Live at the National Constitution Center

What did the original Constitution say about the right to vote? How has that changed over time, and why? In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment and the 150th anniversary of the 15th Amendment in 2020, the National Constitution Center hosted a program featuring a panel of voting and election law experts who addressed those questions and more. They also reflected on the memory of legendary voting and civil rights advocate Congressman John Lewis, the anniversaries of two landmark suffrage amendments, and other key laws and Supreme Court decisions that changed the scope of suffrage in America. National Constitution Center President and CEO Jeffrey Rosen was joined by Alexander Keyssar of the Harvard Kennedy School, Derek Muller of Iowa Law School, and Franita Tolson of the USC Gould School of Law.This program was part of the Center’s yearlong initiative, Women and the Constitution, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, and was made possible through the generous support of SteegeThomson Communications.Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.

Recently, the National Constitution Center hosted a symposium bringing together contributors from The Battle for the Constitution website—a joint project from the National Constitution Center and The Atlantic that features essays exploring current constitutional issues from all perspectives.Today we’re sharing the second panel of the symposium: a conversation on the key constitutional issues raised by the coronavirus crisis. Jeffrey Rosen was joined by scholars Deborah Pearlstein, Polly Price, and Adam White to discuss how coronavirus has impacted democracy and the forthcoming 2020 election, public health law, the functioning of government, and more.Read The Battle for the Constitution including essays by these panelists here https://www.theatlantic.com/projects/battle-constitution/Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.

Last week, the National Constitution Center hosted a symposium bringing together contributors from The Battle for the Constitution website—a joint project from the National Constitution Center and The Atlantic that features essays exploring current constitutional issues from all perspectives. Today we’re sharing the first panel of the symposium: a conversation on the constitutional dimensions of policing and protests. Jeffrey Rosen was joined by former Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey, as well as First Amendment expert and law professor John Inazu, and policing expert and law professor Tracey Meares.  This program is presented in partnership with The Atlantic and in conjunction with The Battle for the Constitution website linked here http://www.theatlantic.com/projects/battle-constitution/. It is also made possible through generous support from the John Templeton Foundation.Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.

On June 19, 1775, The Continental Congress commissioned George Washington as Commander in Chief of the Continental Army. Shortly after he received his commission, Washington left for Massachusetts and assumed command of the Continental Army in Cambridge on July 3, 1775. In honor of that anniversary and of the Fourth of July holiday this weekend, we’re sharing a program on Washington from earlier this year. Acclaimed historians Lindsay Chervinsky and Edward Larson joined National Constitution Center President  and CEO Jeffrey Rosen to discuss Washington and his role in the Revolutionary War and the Founding. Chervinsky is the author of The Cabinet: George Washington and the Creation of an American Institution and Larson is author of Franklin & Washington: The Founding Partnership.  Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.

This week, the NCC hosted a conversation on Congress in times of crisis featuring historians and co-hosts of the podcast Backstory Edward Ayers of the University of Richmond and Joanne Freeman of Yale University, and political scientist Norman Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute. They explored how Congress has handled crises of the past—particularly the Civil War, other key moments throughout American history in which Congress played a pivotal role, and the lessons those moments can teach us as Congress tries to navigate today’s challenges. NCC President Jeffrey Rosen moderates.Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constituitoncenter.org.

This week, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, America’s first female secretary of state, joined host Jeffrey Rosen to reflect on her experience in government, her views on the Constitution, and how women leaders play a more important role than ever in the world today. She also shared stories from her life as told in her new book Hell and Other Destinations. This conversation was part of the National Constitution Center’s yearlong Women and the Constitution initiative in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment.This program is made possible through the generous support of The John P. & Anne Welsh McNulty Foundation.Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.

Last Friday, the National Constitution Center hosted a national Town Hall program on policing, protests, and the Constitution. The wide-ranging discussions covered qualified immunity for police officers, the history of racial inequality, protests and the First Amendment, and more. Part two of the discussion, this panel, features Monica Bell of Yale Law School, David French of The Dispatch, Janai Nelson of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and Theodore Shaw of the University of North Carolina School of Law. Part one is a keynote conversation featuring Judge Theodore McKee of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and you can listen to that here https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/policing-protests-and-the-constitution-part-1/id1037423300?i=1000477348971 Jeffrey Rosen moderates. This week’s episode is a crossover with our companion podcast, We the People, a weekly show of constitutional debate that you can listen to here https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/we-the-people/id83213431Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.

Last Friday, the National Constitution Center hosted a national Town Hall program on policing, protests, and the Constitution. This episode features National Constitution Center President Jeffrey Rosen’s keynote conversation with Judge Theodore McKee of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Their wide-ranging discussion covered qualified immunity for police officers, the history of racial inequality, protests and the First Amendment, and more. Part two features a panel of leading scholars and commentators to further touch on these issues, and you can listen to it here https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/policing-protests-and-the-constitution-part-2/id1037423300?i=1000477356597. This week’s episode is a crossover with our companion podcast, We the People, a weekly show of constitutional debate that you can listen to here https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/we-the-people/id83213431Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.

Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist George F. Will joins Saikrishna Prakash, professor of law at the University of Virginia, for a conversation on Prakash's new book, The Living Presidency: An Originalist Argument against Its Ever-Expanding Powers. They explore the expansion of presidential power from the founding era to today; provide their take on what, if any, constraints there may be on executive power; and whether originalism can provide a solution. National Constitution Center president Jeffrey Rosen moderates.Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.

Hosted on the 124th anniversary of the infamous decision, this virtual program tells the story of Plessy v. Ferguson in which the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of segregation.National Constitution President Jeffrey Rosen was joined by Steve Luxenberg, associate editor at The Washington Post and author of Separate: The Story of Plessy v. Ferguson and America’s Journey from Slavery to Segregation, along with Dean Risa Goluboff of the University of Virginia Law School and Ted Shaw of University of North Carolina Law School.  Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.