Shows / Plain Civics
Plain Civics
Hosted by Bobbi Fisher + Joe Ulery. A nonpolitical, educational podcast in which we highlight how our government works - so, you understand how to make the government work for you. From the Electoral College, to navigating Election Day, or how an idea becomes law, we simplify the mechanics of our government. Our goal is to empower you with knowledge and confidence to participate in the Great Experiment - the concept of the United States of America as a nation founded on the principles of…
Episodes
- Plain Civics
Should Big Money Influence Who Gets Elected?
Send us a message Join hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery as they discuss big money in politics, or campaign finance reform. They discuss what it is, how we got…
- Plain Civics
Civics Potpourri
Send us a message Join hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery as they discuss various topics related to civics, such as voting, checking the validity of shared…
- Plain Civics
Unraveling America’s Contradictions - Part 2
Send us a message Join hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery as they discuss moments in America’s 250-year history when the country didn’t live up to the ideals it…
- Plain Civics
Unraveling America’s Contradictions - Part 1
Send us a message Join hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery as they discuss moments in America’s 250-year history when the country didn’t live up to the ideals it…
- Plain Civics
Why Does It Take a Tragic Event To Stir Our Patriotism?
Send us a message Join hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery as they talk about the events of 9/11/2001 and patriotism. After recapping the events of the morning of…
- Plain Civics
Is It Time For Term and Age Limits?
Send us a message Join hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery as they look at the pros and cons of both term limits and age limits for members of Congress and the…
- Plain Civics
Why Is Real History So Important?
Send us a message Join hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery as they look at why “real” history is so important. This lesson in what type of historical narrative we…
- Plain Civics
Say What??? Part 3
Send us a message Join hosts Joe Ulery and Bobbi Fisher as they tackle 5 more common misconceptions about our government. These misconceptions include…
- Plain Civics
What Is Civic Virtue and Why Is It Important?
Send us a message Join hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery as they discuss the important of civic virtue. At the beginning of the last several episodes we have…
- Plain Civics
America at 250 - What Are We Actually Celebrating?
Send us a message Join hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery as they look at why we celebrate the July 4th Independence Day. How did it come about and why? What…
- Plain Civics
Back to the Basics - What is Rule of Law?
Send us a message Join hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery as they dig into the concept of “rule of law.” What does it mean and how did it develop? Why did the…
- Plain Civics
Back to the Basics - What is Federalism? Part 3
Send us a message Join hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery as they continue their discussion of federalism. In Part 1 they discussed the origins of the idea of…
- Plain Civics
Back to the Basics - What is Federalism? Part 2
Send us a message Join hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery as they continue their discussion of federalism. In Part 1 they discussed the origins of the idea of…
- Plain Civics
Back to the Basics - What is Federalism? Part 1
Send us a message Join hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery as they define federalism and discuss how it came about in the United States Constitution. The idea of…
- Plain Civics
Back To the Basics - Separation of Powers and Checks and Balances
Send us a message Join hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery as they dig into the three branches of government and why the Framers established three branches. About…
- Plain Civics
Lots of Issues, But There Is Hope…Let’s Get Busy!
Send us a message Join hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery as they discuss civics education, or lack thereof, as well as voting percentages, detecting…
- Plain Civics
Let’s Get Ready To Vote!
Send us a message Join hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery as they discuss the steps citizens need to take to vote in the upcoming primary and general elections…
- Plain Civics
The Biggest Challenge to Democratic Institutions - On Tyranny, Part 2
Send us a message Join hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery as they continue with the fourth of Ben Franklin’s civic virtues and then continue the discussion of 20…
- Plain Civics
The Biggest Challenge to Democratic Institutions - On Tyranny, Part 1
Send us a message Join hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery as they continue with the third of Ben Franklin’s civic virtues and then move into a discussion of…
- Plain Civics
The Evolution of Political Parties in the U.S.
Send us a message Join hosts Joe Ulery and Bobbi Fisher as they track the beginnings, development, an evolution of political parties in U.S. history. It hasn’t…
- Plain Civics
Let’s Review Some Important Concepts
Send us a message Join hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery as they introduce a new opening feature called “Ben Franklin’s Virtues,” where they cover the 13 civic…
- Plain Civics
Say What??? Part 2
Send us a message Join hosts Joe Ulery and Bobbi Fisher as they tackle 5 more common misconceptions about our government. These misconceptions include the…
- Plain Civics
Christmas in the Continental Army in 1776
Send us a message In this second special holiday episode of Plain Civics, join host Bobbi Fisher as she tells the story of an ambitious battle plan devised by…
- Plain Civics
Civics Belongs in the Holiday Season
Send us a message The holiday season slows the country down — but civics doesn’t stop. In this special episode of Plain Civics, Joe Ulery looks at how holidays…
- Plain Civics
Why is Freedom of Religion in the First Amendment?
Send us a message Join hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery as they discuss the “freedom of religion” portion of the First Amendment. The First Amendment actually…
- Plain Civics
USA, USA, We’re For You Today! The Cheerleading Episode You Didn’t Know You Needed!
Send us a message We will return in Episode 24 with the freedom of religion part of the First Amendment. In this episode, join the hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe…
- Plain Civics
Is Freedom of Expression the Most Important Part of the First Amendment? - Part 2
Send us a message Join hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery as they discuss the “freedom of expression” portion of the First Amendment. The First Amendment…
- Plain Civics
Is Freedom of Expression the Most Important Part of the First Amendment? - Part 1
Send us a message Join hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery as they discuss the “freedom of expression” portion of the First Amendment. The First Amendment…
- Plain Civics
Peaceful Civil Discourse + Educated Citizens = Recipe for a Healthy Democracy or Can We Find the Better Angels of Our Nature???
Send us a message Join hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery as they unwrap how polarization and civil discourse are related, tell about how we, as a nation, have…
- Plain Civics
Political Polarization or Why Can’t We All Just Get Along?
Send us a message Joins hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery as they discuss political polarization in America. They unwrap what is meant by polarization, possible…
- Plain Civics
How are the Census, Redistricting, and Gerrymandering Related?
Send us a message Join hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery as they take a deep dive into gerrymandering. They explain what it is, how it and the name came about…
- Plain Civics
Civic Responsibilities - What Are They and Why Should We Care?
Send us a message Listen as hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery discuss what your duties and responsibilities are as citizens of the United States. Duties such as…
- Plain Civics
Say What???
Send us a message In this special episode we are going to explore some common misconceptions about various topics related to civics. We tried to think of…
- Plain Civics
Why is Slavery So Important to the Early History of Our Republic?
Send us a message Slavery definitely had an influence on the writing and wording of the U.S. Constitution and the history of our republic, not just in its…
- Plain Civics
Understanding the Bill of Rights
Send us a message Join hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery as they delve into why and how the Bill of Rights was added to the original Constitution within just a…
- Plain Civics
What is the Electoral College and Why Do We Elect Our President This Way?
Send us a message Join hosts, Joe Ulery and Bobbi Fisher as they tackle the reason we use the Electoral College to elect the President, and explain how the…
- Plain Civics
Ratification of the Constitution, General Welfare Clause, Habeas Corpus, and the Preamble
Send us a message Join hosts Joe Ulery and Bobbi Fisher as they delve into the ratification process of the new Constitution, the purpose and meaning of the…
- Plain Civics
Ratification of the Constitution and the Elastic Clause
Send us a message Join hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery as they discuss ratification of the new Constitution, Federalists and Anti-Federalists and their…
- Plain Civics
Part IV: How Did Our Constitution Originate?
Send us a message Join the hosts, Joe Ulery and Bobbi Fisher as they put the wraps on the Constitutional Convention in September 1787. Find out what the final…
- Plain Civics
Part III: How Did Our Constitution Originate?
Send us a message Join the hosts, Joe Ulery and Bobbi Fisher, as they wrap up the making of our Constitution. Learn about the ins and outs of important debates…
- Plain Civics
Part II: How Did Our Constitution Originate?
Send us a message Join hosts Joe Ulery and Bobbi Fisher as they continue to explore why the Framers decided to ditch the Articles of Confederation and create…
- Plain Civics
Part I: How Did Our Constitution Originate?
Send us a message Join the hosts of Plain Civics, Joe Ulery and Bobbi Fisher, as they look at what the Continental Congress did right before issuing the…
- Plain Civics
Sorting Out News & Information in 2025
Send us a message In this episode of Plain Civics, hosts Bobbi Fisher + Joe Ulery discuss how to sort out news and information in 2025. They look at…
- Plain Civics
What is the Declaration of Independence?
Send us a message In this episode of Plain Civics, hosts Bobbi Fisher + Joe Ulery discuss the purpose of one of our nation’s founding documents, the…
- Plain Civics
Why the Framers Chose to Form a Democratic Republic
Send us a message In this episode of Plain Civics, hosts Bobbi Fisher + Joe Ulery discuss the five main forms of government and why the Framers chose to create…
- Plain Civics
The United States a Democratic Republic?
Send us a message In this episode of Plain Civics, hosts Bobbi Fisher + Joe Ulery discuss what the U.S. being a democratic republic really means, and it has…
- Plain Civics
The Origins of Civic Education in the United States
Send us a message In this episode of Plain Civics, hosts Bobbi Fisher + Joe Ulery discuss the origins of civic education in the U.S. and its role in shaping…
- Plain Civics
The Civic Experiment: Understanding the Basics of Government
Send us a message In this debut episode of Plain Civics, hosts Bobbi Fisher + Joe Ulery dive into the importance of civic knowledge. Learn how understanding…
- Plain Civics
Meet the Hosts
Send us a message This is where our journey begins. Welcome to Plain Civics. Meet hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery. Bobbi and Joe describe their mission and…