On the Midterms and Civic Participation with 1A

This October, Nick and Hannah sat down with Jenn White on WAMU's 1A. They talked about the outsized power a voter has (typically) in midterms, what we're seeing in this upcoming election regarding campaign spending and messaging, and finally what all Americans should know when it comes to civic action in addition to going out and casting our vote. Click here to check out our series on midterm elections, including recaps of some of the most famous ones in US history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:09Hannah McCarthy?

  This is Civics 101. I'm Hannah McCarthy. On November 3rd, voters will head to the polls to cast ballots in the midterm elections. And while every election is important, midterms tend to be underappreciated in terms of their potential consequences and what the results say about the president, Congress, and national sentiment. Earlier this month, WAMU's 1A, a show that airs on public radio stations across the country, broadcast live from our own radio station, NHPR. They invited us to come on and talk about what we have learned from our work and our Civics 101 experts about the midterms and why they matter so much. Today, we're bringing you our conversation with host Jen White. Thanks to our friends at 1A. Let's take a listen.

• 1:02Speaker 01

  In five weeks, more than 100 million people will vote in the 2026 midterm elections. That means elections for House, Senate, Governor, state legislatures, city councilors, school board members, and more. Two years into President Trump's term, war rages, and people tell pollsters they're worried about prices. Both parties remain unpopular. So that's the politics. But what do we know about the basic nuts and bolts of our elections and of our government? Do we know who's on the ballot or the positions we're being asked to vote for? Do we understand how our election system works, especially since it's been the target of baseless allegations of fraud from the president? What's the connection between a good civics education and a functioning political system?

• 1:46Speaker 01

  I'm Jen White. You're listening to the 1A Podcast. Today, we're talking with two professionals who tackle these civics questions for a living. We hear from them right after this short break.

• 2:02Hannah McCarthy?

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• 3:30Hannah McCarthy?

  This is Civics 101. I'm Hannah McCarthy. Today, we are bringing you our conversation about the midterms on 1A.

• 3:39Speaker 01

  Joining me in studio at New Hampshire Public Radio for our discussion on civics are Hannah McCarthy and Nick Cappadicei. They're the co-hosts and senior editors of the hit civics education podcast, Civics 101. It's produced by NHPR. Hannah, Nick, it's great to have you.

• 3:55Hannah McCarthy?

  It is great to be here, Jen.

• 3:56Nick Capodice?

  Absolute pleasure.

• 3:57Speaker 01

  So as we said, Election Day is less than five weeks away, but people are already voting early in some states. But beyond the horse race of polls or the day-to-day politics, there's this whole election system in motion right now in each state and county. And we'll hear a bit from your podcast, Civics 101, later. But what do you think most people don't know about how midterm elections work that you think is maybe the most important thing for them to know, Hannah?

• 4:27Hannah McCarthy?

  I think that, I think a lot of people lose sight of the time, place, and manner as guarded by our Constitution, what that actually means. I think often we hear journalists say that, we see journalists say that in TV, on radio, in print. You know, states are in charge of the time, place, and manner of elections. And then we hear a lot of information about how the presidential administration is trying to affect, for example, the manner of elections. And those two things are in conflict because it is something that is guarded by the Constitution. But when you're hearing over and over again that there is someone or something saying, "I'm going to change this," and then you have a Constitution that is guarding that,

• 5:12Hannah McCarthy?

  that confusion alone, I think, can lead voters to feel disempowered, to be not quite sure about what is going on when it comes to actually voting. In the case of this midterm, and we're thinking about, you know, mail-in ballot, absentee ballot changes that were ordered by the Trump administration, then you have to see what the courts have actually said, and then you have to ask whether or not your state, the one in charge of the time, place, and manner, is going to be implementing that. And so when it comes to what I wish more voters knew about approaching voting, approaching the midterm election, your local election officials are still in charge. They are still the ones who are determining the way that things are going to go.

• 5:55Hannah McCarthy?

  And those are the people you can look to for information about the election in your state, because it does vary from state to state. The way things look and behave vary from state to state. That doesn't mean they're not functioning. That actually means they are functioning exactly as the Constitution allows them to.

• 6:13Speaker 01

  We hear from so many of our listeners who volunteer as poll workers. And I won't say that the Venn diagram is a circle, but the overlap is pretty close. And one of the things they say is, if you want to understand how elections work where you live, that is a great way to learn and to also then trust the system because you see how it works. Now, you both have covered midterms in depth on your podcast as part of this five-part series, and this was for the last midterm election in 2022. You opened with a list of five reasons why midterm elections matter.

• 6:46Nick Capodice?

  So number one is the president is going to take it on the chin. Well, at least most of the time. Midterm elections, many times, are called a referendum on the president. And what that means is people are going to the polls not so much just voting on local issues, which they do a lot, but they're really kind of judging and evaluating the president and deciding if they want to give them full rein to do what they're doing, or if they think that checks and balances might be in order to rein that president in a little bit. So if you love the president, love, love, love what he's doing, this is a thumbs up. Or if you're super frustrated with the president, even though he's not on the ballot, you can take your frustrations out on his party. So the midterm elections wind up being important because what we get in the moderator

• 7:30Nick Capodice?

  is, it's called surge and decline. This is Dan Casino. I'm Dan Casino, an associate professor of political science at Fairleigh Dickinson University. Now, political science spends a lot of time worrying about surge and decline. But the basic principle is this: whichever party did better in the presidential election does worse in the midterm election.

• 7:50Speaker 01

  Okay, Nick. So to what extent are we seeing this midterm follow, this nearly cardinal rule?

• 7:58Nick Capodice?

  Yeah, so, you know, what, Dan Casino, by the way, is one of our favorite guests to have on Civics 101. He breaks down these complicated issues so easily for folks like me to understand, which I adore. This midterm election, my goodness, it's looking to be a little bit different than ones in the past. We always say that midterm elections are a great time for you to flex your civic muscles because your vote matters a lot more because more people stay at home. I don't know if that's going to be the case in the upcoming midterms. It's like, if you look at just campaign spending, right now, the 2026 midterms are outspending the 2016 presidential election. Like, people really care about this one, and I think people are going to come out and vote a lot. But yes, it will be a referendum on the president.

• 8:39Speaker 01

  But when we look at that increase in spending in the midterms, is that coming from, you know, the $10, $20, $30 donor? Or is it coming from the billionaires who are pouring a ton of money into some of these races?

• 8:53Nick Capodice?

  Yeah, we did an episode on billionaires in general. And yeah, it's coming from the billionaires. I just read a report that 25 people, just 25 people, account for just under $1 billion in campaign spending for these upcoming midterms. We're looking at 2.6 billion total so far. And it could go up and up. It could be a record breaking spend. But yeah, it's small people who have a lot of money. And this is important because, you know, if you're, you know, running for office and you're giving a speech, you used to be able to be, you know, you were giving that speech for a ton of people to try to get their vote or try to get their support. Now you can be giving a speech for an audience of one, one billionaire who's going to single handedly fund your campaign.

• 9:33Speaker 01

  Well, if you look at the 2022 midterms, President Biden and the Democratic Party didn't do that poorly. Now, they lost control of the House of Representatives. They lost a net of nine seats in that election, but they did keep control of the Senate, Hannah. So what do you make of that last election when there wasn't a Republican red wave?

• 9:56Hannah McCarthy?

  That is something that was a little bit unusual. I mean, I think it also speaks to who is actually turning out for various elections, right? And as Nick said, fewer people turn out for midterms. I think that was still true in 2022. The numbers will go up. They vacillate quite a bit. However, oftentimes, you know, the people who are not showing up for the general election are certainly not showing up for the midterm election. And that can sort of explain why you might not see these waves that were predicted. I think also you had the Democrats predicting this blue wave, which they did not see. You can also then look to the fact, well, Biden was elected. And then in the midterm, often you'll see parties saying, well, you know, but let's get that wave going again.

• 10:41Hannah McCarthy?

  We had it before. But people will turn out for the general election, who again, will not turn out for the midterms. You really cannot rely on voters to necessarily show up and give you what you want for either wave during the midterms. I think it requires a very different approach. But as Nick was saying, in the 2026 midterm, this immense amount of spending and press coverage on it might result in yet another not quite predictable outcome when it comes to counting those votes.

• 11:05Speaker 01

  Well, let's talk about that press coverage because, you know, we can talk about the news media, but people get their information from a lot of sources that are not considered traditional news media outlets. But there are also, you know, an estimated 50 million Americans who don't have a source for local news anymore. So when we're talking about not the presidential race, but those down ballot races, Nick, what does the information landscape look like right now?

• 11:30Nick Capodice?

  Jen, it's a little bit of a disaster, only because of the decline. And I could say the death of local media, you know, local newspapers. So most people, including me, you know, you get into that ballot box or you start, you get into that voting booth and you know, you got your phone out and you're sweating and you're like, I don't know who this person is who's running for registrar of deeds.

• 11:48Speaker 01

  Right.

• 11:49Nick Capodice?

  What that job even is. And that's what Hannah and I try to do in our show. It's like break down all these jobs that are super, super important to your life that you might not know. We always say, you know, the person you elect locally is far more important to your day to day life than the, you know, big sexy federal election. Whether or not you have a stop sign at the end of your street is more impactful to your life than who is, you know, your senator. So, you know, it's really important in a midterm election to spend the time beforehand to, you know, research these people and research what these jobs are that you're going to be voting for.

• 12:21Speaker 01

  But for people who are living in a place where there isn't enough local news coverage, where can they turn for this information, Hannah?

• 12:29Hannah McCarthy?

  I find Ballotpedia to be unbelievably helpful when it comes to my own research. The fact that this organization breaks down the state and local elections so precisely. You can go and you can see what local elections are happening in your state. Ballotpedia is also covering the top 100 most populous cities who are having various elections, including 30 mayoral elections. And it is there that you can find that, for example, of those 30 mayoral elections, 29 of them are nonpartisan. What does that mean? It means that you may have to do a little bit more research to actually understand who someone is because you're not going to see a little D or a little R or a little I next to that candidate's name.

• 13:13Hannah McCarthy?

  So the resources are out there. And even if you do not have that local coverage, per Nick's point, you can find out what form of government you live in. They vary. And you can find out whether your mayor has a great deal of power, maybe not so much. And you can find out, you know, if you are voting for a coroner or a register of deeds, what those roles are. And then ideally, you know, look to Facebook, look to Instagram. Candidates are sometimes putting out their policy positions right there, even if they're not being covered by the media.

• 13:44Speaker 01

  Nick, there are so many races, especially on those down ballot races where there's one candidate.

• 13:50Nick Capodice?

  Yeah.

• 13:50Speaker 01

  Right. There's not a choice. There's just one person. What do you suggest people do in those cases?

• 13:57Nick Capodice?

  Well, you know, you should look at who that person is and decide if you wish to vote for them or not. You always have an option to leave, you know, something blank. I was thinking about this actually because, you know, when we compare democracies around the world, we see how they do voting and how they do like midterm elections. Some countries, I'm thinking of Australia in particular, you don't actually pick names. You just write numbers and names. It's all ranked choice voting and it's mandatory. Everybody has to vote. It's so different in the U.S. So when we have just one person, you should, you know, research that one person and decide whether or not you want to leave it blank.

• 14:31Speaker 01

  We also heard from Jan in Florida, who says, I'm a retired teacher and principal. If kids don't experience decision making and some sense of how democracy works in schools, how can we expect them to understand civics when they get to voting age? Many schools have stopped class and school elections and mock elections. Teachers are the dictators of their classrooms and principals are the dictator of their schools. Is it any wonder why we have passive adults? That's a really interesting perspective there. But I remember growing up, we had elections and you would campaign for your, your schoolmates vote. Do you think just like removing that process from schools also removes young children very early on from the democratic process, Hannah?

• 15:16Hannah McCarthy?

  I think that it is not just the removal of school elections. I think that it is an immense amount of wariness when it comes to disagreeing with other people. If we are not giving students an opportunity to disagree, to have a conversation and to work through those differences and try to come to a solution, I think that can be great when it comes to a school committee, to, you know, a student election. But I think it's not just that. I think in classrooms, if we can facilitate that civil discourse, which at this point seems like a unicorn, right? We talk about this all the time at Civics 101, but the idea of actually achieving that seems so impossible. But I really encourage people, you know, if you are looking to the framers, if you are looking to the history of the United States,

• 16:00Hannah McCarthy?

  you are not going to see consensus across the board. You will see consensus reached through disagreement, through debate, not by fighting. It's a very important distinction. It is not personal attacks, although those also occurred throughout our history. It is about finding a way to see what are the shared facts? What can we say we do agree on? Are there truths here? Are there things that we do agree on in terms of what we want? Do we all want to be safe and healthy and fed? And do we, you know, want to be able to read a certain book, et cetera? Can we agree on that? Okay, now let's see where our disagreements are. And then that's where the consensus actually happens.

• 16:40Speaker 01

  Well, you know, in school elections, that term is pretty short. Maybe it's a, maybe it's a year. You're the senior class president and maybe you hold that position for, for a year. But in your midterm series, you pointed out that the length of time politicians stay in office now, running for reelection time and time again, that that would come as a surprise to the founding fathers.

• 17:00Nick Capodice?

  And here is the first thing that nobody in the 1780s would have expected. The notion of career politicians. Here again is Madison scholar, Jack Raycon. Okay, now here's Madison's position, though. If you're a political scientist today, you would say the, the independent variable that drives political behavior today is the desire to be reelected. Right? That, you know, we assume that politics has been professionalized. And once you're elected to Congress, getting reelected is your dominant personal ambition. You know, they, they just, they just want to stay on forever. Madison Leal, when holding office,

• 17:45Nick Capodice?

  was thought really to be avocational in nature. Wasn't your profession, wasn't your career. You could be a planter, you could be a merchant, you could be a lawyer in someone.

• 17:56Speaker 01

  What are the practical implications, Nick, of, of having career politicians? That was not something, as you said, that the framers imagined.

• 18:04Nick Capodice?

  No, no. In fact, you know, one scholar we talked to did an analysis of everybody's, you know, how long they stayed in office from 1789 to 1900. And the average was three years, right? Three years. So you do the math. That's like, you know, basically one to two terms that you serve. And senators, wasn't that more? It was very rare for a senator to serve even two terms. So that's 12 years. What we have now is such a ramp up of career politicians and people staying in office for years and years. And that is something James Madison and others never would have foreseen. And what you have is people focusing on getting elected as opposed to what their, you know, real life job is. Be they a farmer or a priest or a bartender or something like that, usually a lawyer. So things are different today

• 18:47Nick Capodice?

  in that career politicians are just the way things happen. And it's a little less, you know, listening to the people because you're focusing on just getting reelected over and over again.

• 19:01Hannah McCarthy?

  We'll be right back with more of our conversation about the midterms on 1A after a break.

• 19:18Nick Capodice?

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• 20:36Hannah McCarthy?

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• 21:21Hannah McCarthy?

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• 21:49Nick Capodice?

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• 22:32Nick Capodice?

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• 23:30Speaker 01

  I'm curious to hear from both of you, you know, not where you see the distinction between civics education and actual civic engagement. Nick?

• 23:39Nick Capodice?

  Yeah, so it is one of the most, if not the only bipartisan issues that remain in the United States. Everybody on the left and the right is like, yes, we should have more civics education. And the reason it's important is this, is like, I was hearing Richard Haas speak, and you know, he's the guy who is to be the president of the Council on Foreign Relations. And he's like, we're not born learning geometry, or algebra, or that the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell. Why is it expected that we are born knowing how to be citizens, and how to engage civically, and how to be a member of a thriving, you know, democratic republic? Why is that the one thing that's assumed? And as a result, our numbers are pretty dismal. You know, civics is the second worst scoring subject right now in the United States, according to the Nations Report Card.

• 24:24Nick Capodice?

  The only thing worse is US history.

• 24:26Speaker 01

  Well, that's fine.

• 24:27Nick Capodice?

  22% proficiency. But perhaps that is tied to the fact that in 2022, I believe the number was for every, every American student in the United States was given $50 federally towards STEM education. And towards civics education, it was $0.05. So the number has increased. It's now $0.50 per student per year, as opposed to $50 per student per year. But like Grant was saying, like, this is how you can become a citizen when you grow up. And like Hannah was saying earlier, this is the most important thing, how to talk with people, how to negotiate, how to compromise. We are seeing, in effect, perhaps that, you know, in civility and modern politics today, we're seeing a decline in that, at the same time that students are not taking as much civics in the classroom.

• 25:11Speaker 01

  I remember we were on a, on a trip to, I believe we were in Birmingham. We took the show down there, and we did a public event. And if I got the city wrong, forgive me. But there was a young woman in the audience who talked about when she's feeling overwhelmed politically, she goes micro. And she looks at what she can do in her community to serve others. And that helps her feel more connected, but also just more, more grounded. And it, and it would relieve the sensation of feeling overwhelmed, but also powerless. And Hannah, I think when we think about civic engagement, it's not just about voting. It goes far beyond that.

• 25:49Hannah McCarthy?

  It does go far, far beyond that. I've been thinking about this a lot as a journalist working on a show that, you know, often covers the federal landscape, the national landscape. But when it comes to actually ensuring that the public feels that they can use the tools that we are attempting to provide them with, that, I think, comes by way of feeling empowerment in your neighborhood, on your street, in your town, perhaps. And in order to feel that sense of empowerment, you do have to go micro. I love that idea, because so often there's not an immense amount that you can do about the big, loud stuff up here. But you are a lot closer to being able to do something about that, if it concerns you,

• 26:32Hannah McCarthy?

  if you first feel a sense of empowerment at the local level. And I think that that starts with, you know, when there is a town council meeting, you know, again, exactly how much power your mayor has. You know that when you're voting for a school board member, that school board member is able to do X, Y, and Z. And beyond the ballot box, then how do you interact with that person? If you can go into a room and have a conversation with a city council member, and they look you in the eye, and they at least appear to be listening to you, then you can follow up. You, as a citizen, have engaged, and then you can continue to ask those questions, continue to follow up, and sort of hold power to account on that smaller level. That is, I think, where we both feel

• 27:16Hannah McCarthy?

  that sense of empowerment. And it's also, I think, a shield against the fear and anxiety that comes from feeling like you can't do anything at that bigger level.

• 27:25Speaker 01

  We got this email from Bill, who says, given the importance of understanding civics and shaping the future of our country, why do your guests think this isn't taught more widely in American primary and secondary schools? And what can be done to get more widespread adoption of civics education in schools? So Nick, why?

• 27:41Nick Capodice?

  Yeah, well, I do want to say one thing, though, first, which is, it seems a bit dismal if we look at the federal level, to answer the question. But things are happening right now on the state and local level. It seems like that's kind of all we're championing today, is state and local. But it is true. Like, civics education on the state level is starting to boom in the last five years. There's over 240 bills right now in the House, in various houses across the country, in 40 different states, changing how we do civics education. We're really trying to bring up that rather low proficiency. As to why it's been so low for so long, there's so many reasons. You can blame Sputnik. You can blame the space race. You can blame, Hannah, what was the thing we were talking about, like the change, the lack of the new social studies movement, right? There are so many reasons

• 28:26Nick Capodice?

  that it has dwindled in the last 40 to 50 years. But I will say, on the local level, it is on the rise. There are a ton of organizations doing a ton of work to improve civic education in the US. That's why our show was kind of created. It was conceived as civics, sorry, Schoolhouse Rock for adults, because a lot of adults didn't get, you know, a tremendous civics education in the 1980s or the 1990s, including me. So, you know, this is, this is important. It's important to have these outside organizations trying to improve civic education.

• 28:55Speaker 01

  Well, you also spoke to civics teachers in an episode, and you asked them, like, give us some context here. Why do you think there's this, this disconnect in American society around why and how to teach civics? But also, why are we doing, doing so poorly at it, Hannah? What did they tell you?

• 29:12Hannah McCarthy?

  Teachers are experiencing an immense amount of, and this is what they have told us, restriction or the implication of restriction. I think that when it comes to divisive concepts, laws, there might be a sense of, you know, we are helping teachers better understand what they are allowed to teach. But a lot of teachers were not so much struggling with that. They, I know a lot of teachers, you know, they really want you to know that they are not in an indoctrination project. They are really in a democracy project, little d, and they want your children, they want their students to take lessons, but then do with it what they will, empowered to do it in a just way, whatever just looks like for them.

• 29:55Hannah McCarthy?

  And so for these teachers who are being told what not to teach, that actually makes their job much more complicated because they're, they're building curricula with their state and local education officials and having to restrict that curricula or just worry about whether or not something that they have been teaching for 30 years is going to be perceived as something that should not be taught anymore. It's really that perception that makes a lot of teachers afraid. And I think that there's some fatigue there as well. Every teacher we talked to is so devoted, but you can see it in their eyes and hear it in their voice, that they went into this field in part to actively help children and

• 30:37Hannah McCarthy?

  by way of that actively help community, other citizens, and to be told that, you know, the implication here is that you're indoctrinating or you're teaching the wrong things. That, I think, on an emotional level hurts, on a perception level, really hurts. And so it, I think, stymies teachers who just, they just want you to know that they are genuinely acting in good faith.

• 31:01Speaker 01

  Well, Cynthia in Salem, Virginia, has this tip. I was a middle school teacher who taught civics. Looking back now, I think it might be useful for teachers to give a project to their students where they champion a certain cause and have them promote that cause by designing a campaign through local, state, or federal government, then present their project to the class. That way, kids can see the different approaches for a grassroots campaign and how they approach the various leaders and work with fellow citizens who join their cause. Give kids the tools and the vision to be involved as voters and active citizens. We also got this question from Doug, who says, very happy to hear civics being discussed today. I'd like to hear how well most civics curricula address the temptations of autocratic, authoritarian, and populist forms of government. Nick?

• 31:45Nick Capodice?

  Yeah, that's, that's a very interesting question. First off, thanks to Cynthia and like, thank you for your service. Cheers to all civics teachers in the US. One of the things is to the question of like, how are we teaching notions of autocracy or perhaps even like oligarchy? It's very tough right now because at the, even at the state level, teachers, as Hannah was saying, are unsure of what they can and can't say about what is going on in current politics. We can analyze things that have happened in the past and make connections, but in terms of saying what's happening right now, it's difficult. And as a result, over half of teachers who were interviewed in the United States have said that they have difficulty teaching even basic civics concepts because of the polarization

• 32:27Nick Capodice?

  in the classrooms, let alone talking about authoritarianism and autocracy. And 20, the most staggering stat to me was that, this was a poll conducted by iCivics, that 21% of civics teachers have said in the last couple of years, they've considered leaving the profession. They've considered leaving teaching because of the polarized climate. And a great many, 60% or so, fear backlash from what they teach their students. So I would advocate, you know, if you want to teach these complicated civics concepts, the teachers have to be allowed to teach them.

• 33:00Speaker 01

  Angela in Wichita says, Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor founded a website to teach civics to elementary school children. It's called icivics.org.

• 33:09Nick Capodice?

  They're wonderful.

• 33:10Speaker 01

  You just referenced there, Nick. We also heard from Lorette, who says, 17-year-olds in Virginia and many other places, who will be 18-year-olds by Election Day, can vote this year if they pre-register. A voter registration form is a great gift. Get young people registered before they go away to college. Yeah, we can talk about civics education in the classroom, but when politicians politicize the function, the basic function of our government, for example, President Trump casting unfounded doubt on mail-in voting in 2020 and wanting to claim federal control over mail-voting this year, how do you think that complicates the civics we teach young people or even how

• 33:54Speaker 01

  we talk about it as, as adults, Hannah?

• 33:56Hannah McCarthy?

  I think, again, it does come back to that perception. When you hear an elected official who ostensibly becomes that elected official because someone or some people have invested trust, rather, there is vested trust in that individual, that is what is implied or truly believed in that case. And so when that person in power, who as far as we know, has access to an immense amount of information, says or implies that elections are not safe, are not secure, we have to make sure that we restrict them in various ways, then you have a voting populace who may perceive it to be that way. Either it is not safe and secure, or when it comes to the absentee ballot process, if

• 34:40Hannah McCarthy?

  information is going to the federal government, I'm nervous about information going to the federal government. That might then stop a potential voter from even looking further into whether or not their state has to implement the ordered mail-in ballot rules for this year, which for the 2026 midterms are really not going to happen, states don't have the time. But it creates really an atmosphere, more so than a reality. It does change the reality for many people, especially when it comes to, you know, security officials, if you want to call them that, near or at polling locations that intimidate voters as well. But all of that muddies the water of your constitutional rights, what it actually means

• 35:25Hannah McCarthy?

  to be a citizen, what power you have. And I think also putting all of this emphasis on that one day, Election Day, where you will or will not show up, that's your little Democratic Party. And then, and I mean, little d.

• 35:36Speaker 01

  Little d.

• 35:37Hannah McCarthy?

  It's your celebration, your little Democratic celebration. And let's hyperfixate on this one thing, and then let's just sort of all relax because all that tension and stress is over.

• 35:47Speaker 01

  But, but well, to that end, and we've only got about a minute and a half left here, I want you both to really quickly give us a piece of civics, I won't call it homework, fun work, right? Something that helps us either think about or practice our civic responsibility beyond Election Day. Nick?

• 36:05Nick Capodice?

  I would encourage every single person out there listening right now to research some local meeting going on in your community. It could be like a zoning board meeting, it could be something about, you know, where are we going to, the dog park, you know, anything. And to go to that meeting and to see just how quickly the levers of power move in those small, local things. Everybody out there, if everybody does that, that is being a good citizen. That is participating in our, you know, in our democracy. So go find something small that you care about and show up, and you will see how things change.

• 36:37Speaker 01

  Hannah, what about you?

• 36:38Hannah McCarthy?

  I think even smaller than that, go to your city or town hall, walk up to the counter and talk to the person sitting on the other side of that counter. Whatever question you might have about your municipality, even if it seems like the silliest, most obvious question in the world, what you have done is you have walked into a municipal building and you are staring someone in the face, and that someone is there to help you. I have heard from many municipal employees who say, I just wish someone would come in and ask me a question. I am here to help you. I think that's a great start for really quieting the sense that you have no agency in your local or state government.

• 37:17Speaker 01

  Well, that's Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice. They're the co-hosts and senior editors of the civics education podcast, Civics 101. It's a production of New Hampshire Public Radio. Now, we're going to ask them to share some resources with, with us that we'll put on our website in addition to listening to their great podcast, if you want to become more civically educated and engaged. Hannah, Nick, thanks so much.

• 37:40Hannah McCarthy?

  Thank you, Jen.

• 37:40Nick Capodice?

  Thank you, Jen. It's a pleasure.

• 37:50Hannah McCarthy?

  Thanks to the team at 1A who gave us permission to drop their program in our feed. You can listen to more of the show at WAMU.org. Civics 101 is hosted and produced by me, Hannah McCarthy, and Nick Capodice. Our executive producer is Taylor Quimby. Civics 101 is a production of NHPR, New Hampshire Public Radio.

• 38:21Nick Capodice?

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