We the People

David O. Stewart, a historian, author, and former lawyer, explores the founding documents that shaped American constitutional democracy. He discusses the revolution from colonial rule to citizenship, Thomas Paine’s wartime writings, the Declaration, the Articles of Confederation, constitutional compromises over slavery, the Bill of Rights, and Washington and Jefferson’s warnings about factionalism.

Amy Howe, co-founder of SCOTUSblog; Masha Hansford, a Supreme Court litigator and former Solicitor General attorney; and Greg Stohr, Bloomberg’s Supreme Court reporter, preview the 2026–2027 docket. They explore assault-rifle bans, religious liberty, climate lawsuits, voting rules, jury trials, forfeiture, and the Court’s growing emergency workload. Potentially unexpected alliances and major additions could reshape the term.

Jacob Mchangama, founder of The Future of Free Speech and author of Free Speech: A History from Socrates to Social Media, explores Frederick Douglass’s expansive vision of expression. They examine speech as a universal right, a tool against slavery, and a foundation of equal citizenship. Topics include defending hostile viewpoints, mobs and hecklers, press freedom, Reconstruction, and building a culture of free expression.

Joseph Blocher, Duke law professor and firearms-law scholar, joins Clark Neily, Cato Institute constitutional expert and Heller co-counsel, to explore the Second Amendment’s evolving legal landscape. They examine Bruen’s text-and-history test, the Hemani marijuana ruling, Hawaii’s private-property carry law, assault-weapons bans, and the next wave of cases involving felons, age limits, magazines, sensitive places, and red-flag laws.

William Magnuson, a Texas A&M law professor and legal historian, explores how law shaped the Western world. He travels from Athenian courts and Viking assemblies to Justinian’s Code, Magna Carta, the Constitution, Lincoln, and the Civil Rights Movement. He also considers Napoleon’s legal legacy and the challenges artificial intelligence poses for the rule of law.

Geoffrey Stone of the University of Chicago Law School and Eugene Volokh, senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and UCLA School of Law, discuss the First Amendment and the rapidly evolving speech landscape—from social media and artificial intelligence to college campuses and the press. Thomas Donnelly, lead scholar at the National Constitution Center, moderates. Resources  Moody v. NetChoice, LLC (2024)  “What is Section 230?,” We the People (June 4, 2020)  Citizen United v. Federal Election Commission (2010) National Constitution Center, Supreme Court Case Library  “Meta reaches landmark $18 billion settlement with states in trial over teen social media addiction,” Associated Press (Aug 26, 2026)  Free Speech Coalition, INC v. Paxton (2025)   Ashcroft v. ACLU (2004)  NRA v. Vullo (2024)  “Scaling Laws: Eugene Volokh: Navigating Libel and Liability in the AI Age,” Lawfare (July 17, 2025)  New York Times Company v. Sullivan (1964) National Constitution Center, Supreme Court Case Library  Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc. (1974)    Stay Connected and Learn More  Stay connected with We the People—follow, rate, and review the show wherever you listen.  Questions or comments? Email [email protected].  Follow @ConstitutionCtr on social media and sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate.  Support our important work by making a donation today.  ⁠⁠⁠⁠Donate 

Mary Sarah Bilder, Founders Professor of Law at Boston College and historian of early America, traces the evolving meaning of rights from English traditions through the Revolution. She explores how natural-rights language challenged slavery and exclusion, why Philadelphia omitted a bill of rights, Madison’s change of heart, and how twelve proposals became ten amendments that later shaped American identity.

Orin S. Kerr, Stanford law professor and leading scholar on the Fourth Amendment, breaks down Chatrie v. United States and its implications for digital privacy. He explains geofence warrants and how precise location data differs from older cellphone rules. He contrasts competing judicial approaches and sketches possible futures for Fourth Amendment protections in the networked age.

Fergus M. Bordewich, a prize-winning historian of 19th-century America, explores the 1876 Centennial and its cast of characters. He recounts the fair’s dramatic opening, Alexander Graham Bell’s breakthrough, Gilded Age power players, the fraught politics of Reconstruction and race, and the cultural clash over women’s rights and national memory.

Rosemarie Zagarri, historian of the American Revolution and Distinguished Professor at George Mason University, examines the Declaration’s 27 grievances. She explains why the complaints form the Declaration’s core. She traces how grievances target the king, map onto rights like life, liberty, and happiness, and reveal the path from petitions to revolution and to new state constitutions.