Civics In A Year

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Civics In A Year

The Center for American Civics

87 episodes

1 day ago

Ever wonder why the law protects some of the most offensive speech you’ve ever heard? We sit down with Professor Eugene Volokh to map the real boundaries of the First Amendment—where protection is strongest, where it stops, and why those edges exist at all. No jargon, no euphemisms, just a clear guide to what the Constitution allows the government to punish and what it must tolerate. We start by untangling the core exceptions: defamation, true threats, and incitement of imminent lawless acti...

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Ever wonder why the law protects some of the most offensive speech you’ve ever heard? We sit down with Professor Eugene Volokh to map the real boundaries of the First Amendment—where protection is strongest, where it stops, and why those edges exist at all. No jargon, no euphemisms, just a clear guide to what the Constitution allows the government to punish and what it must tolerate. We start by untangling the core exceptions: defamation, true threats, and incitement of imminent lawless acti...

Show more...

Episodes (20/87)

Civics In A Year

Hate Speech And The First Amendment

Ever wonder why the law protects some of the most offensive speech you’ve ever heard? We sit down with Professor Eugene Volokh to map the real boundaries of the First Amendment—where protection is strongest, where it stops, and why those edges exist at all. No jargon, no euphemisms, just a clear guide to what the Constitution allows the government to punish and what it must tolerate. We start by untangling the core exceptions: defamation, true threats, and incitement of imminent lawless acti...

1 day ago

16 minutes

Civics In A Year

Freedom Of The Press, Plainly Explained

Do you want to know what “freedom of the press” protects when you hit publish, post a video, or record a public official? We sit down with Professor Eugene Volokh, a leading First Amendment scholar, to draw a clear map through press rights, speech doctrine, and the practical rules that shape what you can say—and how you can gather the facts to say it. We start with a plain-English definition: press freedom, not just credentialed journalists, belongs to everyone. That means the right to use m...

2 days ago

10 minutes

Civics In A Year

How The Right To Petition Shapes Government Responses

What if the most underrated line of the First Amendment is the one that asks for a reply? We sit down with Dr. Daniel Carpenter of Harvard to explore the right to petition—what it is, where it came from, and why it still shapes how power listens. From a Roman subject pressing Emperor Hadrian for attention to the barons who forced Magna Carta, petitioning has long been the channel that turns private grievance into public business. We walk through the pivotal moments that cemented this right: ...

3 days ago

18 minutes

Civics In A Year

Inquiry-Based Learning That Sparks Agency In Civics

We push past rote coverage to show how inquiry turns students into investigators who ask better questions, weigh evidence, and communicate claims. We link inquiry to the EAD roadmap, Arizona standards, and practical frameworks teachers can use right away. • defining inquiry as student-driven questioning and evidence use • what inquiry looks like versus what it is not • teacher as facilitator and curator of sources • unsettled questions that anchor investigations • collaboration, civil discou...

1 week ago

35 minutes

Civics In A Year

Debunking Constitutional Myths With A Historian’s Lens

Think you know the Constitution’s greatest hits? We pull back the curtain with Andrew Porwancher, a constitutional historian and Hamilton biographer, to test common “truths” against the record the founders left behind. We start with power: why Madison and Hamilton expected Congress to predominate, why the judiciary was “the weakest,” and how modern presidents and courts grew in strength, often with Congress’s blessing. Then we follow a surprising breadcrumb trail to the First Amendment, where...

1 week ago

56 minutes

Civics In A Year

Civics In A Year Returns Soon

A short pause can sharpen the conversation, and that’s exactly what we’re doing. We’re stepping back for a moment to gear up for a stronger return on November 3—bringing in sharp scholars, richer context, and practical insights on the ideas and institutions that shape American democracy. While we prep, we’re opening our library to you. We’ve curated standout episodes from the Arizona Civics podcast, produced by the Center for American Civics, that pair perfectly with our mission: making the ...

1 week ago

2 minutes

Civics In A Year

Understanding The Freedom Of Speech: What It Protects And What It Doesn’t

We map the freedom of speech by categories, separating protected ideas from unprotected harms like libel, obscenity, true threats, and incitement, and explain why political speech sits at the core. We also clear up the biggest myth: there is no “hate speech” exception in American law. • meaning of “the” freedom of speech and core protection for political speech • libel and slander as tort-like harms outside First Amendment protection • evolution of incitement doctrine culminating in Brandenb...

1 week ago

26 minutes

Civics In A Year

Free Exercise, Explained Clearly

We explore the Free Exercise Clause, trace the path from Reynolds to Smith, and examine how RFRA, vouchers, and the “tire case” shape modern religious liberty. We connect free exercise to establishment, show where they clash, and ask where the Court might go next. • Free exercise as anti-persecution baseline • Reynolds and limits on religiously motivated conduct • Smith’s rule on neutral, generally applicable laws • RFRA’s compelling-interest test in federal law • Hob...

2 weeks ago

18 minutes

Civics In A Year

What The Establishment Clause Really Means

Forget the sound bite about a “wall of separation.” We dig into what the Establishment Clause actually says, why the founders cared, and how the Supreme Court’s view has evolved from strict separation to a history-and-tradition lens that prizes neutrality without scrubbing religion from public life. With Dr. Sean Beienberg, we unpack the founding-era landscape where some states still had established churches, walk through Jefferson’s letter and Madison’s Memorial and Remonstrance, and contras...

2 weeks ago

17 minutes

Civics In A Year

Religion, Liberty, And The First Amendment

What happens when a republic that relies on moral character also forbids any national church? We dig into the founding design for religious liberty, starting with the First Amendment’s twin protections—no establishment and free exercise—and the earlier Article VI commitments to oaths or affirmations and a flat ban on religious tests. By reading the text aloud and then setting it against the historical record, we show how the framers treated faith as a civic good while refusing to let the fede...

2 weeks ago

24 minutes

Civics In A Year

Why the Bill of Rights Exists—and What It Really Limits

Start with a myth-buster: the First Amendment wasn’t originally first. We open the door to the real story behind the Bill of Rights—how a wary public demanded assurances, how Madison turned state models into national guarantees, and why the most overlooked provisions may be the ones that guard your freedom most effectively. Together we map the logic that shaped the first ten amendments: eight that name individual rights and two that anchor the Constitution’s core design—limited, enumerated fe...

2 weeks ago

16 minutes

Civics In A Year

How the Constitution Faced Slavery without Saying Its Name

We explore how three clauses—and what’s left unsaid—shaped slavery’s legal status at the founding while pointing toward its moral illegitimacy. Dr. Michael Zuckert traces the tension between federal structure, state authority, and the Declaration’s promise of equality, and follows that thread to Reconstruction. • abolitionist charge of a pro‑slavery Constitution vs Lincoln’s limited‑accommodation view • three clauses: three‑fifths, slave trade to 1808, fugitive return • deliberate omission o...

2 weeks ago

25 minutes

Civics In A Year

More Perfect, The Role of Compromise in the Constitution

The Constitution didn’t materialize from harmony; it was hammered out line by line by people who disagreed on almost everything except one urgent fact: the Articles weren’t working. We sit down with Julie Silverbrook, Vice President of Civic Education at the National Constitution Center, to unpack how compromise created a nation—its brilliance, its fractures, and its moral costs. We start in 1787, where large and small states, commercial and agricultural interests, and slaveholding and non‑s...

3 weeks ago

12 minutes

Civics In A Year

Amending The Constitution

What if the Constitution wasn’t meant to be a relic, but a living commitment we change only when we truly mean it? We dig into Article V with Dr. Sean Beienburg to unpack how the Constitution can be amended, why the framers chose supermajorities over unanimity, and how states can pressure Congress when Washington stalls. Along the way, we separate constitutional law from the Constitution itself, clarifying what courts can interpret—and what only the people can change. We trace the two propos...

3 weeks ago

25 minutes

Civics In A Year

Electoral College, Explained

Think you already know how the Electoral College works? We go past the headlines to unpack why the system blends popular voice with state power, how states gained wide discretion over electors, and why most adopted winner-take-all rules. With Dr. Sean Beienberg, we trace the original “filtering” idea, show how party pledges transformed elector behavior, and examine the math that makes electoral-popular vote splits more likely when the House size is capped. We also stress-test the biggest cri...

3 weeks ago

19 minutes

Civics In A Year

Understanding the Necessary and Proper Clause: Constitutional Foundations Explained

What exactly does the Constitution's Necessary and Proper Clause allow Congress to do? Dr. Beienburg cuts through centuries of debate to reveal the true nature of this misunderstood provision. The podcast begins by addressing a common misconception—the name "Elastic Clause" originated not from the Constitution's defenders but from its critics seeking to portray it as dangerously expansive. Dr. Beinberg walks us through Article 1, Section 8's actual language, explaining that this provision co...

3 weeks ago

10 minutes

Civics In A Year

Enlightenment to Constitution

A lot of people say the Constitution is outdated; fewer can explain how its design actually came to be. We walk through the ideas that turned Enlightenment philosophy into a durable framework: why the founders insisted on a written constitution, how separation of powers disciplines ambition, and what makes federalism a bold way to scale a republic across a continent without flattening local life. Along the way, we unpack the surprising truth that America embraced a moderate Enlightenment—open...

3 weeks ago

18 minutes

Civics In A Year

The Constitution's Preamble, Plain and Powerful

The most famous three words in American politics aren’t the whole story. We take “We the People” and follow it through the full Preamble to see how six clear aims—union, justice, domestic tranquility, common defense, general welfare, and the blessings of liberty—turn revolutionary ideals into a working constitutional order. Along the way, we revisit the turmoil of the Articles of Confederation, the shock of Shays’ Rebellion, and the founders’ wager that a real federal government could do what...

4 weeks ago

20 minutes

Civics In A Year

Federalism: Dividing Power in American Government

Federalism represents the fundamental division of power between the federal government and states, serving as a core animating feature of American government since the Revolution. Dr. Sean Beienburg explores how this constitutional principle works, its history, and why it remains crucial in today's polarized political environment. • Federalism means power is divided, with most authority remaining with states rather than the central government • The Constitution grants "few and defined" power...

4 weeks ago

23 minutes

Civics In A Year

Checks and Balances: How Our Government Maintains Equilibrium

The architecture of American democracy didn't happen by accident. In this illuminating episode of Civics in a Year, Dr. Sean Beienberg reveals how the Constitution's system of checks and balances creates a government resistant to tyranny yet capable of action. Starting with the fundamental concept of separation of powers—where different branches handle lawmaking, execution, and adjudication—Dr. Beienberg explains how the founders went further by giving each branch "defensive interventions" i...

1 month ago

10 minutes