It's a term thrown around quite a bit lately, but what does it actually mean? This is an episode about the basics of the Law of the Land, the three branches of government and what happens when they're don't work the way they're supposed to.

Our guide is Aziz Huq, Professor of Law at the University of Chicago. His books include The Rule of Law: A Very Short Introduction, The Collapse of Constitutional Remedies  and How to Save a Constitutional Democracy. 

If you want some extra context for this one, check out these other episodes:

Checks and Balances

So Long, Chevron

What is "originalism"?

How Should We Govern the Algorithm?

The Fourteenth Amendment

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• To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
• Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!

Every president (with the exception of William Henry Harrison)  has issued executive orders. Most recently, Donald Trump issued several on his first day in office. Some have been published in the Federal Register, others are facing legal challenges.

So what IS an executive order? How do they differ from other executive actions, like proclamations or memoranda? Who writes them? Who reviews them? All that and more with our guest Andy Rudalevidge,  professor of Government at Bowdoin and author of By Executive Order: Bureaucratic Management and the Limits of Presidential Power.

Click here for our episode on the Federal Register.

Here is a link to every single proclamation issued by a president.

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• To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
• Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!

Ever since fluoridation became widespread in the 1950s, cavities in kids have fallen drastically. The effort is considered one of the ten greatest public health achievements of the 20th century. But it’s also one of the most controversial.

Today, the story of what that's so, from our sister podcast, NHPR's Outside/In. 

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• 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 Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
• Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!

During his campaign, now-President Trump promised a lot of action (much of it to happen on day one). So what did he actually do once he regained the office? A LOT. This is the first week of Trump's executive orders.

For some context, check out our episodes on:

Wong Kim Ark and Birthright Citizenship

Dred Scott

The Fourteenth Amendment

An earlier version of this episode incorrectly identified several Presidential memoranda and proclamations as executive orders.

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• 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 Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
• Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!

Most of us know about birthright citizenship, but not many people have ever heard of Wong Kim Ark and the landmark Supreme Court decision that decided both his fate and the fate of a U.S. immigration policy that endures to this day.

This is the case that solidified the Fourteenth Amendment as we understand it today. 

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• 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 Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
• Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!

During his campaign, Donald Trump promised several times that he would dismantle the US Department of Education. So today we wanted to explore what such a dismantling would look like, as well as what the DoED does in the first place. 

Turns out, while the Department does an awful lot of things, there is much for which it is criticized that it does not do. Taking us through its creation, its history, and its powers is Adam Laats, professor of Education at Binghamton University. 

Link to our episodes on School Lunch here and here.

And here are some good resources for anyone who wants to know a little more about Jonestown. My 8th grade report is, sadly, unavailable.

https://www.npr.org/2017/04/11/523348069/nearly-40-years-later-jonestown-offers-a-lesson-in-demagoguery

https://www.nytimes.com/1979/11/18/archives/jonestown-the-survivors-story-jonestown.html

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• To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
• Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!

What has Donald Trump claimed he would do when it comes to environmental policy in the U.S.? What happened during his last administration?  And what are the limits on executive powers when it comes to treaties and global agreements?

Elizabeth Bomberg, Professor of Politics at the University of Edinburgh, tells us what we can expect when it comes to emissions regulations, drilling, climate research, the Paris Agreement, and so much more.  

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• 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 Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
• Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!

Transportation and infrastructure are massive (literally) undertakings here in the United States. So what does it mean to oversee it all? What is the Secretary of Transportation actually in charge of and what's going on with our roads, bridges, airports, etc.?

We spoke with Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg to find out.

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• 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 Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
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How do we mourn our presidents and former presidents? Where did all those very public rituals come from? And how much input does a president have in their own post-death ceremonies?

We break down the history and mystery of presidential funerals with Lindsay Chervinsky and Matthew Costello. 

This episode of Civics 101 was produced by senior producer Christina Phillps and mixed by Rebecca Lavoie. It was hosted by Nick Capodice and Hannah McCarthy. Special thanks to Jacqui Fulton. 

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• 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 Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
• Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!

In our latest edition of Holiday Trivia, a rundown of some of the quirky food, drinks, and celebratory ephemera at the White House during the most wonderful time of the year. 

Have an opinion on the pronunciation of "praline?" Send us an email!

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• 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 Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
• Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!