Today we explore coins, shells, greenbacks, the Mint, all things tied to American currency. Our guides are Stephen Mihm, professor at the University of Georgia and author of A Nation of Counterfeiters: Capitalists, Con Men, and the Making of the United States, Ellen Feingold, curator at the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian, and Todd Martin from the U.S. Mint.  Hey, check out our snazzy new tote bag! Make a $5 a month or $60 one time gift to the show and it's yours! CLICK HERE: Visit our website to donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational mat ..read more

We often tell you that YOUR local government is the one you have to pay really close attention to. So today we’re bringing you an episode from our colleagues over at Outside/In that proves exactly this. It’s about one city - Juneau, Alaska - and what happens when climate change concerns meet municipal resources – or lack thereof. What does a city do when the bottom line doesn’t jibe with reality and federal funds are out of reach?  Especially when a predictable natural disaster is looming on the horizon? Outside/In host Nate Hegyi visits Juneau to see one example of why some Americans - a ..read more

Why do we need so much paper money? Why does the National Zoo have bison?  How did Thomas Edison record sound? How big is the Hope Diamond? What does the CPB do? And what is it ike seeing a Supreme Court oral argument in person? What about all those protests outside? These are all questions the Civics 101 team sought to answer on their second and third days field-tripping in Washington D.C. And now they've been joined by Outside/In producer Felix Poon! Listen in as the team shares their experiences and some interesting facts they picked up during their reporting and down time. And don't f ..read more

Why do we need so much paper money? Why does the National Zoo have bison?  How did Thomas Edison record sound? How big is the Hope Diamond? What does the CPB do? And what is it ike seeing a Supreme Court oral argument in person? What about all those protests outside? These are all questions the Civics 101 team sought to answer on their second and third days field-tripping in Washington D.C. And now they've been joined by Outside/In producer Felix Poon! Listen in as the team shares their experiences and some interesting facts they picked up during their reporting and down time. And don't f ..read more

Lochner v New York, a 1905 Supreme Court case about working hours and contracts, is considered anti-canon. Right up there with Dred Scott, Plessy and Korematsu. The question is, how did it get there? Why do people think it's so bad? And what does this decision, and the era that followed, say about politics and the Supreme Court? Our guides to this case and what came after are Rebecca Brown, Rader Family Trustee Chair in Law at USC Gould School of Law and Matthew Lindsay, Associate Professor of Law at University of Baltimore School of Law. CLICK HERE: Visit our website to donate to the podcast ..read more

This week our team has hit the road to - where else - our nation’s capital, Washington D.C. While we’re here, we’ll be conducting interviews and gathering tape for future episodes, but we’re also doing something else: immersing ourselves in the sights and sounds of the seat of our federal government. That’s right, it’s a Civics 101 field trip! You can follow along on Instagram and on our brand-new TikTok channel. In this episode, listen to what it was like as we explored the city during our first full day in D.C. - where we walked, what we saw, and what made us curious. And one of those facts ..read more

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.  CLICK HERE: Visit our website to donate to ..read more

Today we're talking RNC and DNC. The committees, not the conventions. What do they do? Who decides who chairs them? And what does it mean to a national committee when someone can post a message on social media that has more impact than thousands of mailbox flyers? Today's guests are Boris Heersink and Marjorie Hershey, who take us from a few folks setting up a convention to a massive organization that tries (and sometimes fails) to wrangle a party's identity. CLICK HERE: Visit our website to donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more!  ..read more

Most Americans need help to file our tax return each year - about 90% of people use technology like Turbo Tax, or hire a human tax preparer.  Why does it feel like it takes degree in accounting, or the money to pay someone with a degree, or computer software, just to comply with the law?  We revisit our explainers on why our tax system is the way it is, and how to comply with it, just in time for tax day.   We talk about everything that goes into filing taxes, how some people game the system, why it's so complicated, and how to successfully file your taxes (and avoid paying more ..read more

We revisit our explainers on why our tax system is the way it is, and how to comply with it, just in time for tax day.     We haven't always had a federal income tax, and in the beginning, it only applied to the very richest Americans. So how did we end up with the permanent income tax we have today, with all its complicated rules about everything from pre-tax income to deductions and credits? And what does it actually pay for?     CLICK HERE: Visit our website to donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more!  ..read more