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Welcome to Civics and Coffee, a history podcast. The show all about United States history delivered to you and the time it takes to enjoy your morning cup of coffee. I'm your host, Alicia, a historian trained in United States history with a passion for telling both the known and unknown parts of America's past. So grab your coffee and get ready for some bite sized history. Hey everyone. Welcome back. Five years ago, I hit record on what I thought would be a little side project. I wanted to make US History digestible, accessible, and, let's be honest, maybe even a little fun. And here we are, five years, hundreds of episodes, and some truly incredible guests later. I am so excited to welcome you to the new era of Civics and Coffee. I remember distinctly when I decided to launch the podcast. It was the summer of 2020 and the COVID 19 pandemic was in full swing. And if that wasn't historic enough, it was also a presidential election year and a summer filled with protest as the country reeled once again from the deaths of men like George Floyd and women like Breonna Taylor. There were a lot of conversations with friends about the historic moments we were all living through, and several of them made comments about how they normally hated history, but found our conversations engaging and fascinating. As someone who has always had a deep love and respect for history, I decided that my Covid era project would be developing a history podcast. I was completely overwhelmed at first. There were simply so many good podcasts out there. What the heck would I add to the conversation? How could I be different? Then it hit me. History and the time it takes to drink a cup of coffee. Not only did it give me a cute idea for a name, Civics and Coffee, but it gave me some framework on how I wanted to build my episodes. I understand adults have a lot of demands on their time, but I believed, perhaps a bit naively, that I could build short and interesting episodes exploring American history and share stories people may have missed while sitting in their high school history class. As someone who also earned her undergraduate degree in US History, I knew there were some incredible stories that remained unknown to anyone who didn't eat, live and breathe the past. And thus Civics and Coffee was born. I was very nervous entering the history podcasting community. Like so many folks who start out, I had no idea how to build an episode, what recording looked like, and how to properly edit. I remain thankful that Apple has built in recording software that is fairly intuitive to use. It made putting together episodes a lot easier than I thought and made editing pretty seamless. At least For a beginner like me, there are definitely a few early episodes that could use a bit of touch up, and I still have a long term goal of going back and remastering some of my older episodes. My deepest gratitude to those of you who have been listening since day one because some of those early episodes were a bit rough and I haven't always gotten an episode the way I originally envisioned, which is a product of both limited access to primary sources and a touch of my own tendency to strive for perfection whenever I start a new hobby. Despite my sense of feeling like I was a little bit of an imposter, I dove in headfirst only to find that the podcasting and history communities were filled with some of the loveliest people on the planet. Quickly, I was getting support from some really terrific shows, in my humble opinion. I especially want to give a shout out to Jerry from the Presidencies of the United States, who was one of the first to welcome me into this space and was a great help with advice including how to best prepare for an interview. Thank you my dear friend. But I also want to send a big thank you to the friends and colleagues I've made along the way, including Philip Shackelford of the Modern Scholar Podcast, Rachel and Leah from History, Kenny Ryan from Abridged Presidential Histories, and Howard Dorey of Plotting through the Presidencies. A special thanks to Howard, who was really a true partner and friend in helping me plot out this rebrand of the show. I would be remiss if I did not thank the creators who've welcomed me onto their shows, including Sarah and Ashley from United she stands, Ian from WhyWhiskey, Ann Marie Cannon from Armchair Historians, the hilarious crew from Operation History, Kathleen from People Hidden in History, and Evan Axelbank of History Today. I also want to thank the many, many historians and experts who've taken the time to chat about their work with me. When I first started Civics and Coffee, I had no plans on interviewing historians. The idea was simply too terrifying. Everything changed when, on a whim, I reposted a tweet asking who would be my ideal guest for the show. I had just finished Dr. Lindsay Chervinsky's the Cabinet while writing episodes about George Washington, and I mentioned her and Dr. Joanne Freeman in the tweet. To my utter shock, Dr. Stravinsky graciously responded she would be willing to come anytime and peeps. Believe me when I tell you, I was gobsmacked, shocked, and a little terrified. I remember preparing for that interview as if my life depended on it and Dr. Dravinsky could not have been kinder. My interview with her gave me the confidence to chat with more historians, and it's been one of my favorite parts of the podcast over the last five years, which leads me to the story of the rebrand. Working on this podcast for the last five years has been incredibly rewarding. Researching and producing the show gave me the confidence to apply to graduate school, and I've since earned my master's degree where I research the history of women and labor and the evolving welfare bureaucracy. My time in graduate school was transformative and I left Sonoma State University with a deep appreciation for the quality of the training I received and a renewed commitment to remain part of the historical community through the podcast and other measures. But I wasn't exactly sure how to achieve these goals. There's no one size fits all for podcasts, and every show is a bit unique. Since graduating in 2024, I've thought a lot about what I want for the show and where I hope to go. And earlier this year I had a great conversation with my friend Howard who helped me flesh out my vision, which turned into a rebrand light. First, the name. I am deeply invested in Civics and Coffee and knew that it would be hard to break away from the title, but I also knew that Civics and Coffee doesn't clearly communicate what the show is about. In thinking about rebranding the show, I wanted the podcast's name and look to reflect what it's become. A dive into America's past with a now trained historian. I started as a self described history nerd. Five years later, I'm a public historian trained in oral history with a growing network of colleagues who are putting out fantastic historical scholarship. Thus, I opted for Civics and a history podcast. You'll notice there are new intros and outros to the show and a new trailer that I think better articulates what the show has become. Lastly, in rebranding the show, I also decided to further expand the show's reach. Thus, Civics and Coffee, a history podcast, will now also be available on YouTube. I'm still formulating some ideas for visual content, but until then, you can find all past and future episodes of the show on the channel. I'm excited to hear your feedback and ideas of what you would like to see on the channel, so please let me know. I'm also switching up the delivery of the show slightly. As the podcast has grown, so has the network of experts and historians who are producing quality work for the public and who want to come and share this work with me and my audience. Thus, moving forward, historian and author interviews will be released on Tuesdays. This will allow the narrative to stay on track every Saturday and give me the chance to get my interviews with these fantastic guests out to you that much sooner. To all the guests who have taken the time to share their work with me, thank you. This, of course, brings me to the best part of the fifth anniversary of the pod A Giveaway. In thinking about the best way to celebrate the show, I wanted to do something that both reflected my love of history and my gratitude to everyone who has made the show possible. After putting out a poll to the members of the Patreon, I decided that the fifth anniversary giveaway will be a book by one of the incredible guests I've had on the show. If you've been following the show's social media, then you know that you can earn up to three entries to the giveaway. You can become a member of the Patreon at the Espresso tier or higher, share your favorite episode of the show and tag me, or leave a review on your podcast platform of choice and send it my way. The giveaway will run until August 16th and I will announce the winner on August 17th, so if you haven't already, be sure to enter for a chance to win. Finally, to close out this episode, I thought it would be fun to do a bit of a Q and A with questions submitted by some of the best podcast fans around. Kenny from Abridged Presidential Histories asked what is one story from history that probably isn't covered in the K12 classroom, but should be, and why? I feel a touch removed from the current curriculum standards for K12 educators and can only speak from my own personal experience, which is admittedly quite dated at this point. I was very fortunate to have a host of fantastic, thoughtful history teachers who found creative ways to get students engaged and interested in the subject. From Mr. Lamb's quip about the Founding Fathers being a bunch of Hypocrites in the 8th grade to my high school history teacher Ms. Kane's decision to bring in a Vietnam veteran to share his story, I feel like I got a solid history education, but one thing I don't remember spending a lot of time on is Reconstruction specifically and the role of women broadly. I am a firm believer in the sentiment that representation matters, and I think we would see increased interest from kids about history if they learned about the people who looked like them. And I don't know that a lot has to be shifted to make that happen. For example, when discussing the Founding era, why not talk about Abigail Adams, who was a true partner to her husband and left behind a treasure trove of primary sources? Or explore the fact that children and women join men in battle during the Civil War? I think that would make at least a few board students perk up just a bit. And perhaps it's because I'm knee deep in reading, thinking, and writing about Reconstruction that I feel like it just didn't get enough attention when I was in school. But my goodness, what an incredible era to explore. For students, you have everything women entering the public sphere a bit more loudly, political reforms, violence, and the battle over whether the United States would move toward a multiracial democracy. Of course, I also think that one school year is insufficient to truly cover American history. And if I was in charge, high school students would be required to take four years of history, just like they have to do with English. I think it would be great to spend two years on American history and two years on world history, but that's just my pipe dream. And to be clear, this is in no way a slight to the great educators out there. You are all amazing, and I am constantly in awe of the incredible work you accomplish, often with little to no resources. One of the longest supporters of the show, Joanne, asked a few questions. So first up, how do I keep the enthusiasm going and where do I find the time to do all the reading and research that I do? It's hard for me to explain my enthusiasm for history. I see it everywhere I go, and I understand how much it impacts our lives every single day, even if we aren't always aware. Think of Social Security, for example. Millions of seniors and disabled folks benefit from the social safety net. Prior to the Social Security Act of 1935, there were minimal protections for the average worker. There were no pensions or 401 s or retirement accounts. If people didn't work, they didn't make money. And this created quite the problem when the Great Depression hit and people lost their jobs. The Social Security act made life a little easier for us. It set up a retirement age that allowed Americans who had worked their whole life to enjoy their later years without worrying about paying their bills. This is something that is still with us today. History is everywhere, and I think that's what keeps me engaged and enthused. As for the second part to Joanne's question about finding the time to read and research for the show, I think it's part time management, part pure love and dedication to the craft, and part benefit of having a great support system I have always been a pretty driven individual and usually once I set my mind on something, there is little anyone can do to stop me. History is also my hobby. Some people go fly fishing, some kayak and camp. I am a history dork through and through. I am a lifelong learner and if I'm not re watching old favorite TV shows, then I'm usually checking out the latest Ken Burns documentary or check it out, PBS's American Experience. It feeds my soul and so I have no issue filling up my day with history related topics. And last but certainly not least is I have a wonderful support system in my husband Brian, who understands that he married a quirky, history obsessed bibliophile who will bring up random historical facts and conversation. He lightens the household chore load quite a bit so that I can enjoy extra reading time and the show simply would not be possible without him. Joanne also wanted to know how I meet the people who appear on the show. She was curious about whether these connections happen at conventions or through cold calling or something else. I have been incredibly blessed that almost everyone who has appeared on the show asked or had someone ask on their behalf. I have been contacted by both the author hoping to chat about their latest project and editors and marketing professionals who think their clients work would mesh with the theme of the show. The unsung heroes behind any book launch are the book editors and marketing professionals who strive to make sure their clients work gets maximum exposure. And a handful of connections made at conferences have also been incredibly beneficial to the show. Stacy asked what has been the most memorable moment I've had in podcasting so far. That is an incredibly challenging question because there have been so many moments that I hold near and dear to my heart. But if I am forced to pick one, I have to go with the podcasting panel I was on with Philip from the Modern Scholar podcast. It was such a delight to chat with academics and historians about the power of podcasting and how much of an educational tool it can be. Philip is also just an amazing human who has been a great friend to the show and it's been an honor working with him. Well friends, we are at our end here. I hope you've enjoyed the last five years of civics and coffee and continue to stick around for another five years. You all inspire me every single day and I remain eternally grateful for your support. Speaking of, if you want to support the show, please consider subscribing to the show's new YouTube channel and let me know what type of content you'd like to see or tell me about how the podcast has helped or inspired you. Thanks peeps. I'll see you next week. Thanks for sitting down with me as I explored this chapter of American history. If you liked what you heard, be sure to subscribe and share with your friends. I look forward to our next cup of coffee together.