In this episode, Niki, Natalia, and Neil discuss Carson v. Makin, the Supreme Court decision that overturns Maine’s ban on giving public funds to private religious schools.
Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show:
- In a victory for proponents of school choice and a major weakening of church-state separation, Maine will now be required to provide state funding to religious schools. Neil cited this Slate article about the ruling, and Natalia drew on this City Journal piece.
In our regular closing feature, What’s Making History:
- Natalia discussed Amanda Mull’s Atlantic article, “Fashion Has Abandoned Human Taste.”
- Neil recommended Hugh Ryan’s book, The Women’s House of Detention: A Queer History of a Forgotten Prison.
- Niki shared about Patricia Bell-Scott’s book, The Firebrand and the First Lady: Portrait of a Friendship: Pauli Murray, Eleanor Roosevelt, and the Struggle for Social Justice.











![A lantern slideshows four overlapping illustrations of the Earth depicting its tilt at different time periods in the past, present and future. Dates represented are 13000 BC, 5544 BC, 1921 AD, 2296AD. Handwritten in blue ink at bottom left corner of plate is the text 'G53 CLW [illegible] Aug '22'.](https://i0.wp.com/publicseminar.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Wragge_Earth.jpg?fit=768%2C749&ssl=1)

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