Constitutional

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With the writing of the Constitution in 1787, the framers set out a young nation’s highest ideals. And ever since, we’ve been fighting over it — what is in it and what was left out. At the heart of these arguments is the story of America. As a follow-up to the popular Washington Post podcast “Presi…

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    • Jul 26, 2024 LATEST EPISODE
    • infrequent NEW EPISODES
    • 38m AVG DURATION
    • 24 EPISODES


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    Latest episodes from Constitutional

    Introducing, "The Sports Moment"

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 26, 2024 0:59


    Ava Wallace, sports reporter at The Washington Post, is in France to report on the Summer Games — and eat a lot of croissants. Join her through the entire run of the games, for several episodes a week as she captures the highs, the lows and the Paris of it all, along with other Post colleagues.Follow The Sports Moment podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or YouTube.Sign up for The Sports Moment: Olympics Edition newsletter here.

    Introducing “The Empty Grave of Comrade Bishop”

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 16, 2023 3:34


    Grenada's Black revolutionary leader, Maurice Bishop, was executed in a coup in 1983, along with seven others. The whereabouts of their remains are unknown. Now, The Washington Post's Martine Powers uncovers new answers about how the U.S. fits into this 40-year-old Caribbean mystery.“The Empty Grave of Comrade Bishop” is an investigative podcast that delves into the revolutionary history of Grenada, why the missing remains still matter and the role the U.S. government played in shaping the fate of the island nation. Listen and follow the show here.

    Listen to the first episode of “Field Trip”: Yosemite National Park

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 29, 2023 55:41


    To hear the rest of the series, follow “Field Trip” wherever you listen. California's Sierra Nevada is home to a very special kind of tree, found nowhere else on Earth: the giant sequoia. For thousands of years, these towering trees withstood the trials of the world around them, including wildfire. Low-intensity fires frequently swept through groves of sequoias, leaving their cinnamon-red bark scarred but strengthened, and opening their cones to allow new seeds to take root.But in the era of catastrophic wildfires fueled by climate change, these ancient trees are now in jeopardy. And Yosemite National Park is on the front lines of the fight to protect them.In the first episode of “Field Trip,” Washington Post reporter Lillian Cunningham takes listeners inside this fabled landscape — from the hush of the Mariposa Grove to the rush of the Merced River — to explore one of America's oldest and most-visited national parks.We'll hear from Yosemite forest ecologist Garrett Dickman on the extreme measures he's taken to protect iconic trees; from members of the Southern Sierra Miwuk working to restore Native fire practices to the park; and from Yosemite superintendent Cicely Muldoon about the tough choices it takes to manage a place like this.We'll also examine the complicated legacies that conservationist John Muir, President Abraham Lincoln and President Theodore Roosevelt left on this land.The giant trees of Yosemite kick-started the whole idea of public land preservation in America. Join us as we visit the place where the idea of the national parks began — and ask what the next chapter might look like. You can see incredible photos of Yosemite and find more on the national parks here. Subscribe to The Washington Post with a special deal for podcast listeners. Your first four weeks are free when you sign up here.

    Introducing “Field Trip”

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 14, 2023 3:13


    Journey through the messy past and uncertain future of America's national parks. The Washington Post's Lillian Cunningham ventures off the marked trail to better understand the most urgent stories playing out in five iconic landscapes today.“Field Trip” is a new podcast series that will transport you to five national parks: Yosemite, Everglades, Glacier, White Sands and Gates of the Arctic. Follow the show wherever you listen.

    Introducing "Broken Doors"

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 27, 2022 4:23


    No-knock warrants allow police to force their way into people's homes without warning. What happens when this aggressive police tactic becomes the rule, rather than the exception? "Broken Doors" is a new investigative podcast series from the Washington Post about how no-knock warrants are deployed in the American justice system - and the consequences for communities when accountability is flawed at every level. Hosted by Jenn Abelson and Nicole Dungca.

    Introducing Moonrise

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 19, 2019 4:55


    Host Lillian Cunningham's next podcast explores the real story of why we went to the moon -- a darker, but truer story than the one you've heard before. Listen to this trailer, and subscribe on your favorite podcast app or at washingtonpost.com/moonrise.

    Ourselves and our posterity

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 12, 2018 56:04


    In the "Constitutional" finale, we address listener questions about the history--and future--of the nation's governing document.

    The First Amendment

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 29, 2018 53:31


    Why do First Amendment rights trump nearly every other right in America? Thank Jehovah's Witnesses.

    Privacy

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 15, 2018 46:40


    How should the Constitution's privacy protections be translated for a new era? This is a question before the Supreme Court today, but it was also a question that captivated a justice appointed to the Supreme Court 100 years ago — Louis Brandeis.

    Prohibition

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 1, 2018 54:38


    The passage and then repeal of the 18th Amendment, banning alcohol in America, highlighted the pitfalls of trying to legislate against vice.

    Taxes

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 18, 2017 43:41


    Congress today faces the same question it faced a century ago when creating the modern tax system: What kind of society should America be?

    The common defense

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 4, 2017 50:57


    One intention the framers had when creating the U.S. Constitution was to “provide for the common defense.” But who shoulders that duty has not always been so clear.

    War

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 20, 2017 42:44


    What was the original point of the Second Amendment? We examine its colonial and revolutionary roots—plus its quiet companion, the Third Amendment—with renowned American history scholar Gordon Wood.

    Love

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 6, 2017 40:08


    The words "marriage" and "love" appear nowhere in the U.S. Constitution. Yet 50 years ago, the Supreme Court issued a decision that would embed those concepts in the heart of the document itself.

    Fair punishment

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 23, 2017 52:28


    "There is so much feeling of racial injustice around the issue of punishment. And you have to understand that those feelings have a history -- and that history is Parchman Farm."

    punishment parchman farm
    Fair trials

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 9, 2017 47:59


    In 1963, the Supreme Court ruled in Gideon v. Wainwright that states must offer a defense attorney to all poor people accused of crimes. The decision transformed the concept of fair trials in America, but left major challenges to the justice system today.

    Congress and citizens

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 25, 2017 40:20


    Is it a feature or a bug of the amendment process that an idea of James Madison's, more than 200 years ago, could be recently resurrected and etched into the U.S. Constitution?

    Senate and states

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 11, 2017 46:47


    When the United States changed its process for electing senators, did that lead to a decline in state power? Or did it instead bring us closer to a "more perfect union"?

    Gender

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 28, 2017 50:03


    From the American Revolution through today, women have been leading a long-burning rebellion to gain rights not originally guaranteed under the Constitution.

    Race

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 21, 2017 53:00


    As powerful as it was to change the Constitution after the Civil War, and enshrine racial equality into our governing document, that wasn’t enough to change the reality of life in America.

    Nationality

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 14, 2017 48:46


    What makes someone American? A landmark Supreme Court case in 1898, involving a child born in San Francisco to Chinese immigrant parents, would help answer that question.

    Ancestry

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 7, 2017 42:07


    In 1879, a case involving Chief Standing Bear came before a Nebraska courtroom and demanded an answer to the question: Are Native Americans considered human beings under the U.S. Constitution?

    Framed

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 24, 2017 64:37


    In the premier episode of “Constitutional,” we go back in time to that hot Philadelphia summer in 1787 when a group of revolutionary Americans debated, drank and together drafted the U.S. Constitution.

    Introducing 'Constitutional'

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 29, 2017 4:50


    Preview The Washington Post's newest podcast, a narrative series about the revolutionary figures who shaped America's story. Subscribe now to get the first episode when it launches July 24.

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