See the day in the life of a lawmaker

Watch a freshman lawmaker navigate his first days in Congress

This video follows Denver Riggleman during his transition to Capitol Hill in 2019, capturing the disorder, pressure, and unpredictability of becoming a member of the United States House of Representatives amid shutdowns and political attacks.

Missouri's nickname refers to its residents' skepticism

While the exact origins of the nickname are unclear, many attribute it to Congressman Willard Duncan Vandiver, who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1897 to 1903. In a 1899 speech, he said, "I come from a state that raises corn and cotton and cockleburs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I am from Missouri. You have got to show me."

Inside a congressional office, the scheduler is more powerful than you think

A former congressional scheduler explains that a member's time is the scarcest resource in any Hill office, and controlling the calendar means understanding every competing claim on it, from the legislative team to the member's family. The interview demystifies how a typical House office actually functions, from staff hierarchies to outside resources like the Congressional Research Service.

Congressional turnover was far more common in the early republic

Many early lawmakers served just one or two terms before stepping aside, reflecting the ideal of the citizen legislator and the discomforts of living in Washington, DC. Longer careers in Congress became typical only later in the 19th century.

Watch 'I'm Just a Bill' explain how a law gets made

First aired in 1976, "I'm Just a Bill" became a defining civics lesson for generations, using animation and humor to trace the legislative process and cement itself as a lasting piece of US political culture.

Hear how Congress uses oversight to uncover waste, fraud, and abuse

Oversight Matters, produced by the Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy, provides a behind-the-scenes look at legislative investigations and demonstrates how bipartisan oversight in Congress and state legislatures drives accountability and policy reform.

John Dingell Jr. was the longest-serving member of the House

John Dingell Jr. served 59 years in the United States House of Representatives, representing his Michigan constituents. This list highlights the 33 House members in US history who have served 40 years or longer.

Which Senate seats are up for election, and how they are leaning

There are 14 Democratic and 21 Republican Senate seats up for grabs. See the Cook Political Report's continuously updated estimates on how they're leaning.

Missouri had the fastest job growth rate in 2025

Between 2024 and 2025, Missouri had a 1.7% job growth rate—representing the percent increase in jobs in a particular state over the course of a year. North Carolina and South Carolina trailed Missouri with annual job growth rates of 1.5% and 1.3% respectively.

States are constitutionally mandated to draw their own congressional districts

Under Article I, Section 4 of the US Constitution, state legislatures possess the authority to determine how congressional districts are drawn. However, Congress retains the power to alter these rules if it chooses to.

Meet the hidden Americans

Who represents America? This stunning interactive photo essay by Dutch artist Robin de Puy reveals a world many in the mainstream US do not see. She traveled thousands of miles to document the stories of individuals across the country, compiling them in dozens of episodes spread across three parts, revealing the messy nuances of everyday life for everyday people. Search the index or click through episode to episode in this spectacular project.

Hear the stories of Black congressmen who served during Reconstruction

This podcast explores the Black congressmen of the 1870s, like Hiram R. Revels and Joseph Rainey, many of whom were born into slavery and symbolized the hope of a more racially equal post-Civil War America.

See what it's like to live 'Constitutionally' for a year

In a 2023 interview on CBS Sunday Morning, author A.J. Jacobs discusses his attempt to live as closely as possible by the principles of the US Constitution for a whole year and the book that resulted from the experiment.

Uncovering corruption in rural Mississippi

In 1997, Curtis Flowers was convicted of murdering four furniture store employees. The Black Mississippi native was tried in the 1996 crime six times over 21 years, during which he maintained his innocence and continued to appeal his case. This is the first episode in a 2018 investigative podcast series that heavily contributed to Flowers' conviction being overturned and all charges dropped.

Visualizing how American men and women spend every hour of the day, by decade of life

Drawing on three years of Census time-use data, the tool tracks 12 activities—sleep, work, housework, caregiving, TV, and more—across age groups from the 20s through 70s. One persistent gap: women spend 45 more minutes per day on housework than men on average.

Thomas Hofeller was the GOP strategist known as the 'master of gerrymandering'

Republican consultant Thomas Hofeller quietly shaped US politics for decades by engineering partisan maps nationwide. His files, released after his death, revealed strategies to maximize GOP advantage and diminish Democratic influence.

Of the 12 voting policymakers at every Federal Open Market Committee meeting, 4 are present on a rotating basis

To allow for diverse regional perspectives in the votes on monetary policy, heads of regional banks hold voting power on two- or three-year cycles.

Mark Zuckerberg testified before Congress eight times between 2018 and 2024

Zuckerberg testified in Congress for the first time in 2018 over Facebook's privacy violations and its failure to detect Russian interference on the app during the 2016 election. Since then, Zuckerberg has appeared a total of eight times to defend Meta against privacy violations, child safety, and more. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

Imagining a fourth dimension

Famous astronomer Carl Sagan attempts to describe what it's like to think about the fourth dimension using the famous Flatland example from author Edwin Abbott in this classic video.

See a visual history of the State of the Union

This gallery offers a visual archive of the State of the Union, featuring photographs from each president's address, beginning with Franklin D. Roosevelt. Explore decades of presidential moments, settings, and historical context tied to the annual speech.

A day in the life of a Guinness World Record judge

Philip Robertson travels the world each week to see another ambitious person set a record. Here's a behind-the-scenes look at being one of Guinness World Record's adjudicators.

Despite being favored by 87% of Americans, Congress does not have term limits.

Take a tour of Mark Twain's Connecticut mansion

Twain and his family lived in a three-story, 25-room mansion in Hartford, Connecticut, from 1874 to 1891. Today, the home is a Twain museum, which includes several interesting artifacts, like his annotated books.

John Marshall had roughly 1 year of formal schooling

Born in a log cabin, along with many of his siblings, Marshall received only about a year of formal education. He briefly attended lectures at the College of William & Mary before beginning a legal career that ultimately led to the nation's highest court.

Watch patient stories describing life with macular degeneration

This video series features patients discussing their experiences with the disorder, family members describing caregiving, and other insights about the disease.

Hear Abigail Adams' 1786 letters—reporting from London on politics and society

This podcast brings to life a letter Abigail wrote to her son John Quincy in February 1786, reporting from London on dinners with wealthy South Carolinians and the relationships of her daughter Nabby—with commentary from a Massachusetts Historical Society scholar.

The story of Dollree Mapp, whose legal challenge over her 1957 conviction for possessing "obscene material" led to a major strengthening of the Fourth Amendment

44% of Americans say they pray at least once a day—discover how your state's religiosity stacks up against the rest of the country.

Gerrymandering works through two techniques: cracking opposing voters across districts to dilute their power, and packing them into a few to waste their votes in lopsided majorities.

See a ranking of the best (and worst) Federal Reserve Chairs since 1914 out of the 16 men and women who have held the office since.

Take a 3D tour of the Hajj, Islam's annual pilgrimage to Mecca, undertaken by more than 1.5 million Muslims each year.

See the most iconic photos from four decades of LIFE magazine

Long before Major League Baseball began allowing instant replay for balls and strikes, an umpire reluctantly used the technology to determine whether a hit was a home run, a move that inadvertently ushered in a new era for the sport.

Legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed the SC Johnson headquarters in Wisconsin, aiming to make a cathedral-like workplace

'Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone,' a work by American painter Thomas Moran, inspired Congress to establish Yellowstone National Park.

The American Society of Civil Engineers' infrastructure report card gave the US a C in 2025, its highest grade since the project launched in 1998.

Meet the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence—most of whom didn't put pen to paper until August 2, 1776—and see their original signatures.

Mark Twain spent decades feuding with the US Postal Service, convinced its costs and regulations were bureaucratic overreach.

US housing costs have risen by roughly 175% between 1991 and 2026—but a growing number of Gen Zers are becoming homeowners anyway. In 2025, 4% of homebuyers were Gen Z, up from 3% the year before.

According to the physics of black holes, our 4D reality may be a hologram—a projection of information coded on a 2D surface on the edge of the universe.

Children are now three times more likely to say they want to be a YouTuber when they grow up than an astronaut, with some even attending 'YouTube camps' that teach kids how to create content for the platform.

View the ten deadliest tornadoes in US history.

Abraham Lincoln was almost assassinated weeks before his inauguration as he traveled from Illinois to DC through Baltimore in 1861; it took two independent claims for Lincoln to be convinced the threat was real

Play the role of a student in a game where you try to navigate college and remain debt-free, selecting different income levels, high school experience, race, ethnicity, and more.

See how Budweiser's famous Clydesdales spend their days at Warm Springs Ranch, where roughly 70 to 80 of the beer brand's giant horses can be found at any given time.

Fish populations in the Great Barrier Reef have increased after installing waterproof speakers on the ocean floor that played recordings of sounds from healthy coral reefs.

In 2009, the nation was gripped by the story of a missing young boy who was believed to be floating over Colorado in a homemade balloon, until it was revealed that he was at home the whole time.

Comedy legend Catherine O'Hara, star of 'Schitt's Creek' and 'Home Alone,' quit 'Saturday Night Live' after just one week to return to her old job.

In 2025, four executives from large tech companies were given positions in the US Army Reserves—including Palantir Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar, which reinforced Palantir's ties with the US military and its role as a leading defense partner.

Alzheimer's can lead to brain shrinkage, with an average of around 2% of volume reduction per year