Constitutional Chats Presented By Constituting America

Cathy Gillespie
Constitutional Chats Presented By Constituting America

Cathy Gillespie, and Constituting America’s Student Ambassadors – Tova Love Kaplan, Jule Gilbert and Jorne Gilbert – chat with Constitutional experts on hot-topic issues via Zoom!

  1. 19 DIC · VIDEO

    Ep. 239 - The Birth of the Bill of Rights: How It Came About - and the Debates That Shaped It

    It’s 1787.  Under the current Articles of Confederation the American experiment is struggling.  James Madison knew a new guiding document was needed.  Once opposed to a Bill of Rights, it was Madison who would ultimately introduce the Bill of Rights in 1789.  Why was Madison originally opposed to a Bill of Rights?  What documents influenced him?  Why were the Bill of Rights necessary and what were the criticisms of the Constitution before the Bill of Rights?  Discussing this momentous event in history with our student panel, we are happy to welcome GianCarlo Canaparo, senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation.

    55 min

  2. 13 DIC · VIDEO

    Ep. 238 - How To Get Youth Excited About Civic Education & Why It Matters

    Why does Constituting America do the work we do in educating young people about the U.S. Constitution and our country’s founding principles?  Think about this.  According to our guest, in a spectral analysis of the Declaration of Independence, in Thomas Jefferson’s original draft, he wrote “our fellow subjects.”  In the draft we all know, he used “our fellow citizens.”  The difference in that word is remarkable.  It shows the change in thinking that we were once subjects to a government but now we are citizens who can dictate our government so that it works for us.  Constituting America exists to educate our next generation so they can understand the importance in that shift in mindset.  Our guest argues that a solid civic education is needed to maintain that free society of citizens, not subjects.  Join our all-star student panel and this week’s; guest, Kirk Higgins, Vice President of Content at the Bill of Rights Institute, for this discussion on educating our next generation.

    53 min

  3. 6 DIC · VIDEO

    Ep. 237 - The Genius of America: How De Tocqueville Saw Our Future

    For our annual online academic study this year, we are taking a journey through our republic with Alexis de Tocqueville’s “Democracy in America.” It is perhaps the best book ever written about America and democracy, according to our guest today.  In this work, De Toqueville takes on an almost prophetic voice in predicting the future of  our country and our constitutional republic. How was De Tocqueville  able to leverage his knowledge of philosophy to accomplish this?  What truths was he willing to tell us about our governmental institutions?  To walk us through this aspect of De Toqueville’s work, we are honored to welcome Raúl Rodriguez, assistant professor in the School of Civic Leadership at the University of Texas at Austin, for this enlightening conversation.

    57 min

  4. 23 NOV · VIDEO

    Ep. 236: The First Amendment on College Campuses

    The 1st Amendment recognizes our God-given right to free speech without government restriction.  But what is a college student to do when it’s their own college suppressing their free speech?  What is that student to do when that suppression directly leads to hate speech and violent threats from their fellow students simply for having a differing opinion?  Our guest was such a student.  We are delighted to welcome back to Constituting American Evita Duffy.  Evita won our “We the Future” contest back in 2010.  Since that time, she attended the University of Chicago and is now a journalist.  We are happy to have one of our earliest contest winners and member of the Constituting America family back to share her experience regarding free speech on college campuses and her hopes for a renewed culture of free speech.

    52 min

  5. 14 NOV · VIDEO

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    Picture this:  You are a young child growing up in a suburb of Boston.  You happen to a big fan of the musical “Hamilton” and through an educational TV show, you learn that the park where you regularly ride your bike and your neighborhood is portrayed in the musical you love!  This is exactly what happened with this week’s special guest, Sabrina Bhattacharjya.  Now a 14-year old historian, Sabrina has dived deep into the history of her town, Lexington, Massachusetts.  This is where the infamous “shot heard ‘round the world” took place that started the American Revolution.  Sabrina has since started Lexington 250 to help celebrate in April 2025 the 250th anniversary of that famous day.  Join our student panel as we learn more of the interesting facts and historical significance of what happened that day from this fabulous historian.

    54 min

  6. 9 NOV · VIDEO

    Ep. 234: Special Election Day Live Podcast: Everything You Need to Know About the Electoral College

    The electoral college is one of the most important characteristics of our republic, but it is also perhaps the most misunderstood.  Every time we vote for President the merit of the electoral college is debated. But what is it? Why was it created?  How does it protect small states, and preserve state identity?  Should we view it as a problem itself or an effective solution to a problem? To address all of these questions and so much more, we are delighted to have Michael Maibach, electoral college expert and Distinguished Fellow for Save Our States, as our special guest this week.

    56 min

  7. 2 NOV · VIDEO

    Ep. 233 - The Connecticut Compromise

    It’s 1787 and you are a delegate to the Constitutional Convention.  You represent a midsize state and arriving 3 days late, you encounter James Madison’s Virginia Plan to allocate representation among the states proportionally.  You realize how this would be a detriment to smaller states who are needed to ratify the Constitution.  What do you do?  You are Roger Sherman from Connecticut and you draft the Connecticut Compromise which allocates representation in the lower chamber based on population but guarantees equal state representation in the upper chamber.  Why was this necessary and what other provisions did it entail?  To answer these questions, we are pleased welcome Mark David Hall, Professor in the Robertson School of Government at Regent University and scholar on early America.

    56 min

  8. 25 OCT · VIDEO

    Ep. 232 - Reagan & the Constitution

    He was an actor, governor and our 40th president.  Today, we are discussing the presidency of Ronald Reagan.  Though now a modern icon of conservatives, Reagan’s political leanings were originally democrat as a supporter of FDR and Truman.  During his presidential term, through what lens did Reagan approach the limitations placed on government?  In what way was he a Constitutional originalist?  How did this belief factor into navigating a constitutional crisis like the Iran Contra Affair?  To guide us in this chat, we are pleased to welcome back an alumni of the Reagan White House and current Senior Fellow in the Center for American Prosperity at the America First Policy Institute., Jim Pinkerton, for our weekly constitutional chat.

    57 min
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Cathy Gillespie, and Constituting America’s Student Ambassadors – Tova Love Kaplan, Jule Gilbert and Jorne Gilbert – chat with Constitutional experts on hot-topic issues via Zoom!

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