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PODCAST

Civics In A Year

The Center for American Civics

What do you really know about American government, the Constitution, and your rights as a citizen?Civics in a Year is a fast-paced podcast series that delivers essential civic knowledge in just 10 minutes per episode. Over the course of a year, we’ll explore 250 key questions—from the founding documents and branches of government to civil liberties, elections, and public participation.Rooted in the Civic Literacy Curriculum from the Center for American Civics at Arizona State University, this series

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All Episodes

14:04

Field Trip Friday: Inside America 250 On The National...

Civics In A Year ·

2026/02/27

Step onto the nation’s front yard as we unpack how the National Mall is preparing for America’s 250th—through bold infrastructure upgrades, inclusive programming, and a reimagined visitor experience that blends history, community, and learning. We start beneath the surface, exploring the new Lincoln Memorial Undercroft: a 15,000-square-foot exhibit space that turns a hidden vault into an accessible, year-round gallery with elevators and modern amenities. We then head to Jefferson’s refreshed ...

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19:36

Jackson’s First Inaugural, Explained

Civics In A Year ·

2026/02/26

A soft-spoken inaugural, a roaring political realignment. We unpack Andrew Jackson’s first days as president to reveal how a short address helped usher in a long era of mass democracy, constitutional confrontation, and executive assertiveness. From the fallout of 1824’s House decision to the landslide of 1828, we connect the dots between electoral grievance, public mandate, and a presidency that promised restraint while preparing for high-stakes battles over federal power. We walk through Ja...

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21:20

John Quincy Adams, The Monroe Doctrine, And The...

Civics In A Year ·

2026/02/25

We trace John Quincy Adams’s 1821 address from its famous “monsters to destroy” line to its deeper call for principled strength and measured engagement. We connect it to Washington’s Farewell and the Monroe Doctrine to show how interest and justice can travel together without empire. • why the Secretary of State signaled presidential stature in 1821 • post–War of 1812 confidence and domestic calm after the Missouri Compromise • Latin American and European revolutions pressing for U.S. suppor...

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22:49

Monroe Doctrine

Civics In A Year ·

2026/02/24

We trace the Monroe Doctrine from a daring 1823 warning to a living rulebook that still shapes how America defines security, principle, and power. From John Quincy Adams to modern strategy, we test where defense ends and intervention begins. • origins of the Monroe Doctrine and its core warning • British alignment and Adams’s diplomatic gamble • post‑1812 great power context and American confidence • expansionist logic framed as defensive security • the Roosevelt corollary and intervention a...

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20:45

Missouri Compromise

Civics In A Year ·

2026/02/23

We trace how the Missouri Compromise tried to hold a fragile Union together by pairing Missouri and Maine, drawing a line across the map, and postponing a moral decision. The story connects founding-era bargains to Kansas-Nebraska, Dred Scott, and the rise of a party that said no more expansion of slavery. • Louisiana Purchase expansion without slavery rules • Declaration ideals versus entrenched slavery • Congress as lead actor under Monroe • Missouri as slave state, Maine as free state • T...

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17:05

Field Trip Friday: How New Monuments Happen

Civics In A Year ·

2026/02/20

Memory does not arrive fully formed in stone; it’s argued into place. We pull back the curtain on how a new memorial takes shape on the National Mall, from the first spark of a citizens’ group to the day the ribbon is cut. Along the way, we unpack the Commemorative Works Act, why congressional authorization matters, and the surprising truth that private donors—not federal budgets—fund the monuments that define our civic landscape. Jeremy Goldstein from the Trust for the National Mall joins u...

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14:37

Madison’s Veto And Monroe’s Pivot

Civics In A Year ·

2026/02/19

What if the road to American nation-building ran straight through a constitutional crossroads? We dig into James Madison’s veto of the Bonus Bill and James Monroe’s later twist on internal improvements to reveal how early presidents sketched the limits—and possibilities—of federal power. The stakes were not just roads and canals, but the meaning of the Spending Clause, the reach of the Commerce Clause, and whether “general welfare” is a guiding aim or a blank check. We start with Madison, wh...

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13:12

The Louisiana Purchase

Civics In A Year ·

2026/02/18

We trace how a bid for New Orleans became a continental purchase while we test Jefferson’s strict constitutional views against Madison’s steadier reading of treaty and territorial powers. Europe’s wars, Haiti’s revolt, Federalist fears, and the limits of necessity drive the story. • European conflict and the return of Louisiana to France • Jefferson’s alarm over New Orleans and river trade • Haiti’s revolt wrecking Napoleon’s North American plans • The surprise offer of the entire Louisiana ...

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14:36

Jefferson’s First Inaugural

Civics In A Year ·

2026/02/17

We trace how a bitter tie, backroom assurances, and a soft-spoken inauguration produced a peaceful transfer of power and a new model of the presidency. Jefferson’s famous unity line meets the hard edges of judicial fights and the messy blend of ideals with continuity. • Context of the 1800 election and party divides • Oral delivery and Jefferson’s anti-pomp style • Hamilton’s role in tipping support to Jefferson • Peaceful transfer from Adams and its meaning • “We are all Republicans, we are...

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33:54

Presidents, Power, And The Myths We Love with Sharon...

Civics In A Year ·

2026/02/16

Power isn’t magic, and the presidency isn’t a throne. We sit down with Sharon McMahon—former government teacher, civic educator, and New York Times bestselling author—to unpack the biggest myths about presidential power and replace guesswork with constitutional clarity. Together, we draw a clear line between executive orders and actual laws, explore why modern presidents feel pressure to “do something” when Congress stalls, and map where the Constitution draws hard boundaries that even the mo...

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13:52

Field Trip Friday America 250: Walking The Mall’s...

Civics In A Year ·

2026/02/13

Start at the glass cases that hold the nation’s promises, then step outside into a lawn where those promises are tested every day. We take you on the America 250 walking tour across the National Mall, linking the National Archives, Washington Monument, Constitution Gardens, the Jefferson Memorial, and the George Mason Memorial into one continuous story about ideals, people, and practice. We talk about why the Mall is both shrine and stage: a place where the Declaration and Constitution comma...

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17:47

The Kentucky & Virginia Resolutions

Civics In A Year ·

2026/02/12

Fear, speech, and state power collide when Congress passes the Alien and Sedition Acts—and two southern legislatures answer back. We sit down with Dr. Beyenberg to unpack the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, tracing how Madison and Jefferson turned a free speech crisis into a lasting argument about federalism and constitutional limits. What begins with fears of French intrigue and partisan newspapers becomes a sharp debate over the First Amendment, the Tenth Amendment, and whether states ca...

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3:51

American History Through The Documents That Built It

Civics In A Year ·

2026/02/11

Want a clearer view of how American democracy actually works? We’re changing gears and stepping inside the story by reading the original words that built it: letters, speeches, court opinions, laws, and essays written in the heat of conflict and change. Instead of cruising past milestones, we slow down famous documents to see their arguments, their audiences, and the problems they tried to solve—and why those choices still shape our civic life today. We draw on Jefferson’s blunt warning that...

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15:57

How Civil Rights And Economics Reshaped Southern...

Civics In A Year ·

2026/02/10

The neat story about the South “flipping” after the 1960s sounds satisfying—until you stack it against voting patterns, platforms, and constitutional arguments that tell a slower, messier tale. We take you beyond the sound bites to examine how civil rights, federal power, and economic modernization interacted to reshape Southern party loyalty over decades, not election cycles. With Dr. Beienberg, we unpack the conventional switch narrative and test where it holds and where it breaks. Goldwat...

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18:04

Field Trip: Walking The National Mall Through...

Civics In A Year ·

2026/02/06

A wall of names can change how you see yourself—and your country. Walking the National Mall with our guide Jeremy Goldstein, we explore how the World War I, World War II, Korean War, and Vietnam Veterans memorials turn stone, water, and bronze into living memory. Each site carries its own voice: Korea’s haunted patrol, WWI’s powerful relief, WWII’s stars and fountains, and the Vietnam Wall’s reflective ledger of loss. Together, they invite pride in service and a sober accounting of cost, hold...

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20:23

How The New Deal Remade Parties And The Presidency

Civics In A Year ·

2026/02/05

A national emergency remade American politics—and we follow the fault lines from the Great Depression to the digital age. With Dr. Sidney Milkis, we unpack how Franklin Roosevelt turned crisis into a lasting partisan realignment and built the modern presidency as an institution with its own staff, strategy, and voice. From Social Security to the Executive Office of the President, the New Deal didn’t just add programs; it rewired how citizens see power, how parties compete, and how leaders com...

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14:17

From Patronage To Primaries: How The Progressive Era...

Civics In A Year ·

2026/02/04

We track how the Progressive Era broke the grip of local party machines, elevated public opinion, and strengthened the presidency, reshaping both major parties. Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson anchor the story as primaries expand and conventions recede into ceremony. • limited, decentralized party machines shift toward national agendas • industrialization and foreign policy drive demand for federal action • direct democracy tools weaken party gatekeepers • primaries rise, conventions lose real p...

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8:43

Classroom Edition: Alexis de Toqueville

Civics In A Year ·

2026/02/03

A French magistrate walked into an American prison and came out with a blueprint for democratic life. We follow Alexis de Tocqueville’s unlikely journey—from an official study of penitentiaries to a lasting analysis of how habits, values, and local participation keep freedom alive—and we connect his sharpest insights to the choices we face today. We start with the ruse that made his research possible: a tour of U.S. prisons that opened the door to courts, churches, town meetings, and newspap...

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27:22

Tocqueville’s Take On Individualism

Civics In A Year ·

2026/02/02

What if the biggest threat to freedom isn’t a tyrant but our quiet decision to sit out civic life? We dive into Alexis de Tocqueville’s striking idea of “individualism” as a democratic habit of withdrawal—not mere selfishness—and trace how that mindset can hollow out participation, invite overreach, and make liberty feel ornamental instead of lived. With Dr. Zachary German from the Institute of American Civics, we unpack why Tocqueville saw this tendency as an intellectual mistake and how he...

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11:28

Field Trip: Civil Rights On The Mall

Civics In A Year ·

2026/01/30

A public park can teach a nation. We head to the National Mall with Jeremy Goldstein from the Trust for the National Mall to trace a civil rights tour that links the MLK Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial into one living civics lesson. From the first glimpse of Dr. King carved out of stone to the bronze plaque marking where “I Have a Dream” rang out, we unpack how place turns moments into movements. Jeremy pulls back the curtain on how memorials happen: citizen...

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186 results

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