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PODCAST

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.

government

All Episodes

00:39:20

Federal Courts: Muhammad Ali and the Draft

Civics 101 ·

2023/01/24

This episode is the culmination of our series on famous federal court trials in US history. In April of 1967, Muhammad Ali (formerly Cassius Clay) refused to step forward at a draft induction ceremony in Texas. His opposition to serving in Vietnam launched a sequence of trials and appeals that went all the way to the Supreme Court. It's a case about conscientious objection, protest, America's shifting views of the war, and how athletes have the unique role of "soldiers without a weapon."This episode

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00:57:14

The Last State To Hold Out Against Martin Luther King...

Civics 101 ·

2023/01/16

Today Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is publicly revered across the nation, a symbol of civil and human rights worthy of a memorial holiday. Federal and state legislatures have agreed to honor this man. That agreement took awhile. The final state to acquiesce, New Hampshire, resisted the holiday until 1999. The story of that resistance reveals a public sentiment about King and the Black Freedom Struggle that is far from the reverence of today. This is the story of how a man becomes a national symbol,

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00:29:48

The Life of a Political Operative

Civics 101 ·

2023/01/10

Ever wonder what life is really like for those who work to support a politician’s career? In September 2022, Hannah McCarthy sat down with Huma Abedin for a show called Writers on a New England Stage. This is an excerpt from their conversation. Huma discusses her memoir, Both/And, and describes what it's like to work alongside and advise a former First Lady, Secretary of State and presidential nominee. You can catch the whole conversation at nhpr.org.

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00:42:09

The Lavender Scare

Civics 101 ·

2023/01/03

You've probably heard about The Red Scare - the panic around the perceived threat of communism during the Cold War. But The Lavender Scare is lesser known. This was a time when the federal government investigated, persecuted and fired thousands of LGBTQ+ employees, calling them security risks and threats to the country. In this episode of Civics 101, we'll dive into the origin and timeline of the Lavender Scare, meet the man who pushed back and started a movement, and learn about the ripple effects

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00:26:00

How the Government Makes a Holiday

Civics 101 ·

2022/12/27

How does something go from an annual tradition to a mandated day off? Who decides to make a holiday official? Today we're taking a look at everything from Christmas to National Walk Around Things Day, from our twelve official federal holidays to some day made up by a sock company. Our guides to the holiday season are Jeff Bensch, author of History of American Holidays, and JerriAnne Boggis, Executive Director of the Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire.

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00:23:25

Is Santa a Criminal?

Civics 101 ·

2022/12/20

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 whether he could reasonably be tried for civil and criminal violations, including but not limited to trespassing, breaking and entering, voyeurism, stalking, surveillance, burglary, tax evasion, bad labor practices, emotional distress, and (in one instance) involuntary manslaughter.Taking us through this complex web of charges is Colin Miller, professor at

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00:25:40

The President & The 25th Amendment

Civics 101 ·

2022/12/13

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

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00:20:36

Who gets to run for president?

Civics 101 ·

2022/12/06

What does the Constitution say about who is allowed to be president? And why is the answer to that question still a little unclear? Brady Carlson, host of All Things Considered at Wisconsin Public Radio and author of Dead Presidents. explains the formal and informal rules that govern who is allowed to become Commander-in-Chief.

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00:29:06

Propaganda

Civics 101 ·

2022/11/29

Propaganda is a piece of information designed to make you think or do something specific. So how does it work?Today on Civics 101, John Maxwell Hamilton (professor and author of Manipulating the Masses: Woodrow Wilson and the Birth of American Propaganda) and Jennifer Mercieca (professor and author of Demagogue for President: The Rhetorical Genius of Donald Trump) take us through the Federalist Papers, the Committee on Public Intelligence, the Four Minute Men, amygdala highjacking, and the myriad

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00:30:45

Post-Presidency Perks

Civics 101 ·

2022/11/22

What does a person get after the U.S. presidency’s over and done with? We answer a question from listener Patrick, who asks if former presidents get anything special. Do they ever, and we lay out the perks of having once held the highest office in the land. Please note: an earlier version of this episode stated that Harry Truman was the only living president at the passage of the 1958 Former Presidents Act. Former President Herbert Hoover was also still living at the time of the passage of this

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00:40:38

The White House Press Corps & The Press Secretary

Civics 101 ·

2022/11/15

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 LiassonGet more Civics 101 by signing up for our free newsletter! Want to donate to the show? Click here!

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00:23:43

Are We A Democracy? Or Are We A Republic?

Civics 101 ·

2022/11/08

There's a complaint we get pretty often around here, that our tagline contains the word "democracy," but the United States is *actually* a republic. So...do we need to make a change? What did the framers think about democracy? How do we compare to Athens and Rome? And finally, how democratic are we anyways?Guests:Juliet Hooker: Royce Professor, Teaching Excellence in Political Science at Brown UniversityPaul Frymer: Professor of Politics, Princeton UniversityClick here for our episode on where the

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00:22:22

American Myths Part Two: Progress

Civics 101 ·

2022/11/01

There are three American myths that define "Americanness." The frontier, the melting pot and the "self-made man." They're concepts that define how we are to think about transformation, progress and possibility in America. They also rarely hold up. Heike Paul, author of The Myths That Made America, is our guide to the stories we tell about how it is in this country (even when it isn't.)

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00:36:36

American Myths Part One: Origins

Civics 101 ·

2022/11/01

In this episode we take a closer look at four well-worn stories: that of Christopher Columbus, Pocahontas, the Pilgrims and Puritans and the Founding Fathers and ask what is actually true. They're our foundational origin myths, but why? And since when? Author Heike Paul, author of The Myths That Made America, is our guide.

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00:39:15

Host v Host: A Trivia Battle of Wits

Civics 101 ·

2022/10/25

Senior Producer Christina Phillips puts Nick and Hannah to the test in this trivia face off! Play along as our co-hosts prove their mettle (and also don't) and learn a little something while you're at it. Featuring Nick as Christopher Walken... with apologies to Mr. Walken.

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00:37:38

Civics 101 Presents: Future Hindsight on the Asian...

Civics 101 ·

2022/10/18

This is a featured conversation from Future Hindsight, a podcast with a simple premise: civic participation is essential to a functioning democracy. So how do we do it? In this episode, host Mila Atmos speaks with Sung Yeon Choimorrow, the executive director of the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, about Asian American stereotypes, changing the narrative about who Asian-Americans are, and activating Asian communities to take civic action.You can find so many more conversations that

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00:36:00

Nina Totenberg Live On Stage

Civics 101 ·

2022/10/11

In September 2022, Hannah sat down with NPR Legal Affairs Correspondent for a show called Writers on a New England Stage. This is an excerpt from their conversation. Nina discusses her new book, Dinners with Ruth, focusing on her career as a journalist and her relationship with late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. You can catch the whole conversation at nhpr.org.

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00:45:11

Taking the Fifth: When What You Say Could Be Used...

Civics 101 ·

2022/10/04

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

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00:21:50

Oaths

Civics 101 ·

2022/09/27

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

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00:49:14

Federal Courts: The Trial of the Chicago 7

Civics 101 ·

2022/09/20

In 1968, a raucous Democratic nominating convention was overshadowed only by the shouts outside to end the war. This is the story of how eight different protestors from very different walks of life ended up before an increasingly indignant judge and walked away scot-free -- but not before putting on a good show. Our guests are Victor Goode of CUNCY School of Law, Jeet Heer, national affairs correspondent for The Nation and Jeanne Barr, history teacher at the Francis W. Parker School in Chicago.

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