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Studies in Citizenship: Civics 101 Launches New Season

Sara Plourde

New Hampshire Public Radio’s award-winning podcast Civics 101is back for a new season of fresh episodes explaining the basics of U.S. democracy. New episodes will be available for download beginning Tuesday, September 10, and running biweekly through June 9.

Two years in, with more than 100 episodes produced, the new season will take a closer look at the presidential election process, women’s right to vote, and the census, among other topics. In the podcast’s fun and instructive style, hosts Nick Capodice and Hannah McCarthy will explore many of the fundamental tenets of government, including:

  • The Road to the White House – the process candidates go through from declaring their candidacies, to being elected to the highest office in the land.
  • Primaries and Caucuses – what are the differences between these fundamental election rites?
  • Political conventions – the role of major party conventions in getting candidates on a ballot and, ultimately, in electing candidates.
  • Electoral College – how did the Electoral College get to be the Electoral College? Who gets to be a delegate? What power does it play? What were the thoughts of the Founding Fathers in establishing an Electoral College?
  • The 19th Amendment – A deep-dive into the amendment that gave women the vote.

Building out the educational experience, the Civics 101website includes supporting materials that further extend podcast learnings, including explanatory graphics, discussion questions and suggested in-class activities that educators can pair with episode topics. Every episode includes a time-stamped transcript so students can follow along.

In addition, “Graphic Organizers” allow students to take notes while listening to the podcast episodes. For in class listening, each episode has been broken down into 3-7 minute sections to ease learning and facilitate discussion.

The Civics 101 team worked closely with its advisory board and other educators, gathering feedback about the needs of both students and teachers before the new season launched.

“The new season more closely aligns with the school year, which we hope will be useful for teachers and other civics educators who want to bolster their teaching with audio and our other educational resources,”  said Erika Janik, Executive Producer of NHPR’s Creative Production Unit, which creates and produces podcasts and other on-demand offerings.

Teachers and students are also always encouraged to submit questions related to government or civics directly to the Civics 101 team at civics101@nhpr.org and at www.civics101podcast.org.

Where to Find Civics 101:

Subscribe:

Listeners can subscribe to Civics 101 on Apple Podcasts, NPR One, Stitcher or wherever they access podcasts.

Website:

All available Civics 101 episodes and educational assets can be found online at www.civics101podcast.org

Social Media:

Twitter: @civics101pod

Facebook: @civics101pod

Civics 101 is a production of New Hampshire Public Radio, made possible in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. 

About NHPR

Since 1981, New Hampshire Public Radio has shaped the media landscape in the Granite State and beyond. Our mission is “Expanding minds, sparking connections, building stronger communities.” NHPR is broadcast from 14 different sites, making it by far New Hampshire’s largest (and only) statewide radio news service. Every week, NHPR is the choice of 170,000 listeners as a primary source of in-depth and intelligent news coverage, with thousands more viewing NHPR.org, following our social media sites or listening to our podcasts. Each day, New Hampshire Public Radio delivers several hours of local news reported by its award-winning news team. Locally produced programs and podcasts include The Exchange, The Folk Show, Outside/In, Bear Brook, and Civics 101, among others. NHPR is the exclusive outlet for NPR News in the Granite State and broadcasts national weekly programs such as The Moth Radio Hour, Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me!, and This American Life.

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