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
Landscape of Ruin: The Southern Economy during Reconstruction
How do you replace enslaved labor and rebuild an economy?
In the aftermath of the Civil War, the Southern economy didn’t just have to recover; it had to reinvent itself. Join me as I explore how systems like sharecropping and the cotton lien system emerged to replace slavery, and why these systems often kept both Black and white farmers trapped in poverty.
This episode unpacks the economic realities of Reconstruction, revealing how freedom didn’t always come with opportunity—and how the structures put in place during this era shaped the South for generations.