Constitutional Chats Presented By Constituting America

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Ep. 236: The First Amendment on College Campuses Nov 23, 2024

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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.

Ep. 235: Unraveling the Significance of the "Shot Heard 'Round the World" Nov 14, 2024

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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.

Ep. 234: Special Election Day Live Podcast: Everything You Need to Know About the Electoral College Nov 09, 2024

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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.

Ep. 233 - The Connecticut Compromise Nov 02, 2024

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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.

Ep. 232 - Reagan & the Constitution Oct 25, 2024

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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.

Ep. 231 - Eisenhower & the Constitution Oct 18, 2024

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Today, we are discussing our country's 34th President, Dwight Eisenhower. A Texan by birth but raised in Kansas, Eisenhower graduated from West Point and during World War II served as the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force in Europe and was promoted to 5-star General of the US Army. Twice elected President, Eisenhower notably led our country as we entered the Cold War. In what ways did Eisenhower's military experience shape his views on domestic and foreign policy? What civil rights advancements were made during his tenure? What was his overall sense of duty? To help us in this discussion, we are pleased to welcome Dr. Elizabeth Spalding, Chairman of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation for this informative chat.

Ep. 230 - FDR & the Constitution Oct 11, 2024

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President Franklin Delano Roosevelt served as the 32nd US President and was our longest serving president, having run for and won four elections to the presidency. FDR was President during two tumultuous events in US history, the Great Depression and the outbreak of World War II. Pulling a page from the Woodrow Wilson playbook, FDR expanded the administrative state even further. In what ways did FDR expand the scope and size of the federal government? Why did the American people elect him four times to the office of the presidency? What did he mean when he spoke of "bold, persistent experimentation?" To chat with our student panel on FDR, we are delighted to welcome Jim Pinkerton this week. Jim is an alumni of the Reagan and George H. W. Bush administrations and is currently a Senior Fellow in the Center for American Prosperity at the American First Policy Institute.

Ep. 229 - Herbert Hoover & the Constitution Oct 04, 2024

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In our chat today, we are focusing on our 31st President, Herbert Hoover. Born poor to a Quaker family in Iowa in 1874, Hoover was one of the first graduates of Stanford University in 1895. He earned a fortune as a mining engineer and had business interests on 6 of 7 continents. He rose to public prominence during World War I and joined the Woodrow Wilson administration as the leader of the Food Administration. He successfully ran for President in 1928 but his administration was quickly stained by Prohibition (which he inherited from the previous administration) and the stock market crash and Great Depression. He was soundly defeated in 1932. To help our student panel grasp the policies and worldview that shaped President Hoover, we are happy to welcome Stephen Tootle, Professor of History at the College of the Sequoias, for this informative discussion.

Ep. 228 - Woodrow Wilson & the Constitution: How Wilson Started The Slide Toward the Administrative State Sep 27, 2024

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The administrative state, the professional bureaucracy in our federal government, has not always been such a feature in how government functions. Did you know President Woodrow Wilson helped precipitate the rapid rise in that bureaucracy? How did this happen and why? What did Wilson mean when he spoke of an elastic constitution, and how does it threaten our freedom? To walk our student panel through this topic, we are delighted to have William Morrissey, Professor Emeritus at Hillsdale College, as our special guest constitutional expert.

Ep. 227 - The Genius of America - A Journey Into Our Republic: Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy In America Sep 12, 2024

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In 1831, a 26 year-old French member of the aristocracy arrived in New York City to examine our prison system. Alexis de Tocqueville would do that and so much more. Over 9 months, he and his travel companion, Gustave de Beaumont, traveled extensively and in 1835, he published "Democracy in America." De Tocqueville studied and answered what it took to perpetuate our political institutions, what the "habits of the American heart" are and what it means to be an American. In fact, it was De Tocqueville who coined the term American Exceptionalism. To guide our student panel as we discuss this seminal work, we are pleased to welcome Dr. Dorothea Wolfson, program director and senior lecturer in the MA in Government Program at Johns Hopkins University.

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