Constitutionally Speaking

Constitutionally Speaking episodes:

• 02.18.2022

  Episode 77: Filibuster

  In this episode, Jay and Luke discuss procedures in the Senate. After giving a broad overview of how the institution works, they dig deep into the filibuster -- how it works, why it works, and some surprising answers as to...

  
• 02.01.2022

  Episode 76: House Party!

  In this episode of Constitutionally Speaking, Luke and Jay continue their explanation of Congress, this time looking at the party structure in the House of Representatives. After Jay offers some broad considerations about the function and structure of the parties,...

  
• 11.23.2021

  Episode 75: Congressional Committees

  In this episode of Constitutionally Speaking, Jay and Luke discuss the role of committees in Congress. Committees are the workhorses of Congress, where the real legislating happens. The guys evaluate different theories of committee organization, and Luke makes the case...

  
• 11.09.2021

  Episode 74: Jay’s New Book!

  Luke interviews Jay about his new book, ‘James Madison: America’s First Politician,’ which is out on November 9th.

  
• 09.23.2021

  Episode 73: The Electoral Connection

  In this week’s episode, Jay and Luke examine what makes members of Congress tick. The answer: paranoia. Specifically, the all-abiding fear that they might lose reelection. The congressional drive toward reelection frames their entire career in Congress, especially how they...

  
• 09.16.2021

  Episode 72: Congress Since the 1990s

  In this final installment of their "Historical Congress" series, Luke and Jay discuss various facets of the legislative group since the 1990s.

  
• 09.09.2021

  Episode 71: Congress’s Post-Watergate Period

  Jay and Luke discuss Congress’s evolution and role after the Watergate scandal.

  
• 09.02.2021

  Episode 70: Congress Confronts the Presidential Government — Progressivism, the New Deal, and the Great Society

  Luke and Jay take a look at Congress's confrontation with reform, from the collapse of the Populist movement through the rise of modern American liberalism. As the Civil War generation fades into the past, new cleavages and governing patterns emerge.

  
• 08.26.2021

  Episode 69: The Rise of the Senate in the 19th Century

  Jay and Luke take a look at the long period of congressional dominance in the 19th century, and they explain how congressional supremacy survived everything from the Civil War to civil-service reform.

  
• 08.19.2021

  Episode 68: Congress and the Civil War

  Jay and Luke discuss Congress and the mid 1800s.

  
• 08.12.2021

  Episode 67: From Ratification to Reconstruction

  Luke and Jay talk through the early development of Congressional power, the appearance of the committee system, and how the formation of political parties shaped the rules, habits, and customs of Congress.

  
• 08.05.2021

  Episode 66: The Constitutional Congress

  Jay and Luke take a look at the formal structures and rules that govern Congress in the Constitution. Why does each Chamber get to set its own rules? What's the deal with judging qualifications? Why do we have a Speech...

  
• 07.29.2021

  Episode 65: A Deep Dive on Congress

  Jay and Luke are back, this time to discuss the roots of our modern-day Congress.

  
• 06.18.2020

  Episode 64: Van Buren II and Tyler Too [Part 2]

  Picking up with Martin Van Buren in Jackson's cabinet, Jay and Luke trace the Little Magicians rise to the vice presidency, his political knife fighting with John C. Calhoun, and his successful introduction of the party convention system. His presidency,...

  
• 07.14.2018

  Ep. 26: The Price of Greatness, Part 3

  In this episode, Jay and Luke finish their discussion of Jay's new book, The Price of Greatness: Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and the Creation of American Oligarchy. They focus on politics and policy during the Age of Jefferson and beyond. ...

  
• 06.25.2018

  Ep. 25: The Price of Greatness: Part 2

  In this episode of Constitutionally Speaking, Jay and Luke continue their discussion of Jay's new book, The Price of Greatness: Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and the Creation of American Oligarchy. Here, we see that Madison and Hamilton began to diverge...

  
• 06.24.2018

  Ep. 25: The Price of Greatness, Part 2

  In this episode of Constitutionally Speaking, Jay and Luke continue their discussion of Jay's new book, The Price of Greatness: Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and the Creation of American Oligarchy. Here, we see that Madison and Hamilton began to diverge...

  
• 06.04.2018

  Ep. 24: The Price of Greatness, Part One

  In this episode of Constitutionally Speaking, Jay and Luke discuss Jay's new book, The Price of Greatness: Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and the Creation of American Oligarchy. Jay's book focuses on why these two great founding fathers and onetime allies became...

  
• 05.28.2018

  Ep. 23: 1789

  In this episode of Constitutionally Speaking, Jay and Luke examine the first session of the First Congress, which met from the spring through the fall of 1789. One of the most productive legislative assemblies in American history, this session submitted...

  
• 05.15.2018

  Ep. 22: The First Federal Election

  In this episode of Constitutionally Speaking, Jay and Luke discuss the first federal election, held in 1788-1789. In many parts of the country, the contests were a proxy over whether the new Constitution was a good plan of government. This...

  
• 04.19.2018

  Ep. 21: Ratification, Part 4: Virginia and New York

  In this episode of Constitutionally Speaking, Jay and Luke finish their discussion of the ratification debates with a look at Virginia and New York. Two of the most important states in the union, the Old Dominion and the Empire State...

  
• 03.30.2018

  Ep. 20: Ratification, Part 3: New Hampshire, North Carolina, and Rhode Island

  Sponsored by ManCrates In this week's episode of Constitutionally Speaking, Jay and Luke continue their discussion of ratification. First up, New Hampshire, the ninth state to ratify the Constitution, thereby making it the law of the land. But the Granite State...

  
• 03.15.2018

  Ep. 19: Ratification, Part 2: Amendments!

  Sponsored by ManCrates In this episode of Constitutionally Speaking, Jay and Luke continue their review of the ratifying conventions. The Federalists faced a stiff challenge in Massachusetts, despite the fact that its delegates supported the Constitution at the Constitutional Convention. Samuel...

  
• 03.09.2018

  Ep. 18: Ratification, Part 1: Big Wins for the Federalists

  In this episode of Constitutionally Speaking, Jay and Luke begin their discussion of ratification. The early contests saw big victories for the Federalists, in Delaware, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. With the exception of Pennsylvania, these were all small...

  
• 02.13.2018

  Ep. 16: To Save the Republic

  In this episode of Constitutionally Speaking, Jay and Luke continue their discussion of the Anti-Federalists. One of the chief objections of the opponents of the Constitution was that it threatened to destroy republican government. The Anti-Federalists believed that the branches...

  
• 01.29.2018

  Ep. 14: Introducing the Anti-Federalists

  In this episode of Constitutionally Speaking, Jay and Luke discuss the Anti-Federalists, the politicians and polemicists who opposed the Constitution during the ratification debate of 1787-1788. The Anti-Federalists had a lot of different grounds for objecting to the new Constitution,...

  
• 01.23.2018

  Ep. 13: Hamilton’s Executive

  In this episode of Constitutionally Speaking, Jay and Luke discuss Alexander Hamilton's theory of the executive branch. Hamilton was unique among the Founders for his brilliant insights into how a vigorous executive was essential to republican government. He believed that...

  
• 01.10.2018

  Ep. 12: Write It Down!

  In this episode, Jay and Luke discuss the importance of a written Constitution. There were multiple impulses that drove Americans to write down a governing instrument. Hailing from the Lockean liberal tradition, they saw government as a contract, which is...

  
• 01.02.2018

  Ep. 11: The Congressional Beast

  In this episode of Constitutionally Speaking, Jay and Luke take on the myth that our government is one of "co-equal branches." In fact, the Founding Fathers created a Congress-centered government. It is the legislature that, if it willed it, could...

  
• 12.18.2017

  Ep. 10: The Electoral College

  In this week's episode of Constitutionally Speaking, Jay and Luke discuss the Electoral College, the Rube Goldberg device the Founding Fathers created to select the president. The Electoral College was a compromise between multiple factions at the Convention--free and slave...

  
• 12.11.2017

  Ep. 9: Slavery and the Constitution

  In this episode of Constitutionally Speaking, Jay and Luke discuss the role that slavery played at the Constitutional Convention. The delegates, as they note, were never prepared to abolish slavery in 1787, in no small part because southern states dominated...

  
• 12.04.2017

  Ep. 8: The Great Compromise

  In this week's episode of Constitutionally Speaking, Jay and Luke discuss opposition against the Virginia Plan at the Constitutional Convention. Speaking for the anti-nationalists, Robert Patterson of New Jersey proposed what came to be known as the "New Jersey Plan,"...

  
• 11.20.2017

  Ep. 7: A National Union?

  In this episode of Constitutionally Speaking, Jay and Luke discuss the first two weeks of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, where the nationalists -- led by James Madison and James Wilson -- make remarkable headway in crafting a new government in...

  
• 11.14.2017

  Ep. 6: On To Philadelphia!

  In this week's episode of Constitutionally Speaking, Jay and Luke begin their review of the Constitutional Convention, held in Philadelphia during the spring and summer of 1787. First up is a close look at the delegates themselves, the fascinating, brilliant, and...