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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

00:20:05

How to Vote

Civics 101 ·

2022/07/26

Voting in America is not always straightforward, nor is its impact always clear. In this episode, we give you the basic tools to vote on Election Day, including tips for avoiding the roadblocks.And for those of you on the fence about exercising that enfranchisement, a word to the wise: your vote matters. Featuring:Kim Wehle, professor of law at the University of Baltimore School of Law Andrea Hailey, CEO of vote.orgCLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO OUR AWESOME NEWSLETTER, EXTRA CREDIT!LOVE OUR WORK? Please

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00:23:16

Why You Should Vote (Even When They Don't Want You To)

Civics 101 ·

2022/07/26

The United States is a representative democracy. The idea is that we’re a government "by the people" (we vote officials into office) and "for the people" (the officials in office are supposed to represent our interests). But it’s not so straightforward around here. LOVE OUR WORK? Please donate to help us continue it! Click here to chip in.When you take that golden idea and add restrictive voter laws, billions of dollars, and a whacky electoral system, representation takes on a whole different hue

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00:48:06

The Declaration Does Not Apply

Civics 101 ·

2022/07/19

A few years ago, Civics 101 did a series revisiting the Declaration of Independence, and three groups for which the tenants of life, liberty, and property enshrined in that document did not apply. We bring you all three parts of that series today, and hear from legal and historical scholars about how Black Americans, Indigenous peoples, and women were excluded from our founding document, and how they responded. Find the series page here. Part 1: Byron Williams, author of The Radical Declaration,

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00:38:27

The 1965 Voting Rights Act

Civics 101 ·

2022/07/12

It came after decades of discrimination, violence and disenfranchisement -- President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act in 1965, "an Act to enforce the fifteenth amendment to the Constitution of the United States." That Act worked. In the decades since, though, states and the Supreme Court have changed what that Act means and can do.Our guides to this sweeping legislation are Sonni Waknin of the UCLA Voting Rights Project and Gary May, author of Bending Towards Justice: The Voting

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00:25:04

The 4th of July Myth (and Other Patriotic Trivia)

Civics 101 ·

2022/07/04

Today, after one of the busiest civics-related news weeks in history, we take a break to talk about some of the history and ephemera tied to Independence Day. We talk about dates, names, songs, food, and explosions in the sky.Here are some links to episodes tied to the 4th:Declaration of IndependenceDeclaration RevisitedIRL2: The Flag and the PledgeThroughline's episode on Becoming America

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00:31:04

The National Park Service

Civics 101 ·

2022/06/28

The National Park Service has changed immensely since its days of keeping poachers out of Yellowstone. So has its approach to telling the story of America. Kirsten Talken-Spaulding of the NPS and Will Shafroth of the National Parks Foundation help us understand how this colossal system actually works and what it's doing to tell the true story of the United States.

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00:26:17

M, F & X: Gender Markers & Government Documents

Civics 101 ·

2022/06/21

The government issues IDs so we can prove who we say we are, and since the start, that’s included an expression of binary (male or female) gender. Now, some states - and even the federal government - are starting to change that. LGBTQ+ reporter Kate Sosin is our guide.

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00:41:35

What Does The 2nd Amendment Say?

Civics 101 ·

2022/06/14

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,

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00:24:08

Precedent and the Leaked Draft SCOTUS Opinion

Civics 101 ·

2022/06/10

A leaked draft opinion in a Supreme Court case about abortion reveals that a majority of the justices were, at the time of this draft's release, in favor of overturning the precedent set in Roe v Wade that protected abortion access. In our recent episode on judicial precedent, we talked about how the Supreme Court interprets the law, and how precedent gives that interpretation power, ensuring the law is applied equally to everyone. We also talked about how and why the Supreme Court might reconsider,

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00:23:30

Precedent and the Supreme Court

Civics 101 ·

2022/06/07

When the Supreme Court decides how the law, and the Constitution, should be interpreted in a case, that interpretation becomes a precedent. Once that judicial precedent has been set, it's understood that the interpretation and its reasoning should be applied to similar cases in the future. So why might the Supreme Court reconsider its own precedent? And what happens when a precedent is modified, or overruled? We talk to Nina Varsava, a law professor at University of Wisconsin, Madison who studies

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00:05:33

Update: Happy the Elephant is Not a Person

Civics 101 ·

2022/06/03

Civics 101 teamed up with the Outside/In podcast to bring you the story of Happy, an Asian elephant living in the Bronx Zoo.Lawyers had petitioned the New York State Court of Appeals for a writ of Habeas Corpus; a legal maneuver that could have freed Happy and set a new precedent for animal rights. But in a ruling out mid-June 2022, the court decided: Happy isn’t going anywhere. In this quick update to our previous episode (listen here if you haven’t already) Hannah debriefs with Outside/In host

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00:24:44

Should Animals Have Human Rights?

Civics 101 ·

2022/06/02

Happy has lived in New York City’s Bronx Zoo for years. To visitors, she’s a lone Asian elephant. But to a team of animal rights lawyers, she’s a prisoner. They’ve petitioned state courts for a writ of Habeas Corpus; a legal maneuver that, if granted, would declare Happy a legal person who deserves to be freed. It’s the latest case in an ongoing fight to extend basic human rights to animals – one that could have big repercussions in the natural world. Because this is a case that deals with animals

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00:06:11

Quick Update

Civics 101 ·

2022/05/31

Our episodes come out on Tuesday, but this week is different. Special crossover Civics 101 and Outside/In episode coming out on Thursday, take your trunk and mark your calendar!Support our mission to explain how the government works here.

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00:23:47

District, Circuit, Supreme: How does the federal...

Civics 101 ·

2022/05/24

The federal judiciary system has three steps: district court, circuit court, and the Supreme Court, and despite what you see on screen, many cases do not end with that first courtroom verdict. This is how the federal judiciary system works, what makes a case worthy of consideration by the Supreme Court, and what happens when case lands in front of SCOTUS. We talked with Erin Corcoran, Executive Director for the Kroc Institute of International Peace Studies, and Behzad Mirhashem, Assistant Federal

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00:25:09

Freedom of the Press, Part 2

Civics 101 ·

2022/05/17

A free press, ideally, learns what is happening in our democracy and passes that information on to us. How, then, do we learn the truth about this country when there’s so much misinformation, so many opinions, claims of fake news and widespread mistrust of the truth?Joining us again for part 2 are Melissa Wasser and Erin Coyle.This episode first aired in October of 2020.

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00:21:31

Freedom of the Press, Part 1

Civics 101 ·

2022/05/17

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

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00:22:47

The Shadow Docket

Civics 101 ·

2022/05/10

The blocking of a majority-Black congressional district in Alabama. OSHA regulations requiring vaccinations or a negative COVID test result. A law in Texas banning abortions after six weeks. All of these controversial issues were decided not through the tried-and-true method of a hearing in the Supreme Court, but rather through a system called "the shadow docket," orders from the court that are (often) unsigned, inscrutable, and handed down in the middle of the night. Professor Stephen Vladeck

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00:30:09

Roe v Wade: Facts of the Case

Civics 101 ·

2022/05/03

This is an episode about a case, a couple of cases in fact, that no longer carry the force of Constitutional law. This episode was made when the essential holding of Roe v Wade still stood. That is no longer the case. It’s a rare occurrence for the Supreme Court to overturn a decision outright, especially a landmark decision, but that is indeed what happened on Friday, June 24th shortly after 10 AM, 2022.Listen to this episode to get an understanding of why Roe and Casey happened in the first place

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00:39:44

The First National Park

Civics 101 ·

2022/04/26

The land had been cultivated and lived on for millennia when geologist Ferdinand Hayden came upon the astounding Yellowstone "wilderness." It wasn't long before the federal government declared it a national park, to be preserved in perpetuity for the enjoyment of all. Ostensibly. How did Yellowstone go from being an important home, hunting ground, thoroughfare and meeting place to being a park? Megan Kate Nelson, author of Saving Yellowstone, Mark David Spence, author of Dispossessing the Wilderness

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00:32:36

What is NATO?

Civics 101 ·

2022/04/19

In the years after World War II, twelve countries in North America and Europe got together to form an alliance. This alliance, known as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, would build up the collective military and security strength of every country involved - so an attack on one country would mean an attack on them all. How does a security alliance between dozens of countries with different governments, interests, and military power, even work? What role does NATO play in international war and

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