Civics 101

NHPR•www.siriusxm.com

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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Episodes

Infrastructure – Water!

Drinking water in the United States is, according to the EPA, among the world's "most reliable and safest supplies." Its delivery involves a complex infrastructure of pipes, treatment facilities, aqueducts, dams, and reservoirs, and it operates on a local, state, and federal level. How did we get here? How is the U.S. public water system legislated? And, how is "potable" actually pronounced? We spoke with James Salzman , author of Drinking Water: A History . He is also a professor of environment...

May 29, 2018•17 min

Freedom of Information Act

On today's episode: What exactly is the Freedom of Information Act, better known as FOIA? Can anybody use it to get their hands on... any public documents? What kind of government secrets have come to light as a result of FOIA? We talk shop with Jason Leopold , a senior investigative reporter for Buzzfeed News. 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 educ...

May 22, 2018•15 min

NASA

Space is big - like, insanely, incomprehensibly big - so it's understandable that NASA can seem divorced from the world of cabinet secretaries, White House press briefings, and presidential tweets. Amy Shira Teitel is the host of the YouTube channel Vintage Space and author of Breaking the Chains of Gravity: The Story of Spaceflight Before NASA. In this episode, she explains how despite its lofty aims, NASA is a lot more political than you might think. CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO THE SHOW AND CHECK ...

May 15, 2018•18 min

The White House Press Secretary

Mara Liasson , National Political Correspondent for NPR, has reported on White House press briefings for 3 administrations. She tells us about the role of the Press Secretary, and how the job has changed from president to president. 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 ...

May 11, 2018•15 min

ICE

ICE, or U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement , is one of the nation's youngest law enforcement agencies. It's also become one of the most controversial. But what does ICE actually do? Dara Lind , a senior reporter for Vox , walks us through how ICE got its start, some of its responsibilities today, and what we can expect from the agency moving forward. 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 podc...

May 08, 2018•18 min

The National Guard

Miranda Summers Lowe, Military Curator at the Smithsonian and active National Guard soldier, tells us the history of the Guard, the process for calling them out, and what sets them apart from other branches of the USAF. 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 Demo...

May 01, 2018•19 min

Presidential Transitions

On today's episode: what happens when the incumbent president leaves office and the president-elect enters? How is information shared? What laws or guidelines govern the transition of power? We talked with Max Stier, President and CEO of the Partnership for Public Service , on the written and unwritten rules of presidential transitions. We also explore our own transition, as hosting duties for Civics 101 transition from Virginia Prescott to Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice. CLICK HERE TO DONATE...

Apr 24, 2018•19 min

IRL 2: The Flag and the Pledge

Today, our second IRL puts it up the flagpole and sees if anyone salutes it. Hannah goes into the history of the flag and the Pledge of Allegiance and how they've changed since their inception. Then Nick talks about four times behavior towards the flag and the pledge were the subject of Supreme Court decisions. 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 educ...

Mar 06, 2018•28 min

IRL 1: Free Speech in Schools

This is the first in a series called Civics 101 IRL; special episodes where we explore the historic moments connected to our regular podcast topics. Today we're digging into four incredibly important Supreme Court cases - four cases that have shaped how we interpret the meaning of free speech in public schools. Is political protest allowed in class? Is lewd speech covered by the First Amendment? Can school administrators determine what students can and can't say in the school newspaper? Listen i...

Nov 24, 2017•25 min

U.S. Territories

Guam, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands are all U.S. territories, but what does that mean? Is there political representation? What is the status of its citizens with regard to the Constitution and U.S. law? And what does the lack of full statehood status allow, or limit? Author Doug Mack leads today's lesson. Click here for a live-captioned, downloadable transcript. CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO THE SHOW AND CHECK OUT OUR NEW TOTE BAG! CLICK HERE: V...

Jul 25, 2017•15 min

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