About
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.
Creator
Alycia Asai
host
Reviews
Episodes(3)
History Makers: Presidential Seclusion with Charles Ferguson
Join me as I sit down with author and historian Charles Ferguson to discuss his book Presidential Seclusion: The Power of Camp David, which explores the history of the presidential retreat and the men who've shaped it. Learn about the original name for Camp David, how various presidents have utilize
Titans or Crooks: The Men Who Built Industrial America
The Gilded Age was marked by the rise of powerful industrialists - but four men in particular are known for the power they wielded and the complex legacies they left behind. John D. Rockefeller transformed oil. Andrew Carnegie's steel empire was built on efficiency and reinvestment. Cornelius Vander
The Exodusters: The Great Migration You Haven’t Heard About
Before the Great Migration, there was a smaller, yet just as important emigration of Black Americans out of the South. For several months in 1879, thousands of freedmen and their families headed for Kansas, hoping to create a better life for themselves and establish a better future for the children.