E002 The Civil Rights Movement

Episode Description

This week, in honor of Black History Month, we’re discussing the Civil Rights Movement; both the American history that laid the groundwork for it, and the people, organizations, and events that fought for equal rights during the social movement. We begin with relaying the major news headlines of the first half of February 2025, and we end with a conversation about HillmanTok University and the Super Bowl.

News Headline Articles


Three things to know about Rubio's first international trip

Rubio tells Panama to end China’s influence of canal or face US action

Israel's Netanyahu heads to U.S. to meet with Trump

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Visits the U.S.

Africa knew Trump's 'America First' pledge meant it might be last. Then he cut aid

Canadian fans boo U.S. national anthem at NBA matchup as tariff dispute heats up

Trump puts Canada and Mexico tariffs on hold

Musk and Trump aim to shut down USAID, leaving humanitarian work in doubt

What is USAID, the U.S. Agency for International Development?

What is USAID and why is Trump poised to “close it down”?

What is USAID? Explaining the US foreign aid agency and why Trump and Musk want to end it

Syria's new leader denounces Iran, calling its proxies a regional threat

Sweden's worst mass shooting leaves at least 11 dead at an adult education center

Trump says he wants the U.S. to take ownership of the Gaza Strip

Trump won’t rule out deploying US troops to support rebuilding Gaza, sees “long-term” US ownership

Greenland bans foreign political donations as Trump seeks the island

Philippine vice president impeached by House, faces Senate trial

Mexico deploys the first National Guard troops to U.S. border after tariff threat

USAID unions sue Trump administration to halt 'unconstitutional and illegal' cuts

USAID contractors join others suing Trump administration over dismantling of agency

Egypt to host Gaza summit as Israel withdraws troops from Netzarim Corridor

Super Bowl 2025: Eagles defeat Chiefs 40-22; Jalen Hurts MVP; Kendrick Lamar performs at halftime

Kanye West Super Bowl ad sparks outrage and controversy

More than 50 are dead after a bus plunged into a gorge in Guatemala

Top Justice Department official orders prosecutors to drop charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams

How Trump is reshaping the Kennedy Center, moving away from “woke culture”

Shonda Rhimes resigns from Kennedy Center Board as Trump installs himself as leader

One dead in Kentucky as Rainstorm Pounds the State

Rubio visits Israel as Trump pushes plan to expel Palestinians from Gaza

Delta plane crashes and flips upside down at Toronto airport

Episode Research

NPR, “Before Rosa Parks, There Was Claudette Colvin”

National Archives, “13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Abolition of Slavery (1865)”

National Archives, “14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Civil Rights (1868)”

National Archives, “15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Voting RIghts (1870)”

National Archives, “Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)”

Martin Luther King Jr., “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”

U.S. Department of Defense, “African-American Troops Fought to Fight in World War I”

National Archives, “African Americans in the Military during World War I”

The National WWI Museum and Memorial, “Red Summer”

National Archives, “19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Women’s Right to Vote”

History.com, “Last Hired, First Fired: How the Great Depression Affected African Americans”

The National WWII Museum, “African Americans Fought for Freedom at Home and Abroad during World War II”

National Archives, “Brown v. Board of Education (1954)” 

History.com, “Brown v. Board of Education”

National Museum of African American History and Culture, “Emmett Till’s Death Inspired a Movement”

PBS, “Emmett Till’s Funeral”

Library of Congress, “Emmett Till with His Mother”

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute, Stanford University, “Montgomery Bus Boycott”

National Museum of African American History and Culture, “The Little Rock Nine”

Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, “Civil Rights ACt of 1957”

History.com, “Greensboro Sit-in”

National Archives, “The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee”

Bill of Rights Institute, “Freedom Riders”

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute, Stanford University, “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom”

National Archives, “Civil Rights Act (1964)”

National Archives, “Voting Rights Act (1965)”