Ever heard of the Privilege and Immunities Clauses? Yep, there are two of them, and if they seem obscure to you, well you're not alone. The Supreme Court has interpreted them very narrowly - some would say "almost out of existence." Akram Faiser, a professor at Lincoln Memorial University's Duncan School of Law, who holds dual U.S. and Canadian citizenship, wants to change that. He wants to interpret the Privilege and Immunities Clauses as broadly protecting American democracy by limiting wealth...
Feb 04, 2017•54 min
Our new President has called for jail time, and perhaps a loss of citizenship, for Americans who burn the American flag. Would such punishments be constitutional? Or would that pesky First Amendment get in the way? We’ll talk to our First Amendment Guy, Doug McKechnie, about this (ahem) fiery constitutional issue.
Jan 29, 2017•54 min
Would you like to talk to a former President? How about a former First Lady or Secretary of State? Think you might learn something? This week we're talking about a place called the Miller Center of the University of Virginia, which has a very important mission: recording oral histories of each American presidency since Jimmy Carter’s. We’ll speak with the Miller Center’s Russell Riley, who has recorded dozens of interviews with influential people in several different presidential administrations...
Jan 16, 2017•54 min
In 2016, for the second time in sixteen years, a presidential candidate prevailed in the Electoral College while losing the popular vote – this time by a margin of roughly three million votes. Is it time to change our method of electing presidents? Constitutional lawyer and historian David O. Stewart thinks so, and he’s decided to devote himself to a constitutional reform movement called the National Popular Vote Initiative. Can we reform our electoral system without amending our Constitution? S...
Jan 07, 2017•53 min
We’ve talked about women’s suffrage many times before (check the rest of our podcast site if you don’t believe us). But this is the first episode in which we discuss a play about the 19th Amendment – a musical play, no less. Our guest is Catherine Bush, the playwright-in-residence at the Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia, who tells us all about her acclaimed and historically-accurate production of “Winter Wheat.”
Dec 30, 2016•54 min
We all learned in grade school that Abraham Lincoln “saved the Union.” But, in saving our nation, did he destroy our Constitution? He did some pretty extreme things, after all, from suspending habeas corpus to signing the Emancipation Proclamation. Were his actions constitutionally justified, or not? Join us for a fascinating discussion with Daniel Farber, who teaches at the University of California, Berkeley, and who presented this year’s R. Gerald McMurtry Lecture at Lincoln Memorial Universit...
Dec 23, 2016•54 min
If you’ve ever been in far western Kentucky, near Hopkinsville, you may have noticed something strange rising from the cornfields: it looks like the Washington Monument, but it’s not. It is, in fact, a monument, but not to George Washington. This particular edifice memorializes a man whom we might consider the anti-Washington: Jefferson Davis, the first President of the Confederate States of America. Stewart recently visited the Jefferson Davis State Historic Site and spoke with Ron Sydnor, its ...
Dec 16, 2016•54 min
Ever heard of Roger B. Taney? He was the Chief Justice of the United States for almost 30 years, from 1836 to 1864. Today, he is remembered largely for one opinion he wrote, an opinion often considered the worst in U.S. Supreme Court history: Dred Scott v. Sandford. Recently, Taney's bust, displayed in his home town of Frederick, Maryland, was vandalized, and a number of people have called for its removal. Stewart talks with law professor Josh Blackman about this constitutional debate between pr...
Dec 09, 2016•54 min
Stewart's college classmate, Bernice Kiyo Glenn, finishes the fascinating tale of her Japanese-American-Hawaiian family and its many dangerous journeys across the wide Pacific Ocean.
Dec 03, 2016•54 min
What Does it Mean to be an American? Well, it means lots of different things, depending upon whom you talk to and whom you’re talking about. This week we bring you the first part of a compelling, two-part story of a Japanese-American family that spent decades crossing and re-crossing the Pacific Ocean between Japan and Hawaii. Bernice Kiyo Glenn, a college classmate of Stewart’s, tells the tale.
Nov 28, 2016•54 min
We like to think that we live in a "democracy," even though we know that it's actually something called a "republic." But what's the difference? Is our particular republic something less than democratic? Well, Michael Klarman of Harvard Law School suggests that perhaps the Framers of our Constitution pulled a fast one on the rest of us, enshrining the power of "elites" rather than the common folk. Sound familiar? Join Stewart for a fascinating conversation about the nature of American "democracy...
Nov 22, 2016•54 min
We hope that you voted this past week. But we really hope that you cast an informed vote – a vote based upon real understanding of the facts and issues. Is such a hope realistic? Do most people cast informed votes? Or not? Join us as we sit down with Political Science Professor Anderson Starling of the University of Tennessee at Martin to talk about his research into political knowledge: how much of it do Americans have, and how do they get it? And, even more fundamentally, does it matter?...
Nov 11, 2016•54 min
It’s been many months since Associate Justice Antonin Scalia passed away, yet still his chair on the Supreme Court bench is empty. Is the Senate’s refusal to consider a successor constitutional? What are the implications for the Court? For the Constitution? Stewart speaks with Nan Aron of the Alliance for Justice about this important but oft-overlooked constitutional standoff, and what it means for all of us.
Oct 27, 2016•54 min
Have you ever read the Declaration of Independence? Not just the "all men are created equal" part, but the whole thing? If you have, then you've noticed that most of the Declaration is simply a list of complaints against King George III. And some of those complaints seem odd to modern ears. Especially the last one, about "domestic insurrections." What insurrections? By whom? Rob Parkinson of Binghamton University tells us all about it.
Oct 27, 2016•59 min
The Constitution gives the President wide powers over foreign affairs, powers which the President typically exercises through his Secretary of State. Recently our current Secretary, John Kerry, made a momentous announcement with far-ranging legal and political implications: ISIS is committing genocide. And it is committing genocide not only against Muslims, but against Christians and other groups, such as the Yazidi people, who practice a faith that incorporates elements of both Christianity and...
Oct 02, 2016•54 min
You’ve seen the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. Perhaps you’ve visited. But did you know that there is an entire university that was built in memory of Abraham Lincoln? It’s called, appropriately enough, Lincoln Memorial University, and the story of how it came about is fascinating. We talk with Jim Dawson, LMU’s President, and Gary Wade, the Dean of the Duncan School of Law at LMU, all about the university’s history, it’s mission, and where it’s going in the future. And we also note that LMU's ...
Sep 24, 2016•54 min
If there are any limits to the First Amendment's protection of political speech, well, Donald Trump seems determined to find them. He’s called for libel laws to be “opened up.” Can a President do that? He has said things at his rallies that, arguably, have incited his followers to violence. Are such statements constitutionally protected? Join us for an enlightening discussion with our First Amendment Guy, Doug McKechnie, who teaches constitutional law at the United States Air Force Academy....
Sep 16, 2016•54 min
Constitutional Tunes! Or, as most people might call them, patriotic music. Why music? Well, let’s remind ourselves that a written constitution is just a piece of paper unless government leaders and, ultimately, the people themselves, respect it. How do we generate such respect? Lots of ways: by following the law, by voting, by engaging in reasoned political debate (yes, such a thing does exist) by displaying flags and other symbols, and by experiencing patriotic music. Recently, the Symphony of ...
Sep 09, 2016•54 min
We revisit the European Union (or what’s left of it) with Part II of “Brexit! OMG!” Join us for a conversation with British law professor William Walton all about what's in store for Britain (and Europe, and the rest of the world) now that Brexit has happened. OMG!
Aug 08, 2016•54 min
Well, it’s happened. We didn’t think it would happen, but it has. No, we’re not talking about the nomination of Donald Trump. We’re talking about Brexit, which represents, in the United Kingdom, a constitutional change of historic proportions and uncertain consequences. Fortunately, we have William Walton of Northumbria University to explain it all to us.
Jul 30, 2016•12 min
You’ve heard of Confederates. But have you heard of “Confederados?” The terms are related, but as the variation in spelling suggests, there’s a linguistic and geographical difference. It seems that a number of unhappy Confederates left the United States after our Civil War and emigrated to places where they could continue to own slaves. Among those places was Brazil, where such people were called “Confederados,” and where their descendants live to this day. Two Brazilian historians, Luciana da C...
Jul 23, 2016•54 min
What does baseball have to do with constitutional law? Quite a bit, it turns out. Stewart will explain it to you, along with YWC’s Executive Producer, Wayne Winkler, who’s a bit skeptical. Stewart will also interview historian, constitutional lawyer and author David O. Stewart about his latest book, The Babe Ruth Deception, which tells a tale set in the early 20th Century, a time when baseball truly became "the national pastime." Play ball!
Jul 15, 2016•54 min
You’ve heard of Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams, who famously asked her husband to “remember the ladies” when he and his fellow revolutionaries drafted a legal code for the new nation they were creating. But have you ever heard of Louisa Adams, the wife of John Quincy Adams? Turns out that Louisa was pretty outspoken, too -- mostly in her diaries and other writings, in which she documented her many travels and adventures over several tumultuous decades of our early constitutional history. Plea...
Jul 08, 2016•54 min
We tend to think of constitutional cases as happening “out there, somewhere.” But they can arise anywhere the Constitution applies, and it applies everywhere in the United States – including in your own back yard. Recently, a significant constitutional case arose in our back yard, and a local attorney, Dennis Jones, took it all the way to the Supreme Court – assisted by three of Stewart’s law students.
Jul 01, 2016•54 min
If any institution should value and protect free speech, it is the university. After all, isn’t that what colleges and universities are for? Free inquiry and free exchange of ideas? And, in the case of state institutions, there’s that pesky First Amendment thing, too. But lately, some people are calling for restrictions on speech at universities, even attempting to punish those with whom they disagree. Remarkably, some faculty members have joined in this attempt, including, most notably, Melissa...
Jun 26, 2016•54 min
Most of us have heard about the trans-Atlantic slave trade, one of the worst aspects of African-American slavery. But what happened to enslaved Africans once they reached the East Coast of the United States? As it turns out, many of them still had a long way to go, into the even worse conditions in the interior of the Deep South, along routes that author Edward Ball calls “The Slave Trail of Tears.” Join us for a disturbing, but riveting, discussion of this little-known chapter of American const...
Jun 17, 2016•54 min
Once upon a time, the idea of a woman serving on the United States Supreme Court seemed strange, perhaps unattainable. Then along came Sandra Day O’Connor, and, a few years later, Ruth Bader Ginsberg. The Court, and the nation, haven’t been the same since. This week, author Linda Hirshman will tell us all about it. Her new book about the High Court’s first two female Justices and their personal and professional relationships is called Sisters-in-Law: How Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsbu...
Jun 11, 2016•54 min
It sometimes seems that all constitutional interpretation emanates from one place, and one place only: the United States Supreme Court. But while it’s true that the Court is the final authority on the Constitution, it’s also true that the rest of us have something to say about it. Indeed, David Cole, of the Georgetown University Law Center, insists that we have a lot to say about it, and that grassroots efforts to change the interpretation of the Constitution are the real “Engines of Liberty."...
Jun 03, 2016•2 hr 2 min
Remember the fellow who challenged the phrase “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance? His name is Michael Newdow, and he’s at it again, this time challenging the placement of “In God We Trust” on our currency. He’s filed a number of lawsuits, which have drawn a great deal of criticism. Among his critics is Mathew Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel and former dean of Liberty University’s law school. We’ll talk to both Mike and Mat, two articulate advocates for two very different constitutional p...
May 27, 2016•54 min
This week, we continue our discussion of Brexit – the proposed exit of Britain from the European Union – with Northumbria University law professor William Walton and his student, Melissa Davis, who just happens to also be a city councillor in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. We then broaden our discussion, both in terms of topics and participants, by inviting some of William’s other law students into the studio. These young Britons have much to say, not only about Brexit, but about the differences between B...
May 21, 2016•54 min
