Ken Burns and Telling Founding-Era Stories

On today’s Chuck ToddCast, editor of The Dispatch Sarah Isgur joins Chuck for a sweeping conversation about the Supreme Court, constitutional design, and the modern dysfunction of Congress. Sarah argues that SCOTUS is the only institution still operating as the founders intended—and with two major cases on the docket, the Court could soon reshape the balance of power between the executive and legislative branches. She and Chuck examine how the activist class has abandoned Congress, why long-term challenges like climate change require legislation rather than court battles, and how a dramatically expanded House—potentially 1,200 members or more—could restore true representation. They dig into how the collapse of traditional parties, the rise of communications-focused lawmakers, and the outsize influence of small states have all warped American governance.

The conversation then widens into history, culture, and political “what-ifs”—from Ken Burns’ Revolutionary War documentary to the chaotic post-Lincoln era, to the tantalizing possibility that a surviving President Garfield might have accelerated civil rights by a century. Chuck and Sarah compare Obama to Chester Arthur, debate whether Democrats learned the wrong lessons from Trump, and revisit the alternate timelines of Chris Christie, Carly Fiorina, and the Tea Party. They close with a provocative question: Should the DOJ be structurally separated from the executive branch? And, more fundamentally, should it be far easier to amend the Constitution for a modern nation of 300 million people?

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Timeline:

(Timestamps may vary based on advertisements)

00:00 Sarah Isgur joins the Chuck ToddCast

01:30 SCOTUS is the only institution functioning as founders intended

02:00 SCOTUS has 2 cases that could rebalance other two branches

03:15 SCOTUS may strengthen executive while empowering congress

05:30 What if SCOTUS gives Trump everything he wants?

07:00 Activist class has given up or ignored congressional authority

08:00 You need legislation to address long term problems like climate change

09:30 The house needs to be expanded to make it more representative

11:45 The house should have 1200+ members

13:15 We replaced political parties with high dollar special interests

14:00 Members aren’t attending town halls, they’re posting on social media

16:30 The two leaders of each chamber run congress, not committee chairs

17:15 Legislators are frustrated with the broken nature of congress

18:30 Members aren’t hiring legislating staff, they hire comms staff

20:00 Boebert, AOC, MTG would be backbenchers without comms

21:30 Small states are getting far too much influence electorally

24:30 The constitution is a good ballast if we follow it and regularly amend it

25:30 Ken Burns was gutsy to make a doc on the American revolution

27:00 If you want 300 million people to follow a law, it should take time to pass

29:00 Death By Lightning was too short to tell the whole story

31:00 “Manhunt” really painted a picture of Andrew Johnson

32:00 Lincoln assassination was meant to  Lincoln's administration

32:45 Holiday reading list 

34:00 End of 19th century was a weird time for the U.S. presidency

36:00 Rehnquist’s book comments on Bush v Gore through 19th century lens

37:45 Thomas Jefferson impeached justices in order to get a SCOTUS rubber stamp

38:30 Chuck’s project to create a scripted TV show about Garfield & reconstruction

39:45 George Washington wanted D.C. to be the biggest port city on east coast

42:30 1860-1865 was a fascinating time for the city of Washington DC

44:00 If Garfield lived we might have gotten the Civil Rights Act 100 years sooner

45:30 Parallels between Obama and Chester A. Arthur presidencies

46:30 Democrats learning from Trump that action matters over process

47:30 Dems gutted their bench during Obama years

48:30 Obama endorsing Clinton was a massive mistake for the Democratic Party

51:00 GOP voters realized the “nice” candidate like Romney couldn’t win

52:30 Without “bridgegate”, Chris Christie may be president instead of Trump

54:00 Chris Christie is a wildly talented politician, but mismanaged era with his shot

55:30 The Tea Party energy in GOP could have derailed Christie’s ambitions

56:45 Christie derailed Carly Fiorina’s campaign in 2016

58:00 Should DOJ be detached from the executive branch?

1:00:30 Founders never specified how many justices should be on SCOTUS

1:03:15 Ford pardon was a huge mistake, created protected political class

1:04:45 Where to find Sarah’s work

1:06:00 It should be easier to pass constitutional amendments

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