Civics 101

How we started, how it's going

This is part two of our story about the original story of America we don't talk about...and how it ties to where we are today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

America's other origin story

This episode is being recorded just a couple of days before the 4th of July, and as so many are calling it, America's 250th birthday. And we here at Civics 101 have spent a lot of this year trying to understand when and how America, as we know it was really born. What is our origin story? Why are we like this? And why don't we talk about the empire that was here before the United States? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why is Congress like this?

Today in our continued exploration of why the US is the way it is, we get to Article I. Why did the framers design Congress the way they did? Why did the small states come out so far ahead? And what, potentially, would James Madison think if he saw its operation in 2026? To help us navigate the thoughts of men long-dead, we talk to Madison scholar Jack Rakove. He shares his insights on representation, the electoral college, and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When a flag is against the rules... or the law

In recent years, flag restriction rules, policies and laws have been cropping up across the country. Whether the government is telling you what you can fly or what you cannot, there's always something behind the flag. We dig into how, why and when it's legal for the government to decide what you can or cannot fly and hear from Halifax, Massachusetts, about what a flag controversy revealed about that town. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lessons from the American Revolution (with Ken Burns)

Ken Burns and Sarah Botstein spent nearly a decade making a twelve-hour documentary on the American Revolution. This is what they learned from the thousands of stories and events that resulted in the United States of America. It's a story of world-changing ideas, contradictory figures, myths that do us no good and what it means to be in pursuit of a more perfect union. You can watch Ken Burns The American Revolution on PBS, PBS.org and the free PBS app. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices