Politics with Paul #52: Teaching and Preserving Political History and Civics w/ Alex Vassar
Update: 2025-08-05
Description
On today's episode, guest Alex Vassar discusses some of the biggest challenges facing the preservation and teaching of political history and civics, and how we can make these better. Alex is the founder of JoinCalifornia.com (a repository of election data and facts for the State of California), the founder of the One Voter Project, and the communications manager for the California State Library.
How do we best preserve political history? How do we make that history accessible and engaging for other people, especially if they are not as interested in history? What are some of the biggest obstacles to improving civic and historical understanding amongst the public? What is some advice for groups in other states looking to build political history databases? Tune in to hear Alex's insights on these questions and much more!
(0:00 ) The Importance of Political History
(1:47 ) How Alex Became Fascinated With Politics
(3:44 ) Why Alex Built a Political History Database
(6:29 ) How Alex Built JoinCalifornia's Database
(11:38 ) The Most Difficult Aspects of Making a Historical Database
(15:47 ) Why Create the "One Voter Project" Civics Initiative?
(18:13 ) Enhancing Civic and Political Awareness in California
(25:10 ) Teaching Civics vs. Teaching Government, Improving Civics
(31:18 ) Teaching History to People With Preconceptions About it
(36:19 ) What Places Teach Civics and History Well?
(40:01 ) What Should State, Local Governments Role Be in Teaching Civics?
(44:48 ) Other Weird, Interesting Facts From California Political History
(50:00 ) Alex's Advice for Others Making Political History Databases
(56:38 ) Random Question: Annoying Grammar/Pronunciation Errors
(1:00:45 ) Closing and Our Media
How do we best preserve political history? How do we make that history accessible and engaging for other people, especially if they are not as interested in history? What are some of the biggest obstacles to improving civic and historical understanding amongst the public? What is some advice for groups in other states looking to build political history databases? Tune in to hear Alex's insights on these questions and much more!
Alex's links:
- JoinCalifornia political history database: https://www.joincalifornia.com/
- One Voter Project: https://www.onevoter.org/
- California State Library: https://www.library.ca.gov/
My links:
- Buy my book on Amazon (ebook and paperback): https://www.amazon.com/Why-Independents-Rarely-Win-Elections-ebook/dp/B09K8PYM5J/
- Download my FREE 5-day educational email course: https://detoxifyamericanpolitics.com/
- My website: https://paulrader.org/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PaulRaderWrites
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulrader352/
- Medium: https://paulrader-42650.medium.com/
- Email: paulraderwrites@gmail.com
- Matchmaker FM profile for booking me on your podcast: https://www.matchmaker.fm/podcast-guest/paul-rader-329e65
(0:00 ) The Importance of Political History
(1:47 ) How Alex Became Fascinated With Politics
(3:44 ) Why Alex Built a Political History Database
(6:29 ) How Alex Built JoinCalifornia's Database
(11:38 ) The Most Difficult Aspects of Making a Historical Database
(15:47 ) Why Create the "One Voter Project" Civics Initiative?
(18:13 ) Enhancing Civic and Political Awareness in California
(25:10 ) Teaching Civics vs. Teaching Government, Improving Civics
(31:18 ) Teaching History to People With Preconceptions About it
(36:19 ) What Places Teach Civics and History Well?
(40:01 ) What Should State, Local Governments Role Be in Teaching Civics?
(44:48 ) Other Weird, Interesting Facts From California Political History
(50:00 ) Alex's Advice for Others Making Political History Databases
(56:38 ) Random Question: Annoying Grammar/Pronunciation Errors
(1:00:45 ) Closing and Our Media
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