509 episodes
We the People National Constitution Ctr
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4.6 • 995 Ratings
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A weekly show of constitutional debate hosted by National Constitution Center President and CEO Jeffrey Rosen where listeners can hear the best arguments on all sides of the constitutional issues at the center of American life.
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America’s Most Consequential Elections: From FDR to Reagan
Michael Gerhardt, author of the new book FDR’s Mentors: Navigating the Path to Greatness, and Andrew Busch, author of Reagan's Victory: The Presidential Election of 1980 and the Rise of the Right, join Jeffrey Rosen to explore the pivotal elections of 1932 and 1980. They compare the transformative presidencies of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan, and trace how founding-era debates between Hamilton and Jefferson over the scope of federal and executive power re-emerged during the New Deal and Reagan Revolution. This program originally streamed live on April 16, 2024.
Resources:
Michael J. Gerhardt, FDR’s Mentors: Navigating the Path to Greatness (2024)
Andrew E. Busch, Ronald Reagan and the Politics of Freedom (2001)
Andrew E. Busch, Reagan's Victory: The Presidential Election of 1980 and the Rise of the Right (2005)
Andrew E. Busch, The Constitution on the Campaign Trail: The Surprising Political Career of America’s Founding Document (2007)
Friedrich Hayek, “The Road to Serfdom,” Teaching American History (May 21, 2020)
Ronald Reagan, Remarks to Commonwealth Club members on March 4, 1983, Reagan Library (July 19, 2018)
Franklin D. Roosevelt, Undelivered Address Prepared for Jefferson Day, The American Presidency Project
Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.
Continue today’s conversation on Facebook and Twitter using @ConstitutionCtr.
Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate, at bit.ly/constitutionweekly.
You can find transcripts for each episode on the podcast pages in our Media Library. -
Lincoln, Democracy, and the American Experiment
In this episode of We the People, Jeffrey Rosen has a special one-on-one conversation with the historian Allen Guelzo on his new book Our Ancient Faith: Lincoln, Democracy, and the American Experiment. They discuss Lincoln’s powerful vision of democracy, revisit his approach to tackling slavery and preserving the Union, and explain how Lincoln remains relevant as a political thinker today.
Resources
Allen Guelzo, Our Ancient Faith: Lincoln, Democracy, and the American Experiment (2024)
“Lincoln’s Speeches and the Refounding of America,” NCC America’s Town Hall program (Nov. 2021)
William H. Herndon, Herndon on Lincoln: Letters (2016)
Abraham Lincoln, “Speech to the Young Men’s Lyceum of Springfield,” (1838)
Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.
Continue today’s conversation on social media @ConstitutionCtr and #WeThePeoplePodcast.
Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate, at bit.ly/constitutionweekly.
You can find transcripts for each episode on the podcast pages in our Media Library. -
Founding Partisans: Hamilton, Madison, Jefferson, Adams and the Brawling Birth of American Politics
On November 7, 2023, historians Carol Berkin, author of A Sovereign People: The Crises of the 1790s and the Birth of American Nationalism, and H.W. Brands, author of Founding Partisans: Hamilton, Jefferson, Madison, Adams, and the Brawling Birth of American Politics, joined Jeffrey Rosen for a conversation on political partisanship and nationalism in early America, and how, despite the founders’ fear of factionalism, deep partisan divisions emerged almost immediately after the Revolution. They discuss the election of 1800, the first hotly contested partisan election in American history, and trace the history of American partisanship to the present day.
Resources:
H.W. Brands, Founding Partisans: Hamilton, Madison, Jefferson, Adams and the Brawling Birth of American Politics (2023)
Carol Berkin, A Sovereign People: The Crises of the 1790s and the Birth of American Nationalism (2017)
“Genet Affair,” Mount Vernon
The Alien and Sedition Acts, NCC Founders’ Library
Virginia Resolutions, NCC Founders’ Library
Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.
Continue today’s conversation on social media @ConstitutionCtr and #WeThePeoplePodcast.
Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate, at bit.ly/constitutionweekly.
You can find transcripts for each episode on the podcast pages in our Media Library. -
Justice Stephen Breyer on Reading the Constitution
On Thursday March 28 at the NCC, Jeffrey Rosen sat down with Justice Stephen Breyer to discuss his new book, Reading the Constitution: Why I Chose Pragmatism, Not Textualism. Justice Breyer deconstructs the textualist philosophy of the current Supreme Court’s majority and makes the case for a better way to interpret the Constitution based on pragmatism.
Resources
Justice Stephen Breyer, Reading the Constitution: Why I Chose Pragmatism, Not Textualism (2024)
Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.
Continue today’s conversation on social media @ConstitutionCtr and #WeThePeoplePodcast.
Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate, at bit.ly/constitutionweekly.
You can find transcripts for each episode on the podcast pages in our Media Library. -
Can the Government Pressure Private Companies to Stifle Speech?
On March 18, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Murthy v. Missouri and NRA v. Vullo—two cases in which government officials allegedly pressured private companies to target disfavored viewpoints. Alex Abdo of the Knight First Amendment Institute and David Greene of the Electronic Frontier Foundation join Jeffrey Rosen to break down both cases. Together they discuss the state action doctrine, explore the line between coercion and persuasion, and interrogate the tension between government speech and private speech.
Resources:
Murthy v. Missouri (oral argument via C-SPAN; transcript)
NRA v. Vullo (oral argument via C-SPAN; transcript)
Bantam Books, Inc. v. Sullivan (1963)
Alex Abdo, Brief in Support of Neither Party, Murthy v. Missouri
David Greene, Brief in Support of Neither Party, Murthy v. Missouri
David Greene and Karen Gullo, “Lawmakers: Ban TikTok to Stop Election Misinformation! Same Lawmakers: Restrict How Government Addresses Election Misinformation!,” EFF (March 15, 2024)
Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.
Continue today’s conversation on Facebook and Twitter using @ConstitutionCtr.
Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate, at bit.ly/constitutionweekly.
You can find transcripts for each episode on the podcast pages in our Media Library. -
Democracy, Populism, and the Tyranny of the Minority
Three political scientists join Jeffrey Rosen to discuss democratic instability, backsliding, and demagogues from a historical and global perspective. Guests included Harvard’s Steven Levitsky, author of Tyranny of the Minority: Why American Democracy Reached the Breaking Point, the University of Texas-Austin’s Kurt Weyland, author of Democracy’s Resilience to Populism’s Threat, and Princeton University’s Frances Lee. This program originally aired on November 27, 2023.
Resources:
Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, Tyranny of the Minority: Why American Democracy Reached the Breaking Point
Frances Lee, “Populism and the American Party System: Opportunities and Constraints”
Kurt Weyland, Democracy’s Resilience to Populism's Threat: Countering Global Alarmism
Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, How Democracies Die
Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.
Continue today’s conversation on social media @ConstitutionCtr and #WeThePeoplePodcast.
Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate, at bit.ly/constitutionweekly.
You can find transcripts for each episode on the podcast pages in our Media Library.
Customer Reviews
Will SCOTUS overturn CHEVRON EPISODE
Hi, I am listening to Tim rebut Chris’s point about public accountability. He says that agencies do not allow for accountability to the voters and that is simply not true. Agencies have a very strict administrative rule making process that REQUIRES NOTICE AND COMMENT from the public and only that after that process can the agency begin to write the rules for the legislation. So what is he talking about? There is a process already built in for accountability to the voters. I took an Administrative Law class in grad school and the APA IS SUPER STRICT.
Q: for Tim: Using your logic about the constitutionality of Chevron, do you think judicial review (Marbury v. Madison) should be overturned? This case gave SCOTUS their judicial review power, not the Constitution.
Smart, but approachable, view of the law
I am continually amazed by the job Jeffrey Rosen and this podcast do in making contemporary and historical legal issues interesting and educational, even to non-lawyers like me.
Embracing plurality and diversity as a solution
Information dissemination in the 21st century - the nucleus of multiple crises in America. So great to have reasoned and good-humored experts identify problems and propose solutions. Perhaps Mr. Musk will tune in. Ms Smith perpetuates the impulse to recreate Jim Crow laws in a new guise - free speech. Joshua makes a clear and convincing case for the chaos such a ruling in favor of Smith would unleash and the setback for civil rights.
Thank you for celebrating Ned Blackhawk’s monumental book. I have read it and will look for Brenda Child’s book about the boarding schools for native children. Organizations like The National Constitution Center can override the damage some leaders are doing by further truncating the American history curriculum.