Live at the National Constitution Center

This week, we’re sharing a past program on the Civil War and Reconstruction and public memory. Leading civil war historians Eric Foner, Thavolia Glymph, and Kate Masur explore the questions: How do we define Reconstruction? What was that period like politically and economically, for ordinary Americans and for the country’s leaders? How can we better understand the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments by contextualizing them in the history of Reconstruction? And how does that history connect to modern issues surrounding racial inequality, Confederate monuments, and more. Sherilynn Ifill, President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, moderates.This program was presented at the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund in partnership with the Thurgood Marshall Institute.If you enjoyed this constitutional conversation and want to hear more from the panelists, please check out their other appearances on Live at America’s Town Hall: Eric Foner on the Second Founding Women and the Civil War: The Untold Stories featuring Thavolia Glymph and Kate Masur Questions or comments about the podcast? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.

Pultizer Prize-winning historian Eric Foner tells the story of the battle to inscribe equality into the Constitution. Foner traces the arc of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Constitution—the “Reconstruction amendments”—from their dramatic pre-Civil War origins to today, detailing how they changed our founding document and shaped American history. He sits down with National Constitution Center President Jeffrey Rosen.This program was presented in conjunction with the Center’s exhibit Civil War and Reconstruction: The Battle for Freedom and Equality.Questions or comments about the podcast? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.

This Town Hall celebrates the launch of host Jeffrey Rosen’s newest book, Conversations with RBG: Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Life, Love, Liberty, and Law—an informal portrait of the justice through an extraordinary series of conversations, starting in the 1990s and continuing to today. Jeff has collected Justice Ginsburg’s wisdom from their many conversations on the future of the Supreme Court and Roe v. Wade, which Supreme Court decisions she would like to see overturned, the #MeToo movement, and how to lead a productive, compassionate life – illuminating the determination, self-mastery, and wit of the “Notorious RBG.” Dahlia Lithwick, veteran Supreme Court reporter and host of the Slate podcast Amicus, moderates.Check out Conversations with RBG on Amazon and listen to the audiobook on Audible. The audiobook also has its very own Alexa skill – Ask RBG. You can ask your Amazon echo things like, “Alexa, ask RBG about the #MeToo movement” and you’ll hear clips from the real-life interviews with Justice Ginsburg featured in the audiobook.This episode is a crossover with our companion podcast, We the People, a weekly show of constitutional debate that’s available wherever you get your podcasts. Questions or comments about the podcast? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.

Is the Constitution “democratic” enough? What does it mean to be a democracy as opposed to a republic—is there a significant difference, and why does it matter? Should institutions like the Senate and the Electoral College, which are sometimes criticized for being undemocratic, be reformed or abolished? Constitutional scholars and professors Randy Barnett of Georgetown Law and Vikram Amar of the University of Illinois College of Law sat down for a rich debate of these questions here at the National Constitution Center, moderated by NCC President Jeffrey Rosen.Questions or comments about the podcast? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.

Richard Stengel shares his insider account of the fight against the global rise of disinformation – describing how disinformation has been used by terrorist groups like ISIS; how it influenced the 2016 election; how it factors into the current impeachment inquiry; and more. Stengel led the Obama administration’s counter-disinformation efforts while serving as Under Secretary of State from 2013-2016. He previously served as head of the National Constitution Center and was the editor of TIME. Stengel unveils his new book Information Wars: How We Lost the Global Battle Against Disinformation and What We Can Do About It in conversation with NCC President and CEO Jeffrey Rosen.Questions or comments about the podcast? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.

A group of legal scholars and reproductive rights experts visited the National Constitution Center earlier this fall to debate the question: should Roe v. Wade be overturned? Kathryn Kolbert, who argued the landmark reproductive rights case Planned Parenthood v. Casey, Professor and legal historian Mary Ziegler, and President of Americans United for Life Catherine Glenn Foster joined our Senior Director of Content Lana Ulrich for a timely discussion of reproductive rights and the Constitution. If you enjoy this constitutional conversation, please also check out our two-part debate on abortion and the Constitution on our companion podcast We the People (listen to part one here and part two here).Questions or comments about the podcast? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.

Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chelsea Clinton visited the National Constitution Center last week to unveil their new book The Book of Gutsy Women: Favorite Stories of Courage and Resilience. They shared stories of the gutsy women profiled in their book – some close to them, including Chelsea’s grandmothers; some historic figures like Claudette Colvin and Frances Perkins; and some modern day trailblazers like Greta Thurnberg, Abby Wombach, and the students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. They also detailed the groundbreaking work done by these women in areas including equal pay, the Equal Rights Amendment, athletics, gun policy reform, and more. Sec. Clinton also explains why she thinks we are in a constitutional crisis and shares her thoughts on the current impeachment inquiry. The conversation, moderated by MSNBC correspondent Joy-Ann Reid with introductory remarks by NCC President Jeff Rosen, was held before a sold-out audience at the NCC.Questions or comments about the podcast? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.

Last week, our companion podcast We the People was recorded live in front of our National Constitution Center audience for the first time! Host Jeffrey Rosen was joined by SCOTUSblog’s Amy Howe and John Elwood to preview the Supreme Court’s 2019 term, which began this week. They discussed this term’s blockbuster cases, including a trio of cases argued at the Court this morning which raise the question of whether Title VII, a federal statute prohibiting employment discrimination because of sex, also prohibits discrimination by employers based on gender identity and sexual orientation. They also dove into other major topics that will soon come before the Court, including immigration policies like DACA, abortion, the Second Amendment, and school choice. [Update: after this episode was recorded, the Supreme Court agreed to hear June Medical Services LLC v. Gee, the Louisiana abortion case mentioned in this discussion.] Questions or comments about the podcast? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.

The National Constitution Center partnered with The Atlantic for constitutional conversations at the Atlantic Festival in Washington, D.C., last Wednesday – the day after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that the House would initiate a formal impeachment inquiry against President Trump. Panels featuring scholars, journalists and legislators discussed the breaking news of the impeachment inquiry, as well as what separation of powers means in U.S. government today, the proper exercise of congressional power, and more.  These conversations celebrated the launch of the new project “The Battle for the Constitution”— a year-long partnership between the National Constitution Center and The Atlantic that will explore the major issues and controversies surrounding the Constitution today from all sides of the debate. Visit the project’s website at https://www.theatlantic.com/projects/battle-constitution/.  Panel one: Moderator Jeffrey Rosen, President and CEO of the National Constitution Center; Martha Jones, Professor of History at John Hopkins University; John Malcolm, Vice President of the Institute for Constitutional Government at the Heritage Foundation; Quinta Jurecic, Managing Editor at Lawfare.  Panel two: Moderator Yoni Appelbaum, Senior Editor, The Atlantic; Jeffrey Rosen.  Panel three: Moderator Elaina Plott, White House Correspondent, The Atlantic; Rep. Lance Gooden (R-TX).  Panel four: Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA); Jeffrey Goldberg, Editor in Chief, The Atlantic.  Questions or comments about the podcast? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.

Justice Neil Gorsuch visited the National Constitution Center to celebrate Constitution Day and discuss his new book A Republic, If You Can Keep It. Justice Gorsuch, the Honorary Chair of the National Constitution Center’s Board of Trustees, sat down with President Jeffrey Rosen to discuss his passion for civics and civility, the importance of separation of powers, what originalism means to him, and why he is optimistic about the future of America.  Questions or comments about the podcast? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.