Live at the National Constitution Center

Jonathan Gienapp, an associate professor at Stanford and author of "Against Constitutional Originalism," teams up with Harvard's Stephen Sachs, a noted constitutional scholar, for a spirited debate. They unpack the historical roots and assumptions behind constitutional originalism, contrasting it with the notion of a living Constitution. The conversation dives into critical cases like Fletcher v. Peck and the implications of originalism on contemporary issues, particularly regarding the Second Amendment and the evolving understanding of rights in governance.

On September 24, 2024 the National Constitution Center held its annual Liberty Medal ceremony honoring America’s storyteller, Ken Burns, for illuminating the nation’s greatest triumphs and tragedies and inspiring all of us to learn about the principles at the heart of the American idea. In this episode, Jeffrey Rosen and Burns’s co-director Sarah Botstein talk about Burns’s life and work, followed by Ken Burns’s inspiring acceptance speech. Burns then sits down with Rosen for a conversation about the American Idea.  Resources:  The National Constitution Center’s 2024 Liberty Medal Ceremony   Stay Connected and Learn More Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate. Subscribe, rate, and review wherever you listen. Join us for an upcoming live program or watch recordings on YouTube. Support our important work. Donate

On September 17, the Honorable Neil M. Gorsuch, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court and NCC honorary co-chair, and his co-author and former law clerk Janie Nitze, joined Jeffrey Rosen for an America’s Town Hall program in celebration of Constitution Day 2024 and the release of their latest book, Over Ruled: The Human Toll of Too Much Law.Additional Resources National Constitution Center: Constitution 101 with Khan Academy Neil M. Gorsuch and Janie Nitze, Over Ruled: The Human Toll of Too Much Law (2024) National Constitution Center Classroom resources: Federalism National Constitution Center Classroom resources: Federalism and the Separation of Powers Stay Connected and Learn More Questions or comments about the show? Email us at programs@constitutioncenter.org Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate. Subscribe, rate, and review wherever you listen. Join us for an upcoming live program or watch recordings on YouTube. Support our important work. Donate

On September 12, 2024, best-selling author, philanthropist, and National Constitution Center Trustee David Rubenstein joined Jeffrey Rosen at the Center in Philadelphia to discuss his new book, The Highest Calling: Conversations on the American Presidency. The book, which features interviews with presidential historians and living U.S. presidents, chronicles the journeys of the leaders who have defined America. They discuss the duties and responsibilities of the presidency, the triumphs and failures of its officeholders, and the future of the role in the twenty-first century.  Resources: David Rubenstein, The Highest Calling: Conversations on the American Presidency (2024) Stay Connected and Learn More: Questions or comments about the show? Email us at programs@constitutioncenter.org Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate. Subscribe, rate, and review wherever you listen. Join us for an upcoming live program or watch recordings on YouTube. Support our important work. Donate

International and national security law experts Harold Hongju Koh of Yale Law School, Deborah Pearlstein of Princeton University, and  Matthew Waxman of Columbia Law School join for a conversation to explore Trump v, United States and the updated edition of Koh’s landmark book, The National Security Constitution in the Twenty-First Century. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates.Resources: Harold Koh, “The National Security Constitution in the Twenty-First Century” Trump v. United States (2024) Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo (2024) United States v. Curtiss-Wright Export Corp. (1936) Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (Steel Seizure Case) (1952) The Pacificus-Helvidius Debates of 1793-1794 Deborah Pearlstein, “Lawyering the Presidency,” The Georgetown Law Journal (2022) Deborah Pearlstein, “The Executive Branch Anticanon,” Fordham Law Review (2020) Matthew C. Waxman, “War Powers Reform: A Skeptical View”   Stay Connected and Learn More: Questions or comments about the show? Email us at programs@constitutioncenter.org Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate. Subscribe, rate, and review wherever you listen. Join us for an upcoming live program or watch recordings on YouTube. Support our important work. Donate

Political theorist William B. Allen, editor and translator of a new edition of Montesquieu’s The Spirit of the Laws, and Alison LaCroix, author of The Interbellum Constitution: Union, Commerce, and Slavery in the Age of Federalisms, explored the intellectual foundations—from Montesquieu and beyond—of the U.S. constitutional vision and core values from America’s founding through the Civil War. The discussion was moderated by Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center.Resources: Alison LaCroix, The Interbellum Constitution: Union, Commerce, and Slavery in the Age of Federalisms, 2024 Montesquieu, ‘The Spirit of the Laws’: A Critical Edition, edited and translated by W. B. Allen, 2024 The Commerce Clause Alison LaCroix, “James Madison v. Originalism,” Project Syndicate (Aug. 26, 2022) 10th Amendment Andrew Jackson, Proclamation Regarding Nullification, (December 10, 1832) Martin v. Hunter's Lessee, (1816) Preamble to the Constitution Stay Connected and Learn More: Questions or comments about the show? Email us at programs@constitutioncenter.org Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate. Subscribe, rate, and review wherever you listen. Join us for an upcoming live program or watch recordings on YouTube. Support our important work. Donate

In celebration of Juneteenth, political commentator Eddie Glaude Jr. discusses his newest book, We Are the Leaders We Have Been Looking For that explores how ordinary people, through the examples of leading Black Americans Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and Ella Baker, have the capacity to achieve a more just and perfect democracy. Thomas Donnelly, chief content officer at the National Constitution Center, hosts the discussion.Resources: Eddie S. Glaude Jr., We Are the Leaders We Have Been Looking For, (2024) Juneteenth Stay Connected and Learn More: Questions or comments about the show? Email us at programs@constitutioncenter.org Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate. Subscribe, rate, and review wherever you listen. Join us for an upcoming live program or watch recordings on YouTube. Support our important work. Donate

Political analyst Yuval Levin, author of American Covenant: How the Constitution Unified Our Nation—and Could Again, and scholar Aziz Rana, author of The Constitutional Bind: How Americans Came to Idolize a Document That Fails Them, discuss the Constitution as America’s religion and its role in fostering the American dream. Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates.Resources: Yuval Levin, American Covenant: How the Constitution Unified Our Nation―and Could Again, (2024) Aziz Rana, The Constitutional Bind: How Americans Came to Idolize a Document That Fails Them (2024) “The Modern History of Originalism,” We the People Podcast (Aug. 3, 2023) Article V, Interactive Constitution Stay Connected and Learn More: Questions or comments about the show? Email us at programs@constitutioncenter.org Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate. Subscribe, rate, and review wherever you listen. Join us for an upcoming live program or watch recordings on YouTube. Support our important work. Donate

Steven Hahn, author of Illiberal America: A History, and Manisha Sinha, author of The Rise and Fall of the Second American Republic: Reconstruction, 1860–1920, explored America’s historical encounters with illiberalism and its relevance to contemporary challenges confronting American democracy today. Thomas Donnelly, chief content officer at the National Constitution Center, moderated the conversation.Resources Steven Hahn, Illiberal America: A History (2024) Manisha Sinha, The Rise and Fall of the Second American Republic: Reconstruction, 1860-1920 (2024) Abraham Lincoln, “ "Speech to the Young Men’s Lyceum of Springfield” (1838), Founders’ Library 13th Amendment, Interactive Constitution Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, Founders’ Library Steven Hahn, The Roots of Southern Populism: Yeoman Farmers and the Transformation of the Georgia Upcountry, 1850-1890 (1985) Marcia Coyle, “The U.S. Supreme Court Cases Built on a ‘Rotten Foundation’,” Constitution Daily (May 2022) Stay Connected and Learn More Questions or comments about the show? Email us at programs@constitutioncenter.org Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate. Subscribe, rate, and review wherever you listen. Join us for an upcoming live program or watch recordings on YouTube. Support our important work. Donate

Tech policy experts discuss the impact of AI on democracy, focusing on ethics, civil rights, and privacy. They explore creating a democratic AI aligned with democratic values. The podcast also covers legal challenges of machine learning, policy solutions for Deep Fix threats, and global efforts on AI governance. It delves into navigating AI policy and First Amendment challenges, empowering democracy in the AI age, and rethinking free speech in the digital era.