Live at the National Constitution Center

By National Constitution Center

What's Live at the National Constitution Center about?

Live constitutional conversations and debates featuring leading historians, journalists, scholars, and public officials hosted at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia and across America. To watch National Constitution Center Town Halls live, check out our schedule of upcoming programs at constitutioncenter.org/townhall. Register through Zoom to ask your constitutional questions in the Q&A or watch live on YouTube at YouTube.com/ConstitutionCenter.

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LAST EPISODE

The Evolution of Judicial I...

05.30.2023

The National Constitution Center and the Federal Judicial Center present a three-part discussion exploring the evolution of judicial independence in America and its critical role in our democracy from the Founding to present day. This episode features two federal judges ...

Live at the National Constitution Center episodes:

05.30.2023 The Evolution of Judicial Independence in America — Part 3 The National Constitution Center and the Federal Judicial Center present a three-part discussion exploring the evolution of judicial independence in America and its critical role in our democracy from the Founding to present day. This episode features two federal judges ...
05.23.2023 The Evolution of Judicial Independence in America — Part 2 The National Constitution Center and the Federal Judicial Center present a three-part discussion exploring the evolution of judicial independence in America and its critical role in our democracy from the Founding to present day. This episode explores judicial independence and ...
05.17.2023 The Evolution of Judicial Independence in America — Part 1 The National Constitution Center and the Federal Judicial Center present a three-part discussion exploring the evolution of judicial independence in America and its critical role in our democracy from the Founding to present day. This episode features a conversation with ...
05.09.2023 The Future of Affirmative Action With the Supreme Court weighing two cases involving Harvard and the University of North Carolina that could end affirmative action in higher education, scholars William B. Allen of Michigan State University and Hasan Kwame Jeffries of The Ohio State University ...
05.02.2023 Women and the American Idea Tomiko Brown-Nagin, author of Civil Rights Queen: Constance Baker Motley and the Struggle for Equality, and Elizabeth Cobbs, author of Fearless Women: Feminist Patriots from Abigail Adams to Beyoncé explore key influential women throughout history and how these women inspired ...
04.25.2023 Solicitors General and the Supreme Court The U.S. Supreme Court decides some of the most challenging and important constitutional and statutory issues facing America through its interpretive methodologies. In this episode, we explore the various approaches to constitutional interpretation and key doctrines—including originalism, textualism, and the ...
04.04.2023 Civic Virtue and Citizenship In this episode we explore the concepts of civic virtue and citizenship in democratic societies. Joining the conversation are: Christopher Beem, author of The Seven Democratic Virtues: What You Can Do to Overcome Tribalism and Save Our Democracy; Richard Haass, ...
03.28.2023 The Constitutional Role of the State Solicitor General The National Constitution Center and the National Association of Attorneys General host a bipartisan conversation with Dan Schweitzer, director and chief counsel of the National Association of Attorneys General Center for Supreme Court Advocacy; Lindsay See, solicitor general of West ...
03.21.2023 Amendment Reform in America and Abroad The National Constitution Center and the Center for Constitutional Design at Arizona State University present a comparative discussion of how democracies amend their constitutions, at home and around the world. A panel of distinguished scholars, including Wilfred Codrington of Brooklyn ...
03.15.2023 Lessons from Tocqueville in America Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America has been called by Harvey Mansfield the “best book ever written on democracy and the best book ever written on America." What can a 200-year-old book teach us about democracy in America today? Scholars—Jeremy ...
03.07.2023 Slavery and Liberty at America’s Founding Historians Harold Holzer, author of several books on President Abraham Lincoln, including Lincoln: How Abraham Lincoln Ended Slavery in America; and Manisha Sinha, author of The Slave's Cause: A History of Abolition; join Edward Larson for a conversation on Larson’s ...
01.31.2023 Affirmative Action and the 14th Amendment As the U.S. Supreme Court considers a key case on affirmative action, the National Constitution Center and the University of Pennsylvania’s Journal of Constitutional Law convene experts to discuss this important subject as part of the Journal’s annual law symposium. ...
12.14.2022 FDR and the Transformation of the Supreme Court This month, we hosted a conversation about FDR and the Transformation of the Supreme Court. Legal historian Laura Kalman, author of FDR’s Gambit: The Court Packing Fight and the Rise of Legal Liberalism; Ken Kersch, professor of political science at ...
11.29.2022 Justice William O. Douglas: Public Advocate and Conservation Champion The Honorable Jeffrey Sutton, chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, joins the Honorable M. Margaret McKeown, senior judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, for a discussion on McKeown’s new ...
11.23.2022 Cicero and the Constitution How did Marcus Tullius Cicero, a Roman statesman and philosopher, influence the Founding generation, the Constitution, and American political thought? Join Scott Nelson, author of Cicero, Politics, and the 21st Century; Benjamin Straumann, author of Crisis and Constitutionalism: Roman Political ...
11.16.2022 The Battle for the American West For Native American Heritage Month, the National Constitution Center presents a discussion with historians H.W. Brands, author of The Last Campaign: Sherman, Geronimo and the War for America; Lori Daggar, author of Cultivating Empire: Capitalism, Philanthropy, and the Negotiation of ...
11.01.2022 Thomas Jefferson: The Reader and Writer Historians Andrew Browning, author of Schools for Statesmen: The Divergent Educations of the Constitutional Framers; Nancy Isenberg, author of Madison and Jefferson; and Thomas Kidd, author of Thomas Jefferson: A Biography of Spirit and Flesh, explore Thomas Jefferson’s life and ...
10.11.2022 Justice Stephen Breyer on the Importance of Civics Education To conclude the National Constitution Center’s week-long celebration of Constitution Day and to celebrate the launch of our Constitution 101 course, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer (Ret.) joined Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the NCC, for a private ...
10.04.2022 Election 2022: Are We Ready? With U.S. midterm elections approaching, experts and contributors to the National Constitution Center’s Restoring the Guardrails of Democracy initiative—Edward Foley of The Ohio State University, David French of The Dispatch, and Ilya Somin of the Antonin Scalia Law School of ...
09.27.2022 The NCC’s Constitutional Convention Reports: The Proposed Amendments This summer, as a continuation of the National Constitution Center’s Constitution Drafting Project, teams of leading conservative, libertarian, and progressive scholars convened for a virtual constitutional convention. After debating and deliberating together, they drafted and proposed a series of amendments ...
09.21.2022 Originalism: A Matter of Interpretation September 17 is Constitution Day in the U.S., celebrating the day that members of the Constitutional Convention signed the document in Philadelphia in 1787. As a part of the National Constitution Center’s celebrations, we hosted a panel called “Originalism: A ...
07.27.2022 Oligarchies, Monopolies, and the Constitution Is the Constitution “anti-oligarchy”? What does it say about monopolies and antitrust? Legal experts Joseph Fishkin and William E. Forbath, co-authors of The Anti-Oligarchy Constitution, join law professor Katharine Jackson of the University of Dayton School of Law, and Adam ...
07.20.2022 Abortion Law in the U.S. and Abroad After Roe The U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization overturned the landmark decision of Roe v. Wade and found no constitutional basis for a right to choose abortion. Teresa Stanton Collett of the University of St. Thomas ...
07.13.2022 Restoring the Guardrails of Democracy As January 6 hearings proceed on Capitol Hill, join the National Constitution Center for the launch of the Restoring the Guardrails of Democracy team reports. The project brings together three teams of leading experts— libertarian, progressive, and conservative—to identify institutional, ...
06.22.2022 Juneteenth: Tracing the Origins and Significance As part of the National Constitution Center's two-day celebration commemorating Juneteenth, join a conversation with William B. Allen of Michigan State University and Hasan Kwame Jeffries of The Ohio State University exploring the history and meaning of the holiday, its ...
06.07.2022 Social Media and Public Health: A Conversation Featuring State Attorneys General The National Constitution Center and the National Association of Attorneys General host a bipartisan conversation with Attorneys General Doug Peterson of Nebraska and Phil Weiser of Colorado exploring the role of state attorneys general, state law, and state police powers ...
05.25.2022 The United Kingdom and the United States: A Constitutional Dialogue Richard Albert of the University of Texas at Austin, Nicholas Cole of the University of Oxford, and Alison Lacroix of the University of Chicago Law School compare the legal systems of the United States and the United Kingdom, including the ...
05.10.2022 Rights, Regulations, and the Modern Administrative State From lawsuits over the federal government’s vaccine mandates or the Environmental Protection Agency’s regulation of carbon emissions, the Supreme Court is debating the constitutional scope of the administrative state more vigorously than at any time since the New Deal. Join ...
05.03.2022 Why the First Amendment Matters Today On today’s very special episode, we share the exciting events that happened at the National Constitution Center earlier this week. To celebrate the unveiling of the First Amendment tablet—once featured on the facade of the Newseum in Washington, D.C., now ...
04.26.2022 America’s Early Justices and How They Shaped the Supreme Court Historians and biographers provide a historical look at some of America’s earliest justices—from John Jay, the first chief justice, to George Washington’s nephew Bushrod Washington and Pennsylvania Founding Father James Wilson. Join Gerard Magliocca, author of Washington’s Heir: The Life ...
03.15.2022 Elections, Speech, and Political Disinformation What are the leading proposals to combat election disinformation and are they consistent with the First Amendment? Richard L. Hasen, leading election law expert and author of Cheap Speech: How Disinformation Poisons Our Politics—and How to Cure It; Sarah Isgur, ...
03.09.2022 Former Secretaries of Education on What Education Means for Democracy On February 5, Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderated a panel hosted by the National Council for the Social Studies as a part of their annual conference. The panel featured three former U.S. Secretaries of ...
03.02.2022 Adams, Jefferson, and the Turbulent Election of 1800 The election of 1800—which marked the first-ever peaceful transfer of power between political parties in American history—gave birth to the country’s two-party system that still exists today. Join presidential historians Lindsay Chervinsky, author of The Cabinet: George Washington and the ...
02.22.2022 Election Integrity and Voting Rights: Should We Rewrite the Rules? The National Constitution Center and the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University, as part of their ongoing conversations about how to restore the guardrails of American democracy, present a conversation exploring recent proposals to protect the integrity of our ...
02.16.2022 The Rule of Law in America and Abroad The National Constitution Center and Renew Democracy Initiative present a discussion exploring how the rule of law is protected in constitutional systems around the world—including the United States—and how to ensure its survival when threatened by modern challenges. What happens ...
02.08.2022 The First Amendment and the Censor’s Dilemma Adam Liptak, New York Times Supreme Court reporter, and Nadine Strossen, free speech expert and author of HATE: Why We Should Resist It with Free Speech, Not Censorship, join leading First Amendment lawyer Robert Corn-Revere to explore the efforts at ...
02.01.2022 Justice Breyer on Precedent, Pragmatism, and the Supreme Court (Rebroadcast) Last week, Justice Stephen Breyer announced his decision to retire after 28 years on the Supreme Court. Justice Breyer joined Jeff Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, last spring-- for a live online program to discuss the ...
01.26.2022 India and America: A Constitutional Dialogue How are the U.S. and Indian constitutions alike—and how do they differ? Two leading Indian constitutional law experts and senior advocates at the Supreme Court of India—Arvind Datar and Menaka Guruswamy—join American comparative law expert Tom Ginsburg of the University ...
12.21.2021 The Meaning of Equality Where did the idea that “all men are created equal” come from, and what did those words mean when Thomas Jefferson wrote them in the Declaration of Independence? What has equality meant in America over time—and what does it mean ...
12.14.2021 Poetry and the Constitution How have poets and poetry—from John Milton to Mercy Otis Warren and Phillis Wheatley—influenced the Constitution and America’s core democratic principles? Join Vincent Carretta, editor of the Penguin Classics editions of the Complete Writings of Phillis Wheatley and professor emeritus ...
12.08.2021 Lincoln’s Speeches and the Refounding of America Michael Burlingame, author of The Black Man’s President: Abraham Lincoln, African Americans, and the Pursuit of Racial Equality; Noah Feldman, author of The Broken Constitution: Lincoln, Slavery, and the Refounding of America; and Diana Schaub, author of His Greatest Speeches: ...
11.30.2021 Does the Presidency Need Reform? As part of their ongoing conversations about how to restore the guardrails of American democracy, the National Constitution Center and the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University present a conversation exploring the role of the president in our constitutional ...
11.24.2021 Native Americans and the Constitution In celebration of Native American Heritage Month, join experts Maggie Blackhawk of New York University School of Law; Donald Grinde, Jr. of the University at Buffalo and co-author of Exemplar of Liberty: Native America and the Evolution of Democracy; Gregory ...
11.17.2021 Black Women, Representation, and the Constitution Although the 15th and 19th Amendments to the Constitution enshrined the right to vote regardless of race and guaranteed women the right to vote more than 100 years ago, the struggle for Black women’s suffrage and representation is ongoing, and ...
11.10.2021 Akhil Amar on Understanding American Ideas On this week’s episode, we’re sharing the audio from one of the Center’s weekly constitutional classes. The conversation features Akhil Amar, Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science at Yale University and one of America’s foremost teachers of the Constitution. ...
11.04.2021 The Founders' and the People's Constitutions Last week, we hosted a discussion of how the U.S. Constitution was written and how it has changed over time, featuring two authors with different takes: professors Wilfred Codrington III of Brooklyn Law School and Charles R. Kesler of Claremont ...
10.27.2021 Constitutionalism in the American Revolution Historian Gordon Wood unveiled his new book Power and Liberty: Constitutionalism in the American Revolution at the National Constitution Center earlier this fall. He was joined in person by Professor Edward Larson, author of Franklin and Washington: The Founding Partnership; ...
10.20.2021 Patriotism and Dissent in America What has patriotism meant over time, and how has civil debate shaped it? We hosted a discussion of that question last week featuring philosopher Steven Smith of Yale University, who shared insight from his new book, Reclaiming Patriotism in an ...
10.13.2021 Should Qualified Immunity for Police Officers Be Reformed? Last week, we hosted a discussion of a major issue at the forefront of national police reform: whether qualified immunity for police officers should be reformed—and if so, how? Qualified immunity is a defense that government officials—like police officers—can raise ...
10.06.2021 Religious Exemptions From the Founding to Today The Supreme Court today continues to vigorously debate the scope of religious exemptions—which allow individuals or organizations to be exempt from following certain laws that they say burden their religious beliefs—in high-profile cases such as Fulton v. City of Philadelphia ...

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