Following the Challenger and Columbia Space Shuttle disasters, the government had to rethink space exploration. In 2006, NASA launched the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program, allocating $500 million to encourage American entrepreneurs to develop cost-effective cargo and crew transport for the ISS. Today, private enterprises like SpaceX, Starlink, Blue Origin, and Rocket Lab are ubiquitous, Yet, none of this progress would be possible without substantial government assistance.

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In 1735, a colonial printer named John Peter Zenger spent nine months in jail for printing someone else's criticism of a corrupt governor, and his trial helped plant the seeds of a free press in America decades before the First Amendment existed. This episode, we trace the origins of press freedom, why "fake news" is a much older problem than you'd think, and why the Constitution protects the printer, not the truth — plus a conversation with historian Mitchell Kramer on what Benjamin Franklin really thought about truth and partisanship in the press.

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Hurricane season is upon us. Did you know that the weather app on your smartphone and the forecasts from TV meteorologists wouldn’t exist without data from the National Weather Service? Yep. The National Weather Service (NWS), part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), provides vital weather, water, and climate data, forecasts, and warnings for the protection of life and property, as well as enhancing the national economy.

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It used to be that federal government jobs were awarded via a "spoils system," where political patronage and loyalty were the primary criteria for hiring and firing government employees. This system led to widespread corruption, incompetence, and inefficiency, as unqualified individuals often held positions due to their political connections rather than their abilities. The assassination of President James A. Garfield in 1881 by a disgruntled office-seeker who felt he was unfairly denied a position highlighted the flaws of the spoils system and fueled public demand for civil service reform.

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With its lavishly funded mandate to put a man on the moon, the Apollo mission promised to reinvigorate a country that had lost its way. But a new breed of activists denounced it as a colossal waste of resources needed to solve pressing problems at home. Neil Maher reveals that there were actually unexpected synergies between the space program and the budding environmental, feminist and civil rights movements as photos from space galvanized environmentalists, women challenged the astronauts’ boys club and NASA’s engineers helped tackle inner city housing problems.

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About 200 years ago, We the People created a baseline for a Government That Doesn’t Suck. "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity. In today’s episode, Greg Jackson and Lindsey Cormack discuss the United States Constitution and why we are all founders.

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What problem was government trying to solve? What machinery did it build? And did it work? Every other Monday, Professor Greg Jackson and political scientist Professor Lindsey Cormack dig into the laws, agencies, and policies that actually shape American life. From the interstate highway system to the National Weather Service, they break down how government works, when it succeeds, and when the answer is a little more complicated. Government That Doesn't Suck launches July 2026.