Live at the National Constitution Center

Professor Holly Brewer of the University of Maryland, Dean Risa Goluboff of the University of Virginia School of Law, and Professor Lea VanderVelde of the University of Iowa College of Law detail the battle over race and equality across American history, from the Founding to Reconstruction to the Civil Rights Revolution. NCC president Jeffrey Rosen moderates.This program was presented in partnership with the Guggenheim Foundation.Questions or comments about the podcast? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.

The first in a two-part series honoring African American History Month and chronicling the struggle for racial equality throughout American history—this episode features leading Reconstruction historians Thavolia Glymph of Duke and David Blight of Yale. Glymph and Blight explore the meaning of freedom, equality, and emancipation, in conversation with National Constitution Center scholar-in-residence Michael Gerhardt. This panel was part of the 2017 celebration of the 150th anniversary of the ratification of the 14th Amendment held here at the NCC in Philadelphia.Questions or comments about the podcast? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.

Four star General Stanley McChrystal visited the National Constitution Center to discuss his new book - Leaders: Myth and Reality. The book was inspired by McChrystal’s own experiences working with numerous leaders as he served for thirty-four years in the US Army, eventually becoming commander of all American and coalition forces in Afghanistan. Gen. McChrystal shares his insights into the complex question, “What makes a leader great?” and discusses real life leaders past and present from Robert E. Lee to Presidents Obama and Trump. National Constitution Center President Jeffrey Rosen moderates. Questions or comments about the podcast? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.

Last week, National Constitution Center Members had the chance to attend a private film screening of the new biopic on Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, On the Basis of Sex, which depicts Justice Ginsburg's early life and legal career and tells the story of the landmark case Moritz v. Commissioner—the first gender-discrimination lawsuit she argued in court. Following the screening, Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center and author of the forthcoming book Conversations with RBG, hosted a Q&A to shed light on the real life trials and tribulations that inspired the film (spoiler alert!). Jeff was joined by panelists Carrie Rickey, film critic and chief book critic at Film Quarterly, Kelsi Corkran, appellate lawyer and former law clerk to Justice Ginsburg, and Marty Moss-Coane, host of WHYY’s weekday program Radio Times. Questions or comments about the podcast? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.

In celebration of Martin Luther King Day, we’re sharing the program “Remembering Birmingham: Civil Rights and Constitutional Change” held here at the National Constitution Center in 2017 and moderated by Jeffrey Rosen. This conversation features Sarah Collins Rudolph, a survivor of the September 1963 bombing of the 16th street Baptist church in Birmingham, Alabama, carried out by white supremacists, that took the lives of four young girls including Rudolph’s sister. Rudolph is joined by Steven Levingston, author of Kennedy and King and Hannibal Lokumbe, composer in residence at the Philadelphia Orchestra. Hannibal begins by playing a moving piece that he composed on the trumpet in honor of Rudolph and the other victims of the bombing. The panel then explores the tragedy's lasting impact on the civil rights movement and the African American community.Questions or comments about the podcast? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.

Justin Driver provides a provocative account of the role the Supreme Court has played in defining the rights of students in America's public schools—from race and drugs to religion and free speech. Driver, a constitutional law professor at the University of Chicago Law School and former high school teacher, discusses his book The Schoolhouse Gate: Public Education, the Supreme Court, and the Battle for the American Mind live at the National Constitution Center in conversation with NCC in-house counsel Lana Ulrich. 

NCC President and CEO Jeffrey Rosen sits down with Stephen B. Burbank of the University of Pennsylvania Law School and Tara Leigh Grove of William & Mary Law School to explore the history of judicial independence and the federal courts in the 20th century and the progressive era. They focus in particular on the crucial role of Chief Justice Taft in shaping the judicial branch, some of the key Supreme Court rulings of the era, and how this history shaped the future of judicial independence for years to come.This program was presented in partnership with the Federal Judicial Center.Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.

Dawn Langan Teele, author of Forging the Franchise: The Political Origins of the Women’s Vote, and Elaine Weiss, author of The Woman’s Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote (which has been optioned by Stephen Spielberg’s Amblin TV to be turned into a series or movie with executive producer Hillary Clinton) provide a stirring history of the long journey to women’s suffrage. They detail some of the key moments of the movement, the important political and constitutional ideas behind it, and the ratification of the 19th Amendment. Lana Ulrich, in-house counsel at the National Constitution Center, moderates.This program was presented in partnership with Vision 2020’s Women 100: A Celebration of American Women, a national initiative headquartered at Drexel University.Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.

In celebration of Bill of Rights Day—the anniversary of the ratification of the first ten amendments to the Constitution, December 15th—we’re bringing you one of our favorite conversations from Bill of Rights Day 2017. Gerard Magliocca discusses his book The Heart of the Constitution: How the Bill of Rights Became the Bill of Rights, which tells the untold story of the most celebrated part of the Constitution, with NCC President and CEO Jeffrey Rosen. Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.

NCC President Jeffrey Rosen sits down with three scholarly experts on James Madison—Professors Greg Weiner, Colleen Sheehan, and Larry Kramer—to explore everything Madison, including his views on the importance of time in politics, his desire for rule by reason rather than passion, and his vision for republican government. This panel was produced in partnership with The Atlantic as part of our national symposium, The Constitution in Crisis: What Would the Founders Think?