We the People
National Constitution Center
300 episodes
A weekly show from the National Constitution Center hosted by Julie Silverbrook and Tom Donnelly where listeners can hear the best arguments on all sides of the constitutional issues at the center of American life.
Episodes page 2 of 6
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Walter Isaacson on the Greatest Sentence Ever Written
In this episode, best-selling biographer Walter Isaacson joins to discuss his new book, The Greatest Sentence Ever Written, with Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center. As we approach the…
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Are Trump’s Tariffs Lawful?
In this episode, Samuel Estreicher of the NYU School of Law and John Yoo of the UC Berkeley School of Law join to recap the oral arguments from the pair of challenges to President Trump’s tariffs and discuss whether…
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Alexander Hamilton: Closet Monarchist or Visionary Nationalist?
This episode is a two-part show on Alexander Hamilton. First, in a new episode of the podcast Pursuit: The Founders’ Guide to Happiness, Jeffrey Rosen, historian Stephen Knott, and filmmaker Ken Burns unpack Hamilton’s…
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The Pursuit of Liberty: A Conversation with Jeffrey Rosen and Jeffrey Goldberg
Jeffrey Rosen launched his new book, The Pursuit of Liberty: How Hamilton vs. Jefferson Ignited the Lasting Battle Over Power in America, at the National Constitution Center in conversation with Jeffrey Goldberg,…
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The Dinner Party that Defined America
In this bonus episode, we’re sharing a live conversation with Jeffrey Rosen, Joanne Freeman, George F. Will, and Sean Wilentz exploring Rosen’s new book, which is out this week: The Pursuit of Liberty: How Hamilton vs.…
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Can President Trump Invoke the Insurrection Act Over the Objections of State Governors?
In this episode, William Banks of Syracuse University College of Law and Laura Dickinson of the George Washington Law School join to discuss the history and meaning of the Insurrection Act, which authorizes the…
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Do Bans on Conversion Therapy Violate the First Amendment?
In this episode, Stephanie Barclay of the Georgetown University Law Center and Erwin Chemerinsky of the UC Berkeley School of Law join to recap the oral arguments from Chiles v. Salazar and discuss whether Colorado’s…
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What Is the Legacy of the Roberts Court on Its 20th Anniversary?
In this episode, Steve Vladeck of the Georgetown University Law Center and Sarah Isgur of SCOTUSblog join to discuss the legacy of the Roberts Court on its 20th anniversary and preview the important cases in the…
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Can Government Officials Pressure Private Companies and Universities to Restrict Speech?
In this episode, Genevieve Lakier of the University of Chicago Law School and Eugene Volokh of the UCLA School of Law join to discuss the recent suspension of Jimmy Kimmel by ABC and the broader history and…
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A Conversation with Justice Amy Coney Barrett on ‘Listening to the Law’
On September 17, 2025, the Honorable Amy Coney Barrett, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, joined Jeffrey Rosen for an America’s Town Hall program in celebration of Constitution Day 2025 and the release of…
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Introducing Pursuit: The Founders’ Guide to Happiness
In our new podcast, Pursuit: The Founders’ Guide to Happiness, Jeffrey Rosen explores the founders’ lives with the historians who know them best. Plus, filmmaker Ken Burns shares his daily practice of self-reflection.…
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Can President Trump Fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook?
In this episode, Christine Chabot of Marquette University Law School and Michael McConnell of Stanford Law School join to discuss Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook’s termination and the broader legal and…
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The History and Future of Partisan Gerrymandering in America
In this episode, Bradley Smith of Capital University Law School and Nicholas Stephanopoulos of Harvard Law School join to discuss the history and future of partisan gerrymandering, including the mid-decade…
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A Conversation on America’s 250th
In this episode, Sabrina Lynn Motley, director of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival at the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, and Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, discuss…
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Is Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act Unconstitutional?
In this episode, Bradley Smith of Capital University Law School and Nicholas Stephanopoulos of Harvard Law School join to discuss the history and future of racial gerrymandering, including how the Court’s upcoming…
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The Oldest Constitutional Question
In this episode, Richard Primus of the University of Michigan Law School and John Harrison of the University of Virginia School of Law join to discuss Primus’s new book The Oldest Constitutional Question: Enumeration…
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The Past, Present, and Future of Abortion in America
In this episode, Mary Ziegler of the UC Davis School of Law and Stephen Gilles of the Quinnipiac University School of Law join to discuss Ziegler’s new book Personhood: The New Civil War over Reproduction, which…
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W.E.B. Du Bois and His Impact on America
In this episode, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David Levering Lewis joins to unpack Du Bois’ life, legacy, and enduring impact on American history and discuss his new memoir, The Stained Glass Window. Resources •…
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Can President Trump unilaterally lay off 1,400 Department of Education employees?
In this episode, Derek Black of the University of South Carolina School of Law and Neal McCluskey of the Cato Institute join to discuss this recent emergency docket decision and explore the history of federal…
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Covering the Supreme Court
In this episode, Jess Bravin of The Wall Street Journal, Jan Crawford of CBS News, and Fred Smith Jr. of Stanford Law School join to explore polarization on the Court and the role of the media and the political…
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Supreme Court Term Roundup
On June 27, 2025, the Supreme Court delivered its final decisions of the 2024–25 term. In this episode, Steve Vladeck of the Georgetown University Law Center and Sarah Isgur of SCOTUSblog join to discuss the…
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Unpacking the Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Skrmetti
On June 18, the Supreme Court upheld a Tennessee law that prohibits medical transitions for transgender minors. In this episode, William Eskridge Jr. of Yale Law School and Christopher Green of The Ohio State…
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Can President Trump Federalize the California National Guard?
On June 7, President Trump asserted control over California’s National Guard. In this episode, Professor Michael Ramsey of the University of San Diego School of Law and Liza Goitein of the Brennan Center join Jeffrey…
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Executive Authority: Presidential Power From America’s Founding to Today
Gillian Metzger of Columbia Law School and Saikrishna Prakash of the University of Virginia School of Law join Jeffrey Rosen to examine the founders’ vision for the presidency, review how presidential power has changed…
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Charles Sumner: Conscience of a Nation
Charles Sumner was an abolitionist senator who helped to write the post-Civil War Constitution and give birth to modern civil rights law. Zaakir Tameez, author of the new biography Charles Sumner: Conscience of a…
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The History of Jews in the American South
In celebration of Jewish American Heritage Month, Richard Kreitner, author of Fear No Pharaoh: American Jews, the Civil War, and the Fight to End Slavery, and Shari Rabin, author of The Jewish South: An American…
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Executive Power in the Trump Era
Constitutional scholars Ilya Shapiro, Stephen Vladeck, and Adam White join NCC President and CEO Jeffrey Rosen to debate whether the Trump administration has overreached on executive power, analyze the relationship…
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The Legacy of Justice Souter
Retired Supreme Court Justice David Souter passed away on May 8, 2025, at his home in New Hampshire. In this episode, his former clerks, Judge Kevin Newsom of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit and…
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The Presidential Pardon Power
Brian Kalt of Michigan State College of Law and Jeffrey Toobin, author of The Pardon: The Politics of Presidential Mercy, join Jeffrey Rosen to explore the founders’ vision for the pardon power and the use of the…
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Are Religious Charter Schools Constitutional?
On April 30, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board v. Drummond, which examines the constitutionality of religious charter schools. In this episode, Michael McConnell of…
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The Future of Birthright Citizenship
On May 15, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a case challenging the constitutionality of President Trump’s executive order which seeks to end birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented…
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The Day the Revolution Began
In celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, historians Rick Atkinson, author of The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777; Mary Beth Norton,…
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Do the Trump Tariffs Violate the Constitution?
Steven Calabresi of Northwestern University and Samuel Estreicher of New York University join Jeffrey Rosen to discuss the statutory authority for President Trump’s tariffs and whether they violate federal law or the…
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Judges on Judicial Independence
National Constitution Center President and CEO Jeffrey Rosen leads a special panel discussion with Federal Judges Association President Judge J. Michelle Childs of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia…
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Who Is Government?
Best-selling author Michael Lewis discusses his new book, Who Is Government?: The Untold Story of Public Service, with Jeffrey Rosen. As government programs face political headwinds, Lewis and his favorite writers…
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Deportations and the Law
Trump has invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a wartime authority, to summarily deport suspected members of a Venezuelan gang. He also invoked a Cold War-era statute to deport a student activist at Columbia…
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Is DOGE Breaking the Law?
Kate Huddleston, senior legal counsel of litigation at the Campaign Legal Center, and Michael McConnell, Richard and Frances Mallery Professor and director of the Constitutional Law Center at Stanford Law School, join…
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The State of Partisanship
Jonathan Rauch, author of Cross Purposes: Christianity’s Broken Bargain with Democracy, and Julian Zelizer, author of In Defense of Partisanship, join Jeffrey Rosen for a wide-ranging discussion on their new books and…
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The Supreme Court and the Trump Administration
Jamelle Bouie and David French of The New York Times, Sarah Isgur of The Dispatch, and Melissa Murray of NYU School of Law join Jeffrey Rosen to discuss the relationship between the Roberts Court and the Trump…
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How Powerful is the President?
President Trump’s far-reaching executive actions have given rise to a debate about whether the president is acting within the tradition of presidential power—or whether recent events represent a departure from the…
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The 14th Amendment and the History of Reconstruction
Jeffrey Rosen discusses the 14th Amendment with Sherrilyn Ifill, the head of the 14th Amendment Center for Law & Democracy at Howard Law School and the former president of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Pamela…
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President Trump’s Executive Orders
Since January 20, 2025, President Trump has issued dozens of executive orders, several of which have attracted legal challenges. Steve Vladeck of Georgetown University Law Center and Gary Schmitt of the American…
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What the Black Intellectual Tradition Can Teach Us About American Democracy
New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie and political scientist Melvin Rogers, author of The Darkened Light of Faith: Race, Democracy, and Freedom in African American Political Thought, explore the ways key African…
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My Fellow Americans: Presidents and their Inaugural Addresses
Jeffrey Rosen interviews three contributors to the recently published compendium My Fellow Americans: Presidents and Their Inaugural Addresses, Michael Gerhardt, Kate Masur, and Ted Widmer. They reflect on President…
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Can Texas Require Age Verification on Adult Sites?
The Supreme Court will determine whether a Texas law requiring age verification for adult websites violates the First Amendment. Nadine Strossen of New York Law School and Adam Candeub of Michigan State University join…
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The Future of TikTok
In TikTok v. Garland, the Supreme Court will determine whether TikTok—the social media platform used by an estimated 170 million Americans—can continue to operate in the United States under the ownership of a Chinese…
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For or Against Constitutional Originalism?
Jonathan Gienapp of Stanford University and Stephen Sachs of Harvard Law School join Chief Scholar Thomas Donnelly to discuss Gienapp’s new book, Against Constitutional Originalism: A Historical Critique. They review…
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The Life and Constitutional Legacy of Gouverneur Morris
Jeffrey Rosen explores the life and legacy of Gouverneur Morris, author of the Preamble to the Constitution. Joining him are Melanie Miller, editor of the Gouverneur Morris Papers: Diaries Project, Dennis Rasmussen,…
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The Meese Revolution
Steven Calabresi of Northwestern Law School joins Jeffrey Rosen to discuss his new book, The Meese Revolution: The Making of a Constitutional Moment. Calabresi reviews former Attorney General Edwin Meese’s instrumental…
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How Religious Were the Founders?
Jeffrey Rosen discusses the role of religion at the founding with Jane Calvert of the John Dickinson Writings Project, Vincent Phillip Muñoz of the University of Notre Dame, and Thomas Kidd of the Midwestern Baptist…
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