegation, is working in your best interests?

This episode features the opinions of former staffers from both chambers, Andrew Wilson and Justin LeBlanc, former member of the CA assembly, Cheryl Cook-Kallio, CNN political analyst, Bakari Sellers, and the inimitable political science professor from Farleigh Dickinson, Dan Cassino.

Want our new "Civics is my cup of tea" mug? CLICK HERE TO DONATE AND GET YOURS!

  • 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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The White House Press Corps wasn't always such an organized bunch. In this episode, we'll dive into the history and evolution of reporters in the White House. Plus, the how the role of Press Secretary was created, how it's evolved, and how the relationship between POTUS and the press has shifted over the centuries.

Guests:

NPR's Scott Horsely and Mara Liasson

Get more Civics 101 by signing up for our free newsletter!

Want to donate to the show? Click here!

Want our new "Civics is my cup of tea" mug? CLICK HERE TO DONATE AND GET YOURS!

  • 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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Civics 101 - What is Federalist 10?
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01/30/24 • 22 min

Federalist 10 was one of the Federalist Papers, a collection of 85 essays that were published in New York to encourage ratification of the newly drafted Constitution. This essay is taught in classrooms across the country and often referred to as the most important. So what's it about?

Taking us through the ideas of faction, republicanism, and Madison's inability to predict Facebook are Jeffrey Rosen, President of the National Constitution Center, Alison LaCroix, Professor of Law at the University of Chicago Law School, and our dear friend Ryan Werenka, AP Government and Politics teacher at Troy High School in Michigan.

Click here to listen to our episode on the Federalist and Antifederalist Papers.

And click here to support our show and get yourself some wool socks and a hat!

Want our new "Civics is my cup of tea" mug? CLICK HERE TO DONATE AND GET YOURS!

  • 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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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.

Want our new "Civics is my cup of tea" mug? CLICK HERE TO DONATE AND GET YOURS!

  • 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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Civics 101 - The 25th Amendment
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12/13/22 • 25 min

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.

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Civics 101 - What Does The 2nd Amendment Say?
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06/14/22 • 41 min

27 words which have been interpreted and reinterpreted by historians, activists, judges, and philosophers. What did the 2nd Amendment mean when it was written? What does it mean right now? And what happened in between?

Today's episode features Saul Cornell, professor of history at Fordham University and author of A Well Regulated Militia, Alexandra Filindra, professor of political science at University of Illinois Chicago and author of the upcoming Race, Rights, and Rifles, and Jake Charles, lecturing fellow and executive director of the Center for Firearms Law at Duke Law.

Click here to support our show, and you could win a $500 gift card from Airbnb!

Want our new "Civics is my cup of tea" mug? CLICK HERE TO DONATE AND GET YOURS!

  • 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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You might think you know why Marbury v Madison is important: it set the precedent whereby the Supreme Court decides whether laws are constitutional or not, a power known as judicial review. But what else does this landmark decision say? And why is this case from more than two hundred years ago cited so prominently in former president Donald Trump's current Supreme Court brief?

In this episode, host Hannah McCarthy "Hansplains" the connection between this famous case and current events, with the help of Quinnipiac University's Wayne Unger.

Want our new "Civics is my cup of tea" mug? CLICK HERE TO DONATE AND GET YOURS!

  • 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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FAQ

How many episodes does Civics 101 have?

Civics 101 currently has 486 episodes available.

What topics does Civics 101 cover?

The podcast is about Civics, Elections, Supreme Court, American History, History, Democracy, Podcasts, Education, Politics and Government.

What is the most popular episode on Civics 101?

The episode title 'How Powerful Is The President's Veto?' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on Civics 101?

The average episode length on Civics 101 is 22 minutes.

How often are episodes of Civics 101 released?

Episodes of Civics 101 are typically released every 6 days, 18 hours.

When was the first episode of Civics 101?

The first episode of Civics 101 was released on Jan 13, 2017.

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