Live at the National Constitution Center

Judge Jed Rakoff unveils his new book 'Why the Innocent Plead Guilty and the Guilty Go Free: And Other Paradoxes of Our Broken Legal System' with former Judge Paul Cassell of the University of Utah College of Law, Carissa Byrne Hessick of the University of North Carolina Law School, and moderator Jeffrey Rosen. They discuss the current challenges in American criminal justice today and share innovative proposals for reform.Additional resources and transcript available atQuestions or comments about the podcast? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.

This week, we’re sharing a constitutional conversation from our archives in honor of Women’s History Month. This program, hosted live at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, traces the history of the Equal Rights Amendment and explores the question of whether we need the ERA to ensure gender equality in the United States. National Constitution Center President and CEO Jeffrey Rosen was joined by University of Texas at Austin School of Law professor Cary Franklin, an expert in anti-discrimination law, and University of Pennsylvania Law professor Serena Mayeri, an expert on how social movements impact legal and constitutional history, to discuss that question and more.Additional resources and transcript available at https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/media-libraryQuestions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.

This week, we’re sharing a constitutional conversation from our archives. Leading legal scholars and historians Allen Guelzo, Martha Jones, Kurt Lash, and Darrell A. H. Miller tell the story of the 14th amendment and the “forgotten founders” who fought for it. Jeffrey Rosen moderates.This conversation was part of a symposium celebrating the 150th anniversary of the 14th Amendment co-hosted with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.Additional resources and transcript available at constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/media-library.Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.

National Constitution Center scholar-in-residence and UNC Law School professor Michael Gerhardt and recently joined us to unveil his new book Lincoln’s Mentors: The Education of a Leader. He was joined by leading historians H.W. Brands, author of the new book The Zealot and the Emancipator: John Brown, Abraham Lincoln, and the Struggle for American Freedom, and Judith Giesberg, author of Sex and the Civil War: Soldiers, Pornography, and the Making of American Morality, in a conversation moderated by Jeffrey Rosen. They explored how Abraham Lincoln mastered the art of leadership, and how five men mentored an obscure lawyer with no executive experience to become one of America’s greatest presidents.Additional resources and transcript available at constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/media-library.Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.

On Presidents Day, National Constitution Center President and CEO Jeffrey Rosen moderated a discussion about the diverse cast of characters that helped to found the nation, including America’s early presidents. Jeff was joined by historians Joanne Freeman of Yale who is also a host of the podcast Backstory, Robert McDonald of West Point, and Peter Onuf of the University of Virginia—all of whom are contributors to the new volume Revolutionary Prophecies: The Founders and America’s Future.Additional resources and transcript available at constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/media-libraryQuestions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.

How can we “restore the guardrails” of democracy? We examine that question and consider ways to strengthen American constitutional and democratic institutions against current and future threats and insurrections in the aftermath of the January 6 attack on the Capitol. Leading commentators Anne Applebaum, SNF Agora Senior Fellow, Pulitzer-prize winning historian, and staff writer for The Atlantic; Daniel Ziblatt, political scientist and a professor at Harvard University and co-author of How Democracies Die; Pulitzer-prize winning journalist George Will; and political scientist William Allen, join moderator Jeffrey Rosen for a wide-ranging conversation. This program is presented in partnership with the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University. Resources and transcript available at constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/media-libraryQuestions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.

In the wake of election 2020, we partnered with the University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law to present its annual symposium exploring the past, present, and future of presidential elections. Jeffrey Rosen moderates a three-part conversation.Panel one on the origins of presidential elections and the electoral college at America’s founding features: William Ewald, professor of law and philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania. Kim Lane Scheppele, Laurance S. Rockefeller Professor of Sociology and International Affairs and the University Center for Human Values at Princeton University. Jack Rakove, emeritus William Robertson Coe Professor of History and American Studies, and Professor of Political Science and (by courtesy) Law at Stanford University Panel two on the more recent history of presidential elections, including the 2020 election, features: Edward Foley, the Ebersold Chair in Constitutional Law at The Ohio State University where he also directs the election law program Alexander Keyssar, the Matthew W. Stirling Jr. Professor of History and Social Policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University Guy-Uriel Charles, the Edward and Ellen Schwarzman Professor of Law at Duke Law School and co-director of the Duke Law Center on Law, Race and Politics Panel three, looking ahead to the future of our presidential elections system features: Jesse Wegman, member of The New York Times editorial board Bradley A. Smith, Josiah H. Blackmore II/Shirley M. Nault Designated Professor of Law at Capital University Law School Joel Benenson, founder and CEO of the Benenson Strategy Group Matthew Dowd, chief political analyst for ABC News

Attorneys General Phil Weiser of Colorado and Mark Brnovich of Arizona join for a bipartisan conversation on issues facing their states today, and what the Constitution—particularly the system of federalism—means to them and why it matters. They discuss everything from the founders’ vision of states’ rights to key Supreme Court cases on the subject, to issues they’re focused on and tackling in their states now, including managing coronavirus relief, elections and election reform, tech policy, consumer protection laws and lawsuits, and more. They also discuss the crucial roles that local governments and state AGs play in the constitutional system, and how state AGs can work together in bipartisan coalitions to fill in gaps left by the federal government on a number of issues. This program is presented in partnership with the Center for Excellence in Governance at the National Association of Attorneys General.Resources and transcript available at constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/media-libraryQuestions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.

In this 2016 conversation from our archives, leading constitutional scholar Akhil Reed Amar of Yale Law School shares foundational lessons about the Constitution. He discusses his book The Constitution Today: Timeless Lessons for the Issues of Our Era with National Constitution Center President and CEO Jeffrey Rosen.Additional resources and transcript available at constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/media-library.Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.

In an online program hosted earlier this year, bestselling historian Lynne Cheney discusses her new book, The Virginia Dynasty, a vivid account of the intersecting lives and accomplishments of the first four U.S. presidents from Virginia—George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe. Cheney explores how these friends and rivals led in winning independence, drafting the U.S. Constitution, and building a working republic. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates.Additional resources and a transcript are available at constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/media-library.Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.