Episode 1: Good Night . . . and Good Luck
Well, it's been ten years. A good run. But all things must come to an end.
Aug 16, 2021•54 min•Ep. 1
Your Weekly Constitutional
Produced in partnership with James Madison's Montpelier, Your Weekly Constitutional is a public radio show featuring lively discussion of controversial constitutional topics, from Gay Rights to Gun Rights. Find us on Facebook and iTunes!
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Episodes
The Constitution and 2020 - WETS Fundraiser
At last! A new episode! Well, kinda. We're not yet resuming production (sorry), but Wayne and Stewart got together via Skype to discuss some of 2020's most pressing issues. Their interview was part of WETS' 2020 fall fundraiser--so, if you're inclined to support the station that brings you "Your Weekly Constitutional," please consider making a donation.
Oct 17, 2020•54 min
A Tale of Two Papers
Two of Stewart's students join us to discuss papers they wrote for his constitutional seminars. First, Jennifer Bolt tells us about the history of slavery and human trafficking among Asian immigrants. Then D.T. Christmas talks about, well, breasts. Join us!
Jul 03, 2020•53 min
The Deep State
Is there such a thing? Well, there’s certainly something called the Administrative State, governed by something called administrative law. Stewart’s colleague, Akram Faizer, is writing a new article on it. He and Stewart discuss Akram's ideas and even argue a little bit about them. Turns out that Stewart has some pretty strong opinions on the subject.
Jun 03, 2020•54 min
Presidential Smackdown! Andrew Jackson v. Donald Trump
Donald Trump likes to compare himself to Andrew Jackson. So do his supporters. So do his opponents, for very different reasons. Are any of these comparisons valid? We ask a guy who should know: University of Tennessee historian Dan Feller, the Director of The Papers of Andrew Jackson.
Apr 06, 2020•53 min
Exonerated! Part Two
This is Part Two of a two-part episode. In Part One, we told you about Kristine Bunch, who experienced the worst thing that could happen to any parent: the death of her son, Tony. Then we started to tell you what happened next: a false accusation of arson and murder, a conviction, and more than a decade in prison. Now we’ll tell you the rest of Kristine’s story.
Apr 06, 2020•53 min
Exonerated! Part One
Kristine Bunch experienced the worst thing that could happen to any parent: the death of her son, Tony. But then things got worse. Much worse. She was accused of his murder. She was accused of burning him to death. Join us for a poignant tale of a wrongful accusation and its terrible aftermath.
Apr 06, 2020•53 min
The First Impeachment
Nope. Not Andrew Johnson. It's a guy named William Blount, who was kicked out of the United States Senate more than two hundred years ago. But, like Johnson, Blount was an East Tennessean. Perhaps there's something in the water here. University of Tennessee historian Chris Magra tells the tale.
Mar 30, 2020•53 min
Okay, Brexit. What Now?
Well, it happened. Brexit, that is. As of January 31, 2020, the UK is no longer a member of the EU. So . . . what's changed? And what happens next? Our go-to Brexit Guy, William Walton, shares his wisdom with us.
Feb 15, 2020•53 min
Does Tort Reform Violate your Right to a Jury Trial?
Appellate Attorney John Vail recently argued a case in the Tennessee Supreme Court presenting a very important issue: Does Tennessee’s $750,000 cap on "noneconomic" personal injury damages violate the Tennessee Constitution? This case could have a significant impact on so-called "tort reform," in Tennessee and beyond.
Feb 15, 2020•6 min
Defying the President
Remember the parade last fall? The parade of high federal officials lining up to testify before Congress in the impeachment inquiry? Now that the Senate has failed to remove Trump from office, it's payback time. Many of those officials are feeling Trump's wrath. Former federal prosecutor and current D.C. lawyer Benjamin Vernia, whom Stewart previously interviewed about the Mueller Report, sat down with us again and explained all. Please note: this interview was recorded in late 2019, before the ...
Feb 15, 2020•53 min
Fault Lines in the Constitution
Sanford Levinson is a law professor from Texas who is very critical of our Constitution’s “structural flaws.” We interviewed him several years ago on this topic. Now, he’s teamed up with his wife, Cynthia, an author of children’s books, to explain his arguments to a younger audience. Hey, you're never too young to start becoming a good citizen.
Feb 15, 2020•53 min
Why Impeach Donald Trump?
Donald Trump often claims that some folks have been trying to impeach him since the day he was sworn in. He's right. Stewart speaks with one of those folks, Ron Fein, of Free Speech for People. Ron's organization has gone beyond calling for Trump's removal from office--it has actually drafted six different Articles of Impeachment.
Jan 06, 2020•53 min
The Ethically-Constrained President
No, not our current president. Another one, perhaps the greatest in our history: Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln was anti-slavery, but he didn’t believe that the Constitution gave him the power to ban slavery where it existed. And Lincoln believed in the rule of law. But, eventually, of course, things changed. Daniel Stowell, the former Editor of the Lincoln Papers, was the 2019 McMurtry Lecturer at Lincoln Memorial University. Daniel tells Stewart about Lincoln’s ethical dilemma and how he resolved it...
Jan 06, 2020•53 min
Impeachment in Context
The air is, once again, heavy with talk of impeachment. It’s happened three times before (if you count Richard Nixon’s resignation, which you should). Stewart talks with his buddy Russell Riley from the University of Virginia’s Miller Center, where the talk is almost always about presidents, and, sometimes, about impeaching them.
Dec 11, 2019•1 hr 2 min
Virginia in the Vanguard
Recently, Stewart attended a conference at Montpelier focused upon the essential role that Virginia has played in establishing and maintaining representative democracy in North America and the pivotal year of 1619. Jon Alger, the President of James Madison University, also attended. The two of them discuss what they learned, and what they and many others are doing to extend Virginia's legacy.
Dec 11, 2019•54 min
Fighting White Supremacy
“Domestic terrorism” has been in the news a lot lately. Many of the mass shootings we’ve recently experienced seem to have been motivated, at least in part, by white supremacist ideology, perhaps with the intent to provoke widespread terror. This has prompted at least one proposal in Congress to create a domestic terrorism statute mirroring laws already in place to fight international terrorism. Doug McKechnie, our First Amendment Guy, discusses some of the constitutional issues such a statute w...
Dec 11, 2019•53 min
Tariff Man!
Donald Trump calls himself Tariff Man, and he certainly seems to enjoy waging his trade wars. Has he exceeded his constitutional authority? What, precisely, is a tariff, anyway? And who has the power to impose them? Joel Trachtman of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University shares his expertise with Stewart, and, boy, does Joel know a lot about law, economics, and, well, tariffs.
Nov 20, 2019•53 min
ERA in VA: The Battle Continues
Earlier this year, we told you about the push for Virginia to become the final necessary state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. That hasn't happened yet, but the battle continues. We speak with Virginia's Deputy Solicitor General, Michelle Kallen, who guides us through the constitutional thicket.
Oct 25, 2019•53 min
Democracy and Truth
Sophia Rosenfeld is a historian at the University of Pennsylvania. She's published an incisive and timely book about the fraught relationship between democratic governance and, well, the truth. Turns out that when it comes to politics--SPOILER ALERT--not everything you hear is factual. And some people--SPOILER ALERT--believe falsehoods even after they've been debunked. But aren't facts necessary to democratic debate and governance? How can we address these fundamental problems? Sophia has a few ...
Oct 03, 2019•53 min
Sacred Liberty
Steven Waldman has been writing about religion and spirituality for a long time. He is the co-founder of Beliefnet, a website devoted to such issues. More recently, he has written a book about the history of religious freedom in the United States. It’s called Sacred Liberty. Join us for a spirited, and spiritual, discussion.
Sep 24, 2019•53 min
Jawing with Jemmy and Bantering With Bryan
Recently, Montpelier installed a time machine in the Potter Family Studios. Stewart had the honor of being the first to try it. So, of course, he set his dials for the founding era, and, of course, his first guest was James Madison. With a little assistance from Colonial Williamsburg interpreter Bryan Austin, Stewart had a delightful conversation set in two pivotal years: 1776 and 1787. Then Bryan broke character to tell us about his exciting career and the unlikely path that led him to Williams...
Sep 11, 2019•53 min
Constitutional Migration
Birds migrate. So do monarch butterflies. And so do constitutions. So says A.E. "Dick" Howard, the White Burkett Miller Professor of Law and Public Affairs at the University of Virginia. And he should know--over the past fifty years, whenever constitutional ideas migrated from the United States to other countries, Dick Howard seemed to be there.
Sep 05, 2019•53 min
Brexit Update, 2019, Part Two
We finish our two-part interview with our go-to guy on all things Brexit, British barrister William Walton of the University of Hertfordshire. Will Brexit happen, despite the lack of an agreement with the EU? What about Ireland? What about Scotland? What about Wales? Is the UK on the verge of a breakup? Will the world economy crash? With Parliament suspended, is democracy in Britain dead? Think we’re overstating it? Think again.
Aug 28, 2019•53 min
Brexit Update, 2019, Part One
The Queen has suspended Parliament at the request of Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Is this the end of British democracy? Or just another quirk of that fascinating, amorphous thing called the British Constitution? We talk to our go-to guy on all things Brexit, William Walton.
Aug 28, 2019•53 min
The Overseer's Cabin
Matthew Reeves, the Director of Archaeology at James Madison's Montpelier, tells us about his next big project: the reconstruction of the overseer's cabin. Montpelier doesn't hide its history as a slave plantation. It's one reason we're so very honored to associated with James and Dolley's historic home.
Aug 22, 2019•57 min
Vote for Us
Josh Douglas teaches at the University of Kentucky, where he studies voting in the United States. Despite the current political environment, he sees lots of good being done. He’s written about it in a new book, Vote for US, in which he tells the stories of people who are working in their communities to secure voting rights for themselves and their fellow citizens. Join us for an inspiring conversation.
Aug 11, 2019•53 min
The Transgender Ban
Is the ban on military service for transgender people unconstitutional? Eric Merriam thinks so. He’s a law professor at the University of Central Florida who previously worked for the Air Force, both as a Judge Advocate General Corps officer and as a professor at the Air Force Academy. He thinks the ban, allegedly justified by something called “unit cohesion,” is actually based upon unconstitutional animus aimed at trans people.
Aug 06, 2019•53 min
Abortion Update, 2019
What’s up with all the new laws on abortion? What do they contain? Why now? Mary Ziegler, a law professor at Florida State University, has written several books on abortion. She puts everything in historical context, and speculates on what might happen next. Trigger warning: this episode includes some explicit discussion. It may not be appropriate for younger listeners.
Aug 04, 2019•53 min
How to Save the Supreme Court
Does the Supreme Court need saving? Ganesh Sitaraman thinks so. He teaches constitutional law at Vanderbilt University, and, like many of us, he is troubled by current political challenges to the Supreme Court’s legitimacy. Unlike most of us, however, he has some concrete proposals to save it. He and co-author Daniel Epps have put their ideas into writing in an article that will soon appear in the Yale Law Journal. As Stewart points out, some of the proposals in the article are pretty radical, b...
Aug 03, 2019•53 min
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