American Dissent

New York City, 1917. Americans get their music from player pianos. Plastic was just barely invented. And only about 25% of teenagers actually went to high school. But in a packed courtroom, a woman named Emma Goldman is on trial. We talk with a law professor who tells the story of 20th-century free speech, starting with Goldman. And we round out the series with a conversation about teaching dissent in schools.

The U.S. Constitution is the oldest written constitution still in use today. A single document that lays out a framework for how our country is governed, the Constitution is fairly simple, short, and flexible. But when it was proposed, it was considered a radical design for a government. We talk with a historian about the dissent that nearly prevented ratification of this new constitution in 1788.

A law professor shares a list of people—some well known, some not—whom he credits with seeing America for what it could be and then working toward making it so.

We talk with one of six people suing the Trump administration for rescinding DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), a program that allows people who came to the U.S. as undocumented children to receive a renewable work permit. And we take a field trip to a former high school in smalltown Virginia where students as young as 12 years old helped start the movement for integration of public schools.

Influenced by Colin Kaepernick’s protest of police brutality during the National Anthem, a high school volleyball player initiates her own protest, and not without consequences. And a historian tells the story of a religious minority who helped win the American Revolution and the fight for religious freedom in America.

Teaser for the new podcast American Dissent.

What happens when we push back against injustice? When we stand up for what we think is right? Does the Constitution protect us? All of us? From the Founding era to the present, everyday Americans have shaped our nation by going against the grain, even when they faced tough consequences. Hosted by With Good Reason’s Kelley Libby, this series explores the history and promise of one of our most fundamental liberties. Episodes drop on Constitution Day, September 17th.

American Dissent is a production of James Madison’s Montpelier and With Good Reason at Virginia Humanities.