Live at the National Constitution Center

The National Constitution Center and the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University recently presented a conversation exploring how significant the role of “we the people” should be in governing. The panel debated whether more power should be returned to the American people and, if so, what reforms should be enacted to meet that goal? National Constitution Center President and CEO Jeffrey Rosen was joined by Dan McLaughlin, senior writer at National Review Online and professor Hahrie Han, co-author of Prisms of the People: Power and Organizing in 21st Century America and the inaugural director of the SNF Agora Institute. This panel was streamed live on June 23rd, 2021. Check out additional programs from our Guardrails of Democracy initiative, including "How to Restore the Guardrails of Democracy," in our Media Library.Additional resources and transcript available at constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/media-libraryQuestions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.

State constitutions influenced the drafting of the U.S. Constitution and continue to shape constitutional rights today. The Virginia Constitution of 1776 in particular influenced both the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. As we get ready to celebrate Independence Day, National Constitution Center President and CEO Jeffrey Rosen joined experts for a two-part conversation on state constitutions. First, Rosen was joined by A.E. Dick Howard of the University of Virginia. Professor Howard is an expert on the Virginia Constitution of 1776 and Virginia’s current constitution, which he helped draft and is commemorating its 50th anniversary this year. Rosen was then joined by two experts on state constitutions: Judge Jeffrey Sutton, author of 51 Imperfect Solutions: States and the Making of American Constitutional Law, and professor Emily Zackin, author of Looking for Rights in All the Wrong Places: Why State Constitutions Contain America’s Positive Rights. This panel was streamed live on June 28, 2021. If you’re interested in learning more about state constitutions, check out some of our past programs including this Town Hall program featuring Judge Jeffrey Sutton, “Why State Constitutions Matter.”Register for our 2021 Annual Supreme Court Review on July 8 at constitutioncenter.org/debate.Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.Additional resources and transcript available at constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/media-library.

Should the government or private companies identify and regulate truth and lies? Join Martha Minow, professor at Harvard Law School and author of the new book, Saving the News: Why the Constitution Calls for Government Action to Preserve Freedom of Speech, Paul Matzko of the Cato Institute and author of The Radio Right, and Jonathan Rauch, author of the new book, The Constitution of Knowledge: A Defense of Truth, for a discussion the history of American protection for free speech values and how they are challenged by the social media landscape today. They also discuss current debates about the regulation of online speech, from content regulation to algorithmic disinformation, and what reforms, if any, might promote the free trade in ideas and expression in the future. Newton Minow, former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission during the John F. Kennedy administration, provides remarks. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates. Additional resources and transcript available at constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/media-library.Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.

Jeffrey Rosen moderates a conversation looking back at some of America’s greatest Supreme Court justices in history, including Chief Justice John Marshall, one of the founders of constitutional law; Justice John Marshall Harlan, famous for his dissent in Plessy v. Ferguson in which he argued against the doctrine of “separate but equal;” and others—from Justice Benjamin Curtis to Justice Antonin Scalia. Rosen was joined by Robert Strauss, author of the new book 'John Marshall: The Final Founder;' Peter Canellos, editor at Politico and author of the new book 'The Great Dissenter: The Story of John Marshall Harlan, America's Judicial Hero;' and Elizabeth Slattery, a lawyer at the Pacific Legal Foundation and co-host of 'Dissed,' a podcast about important dissents.Register to join us live for upcoming online programs at constitutioncenter.org/debate and check out past programs in our media library at constitutioncenter.org/constitution, including: “Robert Strauss: America’s Worst Presidents” featuring Strauss discussing his book 'Worst. President. Ever: James Buchanan, the POTUS Rating Game, and the Legacy of the Least of the Lesser Presidents' If you’d like to learn more about Chief Justice John Marshall, check out our 2019 program “The Man Who Made the Supreme Court” featuring acclaimed historian Richard Brookhiser Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.Additional resources and transcript available at constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/media-library.

The National Constitution Center and With Honor Action—a group dedicated to promoting the leadership of military veterans in public service—hosted a discussion exploring the state of Congress with members of the For Country Caucus, a bipartisan group of military veterans serving in Congress and dedicated to working together in a nonpartisan way to create a more productive government. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, was joined by Representatives Jared Golden (D-ME), Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA), Peter Meijer (R-MI), and Mariannette Jane Miller-Meeks (R-IA).This program was presented with support from With Honor Action and as part of the National Constitution Center’s Restoring the Guardrails of Democracy initiative.Additional resources and transcript available at constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/media-library.Questions or comments about the podcast? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.

Last week, U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Stephen G. Breyer joined National Constitution Center President and CEO Jeffrey Rosen for a live online program to discuss the Constitution, civility, the Court, and more. In a wide-ranging conversation, the justice discusses how he goes about making decisions, shares some stories and life lessons from his time on the bench, and shares some of his favorite books and authors. He also explains why civic education is so important today, why people need to reach across the political divides more than ever, and why he's optimistic about the future of America. Finally, he answers questions from the audience and describes how he’s been spending his time during the pandemic (including Zooming with his law clerks and meditating).This conversation was one of our constitutional classes broadcast live to learners of all ages. All of the classes from the past school year were recorded and can be watched for free at https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/media-library.  Additional resources and transcripts available at constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/media-library.Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.

What were the key texts, authors, and sources the framers looked to when drafting the Constitution? Scholars Richard Albert of the University of Texas at Austin, Jonathan Gienapp of Stanford University, and Colleen Sheehan of Arizona State University explore what books were on the shelves of founders like James Madison and Thomas Jefferson, and where some of the ideas behind the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution came from, in a conversation moderated by National Constitution Center President and CEO Jeffrey Rosen. They discuss the influence of ancient and contemporaneous philosophers, thinkers, and writers—including Plutarch, Aristotle, Montesquieu, Jean-Jacques Barthélemy, John Locke, Emer de Vattel, William Blackstone, David Hume, and more.Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.Additional resources and transcript available at constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/media-library

Scholars Bernadette Meyler of Stanford Law School, Alison LaCroix of the University of Chicago Law School and co-editor of the new book, Cannons and Codes: Law, Literature, and America's Wars, and political scientist Catherine Zuckert of the University of Notre Dame and Arizona State University recently joined Jeffrey Rosen for a discussion exploring the ways literature—including the works of Daniel Defoe, James Fenimore Cooper, Jane Austen, Mark Twain, Tracy Smith, and others—has intersected with the Constitution and American democracy from the nation’s founding, to the Civil War, and beyond.Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.Additional resources and transcript available at constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/media-library.

Preeminent legal scholar Akhil Reed Amar of Yale Law School, host of the Amarica’s Constitution podcast, joins National Constitution Center President and CEO Jeffrey Rosen to discuss the big constitutional questions confronted by early Americans, as described in Amar's groundbreaking new book, 'The Words That Made Us: America's Constitutional Conversation, 1760-1840.'Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.Additional resources and transcript available at constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/media-library.

In light of the critical events and national debates over the past year about race, rights, and equality, the National Constitution Center hosts a discussion exploring the question: “Do we need a third Reconstruction?” Last week, Jeffrey Rosen was joined by Sherrilyn Ifill, president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund; professor Wilfred Codrington III of Brooklyn Law School; political scientist William Allen; and professor Kurt Lash of the University of Richmond School of Law and author of a new two-volume series, The Reconstruction Amendments. They explored the first Reconstruction following the Civil War, and the Civil Rights movement as a kind of second “reconstruction”—and then considered whether we need a third era of reconstruction in America today.Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.Additional resources and transcript available at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.