Our 250th Annual Trivia Episode!

Civics 101

In this special 250th anniversary episode of Civics 101, hosts Nick Capodice, Hannah McCarthy, Dana Cataldo, and Rebecca Lavoie celebrate with a fun-filled trivia game centered on

Key takeaways

• The episode highlights how civics knowledge is both foundational and fun, using trivia as a tool to engage listeners with U.S. government history.

Main topics

• Civics trivia
• U.S. Constitution and amendments

Notable quotes

"This is all meat, sir. I shall pitch this game." – Dana Cataldo about her softball injury

Conclusion

The episode concludes with a joyful celebration of the show's legacy and Rebecca's

Transcript preview

Speaker 3 (0:07) You're listening to Civics 101 from NHPR. I'm Nick Capodice. I'm Speaker 4 (0:12) Hannah McCarthy. I'm Speaker 3 (0:13) Dana Cataldo. Speaker 5 (0:14) And I'm Rebecca Lavoie. And Speaker 3 (0:15) this is the 25th annual Civics 101 Trivia Wrap. Speaker 4 (0:19) The 250th Civics 101 Trivia. The Speaker 3 (0:22) 250th anniversary of the first Civics 101 Trivia. That's Speaker 5 (0:25) how it feels, for sure. Speaker 3 (0:27) Whoa, yeah. Rebecca, can we say anything about you before we start? Speaker 5 (0:31) Yeah, this is very likely my final appearance on one of these trivia episodes. I have taken a new job here at NHPR. I am now the Chief Content Officer. And no longer working with you guys directly every day. Sad. Very sad. But I still wanted to do this very badly. You Speaker 4 (0:46) can be the Rebecca Emeritus at Civics 101. Thank you. Yeah. That is in Robert's Rules of Order or the Speaker 5 (0:52) parliamentary procedure. Absolutely. Sure. Great. Speaker 3 (0:56) Robert's Rules. Speaker 5 (0:56) All right. Take back everything I said. This is not my last one. Speaker 3 (0:59) I fib a lot to people to make them feel better in my day-to-day life, Rebecca. Okay. Sorry. But not you. But the point I'm trying to make here is that from the bottom of my heart, I am really sad. That you're no longer Speaker 2 (1:11) our boss. Thank Speaker 3 (1:12) you. Speaker 5 (1:12) Which Speaker 3 (1:12) you even refused to let us call you as such. Well, Speaker 5 (1:15) I love working with the two of you. And I'm glad I'm Speaker 4 (1:18) not Speaker 5 (1:18) leaving. I'm Speaker 4 (1:18) so Speaker 5 (1:18) sad. I'm still working on content, so I'm still going to be working with the two of you. I know. And we have Slack, so we can talk. Speaker 4 (1:24) Slack. That's true. Speaker 6 (1:25) Dana Cataldo. Dana Cataldo. Is this your first time in the studio? This is my first time in the studio. Speaker 4 (1:31) Dana's never been to this building. First time behind this mic over here. Speaker 3 (1:33) Oh, my Speaker 2 (1:34) goodness. Speaker 6 (1:34) Would you Speaker 3 (1:34) introduce yourselves to the audience? Speaker 6 (1:37) Yeah. So my name is Dana Cataldo. I'm the digital video producer here at Civics 101. So making our fun little videos on the Instagrams, on the TikToks, on the social medias, soon on the YouTubes. Yeah. Speaker 3 (1:47) And she got hit with a, can I tell them that you got hit with a softball really hard? Oh, yeah. It's fantastic. It's Speaker 4 (1:52) the Speaker 3 (1:52) coolest bruise. It's the best bruise I've ever seen in my life. It looks like tie-dye. Speaker 6 (1:56) It kind of Speaker 3 (1:56) matches your shirt. It did, Speaker 6 (1:57) yeah. I got drilled right in the leg. It was all meat, fortunately. But yeah, it was a lot of blue and Speaker 3 (2:03) purple. Speaker 6 (2:03) Did the doctor say that? Speaker 3 (2:04) This is all meat. Speaker 6 (2:06) That's what I said when I wanted to stay in Speaker 1 (2:07) the Speaker 6 (2:07) game. You're Speaker 3 (2:07) going Speaker 6 (2:07) to be okay. They wanted to put me on the bench. I was like, no. Speaker 3 (2:09) This is all meat, sir. I shall pitch this game. Speaker 3 (2:17) I got a couple rounds of trivia for you all today. And the first one is kind of just dipping your toe in the bath a little bit. And it's Civics 101 by the numbers. And I have a fun chart here for everyone. Oh, Speaker 4 (2:28) boy. Speaker 3 (2:28) With some numbers. You could look at this and it says 45,727,525,685. I'm Speaker 5 (2:36) relieved about one thing. What's Speaker 3 (2:37) that? Speaker 5 (2:37) I see a 52, 56, and 85, so this can't be a thing where which president? It is. Speaker 3 (2:42) Yeah, none of these are presidential. Because we would Speaker 5 (2:44) all be terrible at that. That is the worst Speaker 3 (2:46) kind of trivia. I'd be good at that. Boo. Yeah, you'd be good at that. I would be good at that one. So can you all see the numbers? Speaker 5 (2:52) Yes. All Speaker 3 (2:53) right, here we go. First person to say the correct answer gets the point. Question number one. Amendments to the Constitution. 27. Speaker 6 (3:04) Dana Cataldo. Oh, Dana. Speaker 6 (3:07) I just listened to some recent articles, episodes. Yeah, very Speaker 3 (3:12) good. The easy trick for the 26th Amendment, if you want to forget, if you forget what it means, is 6 plus 2, 26 is 8. 18 years old is when you can vote. Oh. I wish I had a mnemonic for all of those. Yeah. Ready for the next one? Yes. Essays in the Federalist Papers. Speaker 4 (3:28) 52? 56? 85! It's 85! I knew it was 85! Speaker 3 (3:34) It Speaker 5 (3:34) was 85. We just let you have that one, Hannah. We're Speaker 3 (3:36) going Speaker 5 (3:36) to let you have that one. Speaker 3 (3:38) Guys, Speaker 4 (3:39) I had Cyphers 4. Weeks Speaker 3 (3:42) in Speaker 4 (3:42) a year. Weeks in a year. 52. Wait, Speaker 5 (3:43) have there ever been any episodes about the Federalist Papers on this program? Yeah, it's Speaker 4 (3:47) all me. Speaker 3 (3:47) Yeah, Speaker 5 (3:48) I Speaker 4 (3:48) thought Speaker 5 (3:48) so. Speaker 4 (3:48) I have multiple copies of the Federalist. Speaker 3 (3:51) I did Fed 10. All right, you guys ready for the next one? Speaker 4 (3:53) Yes. Speaker 3 (3:55) Articles in the Constitution. Speaker 5 (3:57) Four. Seven. Speaker 3 (3:59) Dana Cataldo. Speaker 5 (4:00) By the way, I've been overseeing a podcast about civics for five years. Speaker 3 (4:04) You guys ready? Yeah. Freedoms in the First Amendment. Speaker 4 (4:08) Four. Five. Speaker 3 (4:10) Oh, my God. Five freedoms. That was a cheap one. I'll take it. This is so embarrassing. Should we go through the five freedoms? Speaker 5 (4:17) Speech. Speaker 3 (4:17) Yeah. Speaker 5 (4:19) Religion. Speaker 3 (4:19) Mm-hmm. Speaker 5 (4:21) Assembly. Speaker 5 (4:23) Petition, I think, is one of them. And press? Yes! Speaker 3 (4:28) Do Speaker 5 (4:28) I get a point for that? Speaker 3 (4:29) You get a point. Thank you. I'm going to give you a Speaker 5 (4:31) point for that. Speaker 3 (4:31) Please, I need Speaker 5 (4:31) one. Speaker 3 (4:31) Yeah. Yeah, everybody's on the board. Here we go. Freedoms that Franklin Delano Roosevelt said everyone should enjoy in his 1941 State of the Union. Speaker 6 (4:42) Five. Four. Speaker 3 (4:44) Oh, of course it's five. We already Speaker 5 (4:45) used five. Yeah. Speaker 3 (4:47) I think there's also Four Freedoms Park on Roosevelt Island in Speaker 5 (4:51) New York. Speaker 3 (4:51) Oh, that's Speaker 5 (4:52) what Speaker 3 (4:52) I Speaker 4 (4:52) was thinking of. If Speaker 3 (4:53) anyone's curious, those freedoms are freedom of speech and expression, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. Speaker 2 (5:02) Mmm. Speaker 4 (5:07) Signers of the Declaration of Independence. 56. Speaker 3 (5:10) 56. Well done, Hannah. Speaker 4 (5:12) Anybody want Speaker 3 (5:13) to shout out one of those names? Speaker 4 (5:16) John Hancock. Speaker 3 (5:17) Very good. Anyone else want to shoot one out? Speaker 4 (5:19) Benjamin Franklin. Speaker 3 (5:21) And then the last one, words in the preamble to the Constitution. 52. Speaker 3 (5:32) So at the end of this first round, we have Hannah with three points, Rebecca with two points, and Dana with five. Speaker 4 (5:42) New Speaker 3 (5:43) kid on the block running away with it. Yeah. Embarrassing for you guys. Yeah. 100%. It's Speaker 4 (5:49) very embarrassing. Speaker 3 (5:55) We're going to do a whole lot more trivia, but we got to take a quick break. Speaker 3 (6:06) Hey, everyone. It's Nick Capodice here. If you have found yourself asking, can the president really do that? Then you got to check out You Might Be