Live constitutional conversations and debates featuring leading historians, journalists, scholars, and public officials hosted at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia and across America.
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The Live at America's Town Hall podcast is a must-listen for every US citizen who wants to engage in intelligent, interesting, and important discussions on Constitutional matters. This podcast, produced by the National Constitution Center, provides non-partisan educational conversations about issues at the interface of constitutional law and politics. It offers a platform for intelligent scholars and writers to discuss real topics, providing valuable civics lessons and promoting discriminating thought.
One of the best aspects of this podcast is the quality of the discussions. The guests and panelists invited to participate are knowledgeable experts in their fields, ensuring that the arguments put forth are well-informed and thought-provoking. The topics covered range from current events to historical events that have constitutional implications, offering a comprehensive exploration of constitutional matters. Additionally, the podcasts are easy to follow and understand, even for those without a legal background, making them accessible to a wide audience.
Another standout feature of this podcast is its non-partisan approach. Unlike much of today's media landscape that is filled with sensationalism and biased reporting, The Live at America's Town Hall podcast focuses on fostering meaningful discussion without telling listeners what to think. This commitment to neutrality allows individuals from all political backgrounds to engage in thoughtful conversations about important constitutional issues without feeling alienated or excluded.
While it is challenging to find any significant flaws with this podcast, one minor downside may be its limited coverage of certain topics. Given that each episode focuses on a specific subject matter related to constitutional law and politics, there may be some areas that are not extensively explored or go overlooked. However, considering the broad scope of content covered by this podcast, it remains an excellent resource for anyone seeking knowledge on constitutional matters.
In conclusion, The Live at America's Town Hall podcast is an invaluable resource for US citizens as it provides intelligent, interesting, and important discussions on Constitutional matters. Its high-quality discussions with knowledgeable experts offer valuable insights into various constitutional issues, promoting discriminating thought and providing valuable civics lessons. The non-partisan approach of this podcast ensures that individuals from all political backgrounds can engage in meaningful discussions without feeling excluded. Overall, this podcast is a must-listen for anyone interested in constitutional law and politics.
In celebration of Juneteenth, Pulitzer Prize–winning historian David Levering Lewis, author of the definitive two-volume biography of W.E.B. Du Bois, explores Du Bois' life, legacy, and enduring impact on American history, while also discussing his own new memoir, The Stained Glass Window. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates. Resources David Levering Lewis, The Stained Glass Window: A Family History as the American Story, 1790–1958, (2025) David Levering Lewis, W.E.B. Du Bois: A Biography 1868–1963, (2009) American Historical Association, “W.E.B. Du Bois (1868–1963): Historian, Sociologist, Editor, Activist,” Perspectives on History, (2023) W.E.B. Du Bois, The Talented Tenth, (1903) W.E.B. Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk: Centennial Edition, (2003) W.E.B. Du Bois, Black Reconstruction in America: An Essay Toward a History of the Part Which Black Folk Played in the Attempt to Reconstruct Democracy in America, 1860–1880, (2014) W.E.B. Du Bois and Guy B. Johnson, Encyclopedia of the Negro: Preparatory Volume with Reference Lists and Reports, (1940) David Levering Lewis, W.E.B. Du Bois: The Fight for Equality and the American Century, 1919–1963, Read by Courtney B. Vance, (2001) Stay Connected and Learn More Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate. Follow, rate, and review wherever you listen. Join us for an upcoming live program or watch recordings on YouTube. Support our important work. Donate
Legal scholars Gillian Metzger of Columbia Law School and Saikrishna Prakash of the University of Virginia School of Law examine the founders' vision for the presidency, how presidential power has changed over time, and the key constitutional debates that have shaped the modern presidency. The discussion explores how the Trump presidency fits within this historical context and what it means for the future of presidential power. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates. Resources Federalist No. 70 Myers v. United States (1926) Trump v. United States (2024) Saikrishna Prakash, The Living Presidency: An Originalist Argument Against Its Ever-Expanding Powers, (2020) Saikrishna Prakash, Imperial from the Beginning: The Constitution of the Original Executive, (2015) Gillian Metzger, “Disqualification, Immunity, and the Presidency,” Harvard Law Review, Vol. 138 (April 1, 2025) Michel Martin, “Political scientists alarmed by Trump's disregard for checks on the executive branch,” NPR (Feb. 3, 2025) Stay Connected and Learn More Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate. Follow, rate, and review wherever you listen. Join us for an upcoming live program or watch recordings on YouTube. Support our important work. Donate
In celebration of Jewish American Heritage Month, authors Richard Kreitner (Fear No Pharaoh: American Jews, the Civil War, and the Fight to End Slavery) and Shari Rabin (The Jewish South: An American History) discuss their new books on the broader Jewish experience from the Revolutionary era to the Civil War, how American Jews reckoned with slavery, Jewish participation in the Civil War, and some of the key American Jews who helped shape this tumultuous era. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates. This program is presented in partnership with the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History and in celebration of Jewish American Heritage Month. Resources Richard Kreitner, Fear No Pharaoh: American Jews, the Civil War, and the Fight to End Slavery, (2025) Shari Rabin, The Jewish South: An American History, (2025) Jonas Phillips, "Letter to George Washington," (Sept. 7, 1787) George Washington, "Letter to the Savannah, Ga., Hebrew Congregation," (June 14, 1790) George Washington, "Letter to the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, Rhode Island," (Aug. 18, 1790) August Bondi, Autobiography of August Bondi (1833-1907), (1910) Stay Connected and Learn More Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate. Follow, rate, and review wherever you listen. Join us for an upcoming live program or watch recordings on YouTube. Support our important work. Donate
The Honorable Stephen G. Breyer, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (ret.) and National Constitution Center honorary co-chair, joins Christiane Taubira, former French justice minister, for a conversation on democracy, the rule of law, and constitutional traditions from French and American perspectives. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates. Translation is provided by Nicholas Elliott. This program is presented in partnership with Villa Albertine's series, Democracy in an Age of Uncertainty: French and American Perspectives. The series is made possible by the generous support of the Judy and Peter Blum Kovler Foundation. Stay Connected and Learn More Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate. Follow, rate, and review wherever you listen. Join us for an upcoming live program or watch recordings on YouTube. Support our important work. Donate
President Donald Trump's executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship has reignited debates over the 14th Amendment and the meaning of citizenship in America. Legal experts Gabriel Chin of the University of California, Davis School of Law; Amanda Frost of the University of Virginia School of Law; Kurt Lash of the University of Richmond School of Law; and Ilan Wurman of the University of Minnesota Law School analyze the legal challenges surrounding birthright citizenship, explore the constitutional and historical arguments on all sides of this debate, and discuss its broader implications for immigration. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates. Resources Trump v. CASA, Inc., United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (2025) Trump v. Washington, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (2025) Trump v. New Jersey, United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (2025) Amanda Frost, You Are Not American: Citizenship Stripping from Dred Scott to the Dreamers (2021) Amanda Frost, “The Coming Assault on Birthright Citizenship,” The Atlantic (Jan. 7, 2025) Ilan Wurman and Randy Barnett, “Trump Might Have a Case on Birthright Citizenship,” The New York Times (Feb. 15, 2025) Ilan Wurman, “Jurisdiction and Citizenship,” Minnesota Legal Studies Research Paper No. 25-27 (April 14, 2025) Gabriel “Jack” Chin and Paul Finkelman, “Birthright Citizenship, Slave Trade Legislation, and the Origins of Federal Immigration Regulation,” UC Davis Law Review, Vol. 54 (April 8, 2021) Gabriel J. Chin, “America Has Freaked Out Over Birthright Citizenship For Centuries,” Talking Points Memo (Aug. 2015) Kurt Lash, “Prima Facie Citizenship: Birth, Allegiance and the Fourteenth Amendment's Citizenship Clause,” SSRN (Feb. 22, 2025) Kurt Lash, The Fourteenth Amendment and the Privileges and Immunities of American Citizenship (2014) Stay Connected and Learn More Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate. Follow, rate, and review wherever you listen. Join us for an upcoming live program or watch recordings on YouTube. Support our important work. Donate
In celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, historians Rick Atkinson, author of The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777; Mary Beth Norton, author of 1774: The Long Year of Revolution; and Rosemarie Zagarri, author of Revolutionary Backlash: Women and Politics in the Early American Republic, explore the events leading to the first shots of the American Revolution, the battles themselves, and the colonists' response to this pivotal moment in history. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates. Resources Rick Atkinson, The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777, (2019) Rick Atkinson, The Fate of the Day: The War for America, Fort Ticonderoga to Charleston, 1777-1780, (2025) Mary Beth Norton, 1774: The Long Year of Revolution, (2020) Mary Beth Norton, Liberty's daughters: The Revolutionary experience of American women, 1750-1800, (1980) Rosemarie Zagarri, Revolutionary Backlash: Women and Politics in the Early American Republic, (2008) Rosemarie Zagarri, A Woman's Dilemma: Mercy Otis Warren and the American Revolution (2nd ed. 2014) Townshend Act (1767) The Tea Act and the Boston Tea Party (Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation) The Intolerable Acts (Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation) Joseph Warren, “Our Country Is In Danger but Not To Be Despaired Of,” (March 6, 1775) Stay Connected and Learn More Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate. Follow, rate, and review wherever you listen. Join us for an upcoming live program or watch recordings on YouTube. Support our important work. Donate
In this episode, Brian Kalt of Michigan State College of Law and Jeffrey Toobin, author of The Pardon: The Politics of Presidential Mercy, explore the founders' vision for the pardon power and the use of the presidential pardon throughout American history—from Thomas Jefferson's pardons to those issued by Presidents Biden and Trump. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates. Resources Jeffrey Toobin, The Pardon: The Politics of Presidential Mercy (2025) Brian Kalt, Constitutional Cliffhangers (2012) Nixon Pardon (Gerald Ford Presidential Library) Trump v. United States (2024) Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist No. 74, New York Packet (March 28, 1788) Abraham Lincoln, “Proclamation 124—Offering Pardon to Deserters” (March 11, 1865) United States v. Klein (1871) Ex parte Garland (1866) Andrew Glass, “Bush pardons Iran-Contra felons, Dec. 24, 1992,” Politico (Dec. 24, 2018) Presidential Records Act Donald Trump, “Granting Pardons and Commutation of Sentences for Certain Offenses Relating to the Events at or Near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021,” (Jan. 20. 2025) Jimmy Carter, “Proclamation 4483—Granting pardon for violations of the Selective Service Act, August 4, 1964, to March 28, 1973,” (Jan. 21, 1973) Pardons granted by President Barack Obama Pardons granted by President Joe Biden Pardons granted by President Bill Clinton Pardons granted by President Donald Trump Stay Connected and Learn More Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate. Follow, rate, and review wherever you listen. Join us for an upcoming live program or watch recordings on YouTube. Support our important work. Donate
Best-selling author Michael Lewis discusses his new book, Who Is Government?: The Untold Story of Public Service. As Americans' distrust in the government continues to grow, Lewis' book examines how the government works, who works for it, and why their contributions continue to matter. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates. Resources Michael Lewis, ed., Who Is Government? The Untold Story of Public Service (2025) Michael Lewis, “The free‑living bureaucrat,” The Washington Post (March 2025) Michael Lewis, “Directions to a journalistic gold mine,” The Washington Post (Nov. 2024) Michael Lewis, The Premonition: A Pandemic Story (2022) Michael Lewis, The Fifth Risk (2018) CURE ID Stay Connected and Learn More Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate. Follow, rate, and review wherever you listen. Join us for an upcoming live program or watch recordings on YouTube. Support our important work. Donate
CNN Anchor and Chief Political Correspondent Dana Bash joins for a discussion of her book, America's Deadliest Election: The Cautionary Tale of the Most Violent Election in American History, which explores the little-known story of election violence in 1872 Louisiana, which nearly pushed American democracy to its breaking point, and what we can learn from it today. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates. Resources Dana Bash & David Fisher, America's Deadliest Election: The Shocking True Story of the Election that Changed American History―Uncover the Roots of America's Political Divide (2024) Colfax Massacre Reports, Teaching American History The Slaughter-House Cases (1873) United States v. Cruikshank (1875) Stay Connected and Learn More Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate. Follow, rate, and review wherever you listen. Join us for an upcoming live program or watch recordings on YouTube. Support our important work. Donate
Jonathan Rauch, author of Cross Purposes: Christianity's Broken Bargain with Democracy, and Julian Zelizer, author of In Defense of Partisanship, join for a wide-ranging discussion on their new books and the rise of partisanship in America. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates. Resources Julian E. Zelizer, In Defense of Partisanship (2025) Jonathan Rauch, Cross Purposes: Christianity's Broken Bargain with Democracy (2025) Julian E. Zelizer, Abraham Joshua Heschel: A Life of Radical Amazement (2021) Jonathan Rauch, “Christian Renewal and the Future of American Democracy,” Brigham Young University Wheatley Institute (Jan. 24, 2025) Jeffrey Rosen, The Pursuit of Happiness: How Classical Writers on Virtue Inspired the Lives of the Founders and Defined America (2024) Stay Connected and Learn More Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate. Subscribe, rate, and review wherever you listen. Join us for an upcoming live program or watch recordings on YouTube. Support our important work. Donate
New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie joins award-winning journalist Juan Williams for a conversation on Williams' new book, New Prize for These Eyes: The Rise of America's Second Civil Rights Movement, exploring the emergence of a new civil rights era—from the 2008 election of President Obama to the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Thomas Donnelly, chief scholar at the National Constitution Center, moderates. Resources Juan Williams, New Prize for These Eyes: The Rise of America's Second Civil Rights Movement (2025) Jamelle Bouie, “Discussing Trayvon Martin, Obama Embraces his Blackness,” The American Prospect (July 19, 2013) Jamelle Bouie, opinion columnist, The New York Times Civil Rights Movement Reconstruction Thomas Ricks, Waging a Good War: A Military History of the Civil Rights Movement, 1954-1968 (2022) Stay Connected and Learn More Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate. Subscribe, rate, and review wherever you listen. Join us for an upcoming live program or watch recordings on YouTube. Support our important work. Donate
The National Constitution Center and the Federal Judicial Center convene leading historians for conversations on Reconstruction and the Constitution. Pamela Brandwein of the University of Michigan, Sherrilyn Ifill of Howard University School of Law, and Ilan Wurman of the University of Minnesota Law School explore the 14th Amendment and the history of Reconstruction. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates. This program is presented in partnership with the Federal Judicial Center. Resources Ilan Wurman, The Second Founding: An Introduction to the Fourteenth Amendment (2020) Pamela Brandwein, Rethinking the Judicial Settlement of Reconstruction (2011) Sherrilyn Ifill, “Why are U.S. courts afraid of the 14th Amendment? Because it's radical,” The Washington Post (Nov. 23, 2023) Sherrilyn Ifill, “Yes, this is America: Why I'm Creating the 14th Amendment Center for Law and Democracy,” Substack (July 7, 2023) 14th Amendment Title VI, Civil Rights Act of 1964 The Civil Rights Bill of 1866 The Reconstruction Amendments Brown v. Board of Education Stay Connected and Learn More Questions or comments about the show? Email us at programs@constitutioncenter.org Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate. Subscribe, rate, and review wherever you listen. Join us for an upcoming live program or watch recordings on YouTube. Support our important work. Donate
The National Constitution Center and the Federal Judicial Center convene leading historians for conversations on Reconstruction and the Constitution. Martha Jones of Johns Hopkins University, Kate Masur of Northwestern University, and Dylan Penningroth of the University of California, Berkeley, delve into the broader legal and social effects of Reconstruction beyond the amendments. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates. This program is presented in partnership with the Federal Judicial Center. Resources Kate Masur, Until Justice Be Done: America's First Civil Rights Movement, from the Revolution to Reconstruction (2021) Dylan Penningroth, Before the Movement: The Hidden History of Black Civil Rights (2023) Martha S. Jones, Vanguard: How Black Women Broke Barriers, Won the Vote, and Insisted on Equality for All (2020) The American Colonization Society Dred Scott v. Sandford Stay Connected and Learn More Questions or comments about the show? Email us at programs@constitutioncenter.org Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate. Subscribe, rate, and review wherever you listen. Join us for an upcoming live program or watch recordings on YouTube. Support our important work. Donate
The day after the 2025 presidential inauguration, leading presidential historians and contributors to the recently published compendium My Fellow Americans: Presidents and Their Inaugural Addresses, Michael Gerhardt, Kate Masur, and Ted Widmer, reflect on inaugural addresses throughout history and how they relate to a president's legacy. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates. Resources: Yuvraj Singh and Ted Widmer, My Fellow Americans: Presidents and Their Inaugural Addresses (2024) Martin Van Buren, Inaugural Address (March 4, 1837) Donald Trump, Second Inaugural Address (Jan. 20, 2025) Andrew Jackson, First Inaugural Address (March 4, 1829) Andrew Jackson, Second Inaugural Address (March 4, 1833) Grover Cleveland, Second Inaugural Address (March 4, 1893) Abraham Lincoln, First Inaugural Address (March 4, 1861) Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address (March 4, 1865) Franklin D. Roosevelt, First Inaugural Address (March 4, 1933) John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Address (Jan. 20, 1961) Joe Biden, Inaugural Address (Jan. 20, 2021) Stay Connected and Learn More Questions or comments about the show? Email us at programs@constitutioncenter.org Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate. Subscribe, rate, and review wherever you listen. Join us for an upcoming live program or watch recordings on YouTube. Support our important work. Donate
Melanie Randolph Miller, editor of the Gouverneur Morris Papers: Diaries Project; Dennis Rasmussen, author of The Constitution's Penman: Gouverneur Morris and the Creation of America's Basic Charter; and William Treanor, dean of Georgetown Law explore the fantastic life and constitutional legacy of Gouverneur Morris: Founding Father, key member of the Committee of Style, and opponent of slavery. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates. Resources Dennis C. Rasmussen, The Constitution's Penman: Gouverneur Morris and the Creation of America's Basic Charter, (2023) William M. Treanor, Gouverneur Morris and the Drafting of the Federalist Constitution, (2023) William M. Treanor, The Case of the Dishonest Scrivener: Gouverneur Morris and the Creation of the Federalist Constitution, (2021) Melanie Randolph Miller, An Incautious Man: The Life of Gouveneur Morris, (2008) Gouverneur Morris Papers The U.S. Constitution: Preamble The Federalist Papers The Constitutional Convention of 1787: A Revolution in Government Gouverneur Morris, "Slavery and Representation," (Aug. 8, 1787) Stay Connected and Learn More Questions or comments about the show? Email us at programs@constitutioncenter.org Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate. Subscribe, rate, and review wherever you listen. Join us for an upcoming live program or watch recordings on YouTube. Support our important work. Donate
In this episode, We explore religious liberty and the founders with Jane Calvert, author of Penman of the Founding: A Biography of John Dickinson, Vincent Phillip Muñoz, author of Religious Liberty and the American Founding: Natural Rights and the Original Meanings of the First Amendment Religion Clauses, and Thomas Kidd, author of God of Liberty: A Religious History of the American Revolution. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates. Resources The First Amendment, National Constitution Center exhibit Jane E. Calvert, Penman of the Founding: A Biography of John Dickinson (2024) Thomas Kidd, Thomas Jefferson: A Biography of Spirit and Flesh (2022) Vincent Phillip Muñoz, Religious Liberty and the American Founding: Natural Rights and the Original Meanings of the First Amendment Religion Clauses (2022) Thomas Kidd, God of Liberty: A Religious History of the American Revolution (2010) Vincent Phillip Muñoz , God and the Founders: Madison, Washington, and Jefferson (2009) Letter From George Washington to the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, Rhode Island, (August 18, 1790) Stay Connected and Learn More Questions or comments about the show? Email us at programs@constitutioncenter.org Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate. Subscribe, rate, and review wherever you listen. Join us for an upcoming live program or watch recordings on YouTube. Support our important work. Donate
In this episode, Christopher Cox, former U.S. congressman and author of the new book, Woodrow Wilson: The Light Withdrawn, and Professor Geoffrey Stone of the University of Chicago discuss Wilson's presidential legacy, constitutional vision, and impact on American democracy. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates. Resources Christopher Cox, Woodrow Wilson: The Light Withdrawn (2024) Espionage Act of 1917 and Sedition Act of 1918 Committee on Public Information, Free Speech Center (2009; updated 2024) The First Amendment, National Constitution Center exhibit Susan B. Anthony Amendment, National Susan B. Anthony Museum & House Justice Brandeis, Oyez Geoffrey Stone, “Woodrow Wilson, Princeton University, and the Battles We Choose to Fight,” Huffington Post (Nov. 21, 2015) Stay Connected and Learn More Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcasts@constitutioncenter.org Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate. Subscribe, rate, and review wherever you listen. Join us for an upcoming live program or watch recordings on YouTube. Support our important work. Donate
In celebration of Native American Heritage month, Keith Richotte Jr., author of the forthcoming book, The Worst Trickster Story Ever Told: Native America, the Supreme Court, and the U.S. Constitution and Matthew L.M. Fletcher of the University of Michigan discuss Native American history and law through the stories of landmark Supreme Court cases. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates. Resources: Matthew L.M. Fletcher, The Ghost Road: Anishinaabe Responses to Indian Hating (2020) Keith Richotte Jr., The Worst Trickster Story Ever Told: Native America, the Supreme Court, and the U.S. Constitution (forthcoming 2025) United States v. Kagama (1886) United States v. Lara (2004) Matthew L.M. Fletcher, “Muskrat Textualism,” Northwestern Law Review, Jan. 16, 2022. McGirt v. Oklahoma (2020) Ex Parte Crow Dog (1883) Major Crimes Act Oliphant v. Suquamish Indian Tribe (1978) Montana v. United States (1981) Indian Civil Rights Act Duro v. Reina (1990) Haaland v. Brackeen (2023) Turtle Talk Blog Worcester v. Georgia (1832) Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta (2022) Stay Connected and Learn More Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcasts@constitutioncenter.org Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate. Subscribe, rate, and review wherever you listen. Join us for an upcoming live program or watch recordings on YouTube. Support our important work. Donate
On the eve of the 2024 presidential election, join Jesse Wegman, author of Let the People Pick the President: The Case for Abolishing the Electoral College, and professor Robert Hardaway, author of Saving the Electoral College: Why the National Popular Vote Would Undermine Democracy, for a program examining the history and current debate over the Electoral College. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates. Resources: Robert Hardaway, Saving the Electoral College Why the National Popular Vote Would Undermine Democracy (2019) Jesse Wegman, Let the People Pick the President: The Case for Abolishing the Electoral College (2020) Electoral College, Article II, Section 1, Clauses 2 and 3, Interactive Constitution National Popular Vote Ranked Choice Voting Article I, Section III, The Senate, Interactive Constitution Cass Sunstein, “On Jan. 6, Will Vice President Harris Certify the Election?,” Wall Street Journal, Oct. 25, 2024 Gary Lawson and Jack Beerman, “Congressional Meddling In Presidential Elections: Still Unconstitutional After All These Years; A Comment On Sunstein,” April 2023 “The Very Real Scenario Where Trump Loses and Takes Power Anyway,” Politico, Oct. 20, 2024 Moore v. Harper (2023) Stay Connected and Learn More Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcasts@constitutioncenter.org Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate. Subscribe, rate, and review wherever you listen. Join us for an upcoming live program or watch recordings on YouTube. Support our important work. Donate
This month, the National Constitution Center convened the 2024 National First Amendment Summit, in partnership with FIRE and NYU's First Amendment Watch. America's leading legal thinkers joined for a vigorous discussion on the state of free speech in America and around the globe. This episode features a conversation about global free speech with Jason Rezaian of The Washington Post. He spent 544 days unjustly imprisoned by Iranian authorities until his release in January 2016. Jeffrey Rosen, President and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates. Resources: 2024 National First Amendment Summit FIRE: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression NYU's First Amendment Watch The Washington Post's Press Freedom Partnership Jason Rezaian, Prisoner: My 544 Days in an Iranian Prison―Solitary Confinement, a Sham Trial, High-Stakes Diplomacy, and the Extraordinary Efforts It Took to Get Me Out (2019) Stay Connected and Learn More Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcasts@constitutioncenter.org Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate. Subscribe, rate, and review wherever you listen. Join us for an upcoming live program or watch recordings on YouTube. Support our important work. Donate
This month, the National Constitution Center convened the 2024 National First Amendment Summit, in partnership with FIRE and NYU's First Amendment Watch. America's leading legal thinkers joined for a vigorous discussion on the state of free speech in America and around the globe. “Free Speech on Campus Today” features Mary Anne Franks, author of the new book Fearless Speech: Breaking Free from the First Amendment; FIRE's Vice President of Campus Advocacy Alex Morey; and Keith Whittington, author of You Can't Teach That!: The Battle over University Classrooms. “Free Speech In and Out of the Courts” features Nadine Strossen, author of Free Speech: What Everyone Needs to Know; Jonathan Turley, author of the new book The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage; and Kenji Yoshino of NYU School of Law and Meta's Oversight Board. Resources: 2024 National First Amendment Summit FIRE: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression NYU's First Amendment Watch Mary Ann Franks, Fearless Speech: Breaking Free from the First Amendment (2024) Keith Whittington, You Can't Teach That!: The Battle over University Classrooms (2024) Nadine Strossen, Free Speech: What Everyone Needs to Know (2023) Jonathan Turley, The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage (2024) Meta Oversight Board Stay Connected and Learn More Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcasts@constitutioncenter.org Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate. Subscribe, rate, and review wherever you listen. Join us for an upcoming live program or watch recordings on YouTube. Support our important work. Donate
David Greenberg's new biography, John Lewis: A Life, chronicles the remarkable story of the civil rights activist and congressman. Professor Kenneth Mack of Harvard University joins Greenberg for a discussion of Lewis' life and impact on American history, whose heroism during the Civil Rights Movement helped inspire America's new birth of freedom. Lana Ulrich, vice president of content and senior counsel at the National Constitution Center, moderates. Additional Resources 2016 Liberty Medal Ceremony in honor of Representative John Lewis David Greenberg, John Lewis: A Life (2024) “Rep. John Lewis on MLK and ‘Good Trouble,'” Live at the National Constitution Center podcast (Jan. 2020) Boynton v. Virginia (1960) Civil Rights Era documents selected by Kenneth Mack and Christopher Brooks, NCC Founders' Library Kenneth Mack, Representing the Race: The Creation of the Civil Rights Lawyer (2012) Brown v. Board of Education (1954) Bayard Rustin, “From Protest to Politics: The Future of the Civil Rights Movement” Voting Rights Act (1965) John Lewis, Remarks at the opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture (2016) Stay Connected and Learn More Questions or comments about the show? Email us at programs@constitutioncenter.org Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate. Subscribe, rate, and review wherever you listen. Join us for an upcoming live program or watch recordings on YouTube. Support our important work. Donate
Stanford University professor Jonathan Gienapp, author of the new book, Against Constitutional Originalism: A Historical Critique, is joined by Stephen Sachs of Harvard Law School to discuss Gienapp's challenge to originalists' unspoken assumptions about the Constitution, the history of originalism as a constitutional methodology, and its role in constitutional interpretation today. Thomas Donnelly, chief content officer at the National Constitution Center, moderates. Additional Resources Jonathan Gienapp, “Against Constitutional Originalism: A Historical Critique” (2024) Stephen Sachs and Will Baude, “Originalism and the Law of the Past” (Law and History Review, 2019) Michael Stokes Paulsen and Vasen Kesavan, “Is West Virginia Unconstitutional?” (90 Cal L. Rev. 291, 2002) William Baude, Jud Campbell, and Stephen Sachs, “General Law and the Fourteenth Amendment” (76 Stanford L. Rev 1185, 2024) Jud Campbell, “Four Views of the Nature of the Union” (47 Harvard J. Law & Public Policy 2, 2024) Fletcher v. Peck (1810) District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) United States v. Rahimi (2024) Stay Connected and Learn More Questions or comments about the show? Email us at programs@constitutioncenter.org Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate. Subscribe, rate, and review wherever you listen. Join us for an upcoming live program or watch recordings on YouTube. Support our important work. Donate
On September 24, 2024 the National Constitution Center held its annual Liberty Medal ceremony honoring America's storyteller, Ken Burns, for illuminating the nation's greatest triumphs and tragedies and inspiring all of us to learn about the principles at the heart of the American idea. In this episode, Jeffrey Rosen and Burns's co-director Sarah Botstein talk about Burns's life and work, followed by Ken Burns's inspiring acceptance speech. Burns then sits down with Rosen for a conversation about the American Idea. Resources: The National Constitution Center's 2024 Liberty Medal Ceremony Stay Connected and Learn More Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate. Subscribe, rate, and review wherever you listen. Join us for an upcoming live program or watch recordings on YouTube. Support our important work. Donate
On September 17, the Honorable Neil M. Gorsuch, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court and NCC honorary co-chair, and his co-author and former law clerk Janie Nitze, joined Jeffrey Rosen for an America's Town Hall program in celebration of Constitution Day 2024 and the release of their latest book, Over Ruled: The Human Toll of Too Much Law. Additional Resources National Constitution Center: Constitution 101 with Khan Academy Neil M. Gorsuch and Janie Nitze, Over Ruled: The Human Toll of Too Much Law (2024) National Constitution Center Classroom resources: Federalism National Constitution Center Classroom resources: Federalism and the Separation of Powers Stay Connected and Learn More Questions or comments about the show? Email us at programs@constitutioncenter.org Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate. Subscribe, rate, and review wherever you listen. Join us for an upcoming live program or watch recordings on YouTube. Support our important work. Donate
On September 12, 2024, best-selling author, philanthropist, and National Constitution Center Trustee David Rubenstein joined Jeffrey Rosen at the Center in Philadelphia to discuss his new book, The Highest Calling: Conversations on the American Presidency. The book, which features interviews with presidential historians and living U.S. presidents, chronicles the journeys of the leaders who have defined America. They discuss the duties and responsibilities of the presidency, the triumphs and failures of its officeholders, and the future of the role in the twenty-first century. Resources: David Rubenstein, The Highest Calling: Conversations on the American Presidency (2024) Stay Connected and Learn More: Questions or comments about the show? Email us at programs@constitutioncenter.org Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate. Subscribe, rate, and review wherever you listen. Join us for an upcoming live program or watch recordings on YouTube. Support our important work. Donate
International and national security law experts Harold Hongju Koh of Yale Law School, Deborah Pearlstein of Princeton University, and Matthew Waxman of Columbia Law School join for a conversation to explore Trump v, United States and the updated edition of Koh's landmark book, The National Security Constitution in the Twenty-First Century. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates. Resources: Harold Koh, “The National Security Constitution in the Twenty-First Century” Trump v. United States (2024) Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo (2024) United States v. Curtiss-Wright Export Corp. (1936) Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (Steel Seizure Case) (1952) The Pacificus-Helvidius Debates of 1793-1794 Deborah Pearlstein, “Lawyering the Presidency,” The Georgetown Law Journal (2022) Deborah Pearlstein, “The Executive Branch Anticanon,” Fordham Law Review (2020) Matthew C. Waxman, “War Powers Reform: A Skeptical View” Stay Connected and Learn More: Questions or comments about the show? Email us at programs@constitutioncenter.org Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate. Subscribe, rate, and review wherever you listen. Join us for an upcoming live program or watch recordings on YouTube. Support our important work. Donate
Political theorist William B. Allen, editor and translator of a new edition of Montesquieu's The Spirit of the Laws, and Alison LaCroix, author of The Interbellum Constitution: Union, Commerce, and Slavery in the Age of Federalisms, explored the intellectual foundations—from Montesquieu and beyond—of the U.S. constitutional vision and core values from America's founding through the Civil War. The discussion was moderated by Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center. Resources: Alison LaCroix, The Interbellum Constitution: Union, Commerce, and Slavery in the Age of Federalisms, 2024 Montesquieu, ‘The Spirit of the Laws': A Critical Edition, edited and translated by W. B. Allen, 2024 The Commerce Clause Alison LaCroix, “James Madison v. Originalism,” Project Syndicate (Aug. 26, 2022) 10th Amendment Andrew Jackson, Proclamation Regarding Nullification, (December 10, 1832) Martin v. Hunter's Lessee, (1816) Preamble to the Constitution Stay Connected and Learn More: Questions or comments about the show? Email us at programs@constitutioncenter.org Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate. Subscribe, rate, and review wherever you listen. Join us for an upcoming live program or watch recordings on YouTube. Support our important work. Donate
In celebration of Juneteenth, political commentator Eddie Glaude Jr. discusses his newest book, We Are the Leaders We Have Been Looking For that explores how ordinary people, through the examples of leading Black Americans Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and Ella Baker, have the capacity to achieve a more just and perfect democracy. Thomas Donnelly, chief content officer at the National Constitution Center, hosts the discussion. Resources: Eddie S. Glaude Jr., We Are the Leaders We Have Been Looking For, (2024) Juneteenth Stay Connected and Learn More: Questions or comments about the show? Email us at programs@constitutioncenter.org Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate. Subscribe, rate, and review wherever you listen. Join us for an upcoming live program or watch recordings on YouTube. Support our important work. Donate
Political analyst Yuval Levin, author of American Covenant: How the Constitution Unified Our Nation—and Could Again, and scholar Aziz Rana, author of The Constitutional Bind: How Americans Came to Idolize a Document That Fails Them, discuss the Constitution as America's religion and its role in fostering the American dream. Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates. Resources: Yuval Levin, American Covenant: How the Constitution Unified Our Nation―and Could Again, (2024) Aziz Rana, The Constitutional Bind: How Americans Came to Idolize a Document That Fails Them (2024) “The Modern History of Originalism,” We the People Podcast (Aug. 3, 2023) Article V, Interactive Constitution Stay Connected and Learn More: Questions or comments about the show? Email us at programs@constitutioncenter.org Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate. Subscribe, rate, and review wherever you listen. Join us for an upcoming live program or watch recordings on YouTube. Support our important work. Donate
Steven Hahn, author of Illiberal America: A History, and Manisha Sinha, author of The Rise and Fall of the Second American Republic: Reconstruction, 1860–1920, explored America's historical encounters with illiberalism and its relevance to contemporary challenges confronting American democracy today. Thomas Donnelly, chief content officer at the National Constitution Center, moderated the conversation. Resources Steven Hahn, Illiberal America: A History (2024) Manisha Sinha, The Rise and Fall of the Second American Republic: Reconstruction, 1860-1920 (2024) Abraham Lincoln, “ "Speech to the Young Men's Lyceum of Springfield” (1838), Founders' Library 13th Amendment, Interactive Constitution Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, Founders' Library Steven Hahn, The Roots of Southern Populism: Yeoman Farmers and the Transformation of the Georgia Upcountry, 1850-1890 (1985) Marcia Coyle, “The U.S. Supreme Court Cases Built on a ‘Rotten Foundation',” Constitution Daily (May 2022) Stay Connected and Learn More Questions or comments about the show? Email us at programs@constitutioncenter.org Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate. Subscribe, rate, and review wherever you listen. Join us for an upcoming live program or watch recordings on YouTube. Support our important work. Donate
Tech policy experts Mark Coeckelbergh, author of the new book Why AI Undermines Democracy and What To Do About It, Mary Anne Franks of George Washington University Law School, and Marc Rotenberg of the Center for AI and Digital Policy explored the evolving relationship between artificial intelligence and constitutional principles and suggest strategies to protect democratic values in the digital age. This conversation was moderated by Thomas Donnelly, chief content officer at the National Constitution Center. This program was made possible through the generous support of Citizen Travelers, the nonpartisan civic engagement initiative of Travelers. Resources: Mark Coeckelbergh, Why AI Undermines Democracy and What To Do About It (2024) Center for AI and Digital Policy (CAIDP), “Universal Guidelines for AI” CAIDP, “Artificial Intelligence and Democratic Values” Mary Anne Franks, Fearless Speech: Breaking Free from the First Amendment, (forthcoming Oct. 2024) “Tougher AI Policies Could Protect Taylor Swift—And Everyone Else—From Deepfakes,” Scientific American (Feb. 8, 2024) Marc Rotenberg, “Human Rights Alignment: The Challenge Ahead for AI Lawmakers,” (Dec. 2023) EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), https://gdpr-info.eu/ “U.S. Senate Will Debate Three Bipartisan Bills Addressing the Use of AI in Elections,” Democracy Docket (May 14, 2024) OECD Principles on AI Marc Rotenberg, “The Imperative for a UN Special Rapporteur on AI and Human Rights,” Vol. 1 (2024) Mark Coeckelbergh, “The case for global governance of AI: arguments, counter-arguments, and challenges ahead,” (May 2024) Bipartisan Senate AI Working Group Report Council of Europe and AI Council of Europe AI Treaty Stay Connected and Learn More: Questions or comments about the show? Email us at programs@constitutioncenter.org Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate. Subscribe, rate, and review wherever you listen. Join us for an upcoming live program or watch recordings on YouTube. Support our important work. Donate
A.J. Jacobs, author of The Year of Living Constitutionally: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Constitution's Original Meaning, in conversation with NCC President and CEO Jeffrey Rosen, author of the new book The Pursuit of Happiness: How Classical Writers on Virtue Inspired the Lives of the Founders and Defined America. Listen to their discussion on what it means to live constitutionally today. Resources: A.J. Jacobs, The Year of Living Constitutionally: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Constitution's Original Meaning (2024) "Colonial America" fashion, Brittanica Jonathan Gienapp, The Second Creation: Fixing the American Constitution in the Founding Era (2018) Jud Campbell, “What Did the First Amendment Originally Mean?,” University of Richmond (2018) Texas v. Johnson (1989) NCC's We the People podcast, "The Modern History of Originalism," (August 2023) NCC's We the People podcast, "What the Supreme Court's Opinion in NYSRPA v. Bruen Means for the Second Amendment," (August 2022) "How a college term paper led to a constitutional amendment," Constitution Daily blog, (May 7, 2024) NCC's Constitution Drafting Project Walter Isaacson, Benjamin Franklin: A Life, (2004) Stay Connected and Learn More Questions or comments about the show? Email us at programs@constitutioncenter.org Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate. Subscribe, rate, and review wherever you listen. Join us for an upcoming live program or watch recordings on YouTube. Support our important work. Donate
As Meta surpassed 2 billion users in 2019, the company created an independent oversight board to review appeals of controversial decisions involving content moderation. Members of Meta's Oversight Board Michael McConnell of Stanford Law School and Kenji Yoshino of New York University School of Law discuss the board's recent work, including its efforts to ensure free and fair elections in advance of the 2024 presidential election. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates. This program is made possible through the generous support of Citizen Travelers, the nonpartisan civic engagement initiative of Travelers. Additional Resources Meta Oversight Board Former President Trump's suspension, Meta Oversight Board decision (2021) Meet the Board Brazilian general's speech, Meta Oversight Board decision (2023) Altered Video of President Biden, Meta Oversight Board decision (2023) Oversight Board Announces New Cases on Israel-Hamas Conflict for Expedited Review (Dec. 2023) United States posts discussing abortion, Meta Oversight Board decision, (2023) Referring to Designated Dangerous Individuals as “Shaheed”, Meta Oversight Board decision, (2023) Cambodian prime minister, Meta Oversight Board decision (2023) Reporting on Pakistani Parliament Speech, Meta Oversight Board decision (2023) How to Appeal to the Oversight Board Stay Connected and Learn More Questions or comments about the show? Email us at programs@constitutioncenter.org Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate. Subscribe, rate, and review wherever you listen. Join us for an upcoming live program or watch recordings on YouTube. Support our important work. Donate
Michael Gerhardt, author of the new book FDR's Mentors: Navigating the Path to Greatness, and Andrew Busch, author of Reagan's Victory: The Presidential Election of 1980 and the Rise of the Right, join Jeffrey Rosen to explore the pivotal elections of 1932 and 1980. They compare the transformative presidencies of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan, and trace how founding-era debates between Hamilton and Jefferson over the scope of federal and executive power re-emerged during the New Deal and Reagan Revolution. This program originally streamed live on April 16, 2024. Resources: Michael J. Gerhardt, FDR's Mentors: Navigating the Path to Greatness (2024) Andrew E. Busch, Ronald Reagan and the Politics of Freedom (2001) Andrew E. Busch, Reagan's Victory: The Presidential Election of 1980 and the Rise of the Right (2005) Andrew E. Busch, The Constitution on the Campaign Trail: The Surprising Political Career of America's Founding Document (2007) Friedrich Hayek, “The Road to Serfdom,” Teaching American History (May 21, 2020) Ronald Reagan, Remarks to Commonwealth Club members on March 4, 1983, Reagan Library (July 19, 2018) Franklin D. Roosevelt, Undelivered Address Prepared for Jefferson Day, The American Presidency Project Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org. Continue today's conversation on social media @ConstitutionCtr and #AmericasTownHall Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate, at bit.ly/constitutionweekly. You can find transcripts for each episode on the podcast pages in our Media Library.
Janai Nelson, president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, joins Ronald Collins, author of Tragedy on Trial: The Story of the Infamous Emmett Till Murder Trial, to discuss the tragedy of Emmett Till's murder, the shocking story of the trial that followed, and its impact on the Civil Rights Movement. Thomas Donnelly, chief content officer at the National Constitution Center, moderates. Additional Resources Ronald K. L. Collins, Tragedy on Trial: The Story of the Infamous Emmett Till Murder Trial (2024) H.R.55 - Emmett Till Antilynching Act President Joseph Biden,Remarks by President at Signing of H.R. 55 (March 29, 2022) Joy-Ann Reid, Medgar and Myrlie: Medgar Evers and the Love Story That Awakened America (2024) Valerie Russ, “A former Temple U law professor speaks about how the Emmett Till murder trial shaped the Civil Rights Movement," The Philadelphia Inquirer (April 11, 2024) Liz Fields, “The story behind Nina Simone's protest song, 'Mississippi Goddam,'” PBS (Jan. 14, 2021) Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley, National Monument Stay Connected and Learn More Continue today's conversation on social media @ConstitutionCtr and #AmericasTownHall Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate, at bit.ly/constitutionweekly. Please subscribe to Live at the National Constitution Center and our companion podcast We the People on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app.
On Thursday March 28 at the NCC, Jeffrey Rosen sat down with Justice Stephen Breyer to discuss his new book, Reading the Constitution: Why I Chose Pragmatism, Not Textualism. Justice Breyer deconstructs the textualist philosophy of the current Supreme Court's majority and makes the case for a better way to interpret the Constitution based on pragmatism. Resources Justice Stephen Breyer, Reading the Constitution: Why I Chose Pragmatism, Not Textualism (2024) Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org. Continue today's conversation on social media @ConstitutionCtr and #AmericasTownHall Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate, at bit.ly/constitutionweekly. You can find transcripts for each episode on the podcast pages in our Media Library.
Acclaimed Lincoln historians Sidney Blumenthal, author of the three-volume The Political Life of Abraham Lincoln, and Harold Holzer, author of the new book Brought Forth on This Continent: Abraham Lincoln and American Immigration, assess Lincoln's life and legacy to unveil remarkable similarities between the 19th century and today. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates. Additional Resources Harold Holzer, Brought Forth on This Continent: Abraham Lincoln and American Immigration Sidney Blumenthal, Wrestling With His Angel: The Political Life of Abraham Lincoln, Vol. II, 1849-1856 Abraham Lincoln, Cooper Union Address (1860, February 27) Harold Holzer, Lincoln at Cooper Union: The Speech That Made Abraham Lincoln President Stay Connected and Learn More Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org. Continue today's conversation on social media @ConstitutionCtr and #AmericasTownHall Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate, at bit.ly/constitutionweekly. Please subscribe to Live at the National Constitution Center and our companion podcast We the People on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app.
Richard Hasen, author of A Real Right to Vote, Sarah Isgur, senior editor of The Dispatch, and Lawrence Lessig, author of How to Steal a Presidential Election, provide a health check on the state of American democracy, and look ahead to potential areas of vulnerability in the run-up to the 2024 election. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates. Additional Resources Richard L. Hasen, A Real Right to Vote: How a Constitutional Amendment Can Safeguard American Democracy Lawrence Lessig and Matthew Seligman, How to Steal a Presidential Election Jeffrey Rosen, “The Supreme Court Says States Can't Keep Trump Off the Ballot," We the People, National Constitution Center Trump v. Anderson (2024) Sarah Isgur and David French,“Indictment Watch: The Supreme Court Decides Whether States Can Disqualify Trump,” Advisory Opinions, The Dispatch Richard L. Hasen, “The Supreme Court Just Delivered a Rare Self-Own for John Roberts,” Slate (March 5, 2023) Conference Report, “Carter-Baker Commission: 16 Years Later” (2021) Trump v. Anderson, Amicus brief of Richard L. Hasen, Edward Foley and Ben Ginsburg Stay Connected and Learn More Continue today's conversation on social media @ConstitutionCtr and #AmericasTownHall Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate, at bit.ly/constitutionweekly. Please subscribe to Live at the National Constitution Center and our companion podcast We the People on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app.
On Presidents Day 2024, NCC President and CEO Jeffrey Rosen launched his new book at the NCC in conversation with Jeffrey Goldberg, editor in chief of The Atlantic. They discuss The Pursuit of Happiness: How Classical Writers on Virtue Inspired the Lives of the Founders and Defined America. This program was recorded live on February 19, 2024, and presented in partnership with The Atlantic. Additional Resources: Jeffrey Rosen, The Pursuit of Happiness: How Classical Writers on Virtue Inspired the Lives of the Founders and Defined America (2024) Cicero, The Tusculan Disputations (ca. 45 BC) The Quill Project The King James Bible (1611) Pythagoras, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy The Webster-Hayne Debates Trump v. Anderson “Should President Trump Be Allowed on the 2024 Ballot?,” We the People podcast (Jan. 11, 2024) “Rhetoric of Freedom,” The Atlantic (Sept. 1999) Stay Connected and Learn More Continue the conversation on Facebook and Twitter using @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate, at bit.ly/constitutionweekly. Please subscribe to Live at the National Constitution Center and our companion podcast We the People on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app.
In celebration of Black History Month, explore the history of the African American fight for freedom during the Civil War and Reconstruction periods with historians Edda Fields-Black, author of Combee: Harriet Tubman, the Combahee River Raid, and Black Freedom during the Civil War, and James Oakes, author of Freedom National: The Destruction of Slavery in the United States, 1861-1865. Thomas Donnelly, chief content officer at the National Constitution Center, moderates. Additional Resources Edda L. Fields-Black, COMBEE: Harriet Tubman, the Combahee River Raid, and Black Freedom during the Civil War James Oakes, Freedom National: The Destruction of Slavery in the United States, 1861–1865 James Oakes, The Radical and the Republican: Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, and the Triumph of Antislavery Politics UUSCT Pension Files Stay Connected and Learn More Continue the conversation on Facebook and Twitter using @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate, at bit.ly/constitutionweekly. Please subscribe to Live at the National Constitution Center and our companion podcast We the People on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app.
The Center for Constitutional Design at Arizona State University and the National Constitution Center present a discussion on the NCC's landmark Constitution Drafting Project, featuring members of the drafting teams: Caroline Fredrickson of team progressive, Timothy Sandefur of team libertarian, and Ilan Wurman of team conservative. They will discuss their approaches to constitution drafting, the various amendments they agreed on, and the project's importance in today's constitutional environment. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates. This program is presented in partnership with the Center for Constitutional Design at Arizona State University's Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law. Additional Resources National Constitution Center, Constitution Drafting Project National Constitution Center, Constitution Drafting Project, "The Proposed Amendments" (PDF) Ilan Wurman, A Debt Against the Living: An Introduction to Originalism Center for Constitutional Design at Arizona State University's Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, 2024 Model Constitutional Convention Justice Stephen Breyer on the Importance of Civics Education Jeffrey Rosen, The Pursuit of Happiness: How Classical Writers on Virtue Inspired the Lives of the Founders and Defined America We the People: A Progressive Reading of the Constitution for the Twenty-First Century The Preamble to the Constitution The Declaration of Independence National Constitution Center, Supreme Court Case Library, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010) Stay Connected and Learn More Continue the conversation on Facebook and Twitter using @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate, at bit.ly/constitutionweekly. Please subscribe to Live at the National Constitution Center and our companion podcast We the People on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app.
Called “a degenerate son of science” by Thomas Jefferson and a “bungling lawgiver” by James Madison, Scottish philosopher David Hume was cited so often at the Constitutional Convention that delegates seemed to have committed his essays to memory. Join Angela Coventry, author of Hume: A Guide for the Perplexed; Dennis Rasmussen, author of The Infidel and the Professor: David Hume, Adam Smith, and the Friendship That Shaped Modern Thought; and Aaron Alexander Zubia, author of The Political Thought of David Hume as they discuss Hume's philosophical legacy and its profound impact on the shaping of America. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates. Additional Resources Angela Coventry, ed. A Treatise of Human Nature: Being an Attempt to Introduce the Experimental Method of Reasoning into Moral Subjects Dennis Rasmussen, The Infidel and the Professor: David Hume, Adam Smith, and the Friendship That Shaped Modern Thought Aaron Alexander Zubia, The Political Thought of David Hume: The Origins of Liberalism and the Modern Political Imagination National Constitution Center Town Hall program, Montesquieu and the Constitution Jeffrey Rosen, The Pursuit of Happiness: How Classical Writers on Virtue Inspired the Lives of the Founders and Defined America Hume texts online Federalist No. 10 The Continentalist Federalist No. 85 Stay Connected and Learn More Continue the conversation on Facebook and Twitter using @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate, at bit.ly/constitutionweekly. Please subscribe to Live at the National Constitution Center and our companion podcast We the People on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app.
Several cases before the Supreme Court raise important questions at the intersection of technology and law. Join legal experts Alex Abdo of the Knight First Amendment Institute, Clay Calvert of the American Enterprise Institute, and David Greene of the Electronic Frontier Foundation for a conversation exploring key tech cases, including whether Florida and Texas can regulate the platforms' content moderation policies. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates. Additional Resources Knight Institute's Amicus Brief (in support of neither party), Moody v. NetChoice & NetChoice v. Paxton Clay Calvert, “Friends of the Court, Friends of the First Amendment: Exploring Amicus Brief Support for Platforms' Editorial Independence,” AEI (Dec. 22, 2023) Knight Institute Amicus Brief in Murthy v. Missouri (in support of neither party) Clay Calvert, “Persuasion or Coercion? Understanding the Government's Position in Murthy v. Missouri, Part I,” AEI (Jan. 8, 2024) David Greene, “In Jawboning Cases, there's no getting away from textual analysis,” Knight First Amendment Institute (Nov. 7, 2023) David Greene, EFF Amicus Brief in O'Connor-Ratcliff v. Garnier and Lindke v. Freed (in support of Lindke and Garnier) Miami Herald Publishing Company v. Tornillo (1974) Stay Connected and Learn More Continue the conversation on Facebook and Twitter using @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate, at bit.ly/constitutionweekly. Please subscribe to Live at the National Constitution Center and our companion podcast We the People on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app.
Joyce Lee Malcolm, author of The Times That Try Men's Souls: The Adams, the Quincys, and the Families Divided by the American Revolution—and How They Shaped a New Nation, and Eli Merritt, author of Disunion Among Ourselves: The Perilous Politics of the American Revolution, explore the origins and clashing ideologies during the American Revolution, how Loyalists and Patriots were divided, and how the differing opinions of both groups continue to shape our understanding of American identity. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates. Additional Resources Eli Merritt, Disunion Among Ourselves: The Perilous Politics of the American Revolution Joyce Lee Malcolm, The Times That Try Men's Souls: The Adams, the Quincys, and the Battle for Loyalty in the American Revolution The Declaration of Independence Eli Merrit, "Why demagogues were the Founding Fathers' greatest fear," LA Times Stay Connected and Learn More Continue the conversation on Facebook and Twitter using @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate, at bit.ly/constitutionweekly. Please subscribe to Live at the National Constitution Center and our companion podcast We the People on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app.
Robert Post, Sterling Professor of Law at Yale Law School, delves into the highly anticipated volumes from the Oliver Wendell Holmes Devise History of the Supreme Court, The Taft Court Making Law for a Divided Nation, 1921–1930. Post explores the history of the Taft Court and the contrasting constitutional approaches among its justices, including Louis Brandeis and Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., among others. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates. Additional Resources Robert Post, The Taft Court: Making Law for a Divided Nation, 1921–1930 Meyer v. Nebraska, 262 U.S. 390 (1923) Chas. Wolff Packing Co. v. Court of Ind. Relations, 262 U.S. 522 (1923) Whitney v. California (1927) Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969) Gitlow v. New York (1925) Stay Connected and Learn More Continue the conversation on Facebook and Twitter using @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate, at bit.ly/constitutionweekly. Please subscribe to Live at the National Constitution Center and our companion podcast We the People on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app.
The Espionage Act of 1917, one of the most contentious statutes relating to the First Amendment, is back in the news following the indictment of President Donald Trump for mishandling classified documents. What is the Espionage Act and how has it been used over time? Legal scholar Heidi Kitrosser, author of Reclaiming Accountability: Transparency, Executive Power, and the U.S. Constitution, and political historian Sam Lebovic, author of State of Silence: The Espionage Act and the Rise of America's Secrecy Regime, explore the origins, history, and constitutional legacy of this World War I-era law. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates. Additional Resources Sam Lebovic, State of Silence: The Espionage Act and the Rise of America's Secrecy Regime Espionage Act of 1917 and Sedition Act of 1918 (1917-1918) Defense Secrets Act of 1911 The Alien and Sedition Acts (1798) Schenck v. United States (1919) Heidi Kitrosser, Reclaiming Accountability: Transparency, Executive Power, and the U.S. Constitution Gorin v. United States, 312 U.S. 19 (1941) Heidi Kitrosser and David Schulz, “A House Built on Sand: The Constitutional Infirmity of Espionage Act Prosecutions for Leaking to the Press” United States v. Morison (4th Cir. 1988) Heidi Kitrosser, “The Espionage Act After the Mar-a-Lago Indictment,” Lawfare United States v. Morison (4th Cir. 1988) Stay Connected and Learn More Continue the conversation on Facebook and Twitter using @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate, at bit.ly/constitutionweekly. Please subscribe to Live at the National Constitution Center and our companion podcast We the People on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app.
Political scientists Frances Lee of Princeton University, Steven Levitsky of Harvard University and coauthor of Tyranny of the Minority, and Kurt Weyland of the University of Texas at Austin and author of Democracy's Resilience to Populism's Threat, explore some of the new theories and approaches to the challenges facing American democracy in 2023 and beyond, including proposed solutions. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates. Additional Resources Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, Tyranny of the Minority: Why American Democracy Reached the Breaking Point Frances Lee, “Populism and the American Party System: Opportunities and Constraints” Kurt Weyland, Democracy's Resilience to Populism's Threat: Countering Global Alarmism Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, How Democracies Die Stay Connected and Learn More Continue the conversation on Facebook and Twitter using @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate, at bit.ly/constitutionweekly. Please subscribe to Live at the National Constitution Center and our companion podcast We the People on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app.
New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie and political scientist Melvin Rogers, author of The Darkened Light of Faith: Race, Democracy, and Freedom in African American Political Thought, explore the ways key African American intellectuals and artists—from David Walker, Frederick Douglass, and W.E.B. Du Bois to Billie Holiday and James Baldwin—reimagined U.S. democracy. Thomas Donnelly, chief content officer at the National Constitution Center, moderates. Additional Resources Melvin Rogers, The Darkened Light of Faith: Race, Democracy, and Freedom in African American Political Thought Melvin Rogers, The Undiscovered Dewey: Religion, Morality, and the Ethos of Democracy Kate Masur, Until Justice Be Done: America's First Civil Rights Movement, from the Revolution to Reconstruction Jamelle Bouie, “How Black Political Thought Shapes My Work”, New York Times David Walker David Walker, Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World (1829) Jamelle Bouie, “Why I Keep Coming Back to Reconstruction”, New York Times Martin Delany Jamelle Bouie, “What Frederick Douglass Knew that Trump and DeSantis Don't”, New York Times Jamelle Bouie, “The Deadly History of ‘They're Raping Our Women'”, Slate W.E.B. Dubois, The Souls of Black Folk Stay Connected and Learn More Continue the conversation on Facebook and Twitter using @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate, at bit.ly/constitutionweekly. Please subscribe to Live at the National Constitution Center and our companion podcast We the People on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app.
The election of 1800 was the first hotly contested partisan election in American history. Still, peaceful transfers of power continued for the next two centuries. But how? Carol Berkin, author of A Sovereign People: The Crises of the 1790s and the Birth of American Nationalism, and H.W. Brands, author of Founding Partisans: Hamilton, Jefferson, Madison, Adams, and the Brawling Birth of American Politics, join for an Election Day program to explore political partisanship and nationalism in early America. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates. Additional Resources H.W. Brands, Founding Partisans: Hamilton, Madison, Jefferson, Adams and the Brawling Birth of American Politics Carol Berkin, A Sovereign People: The Crises of the 1790s and the Birth of American Nationalism Genet Affair National Constitution Center Founders' Library, The Alien and Sedition Acts Virginia Resolutions Stay Connected and Learn More Continue the conversation on Facebook and Twitter using @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate, at bit.ly/constitutionweekly. Please subscribe to Live at the National Constitution Center and our companion podcast We the People on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app.
Historians Ned Blackhawk and Brenda Child join for a conversation on Blackhawk's national bestseller, The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History—a sweeping retelling of American history. They explore five centuries of U.S. history to shed light on the central role Indigenous peoples have played in shaping our nation's narrative. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates. Additional Resources Ned Blackhawk, The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History The Declaration of Independence Pontiac's War Brenda Child, Away From Home: American Indian Boarding School Experiences, 1879-2000 Brenda Child, Boarding School Seasons: American Indian Families, 1900-1940 Claudio Saunt, Unworthy Republic: The Dispossession of Native Americans and the Road to Indian Territory Jeffrey Ostler, Surviving Genocide: Native Nations and the United States from the American Revolution to Bleeding Kansas Articles of Confederation Naturalization Act 1790 Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857) Eric Foner, The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution Ned Blackhawk, Violence over the Land: Indians and Empires in the early American West Brenda Child, Holding Our World Together: Ojibwe Women and the Survival of Community Brenda Child, My Grandfather's Knocking Sticks: Ojibwe Family Life and Labor on the Reservation Brenda Child and Brian Klopotek, Indian Subjects: Hemispheric Perspectives on the History of Indigenous Education Michael Witgen, Seeing Red: Indigenous Land, American Expansion, and the Political Economy of Plunder in North America Stay Connected and Learn More Continue the conversation on Facebook and Twitter using @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate, at bit.ly/constitutionweekly. Please subscribe to Live at the National Constitution Center and our companion podcast We the People on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app.
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