Earlier this year, the National Constitution Center hosted an event in Miami, Florida, featuring a series of meaningful conversations about the Constitution with speakers of diverse perspectives. In this episode, we’re sharing one of those programs with you: A conversation with four leading constitutional experts about the NCC’s Constitution Drafting Project, the amendment process, Article V, and the future of constitutional reform. The four scholars are: Akhil Reed Amar of Yale Law School, Caroline Fredrickson of Georgetown Law, David French of the New York Times, and Ramesh Ponnuru of the National Review. Host Jeffrey Rosen moderates. 

Additional Resources

National Constitution Center’s Constitution Drafting Project 


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New Amendments and the Future of Constitutional Reform

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.

History

Society & Culture

News

News Commentary

In this episode, two acclaimed Lincoln historians—Sidney Blumenthal, author of the three-volume The Political Life of Abraham Lincoln, and Harold Holzer, author of the new book Brought Forth on This Continent: Abraham Lincoln and American Immigration, join Jeffrey Rosen to assess Lincoln’s life and legacy to explore similarities between the 19th century and today. This program was streamed live on March 27, 2024, as part of our America’s Town Hall series. 
 
Resources: 

Harold Holzer, Brought Forth on This Continent: Abraham Lincoln and American Immigration 

Sidney Blumenthal, Wrestling With His Angel: The Political Life of Abraham Lincoln, Vol. II, 1849-1856 

Abraham Lincoln, Cooper Union Address (February 27, 1860) 

Harold Holzer, Lincoln at Cooper Union: The Speech That Made Abraham Lincoln President 

 

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’s Lessons: Then and Now

Over the past few weeks, protests on college campuses over the war in Gaza have sparked debate about the extent and limits of student and faculty free speech rights. In this episode, two leading First Amendment scholars, Keith Whittington of Princeton University and Geoffrey Stone of the University of Chicago, join Jeffrey Rosen to discuss the current debates over free speech on campus. They also discuss Whittington’s new book, You Can’t Teach That!: The Battle Over University Classrooms. 

Resources: 

Keith Whittington, You Can’t Teach That!: The Battle Over University Classrooms (2024)  

Keith Whittington, Speak Freely: Why Universities Must Defend Free Speech (2019)  

Keith Whittington, “Civil Disobedience Has Consequences,” The Daily Princetonian (May 10, 2024) 

Keith Whittington, “What Can Professors Say in Public? Extramural Speech and the First Amendment,” Case Western L. Rev (2023)  

University of Chicago, Kalven Committee: Report on the University’s Role in Political and Social Action  

University of Chicago, “Report on the Committee on Freedom of Expression” (2014) 

“UChicago Says Free Speech Is Sacred. Some Students See Hypocrisy,” NYTimes (May 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.

The Battle Over Free Speech on Campus

Richard Hasen, author of A Real Right to Vote, Sarah Isgur, senior editor of The Dispatch, and Lawrence Lessig, author of How to Steal a Presidential Election, join Jeffrey Rosen for a health check on the state of American democracy. They look ahead to potential areas of vulnerability in the run-up to the 2024 election, and identify ways to strengthen our democratic processes in response. This program was streamed live on March 21, 2024, as part of our America’s Town Hall series.

Resources: 

Richard L. Hasen, A Real Right to Vote: How a Constitutional Amendment Can Safeguard American Democracy (2024)

Lawrence Lessig and Matthew Seligman, How to Steal a Presidential Election (2024)

National Constitution Center’s We the People podcast, “The Supreme Court Says States Can’t Keep Trump Off the Ballot," (March 7, 2024)

Sarah Isgur and David French, “Indictment Watch: The Supreme Court Decides Whether States Can Disqualify Trump,” Advisory Opinions, The Dispatch (March 5, 2024)

Richard L. Hasen, “The Supreme Court Just Delivered a Rare Self-Own for John Roberts,” Slate (March 5, 2024)

Conference Report, “Carter-Baker Commission: 16 Years Later” (2021)


Amicus brief of Richard L. Hasen, Edward Foley and Ben Ginsburg, Trump v. Anderson




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 Checkup: Preparing for the 2024 Election

As Meta—the parent company of Facebook and Instagram—surpassed 2 billion users in 2019, the company created an independent oversight board to review appeals of the company’s decisions involving content moderation. In this episode, members of Meta’s Oversight Board, Michael McConnell of Stanford Law School and Kenji Yoshino of New York University School of Law, join Jeffrey Rosen to discuss the board’s structure, its key decisions, and its efforts to ensure free and fair elections in advance of the 2024 presidential election. This program was streamed live on April 29, 2024, as part of our America’s Town Hall series. 
 
Resources: 


Meta Oversight Board 


Former President Trump's suspension, Meta Oversight Board decision (2021) 


Meet the Board 


Brazilian general's speech, Meta Oversight Board decision (2023) 


Altered Video of President Biden, Meta Oversight Board decision (2023) 


Oversight Board Announces New Cases on Israel-Hamas Conflict for Expedited Review (Dec. 2023) 


United States posts discussing abortion, Meta Oversight Board decision, (2023) 


Referring to Designated Dangerous Individuals as “Shaheed”, Meta Oversight Board decision, (2023) 


Cambodian prime minister, Meta Oversight Board decision (2023) 


Reporting on Pakistani Parliament Speech, Meta Oversight Board decision (2023) 


How to Appeal to the Oversight Board 

 
 
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.

Meet the Facebook Supreme Court

This week the Supreme Court hears oral arguments in Trump v. United States, a case that asks whether the former president is immune from criminal prosecution for conduct that occurred during his tenure in office. In this episode, Professor John Yoo of Berkeley Law School and Smita Ghosh of the Constitutional Accountability Center join Jeffrey Rosen to preview the arguments in the case, review the founders’ views on executive immunity, and discuss how the Court might decide this crucial case. 
 
Resources: 


Trump v. United States (oral argument via C-SPAN; transcript)

Constitutional Accountability Center, Smita Ghosh, et al, Brief of Scholars of Constitutional Law in Support of Respondents, Trump v. United States 

Smita Ghosh, “The Founding Fathers Didn’t Think Trump Should Get Immunity Either,” Newsweek, Feb 8, 2024  

John Yoo, “The Trump Immunity Case is Weak—But He Doesn’t Need it to Prevail,” Newsweek, Mar 6, 2024  


Nixon v. Fitzgerald (1982) 


Blassingame v. Trump (D.C. Cir. 2023) 

 
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.

New Amendments and the Future of Constitutional Reform

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