National Constitution Ctr

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Channel • 4 Shows

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News Commentary

Updated weekly
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Updated 28 Apr
History

History

Updated weekly
History

History

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07/09/2023

The U.S. Supreme Court and Ethics Reform

This summer, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved legislation that would attempt to set ethics rules for the U.S. Supreme Court and a process to enforce them, including rules for transparency around recusals, gifts, and conflicts of interest. The bill, which still requires full Senate approval, is the latest in a series of proposals and attempts to reform or improve the Supreme Court in recent years. In this episode of We the People, we discuss various proposals to reform ethics rules surrounding the Supreme Court; how and whether these proposals could go into effect; and what the enforcement mechanisms could be. Law professors Daniel Hemel of NYU Law and Daniel Epps of Washington University School of Law join host Jeffrey Rosen. Resources: S.359 - Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act of 2023 (Sen. Whitehouse) S.325 - Supreme Court Ethics Act (Sen. Murphy) Daniel Epps and Ganesh Sitaraman, “The Future of Supreme Court Reform” (2021) Daniel Hemel, “Can Structural Changes Fix the Supreme Court?” (2021) 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.

07/09/2023

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49 min
02/04/2024

Lincoln’s Lessons: Then and Now

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, assess Lincoln’s life and legacy to unveil remarkable similarities between the 19th century and today. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates. Additional 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 (1860, February 27) Harold Holzer, Lincoln at Cooper Union: The Speech That Made Abraham Lincoln President Stay Connected and Learn More Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org. Continue today’s conversation on social media @ConstitutionCtr and #AmericasTownHall Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate, at bit.ly/constitutionweekly. Please subscribe to Live at the National Constitution Center and our companion podcast We the People on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app.

02/04/2024

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1hr 1min
02/08/2024

President Biden’s Proposed Supreme Court Reforms

This week, President Joe Biden announced a three-fold plan to reform the Supreme Court. The proposal includes a constitutional amendment that no former president is immune from prosecution for crimes committed in office, 18-year Supreme Court term limits, and a binding code of conduct for Supreme Court Justices. In this episode, constitutional historians Keith Whittington of Yale Law School and Anthony Michael Kreis of Georgia State University and author of the new book Rot and Revival: The History of Constitutional Law in Political Development, join Jeffrey Rosen to discuss the mechanics and merits of President Biden’s proposed court reforms and delve into the relationship between politics and the judiciary from the founding until today. Resources: President Joe Biden, “My plan to reform the Supreme Court and ensure no president is above the law,” The Washington Post (July 29, 2024) Presidential Commission on SCOTUS Anthony Michael Kreis, Rot and Revival: The History of Constitutional Law in Political Development (2024) Keith Whittington, Repugnant Laws: Judicial Review of Acts of Congress from the Founding to the Present (2019) Keith Whittington, Political Foundations of Judicial Supremacy: The Presidency, the Supreme Court, and Constitutional Leadership in U.S. History (2007) “Can Congress enact Supreme Court term limits without a constitutional amendment?,” Constitution Daily (July 2024) Stay Connected and Learn More: 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. Donate

02/08/2024

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1hr 5min
09/02/2024

The Constitution Drafting Project: A Discussion of Five New Amendments

In this week’s episode, we are sharing audio from a program hosted live from Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law and presented in partnership with ASU’s Center for Constitution Design. The program centered around a discussion of the National Constitution Center’s landmark Constitution Drafting Project, and featured members from each project team— Georgetown Law’s Caroline Fredrickson of Team Progressive, the Goldwater Institute’s Timothy Sandefur of Team Libertarian, and ASU’s Ilan Wurman of Team Conservative. They discuss their approaches to constitution drafting, review points of consensus and disagreement, and reflect on the importance of cross-partisan dialogue in today’s constitutional environment. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates. This program was presented live on February 1, 2024. Resources: National Constitution Center, Constitution Drafting Project National Constitution Center, Constitution Drafting Project, “The Proposed Amendments” (PDF) Center for Constitutional Design at Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, 2024 Model Constitutional Convention NCC America’s Town Hall program, Justice Stephen Breyer on the Importance of Civics Education (Oct. 6, 2022) Jeffrey Rosen, The Pursuit of Happiness: How Classical Writers on Virtue Inspired the Lives of the Founders and Defined America (2024) Erwin Chemerinsky, We the People: A Progressive Reading of the Constitution for the Twenty-First Century (2018) The Preamble to the Constitution The Declaration of Independence Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010) 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.

09/02/2024

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57 min
26/01/2023

Roe v. Wade at 50

This January marked the 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the seminal and contentious decision recognizing abortion rights, which the Supreme Court overturned last June in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. In this episode, scholars Mary Ziegler, author of the new book Roe: The History of a National Obsession, and O. Carter Snead, author of What It Means to be Human: The Case for the Body in Public Bioethics, discuss the Roe decision in historical and constitutional context. They also explore how Roe v. Wade raised questions beyond abortion rights—including about the scope of the judicial role, religious liberty, the role of science in politics, and much more; and how the abortion landscape has changed since Dobbs overturned Roe. Host Jeffrey Rosen moderates. 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.

26/01/2023

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1hr 1min
30/03/2017

Privacy, equality, and transgender students

Alexandra Brodksy of the National Women's Law Center and Gary McCaleb of the Alliance Defending Freedom discuss whether Title IX or the Constitution bans discrimination on the basis of gender identity. 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. Please subscribe to We the People and our companion podcast, Live at America’s Town Hall, on iTunes, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app. We the People is a member of Slate’s Panoply network. Check out the full roster of podcasts at Panoply.fm. Despite our congressional charter, the National Constitution Center is a private nonprofit; we receive little government support, and we rely on the generosity of people around the country who are inspired by our nonpartisan mission of constitutional debate and education. Please consider becoming a member to support our work, including this podcast. Visit constitutioncenter.org to learn more. This show was engineered by Jason Gregory and produced by Nicandro Iannacci. Research was provided by Lana Ulrich. The host of We the People is Jeffrey Rosen.

30/03/2017

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1hr 4min
27/06/2019

Live at America's Town Hall: The Human Side of Judging

How do judges manage the personal challenges that their role often requires them to face, including unconscious bias, chronic stress, exposure to emotionally-charged circumstances, and public pressure and scrutiny? Current and former judges join in candid conversations about how they have managed these challenges and how they have approached their work. The first panel features moderator Michael Lewis, best-selling author of ‘Moneyball’ and ‘The Big Short’ and host of the podcast ‘Against the Rules’, in conversation with Justice Eva Guzman of the Supreme Court of Texas and Judge Charles Breyer of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. The second panel is moderated by National Constitution Center President Jeff Rosen, who sits down with Executive Director of the Berkeley Judicial Institute and former U.S. District judge for the Northern District of California Jeremy Fogel, former Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court Carlos Moreno, and former Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit Deanell Reece Tacha. This program was presented in partnership with the Berkeley Judicial Institute, and this episode was originally published on our companion podcast, Live at America’s Town Hall. Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.

27/06/2019

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1hr 17min
07/12/2017

Net neutrality at a legal crossroads

Gus Hurwitz and Travis LeBlanc join National Constitution Center president and CEO Jeffrey Rosen for an engaging debate about the potential repeal of Obama-era net neutrality rules. To learn more about this week’s topic, visit our podcast resources page at constitutioncenter.org/debate/podcasts. Visit the resources page to explore show notes, guest bios, related Interactive Constitution essays, and more. Please subscribe to We the People and our companion podcast, Live at America’s Town Hall, on iTunes, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app. We the People is a member of Slate’s Panoply network.

07/12/2017

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1hr 2min
06/12/2018

Is the Act Protecting the Special Counsel Unconstitutional?

This episode examines the constitutionality of the Special Counsel Independence and Integrity Act – bipartisan legislation that, if passed, would impose regulations on firing a Special Counsel (such as Robert Mueller). Although the bill is stalled for now, legal thinkers continue to offer a range of views on its constitutionality. Joining host Jeffrey Rosen to explore this debate are Josh Geltzer of Georgetown, arguing that the bill is not constitutional, and Eric Posner of University of Chicago, arguing that it is. BONUS: Hear Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) – one of the co-sponsors of the act – discuss it with Jeffrey Rosen on a special bonus episode, recorded the same day that Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) voted to stall the bill on the Senate floor.

06/12/2018

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54 min
13/12/2018

Cohen, Trump, and Campaign Finance Law

President Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to several crimes, including illegally making hush money payments to two women alleging affairs with then-candidate Trump. On this episode, campaign finance law experts Rick Hasen, a law professor at UC Irvine and co-editor of Election Law Journal, and Brad Smith, former chair of the FEC and founder of the Institute for Free Speech, debate the campaign finance laws at issue, explore precedents like the John Edwards case, and consider possible legal liability for President Trump. They also dive into other current election and campaign finance law issues, including the case involving Donald Trump Jr. Jeffrey Rosen hosts.

13/12/2018

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37 min

Listen to the latest discussions, debates, and analysis on the biggest constitutional issues of the day from the National Constitution Center.

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National Constitution Ctr

Top Shows

The U.S. Supreme Court and Ethics Reform

Lincoln’s Lessons: Then and Now

President Biden’s Proposed Supreme Court Reforms

The Constitution Drafting Project: A Discussion of Five New Amendments

Roe v. Wade at 50

Privacy, equality, and transgender students

Live at America's Town Hall: The Human Side of Judging

Net neutrality at a legal crossroads

Is the Act Protecting the Special Counsel Unconstitutional?

Cohen, Trump, and Campaign Finance Law

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