Episodes

  • For or Against Constitutional Originalism?

    For or Against Constitutional Originalism?
    Jan 3 2025
    Jonathan Gienapp of Stanford University and Stephen Sachs of Harvard Law School join Chief Scholar Thomas Donnelly to discuss Gienapp’s new book, Against Constitutional Originalism: A Historical Critique. They review the history of originalism and debate the role of originalism in constitutional interpretation today. This conversation was originally streamed live as part of the NCC’s America’s Town Hall program series on October 8, 2024. Resources: Jonathan Gienapp, “Against Constitutional Originalism: A Historical Critique” (2024) Stephen Sachs and Will Baude, “Originalism and the Law of the Past” (Law and History Review, 2019) Michael Stokes Paulsen and Vasen Kesavan, “Is West Virginia Unconstitutional?” (90 Cal L. Rev. 291, 2002) William Baude, Jud Campbell, and Stephen Sachs, “General Law and the Fourteenth Amendment” (76 Stanford L. Rev 1185, 2024) Jud Campbell, “Four Views of the Nature of the Union” (47 Harvard J. Law & Public Policy 2, 2024) Fletcher v. Peck (1810) District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) United States v. Rahimi (2024) 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
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    1 hr and 2 mins
  • The Life and Constitutional Legacy of Gouverneur Morris

    The Life and Constitutional Legacy of Gouverneur Morris
    Dec 25 2024
    Jeffrey Rosen explores the life and legacy of Gouverneur Morris, author of the Preamble to the Constitution. Joining him are Melanie Miller, editor of the Gouverneur Morris Papers: Diaries Project, Dennis Rasmussen, Hagerty Family Fellow at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and author of The Constitution’s Penman: Gouverneur Morris and the Creation of America’s Basic Charter, and William Treanor, dean of Georgetown University Law Center. This conversation was originally streamed live as part of the NCC’s America’s Town Hall program series on December 12, 2024. Resources: Dennis C. Rasmussen, The Constitution’s Penman: Gouverneur Morris and the Creation of America’s Basic Charter, (2023) William M. Treanor, Gouverneur Morris and the Drafting of the Federalist Constitution, (2023) William M. Treanor, The Case of the Dishonest Scrivener: Gouverneur Morris and the Creation of the Federalist Constitution, (2021) Melanie Randolph Miller,  An Incautious Man: The Life of Gouveneur Morris, (2008) Gouverneur Morris Papers The U.S. Constitution: Preamble The Federalist Papers The Constitutional Convention of 1787: A Revolution in Government Gouverneur Morris, “Slavery and Representation,” (Aug. 8, 1787) 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
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    57 mins
  • The Meese Revolution

    The Meese Revolution
    Dec 20 2024
    Steven Calabresi of Northwestern Law School joins Jeffrey Rosen to discuss his new book, The Meese Revolution: The Making of a Constitutional Moment. Calabresi reviews former Attorney General Edwin Meese’s instrumental role in the rise of originalism, and credits Meese with transforming the Department of Justice into an “academy in exile” where originalism was developed and put into practice. Resources: Steven Calabresi and Gary Lawson, The Meese Revolution: The Making of a Constitutional Moment (2024) Edwin Meese III, Speech to the American Bar Association (7/9/1985) 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
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    53 mins
  • How Religious Were the Founders?

    How Religious Were the Founders?
    Dec 13 2024
    Jeffrey Rosen discusses the role of religion at the founding with Jane Calvert of the John Dickinson Writings Project, Vincent Phillip Muñoz of the University of Notre Dame, and Thomas Kidd of the Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. They trace the framers’ personal faith commitments and explore the original understanding of the relationship between church and state. This conversation was originally streamed live as part of the NCC’s America’s Town Hall program series on November 25, 2024. Resources: The First Amendment, National Constitution Center exhibit Jane E. Calvert, Penman of the Founding: A Biography of John Dickinson (2024) Thomas Kidd, Thomas Jefferson: A Biography of Spirit and Flesh (2022) Vincent Phillip Muñoz, Religious Liberty and the American Founding: Natural Rights and the Original Meanings of the First Amendment Religion Clauses (2022) Thomas Kidd, God of Liberty: A Religious History of the American Revolution (2010) Vincent Phillip Muñoz , God and the Founders: Madison, Washington, and Jefferson (2009) Letter From George Washington to the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, Rhode Island, (Aug. 18, 1790) 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
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    1 hr and 3 mins
  • Can Tennessee Ban Medical Transitions for Transgender Minors?

    Can Tennessee Ban Medical Transitions for Transgender Minors?
    Dec 13 2024
    A Tennessee law prohibits transgender minors from receiving gender transition surgery and hormone therapy. Professor Kurt Lash of the University of Richmond and David Gans of the Constitutional Accountability Center join Jeffrey Rosen to debate whether the law violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. Resources: U.S. v. Skrmetti, Supreme Court oral argument (audio via C-SPAN; transcript) Kurt Lash, Amicus Curiae in Support of Respondents, U.S. v. Skrmetti David Gans, Amicus Curiae in Support of Petitioner and Respondents in Support of Petitioner, U.S. v. Skrmetti Bostock v. Clayton County (2020) Geduldig v. Aiello (1974) Loving v. Virginia (1967) 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
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    1 hr and 2 mins
  • Woodrow Wilson: The Light Withdrawn

    Woodrow Wilson: The Light Withdrawn
    Nov 28 2024
    Representative Christopher Cox, author of Woodrow Wilson: The Light Withdrawn, and Geoffrey Stone of the University of Chicago join moderator Jeffrey Rosen to discuss Woodrow Wilson’s constitutional and historical legacy. They explore Wilson’s illiberal record in the defining constitutional battles of his time, focusing his opposition to women’s suffrage, free speech, and racial equality. This conversation was originally streamed live as part of the NCC’s America’s Town Hall program series on November 25, 2024. Resources: Christopher Cox, Woodrow Wilson: The Light Withdrawn (2024) Geoffrey Stone, "Woodrow Wilson, Princeton University, and the Battles We Choose to Fight," Huffington Post (Nov. 21, 2015) Geoffrey Stone, Perilous Times: Free Speech in Wartime from the Sedition Act of 1798 to the War on Terrorism (2004) Espionage Act of 1917 and Sedition Act of 1918 Committee on Public Information, Free Speech Center (2009; updated 2024) The First Amendment, National Constitution Center exhibit Susan B. Anthony Amendment, National Susan B. Anthony Museum & House Justice Brandeis, Oyez 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
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    57 mins
  • The President’s Power to Make Recess Appointments

    The President’s Power to Make Recess Appointments
    Nov 21 2024
    President-elect Trump’s allies have floated the possibility of suspending Congress in order to use the Recess Appointments Clause to install Cabinet officials without Senate confirmation. In this episode, Ed Whelan of the Ethics and Public Policy Center and Thomas Berry of the Cato Institute join Jeffrey Rosen to preview this plan and debate its legal merits. Resources: Center for Renewing America, “Brief: On the Article II Recess Appointments Clause” (November 17, 2024) Ed Whelan, “A Terrible Anti-Constitutional Scheme of Recess Appointments,” National Review (November 12, 2024) Ed Whelan, “The House Has No Authority to ‘Disagree’ with Senate’s Decision to Remain in Session,” National Review (November 17, 2024) Edward Whelan, “The Radical Consequences of an Immediate Senate Recess," National Review (November 19, 2024) Thomas Berry, “Thomas Berry (Cato Institute) on Trump's Recess Appointment Plan,” Volokh Conspiracy (November 15, 2024) National Labor Relations Board v. Noel Canning (2014) Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 76 (April 1, 1788) 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
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    51 mins
  • The Legacy of John Adams

    The Legacy of John Adams
    Nov 14 2024
    In celebration of John Adams’s 289th birthday, Jeffrey Rosen joins a discussion on Adams’s legacy with Danielle Allen, the James Bryant Conant University Professor at Harvard University, and Jane Kamensky, president and CEO of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation. Kurt Graham, president of the Adams Presidential Center, moderates. They explore the constitutional legacy of the Adams family—including John and Abigail Adams and John Quincy and Louisa Catherine Adams—and discuss the importance of resurrecting the Adams family’s tradition of self-mastery and self-improvement to defend the American Idea. This conversation was originally aired at the Adams Presidential Center as part of the 2024 Adams Speaker Series. Resources: Jeffrey Rosen, The Pursuit of Happiness (2024) Jane Kamensky, The Colonial Mosaic: American Women 1600-1760 (1998) Danielle Allen, Our Declaration: A Reading of the Declaration of Independence in Defense of Equality (2014) 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
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    1 hr and 23 mins