Civics & Coffee: A History Podcast
Civics & Coffee delivers bite-sized U.S. history with clear, engaging storytelling — all in the time it takes to drink your morning cup of coffee. Host Alycia brings America’s past to life with well-researched episodes that are approachable, human, and impossible to forget.
In 2026, Civics & Coffee dives into the Gilded Age - a transformative era of booming industry, powerful presidents, labor uprisings, immigration waves, inequality, and social reformers. From national crises like the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 to personal stories of figures such as Rutherford B. Hayes, Lucy Webb Hayes, and the Exodusters, each episode uncovers the people, tensions, and turning points that shaped modern America.
Whether you’re a longtime history lover or just history-curious, Civics & Coffee offers context without the homework and storytelling without the fluff. Grab your mug and join the conversation, one cup at a time.
Civics & Coffee: A History Podcast
The Page Act: How America Banned Chinese Women
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
In 1875, the United States passed the Page Act: the first federal law to restrict immigration. The Page Act marked a turning point in American immigration policy, introducing the use of moral and racial criteria to determine who could enter the country.
Join me as I examine the origins, language, and enforcement of the Page Act, how the law impacted immigration from China, and how it shaped future U.S. policies, including the Chinese Exclusion Act.
The Page Act is often overlooked in discussions of American immigration history, but it offers important insight into how race, gender, and morality became central to border control in the late 19th century.