Live at the National Constitution Center

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Listen to conversations and debates presented at the National Constitution Center on Independence Mall in Philadelphia.

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2020-21 Supreme Court Term ...

07.21.2021

The Anti-Defamation League, or ADL, recently presented a Supreme Court term review panel hosted virtually at the National Constitution Center. Moderator and veteran Supreme Court journalist Dahlia Lithwick was joined by Dean Erwin Chemerinsky of Berkeley Law, former Solicitor General ...

Live at the National Constitution Center episodes:

07.21.2021 2020-21 Supreme Court Term Review The Anti-Defamation League, or ADL, recently presented a Supreme Court term review panel hosted virtually at the National Constitution Center. Moderator and veteran Supreme Court journalist Dahlia Lithwick was joined by Dean Erwin Chemerinsky of Berkeley Law, former Solicitor General ...
07.14.2021 Freedom of Speech in France and America Earlier this summer, we partnered with The Cultural Services of the French Embassy on a pair of programs comparing the freedoms of religion and speech in France and in the United States, and how those freedoms are protected in the ...
07.07.2021 Should More Power Be Returned to the People? The National Constitution Center and the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University recently presented a conversation exploring how significant the role of “we the people” should be in governing. The panel debated whether more power should be returned to ...
06.30.2021 Laboratories of Democracy: State Constitutions State constitutions influenced the drafting of the U.S. Constitution and continue to shape constitutional rights today. The Virginia Constitution of 1776 in particular influenced both the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. As we get ready to celebrate ...
06.23.2021 Free Speech, Media, Truth and Lies Should the government or private companies identify and regulate truth and lies? Join Martha Minow, professor at Harvard Law School and author of the new book, Saving the News: Why the Constitution Calls for Government Action to Preserve Freedom of ...
06.16.2021 Great Justices: Founders, Dissenters, and Prophets Jeffrey Rosen moderates a conversation looking back at some of America’s greatest Supreme Court justices in history, including Chief Justice John Marshall, one of the founders of constitutional law; Justice John Marshall Harlan, famous for his dissent in Plessy v. ...
06.09.2021 The State of Congress Today The National Constitution Center and With Honor Action—a group dedicated to promoting the leadership of military veterans in public service—hosted a discussion exploring the state of Congress with members of the For Country Caucus, a bipartisan group of military veterans ...
06.02.2021 Justice Breyer on Precedent, Pragmatism, and the Supreme Court Last week, U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Stephen G. Breyer joined National Constitution Center President and CEO Jeffrey Rosen for a live online program to discuss the Constitution, civility, the Court, and more. In a wide-ranging conversation, the justice discusses ...
05.25.2021 The Founders’ Library What were the key texts, authors, and sources the framers looked to when drafting the Constitution? Scholars Richard Albert of the University of Texas at Austin, Jonathan Gienapp of Stanford University, and Colleen Sheehan of Arizona State University explore what ...
05.18.2021 Literature and the Constitution Scholars Bernadette Meyler of Stanford Law School, Alison LaCroix of the University of Chicago Law School and co-editor of the new book, Cannons and Codes: Law, Literature, and America's Wars, and political scientist Catherine Zuckert of the University of Notre ...
05.11.2021 The Words That Made Us Preeminent legal scholar Akhil Reed Amar of Yale Law School, host of the Amarica’s Constitution podcast, joins National Constitution Center President and CEO Jeffrey Rosen to discuss the big constitutional questions confronted by early Americans, as described in Amar's groundbreaking ...
05.05.2021 Do We Need a Third Reconstruction? In light of the critical events and national debates over the past year about race, rights, and equality, the National Constitution Center hosts a discussion exploring the question: “Do we need a third Reconstruction?” Last week, Jeffrey Rosen was joined ...
04.28.2021 Voting Rights Today On the heels of election 2020, bills that may change voting and the election process have been introduced at the federal level and in numerous states including Georgia. In this panel, experts discuss the most significant legislation being considered, the ...
04.20.2021 Constitution 101 with Jill Lepore This week we’re sharing a constitutional class taught online featuring Harvard historian, New Yorker staff writer, and podcast host Jill Lepore. Professor Lepore explores the ideas that animated the founding of America, sparked the constitutional convention, and continue to shape ...
04.14.2021 Religious Liberty in France and America In 1789, both the U.S. Bill of Rights and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen guaranteed American and French citizens the freedom of religion. How has the concept of religious liberty been applied, protected, and interpreted ...
04.06.2021 The Fights for Abolition and Women's Rights Dorothy Wickenden, executive editor at The New Yorker and author of the new book The Agitators: Three Friends Who Fought for Abolition and Women's Rights, and Thavolia Glymph, Duke University historian and author of the book The Women's Fight: The ...
03.31.2021 The Girl in the Picture This week, back in 1973, the last U.S. combat troops left South Vietnam, and America’s eight-year intervention in the Vietnam War ended. In 2019, the National Constitution Center hosted a program featuring activist Kim Phúc Phan Thi, and we’re sharing ...
03.24.2021 Congress, the Constitution, and Compromise Last week, experts joined NCC President Jeffrey Rosen to consider how we can foster compromise under the Constitution and in American politics today. They also explored prominent issues in the news including whether or not to end the filibuster; if ...
03.16.2021 Why Do the Innocent Plead Guilty? Judge Jed Rakoff unveils his new book 'Why the Innocent Plead Guilty and the Guilty Go Free: And Other Paradoxes of Our Broken Legal System' with former Judge Paul Cassell of the University of Utah College of Law, Carissa Byrne ...
03.10.2021 The Equal Rights Amendment Through History This week, we’re sharing a constitutional conversation from our archives in honor of Women’s History Month. This program, hosted live at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, traces the history of the Equal Rights Amendment and explores the question of ...
03.02.2021 The Story of the 14th Amendment This week, we’re sharing a constitutional conversation from our archives. Leading legal scholars and historians Allen Guelzo, Martha Jones, Kurt Lash, and Darrell A. H. Miller tell the story of the 14th amendment and the “forgotten founders” who fought for ...
02.23.2021 Lincoln and His Mentors National Constitution Center scholar-in-residence and UNC Law School professor Michael Gerhardt and recently joined us to unveil his new book Lincoln’s Mentors: The Education of a Leader. He was joined by leading historians H.W. Brands, author of the new book ...
02.17.2021 Revolutionary Prophecies On Presidents Day, National Constitution Center President and CEO Jeffrey Rosen moderated a discussion about the diverse cast of characters that helped to found the nation, including America’s early presidents. Jeff was joined by historians Joanne Freeman of Yale who ...
02.10.2021 How to Restore the Guardrails of Democracy How can we “restore the guardrails” of democracy? We examine that question and consider ways to strengthen American constitutional and democratic institutions against current and future threats and insurrections in the aftermath of the January 6 attack on the Capitol. ...
02.03.2021 The Past, Present, and Future of Presidential Elections In the wake of election 2020, we partnered with the University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law to present its annual symposium exploring the past, present, and future of presidential elections. Jeffrey Rosen moderates a three-part conversation. Panel one on ...
02.01.2021 Two State Attorneys General on Federalism and States’ Rights Today Attorneys General Phil Weiser of Colorado and Mark Brnovich of Arizona join for a bipartisan conversation on issues facing their states today, and what the Constitution—particularly the system of federalism—means to them and why it matters. They discuss everything from ...
12.29.2020 Akhil Amar on Timeless Constitutional Lessons In this 2016 conversation from our archives, leading constitutional scholar Akhil Reed Amar of Yale Law School shares foundational lessons about the Constitution. He discusses his book The Constitution Today: Timeless Lessons for the Issues of Our Era with National ...
12.22.2020 Lynne Cheney on The Virginia Dynasty In an online program hosted earlier this year, bestselling historian Lynne Cheney discusses her new book, The Virginia Dynasty, a vivid account of the intersecting lives and accomplishments of the first four U.S. presidents from Virginia—George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James ...
12.15.2020 Should the Equal Rights Amendment be Revived? Jane Mansbridge, author of the award-winning Why We Lost the ERA, Carol Jenkins, president and CEO of the ERA Coalition and Fund for Women’s Equality, and Inez Feltscher Stepman of the Independent Women’s Forum joined to explore the Equal Rights ...
12.08.2020 What the Founders Learned from the Greeks and Romans A panel of experts dives into what the Founders—including Abigail and John Adams, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Mercy Otis Warren, and Phyllis Wheatley—learned from the Greeks and Romans, from their early education through adulthood, and how that knowledge came to ...
12.01.2020 Shakespeare and the Making of America From Ben Franklin to George Washington to Abraham Lincoln—American founders and many early Americans read and revered Shakespeare. As a result, echoes of Shakespeare can be heard in some of the most fundamental documents in American history, including the Constitution ...
11.25.2020 Church-State Separation and the Constitution Religious freedom advocate Kristina Arriaga and scholar Stephanie Barclay of Notre Dame Law School joined constitutional scholars Erwin Chemerinsky and Howard Gillman, authors of The Religion Clauses: The Case for Separating Church and State, to debate what the Constitution says ...
11.18.2020 The Past Four Years: What Have We Learned? A panel of experts from across the ideological spectrum joined National Constitution Center President Jeffrey Rosen on November 11 to consider what the 2020 election and its aftermath demonstrates about the political parties, polarization, and the state of American democracy ...
11.10.2020 Can America Come Together Again? Authors Robert Putnam and Shaylyn Romney Garrett joined National Constitution Center President and CEO Jeffrey Rosen to discuss their book The Upswing: How America Came Together a Century Ago and How We Can Do It Again. The authors shared what ...
11.03.2020 Social Media, Election 2020, and Online Speech How are social media platforms dealing with disinformation in the midst of election 2020? Experts joined host Jeffrey Rosen to explore that question as well as the complex, persistent issues surrounding the regulation of online speech and content, and how ...
10.27.2020 The President and Immigration Law The biggest immigration controversies of the last decade have involved policies produced by presidents. Earlier this month, legal scholars Cristina Rodriguez, Adam Cox, and Michael McConnell joined National Constitution Center President and CEO Jeffrey Rosen to explore some of those ...
10.21.2020 America’s Contentious Presidential Elections: A History As the 2020 election approaches, this week we hosted program about the history of presidential elections. Experts Franita Tolson of USC Law, Edward Foley of Ohio State Law, James Ceaser of the University of Virginia, and Robert Lieberman of Johns ...
10.13.2020 The Hayes-Tilden Election of 1876 This week, we partnered with Free and Fair with Franita and Foley, a podcast about democracy and elections hosted by election experts Professor Edward Foley of Ohio State Moritz College of Law and Professor Franita Tolson of USC Gould School ...
10.06.2020 A Libertarian vs. Progressive Constitution The Constitution Drafting Project challenged three teams of leading constitutional thinkers from different ideological perspectives to draft their ideal constitutions. Earlier this week, “Team Progressive”—led by Caroline Fredrickson of Georgetown Law along with Jamal Greene of Columbia Law and Melissa ...
09.29.2020 A Conversation with Justice Neil M. Gorsuch The National Constitution Center recently hosted a special “Student Town Hall” with Supreme Court Justice Neil M. Gorsuch. Justice Gorsuch spoke to students joining online from across the country about his career, the role of the judicial branch, and what ...
09.22.2020 In Honor of RBG Last week, before the passing of constitutional icon Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the National Constitution Center awarded Justice Ginsburg the 2020 Liberty Medal for her lifelong efforts to advance liberty and equality for all. Following the Liberty Medal Ceremony, National ...
09.17.2020 RESOLVED: Songs of Women’s Suffrage and the 19th Amendment Last month, the National Constitution Center hosted a musical performance and conversation about the women who fought for the right to vote. On this episode you’ll hear the premiere performance of RESOLVED — a song cycle about the 19th Amendment ...
09.08.2020 Plato, Aristotle, and the Founders The National Constitution Center is hosting a series of online constitutional classes this fall for students and learners of all ages. Last Friday, Center President Jeffrey Rosen and Chief Learning Officer Kerry Sautner were joined by David Coleman, CEO of ...
08.26.2020 Landmark Cases Lightning Round In the spring, the National Constitution Center hosted a series of online constitutional classes where students, teachers, parents, and learners of all ages joined in constitutional discussions with scholars from the National Constitution Center and guest speakers. As we gear ...
08.19.2020 2020 Supreme Court Term Review Our annual Supreme Court term review, hosted in partnership with the Anti-Defamation League, recapped the landmark cases from this past term and previewed what’s to come next term. The panel featured Supreme Court experts Dahlia Lithwick, Erwin Chemerinsky, Paul Clement, ...
08.11.2020 19th Amendment: Untold Stories Last week, historians Martha Jones and Lisa Tetrault joined National Constitution Center President and CEO Jeffrey Rosen for a conversation exploring the history and legacy of the 19th Amendment. The discussion highlighted the untold stories of women from all backgrounds ...
08.04.2020 Slavery in America From the Constitution to Reconstruction With Eric Foner In the spring, the National Constitution Center hosted a series of online constitutional classes where students, teachers, and parents joined in constitutional discussions with scholars from the Center and guest speakers. As we gear up for more classes this coming ...
07.28.2020 Elections in America with Emily Bazelon In the spring, the National Constitution Center hosted a series of online constitutional classes where students, teachers, and parents joined in constitutional discussions with scholars from the National Constitution Center and guest speakers. As we gear up for more classes ...
07.22.2020 A Constitutional History of the Right to Vote What did the original Constitution say about the right to vote? How has that changed over time, and why? In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment and the 150th anniversary of the 15th Amendment in 2020, the ...
07.14.2020 The Battle for the Constitution Part Two: Coronavirus Recently, the National Constitution Center hosted a symposium bringing together contributors from The Battle for the Constitution website—a joint project from the National Constitution Center and The Atlantic that features essays exploring current constitutional issues from all perspectives. Today we’re ...

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Live at the National Constitution Center

What's Live at the National Constitution Center about?

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Live at the National Constitution Center episodes:

2020-21 Supreme Court Term Review

Freedom of Speech in France and America

Should More Power Be Returned to the People?

Laboratories of Democracy: State Constitutions

Free Speech, Media, Truth and Lies

Great Justices: Founders, Dissenters, and Prophets

The State of Congress Today

Justice Breyer on Precedent, Pragmatism, and the Supreme Court

The Founders’ Library

Literature and the Constitution

The Words That Made Us

Do We Need a Third Reconstruction?

Voting Rights Today

Constitution 101 with Jill Lepore

Religious Liberty in France and America

The Fights for Abolition and Women's Rights

The Girl in the Picture

Congress, the Constitution, and Compromise

Why Do the Innocent Plead Guilty?

The Equal Rights Amendment Through History

The Story of the 14th Amendment

Lincoln and His Mentors

Revolutionary Prophecies

How to Restore the Guardrails of Democracy

The Past, Present, and Future of Presidential Elections

Two State Attorneys General on Federalism and States’ Rights Today

Akhil Amar on Timeless Constitutional Lessons

Lynne Cheney on The Virginia Dynasty

Should the Equal Rights Amendment be Revived?

What the Founders Learned from the Greeks and Romans

Shakespeare and the Making of America

Church-State Separation and the Constitution

The Past Four Years: What Have We Learned?

Can America Come Together Again?

Social Media, Election 2020, and Online Speech

The President and Immigration Law

America’s Contentious Presidential Elections: A History

The Hayes-Tilden Election of 1876

A Libertarian vs. Progressive Constitution

A Conversation with Justice Neil M. Gorsuch

In Honor of RBG

RESOLVED: Songs of Women’s Suffrage and the 19th Amendment

Plato, Aristotle, and the Founders

Landmark Cases Lightning Round

2020 Supreme Court Term Review

19th Amendment: Untold Stories

Slavery in America From the Constitution to Reconstruction With Eric Foner

Elections in America with Emily Bazelon

A Constitutional History of the Right to Vote

The Battle for the Constitution Part Two: Coronavirus

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