President Elect Donald Trump has said he won't be a dictator "except for day one." We take a look at all of the "day one" promises he's made over the course of his campaign and explain how he might get them done. Or not.

For a sense of how many times Donald Trump made these promises, check out the Washington Post's data here.

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CLICK HERE: Visit our website to donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more! 

To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro. 

In 2018, we did an episode on Presidential Transitions. Now that we have had an election, we decided to revisit it. There are nearly 4,000 positions that a president appoints after their inauguration. How do they do it? How long does it take? And why has Donald Trump repeatedly refused to sign the "memoranda of understanding" regarding the transition from the U.S. General Services Administration?

Our guest is Max Stier, President and CEO of the Partnership for Public Service, which runs the Center for Presidential Transition.

Our show started as an explainer of governmental systems in a transition such as the one we're in now. Send us an email at [email protected] if you want us to explain any facet of how our democracy works.  

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CLICK HERE: Visit our website to donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more! 

To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro. 

You voted for president. So what happens to your ballot next?  This episode covers EVERYTHING that happens to ensure your vote is verified, all the way up to the official counting of electoral votes in Congress. 

Our guests are journalist Jessica Huseman and Notre Dame law professor Derek Muller. 

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CLICK HERE: Visit our website to donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more! 

To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro. 

A story about a former Capitol Police officer who's life has been shaped by the events of January 6th.

Emilia's Thing was produced by the Document team at NHPR. Click here for more. 

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CLICK HERE: Visit our website to donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more! 

To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro. 

The United States spends more than any other country on healthcare. And, unfortunately, that's just about the only place we come in first.

Today we learn about the creation and maintenance of our unique public/private system with Sue Tolleson-Rinehart, Professor Emeritus at UNC, and Amélie Quesnel-Vallée, Canada Research Chair in Policies and Health Inequalities at McGill University. They break down how our system measures up to other wealthy nations; in cost to its citizens, efficacy, taxation, reproductive rights, and so much more.

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CLICK HERE: Visit our website to donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more! 

To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro. 

The Smithsonian is the world's largest research institution, but much of it is out of public sight. And one particular kind of collection is part of a growing debate over where ethical lines and scientific discovery should be drawn.

This week, we present the first part of a special series from our colleagues at Outside/In. You can listen to the rest of the series here, or get Outside/In wherever listen to podcasts. 

You can support our journalism by making a donation to our show! Thanks so much. 

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CLICK HERE: Visit our website to donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more! 

To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro. 

Corruption in politics is a trope that's been around ever since we had politics. And it can feel inevitable. Regardless of anticorruption legislation and executive orders, it seems like it will never go away.

David Sirota, editor in chief of The Lever and host of the podcast Master Plan, argues the opposite.  

Today on Civics 101 we learn about what corruption is, how it influences (or doesn't influence) policy, and what needs to be done to eradicate it from our political system.

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CLICK HERE: Visit our website to donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more! 

To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro. 

Whenever there's a big strike in the news, someone inevitably invokes the phrase "Taft-Hartely Act" when talking about whether or not the president should intervene. But what is Taft-Hartley? How did it come about? And what can it actually do?

Nick chats with Erik Loomis, a professor at the University of Rhode Island and expert on all things labor-related. 

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CLICK HERE: Visit our website to donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more! 

To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro. 

Why don't people "civically engage?" Because they're too busy! Politicians are busy! Or maybe...they don't care?

In this special episode of Civics 101 recorded in front of a live audience, we hear from experts who break down what it means to participate in our democracy, how to break down barriers to participation, and how to be who you already are and make a VERY big difference. 

This episode was recorded at NHPR's Civics 101 Summit at Southern New Hampshire University. Learn more about that event right here. 

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CLICK HERE: Visit our website to donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more! 

To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro. 

What does it mean if a SCOTUS justice is a self-proclaimed "originalist?" When was the word first used in that context? And what are we missing about the framers when we look only upon the recent interpretation of their words in the court?

Today our guide is Mackenzie Joy Brennan;  lawyer, media commentator, and author of the upcoming book The Original ‘Original Intent,’ Recovering the Lost Constitution of the Founders.

Click here for more of Mackenzie's research on originalism, including Terry Brennan's essay in the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy.

Click here for our episode on the Second Amendment.

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CLICK HERE: Visit our website to donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more! 

To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro. 

For more than two hundred years Americans have tried to tame the Mississippi River. And, for that entire time, the river has fought back. 

This week we present an episode of our sister podcast Outside/In. 

Journalist and author Boyce Upholt has spent dozens of nights camping along the Lower Mississippi and knows the river for what it is: both a water-moving machine and a supremely wild place. His recent book, “The Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi River” tells the story of how engineers have made the Mississippi into one of the most engineered waterways in the world, and in turn have transformed it into a bit of a cyborg — half mechanical, half natural. 

In this episode, host Nate Hegyi and Upholt take us from the flood ravaged town of Greenville, Mississippi, to the small office of a group of army engineers, in a tale of faulty science, big egos and a river that will ultimately do what it wants. 

Featuring Boyce Upholt

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CLICK HERE: Visit our website to donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more! 

To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.