On this special bonus episode of Civics 101, we talk about the Supreme Court’s decision on July 1st in the case of Trump v United States. The court ruled along ideological lines; it was a 6-3 decision that granted former president Donald Trump - and any president - some degree of immunity.  But it's a long opinion, and a  complicated one. 

To explain all of it, we reached out to Dr. Claire Wofford, an Associate Professor of Political Science at College of Charleston.

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The Smithsonian is a heck of a lot more than its 21 museums. Today on Civics 101 Richard Kurin tells us all about about an institution that interacts with all three branches of government,  has a budget of over a billion dollars, and is dedicated to "the increase and diffusion of knowledge" among all.  

So how did it start? How does it run? What does the Chief Justice have to do with all this? And, finally, why do we collect items in the first place?

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On June 14 2024, the Supreme Court ruled that bump stocks are no longer illegal, reversing an order from Donald Trump and the ATF that was passed in the wake of the Las Vegas shootings. The words "Second Amendment" do not appear in the opinion, concurring opinion, or dissent. And yet, within minutes of the ruling, every news agency was calling it a Second Amendment case. So what is the Second Amendment?

It's short. 27 words. Words which have been interpreted and reinterpreted by historians, activists, judges, and philosophers. What did it 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 Race, Rights, and Rifles, and Jake Charles, lecturing fellow and executive director of the Center for Firearms Law at Duke Law. 

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Today we break down flags that have been in the news; from variations on the American flag to revolutionary flags like the Gadsden Flag and the "Appeal to Heaven" pine tree flag. 

These flags do not change in their design, but the meaning of these flags certainly does change.

For more flaggery, click here to hear our show about the history of the American flag and SCOTUS cases surrounding it, and click here to learn about why Nick thinks the NH flag is so terrible. 

BONUS: Check out Hannah and Nick on NPR’s It’s Been a Minute - Conservatives want to burn flags too!

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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.
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This is the story of what happens (and what's happening) when the American workforce tries to get a seat at the table.  Our guides to strikes, unions and the labor movement are Kim Kelly, journalist and author of Fight Like Hell: The Untold History of American Labor, Eric Loomis professor of History at the University of Rhode Island and author of A History of America in Ten Strikes and our friend Andrew Swan, an 8th Grade Social Studies teacher in Newton, MA among many other things.

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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!

The Smithsonian National Zoological Park in Washington, DC is sometimes called “the people’s zoo.” That’s because it’s the only zoo in the country to be created by an act of US Congress, and admission is free.

But why did our federal government create a national zoo in the first place?

Outside/In producer Felix Poon has the scoop – from its surprising origins in the near-extinction of bison, to a look at its modern-day mission of conservation, we’re going on a field trip to learn all about the National Zoo.

Support our public radio show today and you can get our new misinformation/disinformation tote bag! Click here to take a peek at it.

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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!

Today on Civics 101 we talk about truth, bias, and objectivity in reporting. I visited with Barbara Sprunt, reporter at the Washington desk at NPR, who told me what it's like to cover Capitol Hill. 

Barbara told me about her schedule, what to listen for when interviewing members of Congress, and what she says to accusations of political bias.

Support our public radio show today and you can get our new misinformation/disinformation tote bag! Click here to take a peek at it.

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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!

We started out by lining up on different sides of the street, then by saying our vote out loud. We've used many methods to vote, but most of them were corruptible by the party in power. But have we reached the pinnacle? Have we finally achieved the "perfect ballot?" 

Today, Dan Cassino of Farleigh Dickinson University and Josh Pasek of the University of Michigan walk us through the history of ballot design, the ballot fiasco in 2000, and how some ballots continue to favor one candidate (or party) over the other.

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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. 

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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 - and their civil leaders -  are rejecting tough truths about climate change when it comes knocking at their own back door.

To see photos and learn more about Nate's reporting in Juneau, click here. 

Check out Outside/In at Outsideinradio.org - and follow or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts!

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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!