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Me the People
- One Man's Selfless Quest to Rewrite the Constitution of the United States of America
- Narrated by: Kevin Bleyer
- Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
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Publisher's summary
The United States Constitution promised a More Perfect Union. It’s a shame no one bothered to write a more perfect Constitution—one that didn’t trigger more than two centuries of arguments about what the darn thing actually says. Until now.
Perfection is at hand. A new, improved Constitution is here. And you are holding it. But first, some historical context: In the eighteenth century, a lawyer named James Madison gathered his friends in Philadelphia and, over four long months, wrote four short pages: the Constitution of the United States of America. Not bad. In the nineteenth century, a president named Abraham Lincoln freed an entire people from the flaws in that Constitution by signing the Emancipation Proclamation.
Pretty impressive. And in the twentieth century, a doctor at the Bethesda Naval Hospital delivered a baby—but not just any baby. Because in the twenty-first century, that baby would become a man, that man would become a patriot, and that patriot would rescue a country . . . by single-handedly rewriting that Constitution. Why? We think of our Constitution as the painstakingly designed blueprint drawn up by, in Thomas Jefferson’s words, an “assembly of demigods” who laid the foundation for the sturdiest republic ever created. The truth is, it was no blueprint at all but an Etch A Sketch, a haphazard series of blunders, shaken clean and redrawn countless times during a summer of petty debates, drunken ramblings, and desperate compromise—as much the product of an “assembly of demigods” as a confederacy of dunces. No wonder George Washington wished it “had been made more perfect.” No wonder Benjamin Franklin stomached it only “with all its faults.” The Constitution they wrote is a hot mess. For starters, it doesn’t mention slavery, or democracy, or even Facebook; it plays favorites among the states; it has typos, smudges, and misspellings; and its Preamble, its most famous passage, was written by a man with a peg leg. Which, if you think about it, gives our Constitution hardly a leg to stand on. [Pause for laughter.] Now stop laughing. Because you hold in your hands no mere book, but the most important document of our time. Its creator, Daily Show writer Kevin Bleyer, paid every price, bore every burden, and saved every receipt in his quest to assure the salvation of our nation’s founding charter. He flew to Greece, the birthplace of democracy. He bused to Philly, the home of independence. He went toe-to-toe (face-to-face) with Scalia. He added nightly confabs with James Madison to his daily consultations with Jon Stewart. He tracked down not one but two John Hancocks—to make his version twice as official. He even read the Constitution of the United States. So prepare yourselves, fellow patriots, for the most significant literary event of the twenty-first, twentieth, nineteenth, and latter part of the eighteenth centuries. Me the People won’t just form a More Perfect Union. It will save America.Praise for Me the People
“I would rather read a constitution written by Kevin Bleyer than by the sharpest minds in the country.”—Jon Stewart
“Bleyer takes a red pencil to democracy’s most hallowed laundry list. . . . Uproarious and fascinating.”—Reader’s Digest
“I knew James Madison. James Madison was a friend of mine. Mr. Bleyer, you are no James Madison. But you sure are a heck of a lot more fun.”—Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Team of Rivals
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The Great Dissent
- How Oliver Wendell Holmes Changed His Mind and Changed the History of Free Speech in America
- By: Thomas Healy
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell
- Length: 10 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Free speech as we know it comes less from the First Amendment than from a most unexpected source: Supreme Court justice Oliver Wendell Holmes. A lifelong skeptic, he disdained all individual rights, including the right to express one's political views. But in 1919, it was Holmes who wrote a dissenting opinion that would become the canonical affirmation of free speech in the United States.
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How a 78 year old man can learn & change his mind
- By Jean on 09-23-13
By: Thomas Healy
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Separate
- The Story of Plessy V. Ferguson, and America's Journey from Slavery to Segregation
- By: Steve Luxenberg
- Narrated by: Donald Corren
- Length: 19 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Plessy v. Ferguson, the Supreme Court case synonymous with "separate but equal", created remarkably little stir when the justices announced their near-unanimous decision on May 18, 1896. Yet it is one of the most compelling and dramatic stories of the 19th century, whose outcome embraced and protected segregation, and whose reverberations are still felt into the 21st. Separate spans a striking range of characters and landscapes, bound together by the defining issue of their time and ours - race and equality.
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Black and White in shades of grey
- By JKC on 03-15-19
By: Steve Luxenberg
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Alexander Hamilton's Guide to Life
- By: Jeff Wilser
- Narrated by: Johnathan McClain
- Length: 7 hrs
- Unabridged
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Two centuries after his death, Alexander Hamilton is shining once more under America's spotlight - and we need him now more than ever. Orphaned as a kid, this young, scrappy, and hungry self-starter came from nothing and then helped win the Revolutionary War, created the country's financial system, seduced New York's most eligible ladies, ratified the Constitution, and landed his face on our $10 bill. (In his spare time he also formed the Coast Guard and the US Mint.) He is the ultimate underdog.
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Amazing
- By Robert McGrorty on 02-27-19
By: Jeff Wilser
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The Story of America
- Essays on Origins
- By: Jill Lepore
- Narrated by: Colleen Devine
- Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Story of America, Harvard historian and New Yorker staff writer Jill Lepore investigates American origin stories - from John Smith's account of the founding of Jamestown in 1607 to Barack Obama's 2009 inaugural address - to show how American democracy is bound up with the history of print. Over the centuries, Americans have read and written their way into a political culture of ink and type. Part civics primer, part cultural history, The Story of America excavates the origins of everything from the paper ballot and the Constitution to the I.O.U. and the dictionary.
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A Fun Read on Historical Subjects
- By Jim on 08-31-13
By: Jill Lepore
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John Marshall
- The Man Who Made the Supreme Court
- By: Richard Brookhiser
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 9 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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The life of John Marshall, founding father and America's premier chief justice. In 1801, a genial and brilliant Revolutionary War veteran and politician became the fourth chief justice of the US. He would hold the post for 34 years (still a record), expounding the Constitution he loved. Before he joined the Court, it was the weakling of the federal government, lacking in dignity and clout. After he died, it could never be ignored again.
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Excellent Biography
- By Jean on 12-14-18
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The Field of Blood
- Violence in Congress and the Road to Civil War
- By: Joanne B. Freeman
- Narrated by: Joanne B. Freeman
- Length: 11 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Field of Blood, Joanne B. Freeman recovers the long-lost story of physical violence on the floor of the US Congress. Drawing on an extraordinary range of sources, she shows that the Capitol was rife with conflict in the decades before the Civil War. Legislative sessions were often punctuated by mortal threats, canings, flipped desks, and all-out slugfests. When debate broke down, congressmen drew pistols and waved Bowie knives. One representative even killed another in a duel. Many were beaten and bullied in an attempt to intimidate them into compliance, particularly on the issue of slavery.
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fascinating look at an untold aspect of US.history
- By P. Cardella on 09-27-18
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1920
- The Year of Six Presidents
- By: David Pietrusza
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 20 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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The presidential election of 1920 was among history's most dramatic. Six once-and-future presidents--Wilson, Harding, Coolidge, Hoover, and Teddy and Franklin Roosevelt--jockeyed for the White House. With voters choosing between Wilson's League of Nations and Harding's front-porch isolationism, the 1920 election shaped modern America.
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A fascinating view into the US at the end of WWI
- By D. Littman on 12-31-09
By: David Pietrusza
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Impeachment
- An American History
- By: Jon Meacham, Timothy Naftali, Peter Baker, and others
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Impeachment is a double-edged sword. Though it was designed to check tyrants, Thomas Jefferson also called impeachment “the most formidable weapon for the purpose of a dominant faction that was ever contrived”. On the one hand, it nullifies the will of voters, the basic foundation of all representative democracies. On the other, its absence from the Constitution would leave the country vulnerable to despotic leadership.
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May not scratch your personal itch, but read it anyway!
- By Marshall on 11-17-18
By: Jon Meacham, and others
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James Madison
- By: Richard Brookhiser
- Narrated by: Norman Dietz
- Length: 10 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Eminent historian Richard Brookhiser presents a vivid portrait of James Madison, the “Father of the Constitution” and one of America's greatest statesmen.
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OK book but not a biography
- By Joel Mayer on 08-05-12
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James Madison
- A Life Reconsidered
- By: Lynne Cheney
- Narrated by: Eliza Foss
- Length: 18 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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A major new biography of the fourth US president, from New York Times best-selling author Lynne Cheney. James Madison was a true genius of the early republic, the leader who did more than any other to create the nation we know today. This majestic new biography tells his story. Outwardly reserved, Madison was the intellectual driving force behind the Constitution. His visionary political philosophy was a crucial factor behind the Constitution’s ratification, and his political savvy was of major importance in getting the new government underway.
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Great man, great ideas, muddling book
- By NDFletch on 06-13-15
By: Lynne Cheney
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Supreme Power
- Franklin Roosevelt vs. the Supreme Court
- By: Jeff Shesol
- Narrated by: Mel Foster
- Length: 23 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Beginning in 1935, in a series of devastating decisions, the Supreme Court's conservative majority left much of Franklin Roosevelt's agenda in ruins. The pillars of the New Deal fell in short succession. It was not just the New Deal but democracy itself that stood on trial. In February 1937, Roosevelt struck back with an audacious plan to expand the Court to fifteen justices - and to "pack" the new seats with liberals who shared his belief in a "living" Constitution.
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Excellent Book and Naration
- By Nostromo on 07-04-10
By: Jeff Shesol
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Master of the Senate
- The Years of Lyndon Johnson III
- By: Robert A. Caro
- Narrated by: Stephen Lang
- Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins
- Abridged
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Master of the Senate carries Lyndon Johnson's story through one of its most remarkable periods: his 12 years in the U.S. Senate. At the heart of the book is its unprecedented revelation of how legislative power works in America, how the Senate works, and how Johnson, in his ascent to the presidency, mastered the Senate as no political leader before him had ever done. "There is something uniquely mesmerizing about the wily, combative Lyndon Johnson as portrayed by Caro," says Publishers Weekly.
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Abridgement bad
- By Shelly Brisbin on 09-05-04
By: Robert A. Caro
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Rules for Radical Conservatives
- Beating the Left at Its Own Game to Take Back America
- By: David Kahane
- Narrated by: John Allen Nelson
- Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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The vast right wing conspiracy has found its General Patton, and his name is David Kahane. Kahane's pseudonymous, satiric column for National Review Online, lampooning the Left via his Hollywood-radical persona - Stephen Colbert's liberal doppelganger - is must-listening for political aficionados of all stripes. Now, from the inside, Kahane proudly exposes the secret and not-so-secret winning strategies (and vulnerabilities) of the Left.
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Disappointed
- By Henry W. Baker on 05-30-16
By: David Kahane
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Young Radicals
- In the War for American Ideals
- By: Jeremy McCarter
- Narrated by: Jeremy McCarter
- Length: 11 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Where do we find our ideals? What does it mean to live for them - and to risk dying for them? For Americans during World War I, these weren't abstract questions. Young Radicals tells the story of five activists, intellectuals, and troublemakers who agitated for freedom and equality in the hopeful years before the war, then fought to defend those values in a country pitching into violence and chaos.
By: Jeremy McCarter
What listeners say about Me the People
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Diane
- 06-12-12
Entertaining and Enlightening
Less a formulation of a "new" constitution than an exploration of the history and terms of the current one, Bleyer does a remarkable job of describing describing both the substance and the relatively chaotic backstory of the United States Constitution. The framers, although undoubtedly brilliant and visionary, were also very human and had many misgivings about the quality and durability of the document they were creating. Indeed, Thomas Jefferson was quite explicit: no generation should have the authority to bind the next and ideally the Constitution should be written anew by each generation with laws suitable for its own time and needs.
Bleyer takes such august authority as his starting point to facetiously frame his own version of a suitable constitution for our time. While his tone is amusingly light-hearted and sprinkled with frequently hilarious anecdotes from both the times of the founders and of our own (including a luncheon interview with Supreme Court Justice Scalia), what comes across clearly is that the framers would have been shocked, even appalled, to learn that the Constitution they patched together would be considered sacrosanct more than 200 years later. More than that, they probably would have been horrified to learn that their "original intent" (as if there was ONE original intent) would have been considered controlling in interpreting that Constitution by numerous Supreme Court Justices, including Justice Scalia, himself.
Bleyer does a real service in accurately conveying both constitutional principles and the difficulties in their interpretation in an accessible and entertaining style. Whether the reader is new to the subject or thinks that he/she "knows" the Constitution, the book inspires an appreciation of both the privileges and the responsibilities belonging to those who live in a constitutionally governed democratic society and does so in a way that is non-confrontational and, yes, fun!
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4 people found this helpful
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- Lover_of_Great_Ideas
- 02-22-19
Entertaining Take on History
This is an entertaining and sincere look at the current state of our country and its founding documents in the form of a comedy sketch. I love it! Will Mr. Bleyer actually be able to rewrite the Constitution? I doubt it. But should somebody do it? Most definitely. This book is a convincing argument for doing just that.
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- Gloria
- 04-16-15
Great information told in and entertaining way
Kevin flyer gives historical fact about our Constitution. he tells little known facts in an interesting way. He covers every part of the Constitution and really captures your interest with the way he tells the story. I listen to this over and over.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Matthew
- 10-08-12
Too much filler
What made the experience of listening to Me the People the most enjoyable?
The information and how it was presented
Would you be willing to try another book from Kevin Bleyer? Why or why not?
yes
Have you listened to any of Kevin Bleyer’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
No
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
No
Any additional comments?
Good book, but I there was too much fluff. I was pleased with the amount of information, but the other half of the book was just distracting fluff. For example, his description of his lunch with a member of a supreme court, he fills the transcript with so many useless and annoying comments it's hard to not just shut it off.
Also, it was my impression that he was going to develop a better and more informed proposal for a new constitution, and despite being very informative about the origins and consequences of most articles in the constitution, the good journey doesn't culminate in a good destination.. The constitution is essentially a jestful rant with all the "u"'s removed from words like "behaviour."
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1 person found this helpful
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- DMH
- 06-22-12
Having fun with history
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Yes, it's a fun way to learn some things about history. Funny, irreverent...
What did you like best about this story?
How the author puts life into the founding fathers.
Which scene was your favorite?
The department of beer.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
No. I broke it into 3 days. I think that worked well.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Robert Soderstrom
- 07-30-12
What a great, funny and educational book.
Where does Me the People rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
It ranks in the top five of the government/history books I've listened too.
What was one of the most memorable moments of Me the People?
When one of the delegates gets sauced rants for hours until he is exhausted, demands he be allowed to pick up where he leaves off in the morning then walks out of the convention.
What about Kevin Bleyer’s performance did you like?
Kevin Bleyer was very entertaining in his reading.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Yep!
Any additional comments?
What I took away from this book is how essential cooperation and compromise was in forming our government. I think those of us who love government and politics have at some point in time invoked the names of some founding father or other in hopes it would win us an argument. It seems though, that on their own each of these men were flawed in very serious ways, not so much that they were bad men or unfit for the roles they played. But, enough that if any one of them were to have written our constitution alone I don't believe it would have stood for so long. Don't get me wrong though, I learned all this while laughing my tail off. Great book, give it a listen
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- Fifty-One
- 01-04-13
Skip it.
This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?
Insufferable know-it-alls who "dabble" in comedy.
What was most disappointing about Kevin Bleyer’s story?
How truly entertained he is by himself.
How did the narrator detract from the book?
Smugness of epic proportions.
What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?
Irritation.
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6 people found this helpful