Episodes

  • Anne Applebaum on Autocratic Threats Around the World

    Anne Applebaum on Autocratic Threats Around the World
    Oct 3 2024
    In this episode, Anne Applebaum, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and staff writer for The Atlantic, joins to discuss her newest book, Autocracy, Inc.: The Dictators Who Want to Rule the World, which explores how autocracies work together to undermine the democratic world, and how democracies should organize to defeat them. She joins Jeffrey Rosen to discuss new threats from autocratic leaders at home and around the world and how liberal democracies should fight these threats. Resources: Anne Applebaum, Autocracy, Inc.: The Dictators Who Want to Rule the World (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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    54 mins
  • The 2024 Liberty Medal Ceremony Honoring Ken Burns

    The 2024 Liberty Medal Ceremony Honoring Ken Burns
    Sep 26 2024
    This week, 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
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    1 hr and 9 mins
  • A Conversation With Justice Neil Gorsuch on ‘The Human Toll of Too Much Law’

    A Conversation With Justice Neil Gorsuch on ‘The Human Toll of Too Much Law’
    Sep 20 2024
    On September 17, 2024, 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. Resources: Neil M. Gorsuch and Janie Nitze, Over Ruled: The Human Toll of Too Much Law (2024) National Constitution Center: Constitution 101 with Khan Academy 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 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. Donate
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    1 hr and 9 mins
  • ‘The Highest Calling’: A Conversation With David Rubenstein on the American Presidency

    ‘The Highest Calling’: A Conversation With David Rubenstein on the American Presidency
    Sep 13 2024
    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 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. Donate
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    1 hr and 6 mins
  • The Scientist Turned Spy: André Michaux, Thomas Jefferson, and the Conspiracy of 1793

    The Scientist Turned Spy: André Michaux, Thomas Jefferson, and the Conspiracy of 1793
    Sep 5 2024
    On September 17, Constitution Day, Patrick Spero—the incoming chief executive officer of the American Philosophical Society’s Library & Museum in Philadelphia—will release his new book, The Scientist Turned Spy: André Michaux, Thomas Jefferson, and the Conspiracy of 1793. It explores the incredible story of an explorer, André Michaux, drawn into a plot orchestrated by the French government to exploit tensions between American settlers and Spanish authorities in the Louisiana region, with the aim of setting up an independent republic. In this episode, Spero joins Jeffrey Rosen to discuss the history of this conspiracy and explore new evidence implicating Thomas Jefferson in the plot, as well as the American Philosophical Society and Jefferson’s role in it. Resources: The Scientist Turned Spy: André Michaux, Thomas Jefferson, and the Conspiracy of 1793 (2024) Stay Connected and Learn More: 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. Donate
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    49 mins
  • Can the Attorney General Appoint a Special Counsel?

    Can the Attorney General Appoint a Special Counsel?
    Aug 29 2024
    In July, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed a criminal case charging former President Donald Trump with hoarding classified documents at his home in Mar-a-Lago and obstructing justice. Judge Cannon reasoned that the prosecutor in this case, Special Counsel Jack Smith, was not properly appointed by the Justice Department. Matthew Seligman of Stanford Law School and Josh Blackman of the South Texas College of Law Houston, who argued before Judge Cannon on opposite sides of this issue, join Jeffrey Rosen to debate the legal basis for the special counsel role. Resources: United States v. Nixon (1974) Trump v. United States (2024) Josh Blackman and Seth Barrett Tillman, Brief of Professor Seth Barrett Tillman and Landmark Legal Foundation as Amici Curiae in Support of Defendant Trump’s Motion to Dismiss the Indictment, United States v. Trump (March 21, 2024) Matthew Seligman, Motion for Leave to File Brief by Constitutional Lawyers, Former Government Officials, and State Democracy Defenders Action as Amici Curiae in Opposition to Defendant Donald J. Trump’s Motion to Dismiss, United States v. Trump (April 3, 2024) Judge Aileen Cannon, Order Granting Motion to Dismiss Superseding Indictment Based on Appointments Clause Violation, United States v. Trump (July 15, 2024) Jack Smith, Brief for the United States, United States v. Trump, Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals (August 26, 2024) Stay Connected and Learn More: 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. Donate
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    55 mins
  • The State of the American Idea

    The State of the American Idea
    Aug 22 2024
    Charles Cooke of the National Review, Melody Barnes of the University of Virginia, and Sean Wilentz of Princeton University explore the debate about the core values of the American Idea—liberty, equality, democracy, and federalism—throughout American history and model the way in which Americans of different perspectives can come together in the spirit of civil dialogue. This program was recorded live on February 9, 2024. Resources: Sean Wilentz, The Rise of American Democracy: Jefferson to Lincoln (2008) Sean Wilentz, The Politicians and the Egalitarians: The Hidden History of American Politics (2016) Charles Cooke, The Conservatarian Manifesto: Libertarians, Conservatives, and the Fight for the Right’s Future Charles Cooke, “The American System Works, and It Will Work If Trump Wins Again” (2023) Melody Barnes, Corey D.B. Walker and Thad M. Williamson, “Introduction: can we make American democracy work?” In Community Wealth Building and the Reconstruction of American Democracy (2020) Melody Barnes (and others), “Hate-fueled violence is ripping apart our cities and nation. We need to stop it.,” USA Today (2022) Melody Barnes and Caroline Janney, “Opinion: In a civil war, accountability must precede healing,” The Washington Post (2021) Melody Barnes, “Opinion: It’s time for Sally Hemings to show us the unvarnished Thomas Jefferson,” The Washington Post (2018) Stay Connected and Learn More: 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. Donate
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    53 mins
  • The History of Illiberalism in America

    The History of Illiberalism in America
    Aug 16 2024
    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, join Thomas Donnelly to explore the history of illiberalism in America and to assess illiberal threats facing our democracy today. 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 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. Donate
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    1 hr and 3 mins