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NCSL PodcastsAuthor: NCSL
Learn about the people, policies and politics of America's state legislatures with NCSL's three podcasts: "Our American States," "Across the Aisle" and the special limited series "Building Democracy." Language: en-us Genres: Government, News Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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As July 4 Anniversary Approaches, We Remember Some State History | OAS Episode 263
Episode 263
Sunday, 3 May, 2026
As the nation prepares to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, NCSL gathered a trio of experts to discuss the origin stories of their states. Our group included Tim Powers, chief technology and outreach officer in the Alaska State Legislature; Paul Smith, clerk of the House of Representatives in New Hampshire; and Pev Squire, a professor of political science at the University of Missouri, and one of the nation's experts on the history of state legislatures. We discussed the status of each state at the time of the American Revolution, how the state's constitutions were written, and some other unusual history, such as New Hampshire crafting the nation's first state constitution, largely out of necessity, and the remarkable brevity of the Alaskan Constitution. This podcast is part of NCSL's annual Legislative Staff Week, which celebrates the innumerable contributions legislative staff make to the effectiveness of our state legislatures. Resources Legislative Staff, NCSL
