US vs: Two Party System

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! 

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 than you should to do it).   CLICK HERE: Visit our website to donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and 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! 

Forget the rhetoric and hysterical political ads! Host Hannah McCarthy did the research, and she runs down all of the *actual* campaign promises being made by President Joe Biden and Donald Trump as they both make a second run for the White House. The economy. Healthcare. Gun violence.  Policing. Education. And...firing lots of people.  In this edition of Civics 101, find out what the two presumptive nominees for President of the United States are telling voters they will do if elected.   CLICK HERE: Visit our website to donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and 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, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more! 

TikTok - an app with around 170 Million American users - is under intense scrutiny by the U.S. government, including a bill passed by the House of Representatives which issues a threat: "sell or be banned." But how and why can the government do that? What does this kind of business restriction look like? We talked to Steven Balla of George Washington University to get the low down on regulations and bans in the United States. TLDR: This episode goes beyond the current legislation, but it's updated from an earlier version which dropped in April, 2023. CLICK HERE: Visit our website to donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more! 

When the Supreme Court says something is or isn't constitutional, what does that really mean? What are the effects, or lack thereof, of their decisions? And what do we do if we don't agree with what they say?Today Linda Monk, author of The Bill of Rights: A User's Guide, walks us through four times in US History that the Supreme Court was not the be-all-end-all decision maker.Here are some links to shows we reference in the episode:Dred Scott v SandfordBrown vs. Board of Education of Topeka CLICK HERE: Visit our website to donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more! 

The process is pretty straightforward. Plenty of people want to make some change. And yet? We've only done it 27 times. So what does it take to amend the U.S. Constitution and why does it barely ever happen?Robinson Woodward Burns, Associate Professor of Political Science at Howard University, is our guide.Want more Civics 101? Sign up for our newsletter and enjoy the pure delight of an extra dose of (genuinely fun) civics musing twice a month. CLICK HERE: Visit our website to donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more! 

Listen to our full, two-part series from 2023 on the history of civics education, and the current legal and ideological debates around social studies happening in across the country today.  Walking us through the past, present, and future of social studies and civic education are Danielle Allen, James Bryant Conant University Professor at Harvard University, and Adam Laats, Historian and Professor of Teaching, Learning and Educational Leadership at Binghamton University.  We also hear from Louise Dube, Executive Director of iCivics and member of the Implementation Consortium at Educating for American Democracy, Justin Reich, Director at MIT Teaching Systems Lab and host of the TeachLab podcast, and CherylAnne Amendola,  Department Chair and teacher at Montclair Kimberly Academy and host of the podcast Teaching History Her Way. CLICK HERE: Visit our website to donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more! 

When the cats are away...well...you know. In this special episode, Executive Producer Rebecca Lavoie and Senior Producer Christina Phillips follow up on some recent discussions sparked by our newsletter Extra Credit. How do you have a legitimate discussion with someone who has the facts wrong? And what's going on with all of these different trials involving former President Donald Trump?Click here to read Nick's essay on responding to someone who's wrong. Click here to subscribe to our newsletter!Click here to make a donation to Civics 101. CLICK HERE: Visit our website to donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more!