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 , author of 1774: The Long Year of Revolution ; and Rosemarie Zagarri , author of Revolutionary Backlash: Women and Politics in the Early American Republic , join Jeffrey Rosen to explore the events leading to the first shots of the American Revolution, the battles themselves, and th...
Apr 17, 2025•58 min
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 Constitution. Resources Samuel Estreicher & Andrew Babbitt, “ Are Tariffs an Emergency Power? ,” Lawfare Blog (April 3, 2025) Steven Calabresi, “ President Trump's New Tariffs Are Unconstitutional ,” Volokh Conspiracy (April 5, 2025) Complaint for Injunctive and Declaratory Reli...
Apr 11, 2025•57 min
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 Circuit; Judge M. Margaret McKeown of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and past president of the Federal Judges Association; Judge Beth Bloom of the U.S. District Court Southern District of Florida; and Judge Stephen R. Bough of the U.S. District Court Western Distr...
Apr 03, 2025•59 min
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 examine the human stories of the heroic civil servants who make government work and why their contributions matter. This conversation was originally streamed live as part of the NCC’s America’s Town Hall series on March 26, 2025. Resources Michael Lewis, ed., Who Is Government? The U...
Mar 27, 2025•58 min
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 University. In this episode, Adam Cox of New York University and Ilya Somin of George Mason University join to discuss the scope of the president’s deportation power and to evaluate whether the administration violated the due process or speech rights of the deportees. Resources Adam Cox an...
Mar 21, 2025•1 hr 8 min
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 Jeffrey Rosen to debate whether the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has acted lawfully in firing federal workers and freezing federal spending. Resources Campaign Legal Center, Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief , U.S. District Court for the ...
Mar 13, 2025•1 hr 2 min
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 the rise of partisanship in America. This conversation was originally streamed live as part of the NCC’s America’s Town Hall program series on March 3, 2025. Resources Julian E. Zelizer, In Defense of Partisanship (2025) Jonathan Rauch, Cross Purposes: Christianity's Broken Bar...
Mar 06, 2025•58 min
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 administration. They discuss how the Supreme Court might resolve open legal questions—including impoundment and the unitary executive theory—and debate the Court’s role in maintaining the separation of powers. This conversation was originally recorded on February 22, 2025, as part of the...
Feb 27, 2025•47 min
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 constitutional order and precedent. Melody Barnes of the University of Virginia Karsh Institute for Democracy, Charles Cooke of National Review , Joanne Freeman of Yale University, and Yuval Levin of the American Enterprise Institute join Jeffrey Rosen to discuss the American tradition...
Feb 21, 2025•48 min
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 Brandwein, author of Rethinking the Judicial Settlement of Reconstruction , and Ilan Wurman , author of The Second Founding: An Introduction to the Fourteenth Amendment . They discuss the historical events that gave rise to the 14th Amendment and debate its original meaning. This conver...
Feb 14, 2025•1 hr 3 min
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 Enterprise Institute join Jeffrey Rosen to parse the flurry of executive orders and preview the lawsuits they face. Resources White House Presidential Actions “Litigation Tracker: Legal Challenges to Trump Administration Actions” , Just Security Steve Vladeck, “The Impoundment Crisis of ...
Feb 07, 2025•55 min
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 American intellectuals and artists—from David Walker, Frederick Douglass, and W.E.B. Du Bois to Billie Holiday and James Baldwin—reimagined U.S. democracy. Thomas Donnelly , chief scholar at the National Constitution Center, moderates. This conversation was originally streamed live a...
Jan 30, 2025•1 hr 5 min
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 Trump’s second inaugural speech and discuss inaugural addresses throughout American history. This conversation was originally streamed live as part of the NCC’s America’s Town Hall program series on Jan. 21, 2025. Resources: Yuvraj Singh and Ted Widmer, My Fellow Americans: Presi...
Jan 23, 2025•1 hr 1 min
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 Jeffrey Rosen to preview oral arguments in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton , examine the text, history, and tradition of the First Amendment, and debate whether the Texas law is constitutional. Resources: Nadine Strossen, Defending Pornography: Free Speech, Sex, and the Fight for ...
Jan 16, 2025•1 hr 10 min
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 holding company. Jameel Jaffer of Columbia Law School and Zephyr Teachout of Fordham Law School join Jeffrey Rosen to debate whether the law that forces TikTok to be sold or banned violates the First Amendment. Resources: Jameel Jaffer, “ Brief of the Knight First Amendment Institu...
Jan 09, 2025•59 min
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 the history of originalism and debate the role of originalism in constitutional interpretation today. This conversation was originally streamed live as part of the NCC’s America’s Town Hall program series on October 8, 2024. Resources: Jonathan Gienapp, “Against Constitutional Orig...
Jan 03, 2025•1 hr 2 min
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 , Hagerty Family Fellow at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and author of The Constitution’s Penman: Gouverneur Morris and the Creation of America’s Basic Charter , and William Treanor , dean of Georgetown University Law Center. This conversatio...
Dec 25, 2024•57 min
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 role in the rise of originalism, and credits Meese with transforming the Department of Justice into an “academy in exile” where originalism was developed and put into practice. Resources: Steven Calabresi and Gary Lawson, The Meese Revolution: The Making of a Constitutional Momen...
Dec 20, 2024•53 min
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 Theological Seminary. They trace the framers’ personal faith commitments and explore the original understanding of the relationship between church and state. This conversation was originally streamed live as part of the NCC’s America’s Town Hall program series on November 25, 2024. R...
Dec 13, 2024•1 hr 3 min
A Tennessee law prohibits transgender minors from receiving gender transition surgery and hormone therapy. Professor Kurt Lash of the University of Richmond and David Gans of the Constitutional Accountability Center join Jeffrey Rosen to debate whether the law violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. Resources: U.S. v. Skrmetti , Supreme Court oral argument ( audio via C-SPAN ; transcript ) Kurt Lash, Amicus Curiae in Support of Respondents , U.S. v. Skrmetti David Gans, Amicu...
Dec 13, 2024•1 hr 2 min
Representative Christopher Cox , author of Woodrow Wilson: The Light Withdrawn , and Geoffrey Stone of the University of Chicago join moderator Jeffrey Rosen to discuss Woodrow Wilson’s constitutional and historical legacy. They explore Wilson’s illiberal record in the defining constitutional battles of his time, focusing his opposition to women’s suffrage, free speech, and racial equality. This conversation was originally streamed live as part of the NCC’s America’s Town Hall program series on ...
Nov 28, 2024•57 min
President-elect Trump’s allies have floated the possibility of suspending Congress in order to use the Recess Appointments Clause to install Cabinet officials without Senate confirmation. In this episode, Ed Whelan of the Ethics and Public Policy Center and Thomas Berry of the Cato Institute join Jeffrey Rosen to preview this plan and debate its legal merits. Resources: Center for Renewing America, “ Brief: On the Article II Recess Appointments Clause ” (November 17, 2024) Ed Whelan, “ A Terribl...
Nov 21, 2024•51 min
In celebration of John Adams’s 289th birthday, Jeffrey Rosen joins a discussion on Adams’s legacy with Danielle Allen , the James Bryant Conant University Professor at Harvard University, and Jane Kamensky , president and CEO of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation. Kurt Graham , president of the Adams Presidential Center, moderates. They explore the constitutional legacy of the Adams family—including John and Abigail Adams and John Quincy and Louisa Catherine Adams—and discuss the importance of resu...
Nov 14, 2024•1 hr 23 min
In celebration of Native American History Month, Jeffrey Rosen was joined by Keith Richotte Jr. , author of the forthcoming book The Worst Trickster Story Ever Told: Native America, the Supreme Court, and the U.S. Constitution and Matthew L.M. Fletcher , author of The Ghost Road: Anishinaabe Responses to Indian Hating to explore how Native American law has evolved from the Marshall Court to the present day—tracing how the Court came to grant the federal government broad authority over tribal aff...
Nov 07, 2024•58 min
On the eve of the 2024 presidential election, Jesse Wegman , member of The New York Times editorial board and author of Let the People Pick the President: The Case for Abolishing the Electoral College , and Robert Hardaway , professor at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law and author of Saving the Electoral College: Why the National Popular Vote Would Undermine Democracy , join Jeffrey Rosen to debate the Electoral College and preview potential legal challenges that might arise in the ...
Oct 31, 2024•59 min
This week, the National Constitution Center convened the 2024 National First Amendment Summit, in partnership with FIRE and NYU’s First Amendment Watch. America’s leading legal thinkers joined for a vigorous discussion on the state of free speech in America and around the globe. “Free Speech on Campus Today” features Mary Anne Franks , author of the new book Fearless Speech: Breaking Free from the First Amendment ; FIRE’s Vice President of Campus Advocacy Alex Morey ; and Keith Whittington , aut...
Oct 24, 2024•1 hr 28 min
Last week, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Glossip v. Oklahoma , a case challenging the constitutionality of Richard Glossip’s conviction and sentencing to death for a 1997 murder. In this episode, Paul Cassell of the University of Utah and Andrea Miller of the Oklahoma Innocence Project join Jeffrey Rosen to recap the oral arguments and debate whether or not Glossip’s conviction should stand in light of newly revealed documents that allegedly suggest prosecutorial misconduct. Resource...
Oct 18, 2024•57 min
This week, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Garland v. VanDerStok , a case challenging the authority of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives to regulate “ghost guns” under the Gun Control Act. In this episode, Clark Neily of the Cato Institute and Dru Stevenson of the South Texas College of Law join Jeffrey Rosen to recap the oral arguments and debate whether ghost guns—which are untraceable weapons without serial numbers, assembled from components or kits that can b...
Oct 10, 2024•58 min
In this episode, Anne Applebaum , Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and staff writer for The Atlantic , joins to discuss her newest book, Autocracy, Inc.: The Dictators Who Want to Rule the World , which explores how autocracies work together to undermine the democratic world, and how democracies should organize to defeat them. She joins Jeffrey Rosen to discuss new threats from autocratic leaders at home and around the world and how liberal democracies should fight these threats. Resources: Anne...
Oct 03, 2024•54 min
This week, the National Constitution Center held its annual Liberty Medal ceremony honoring America’s storyteller, Ken Burns , for illuminating the nation’s greatest triumphs and tragedies and inspiring all of us to learn about the principles at the heart of the American idea. In this episode, Jeffrey Rosen and Burns’s co-director Sarah Botstein talk about Burns’s life and work, followed by Ken Burns’s inspiring acceptance speech. Burns then sits down with Rosen for a conversation about the Amer...
Sep 26, 2024•1 hr 9 min
