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The 14th Amendment and the History of Reconstruction Feb 14, 2025

Show notes

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 conversation was originally streamed live as part of the NCC’s America’s Town Hallprogram series on February 10, 2025, in partnership with the Federal Judicial Center.

Resources

Ilan Wurman, The Second Founding: An Introduction to the Fourteenth Amendment (2020)
Pamela Brandwein, Rethinking the Judicial Settlement of Reconstruction (2011)
Sherrilyn Ifill, “Why are U.S. courts afraid of the 14th Amendment? Because it’s radical,” The Washington Post (Nov. 23, 2023)
Sherrilyn Ifill, “Yes, this is America: Why I’m Creating the 14th Amendment Center for Law and Democracy,” Substack (July 7, 2023)
14th Amendment
Title VI, Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1866
The Reconstruction Amendments
Brown v. Board of Education

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President Trump’s Executive Orders Feb 07, 2025

Show notes

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 2025”, One First SubStack (Jan. 28, 2025)
Steve Vladeck, “Trump's Guantánamo Memo”, One First Substack (Jan. 30, 2025)
Gary Schmitt, “Presidential Impoundment, Explained”, The Dispatch (Jan. 17, 2025)

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What the Black Intellectual Tradition Can Teach Us About American Democracy Jan 30, 2025

Show notes

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 as part of the NCC’s America’s Town Hallprogram series on Nov. 14, 2023.

Resources

Melvin Rogers, The Darkened Light of Faith: Race, Democracy, and Freedom in African American Political Thought (2023)
Melvin Rogers, The Undiscovered Dewey: Religion, Morality, and the Ethos of Democracy (2008)
Kate Masur, Until Justice Be Done: America's First Civil Rights Movement, from the Revolution to Reconstruction(2021)
Jamelle Bouie, “How Black Political Thought Shapes My Work”, The New York Times (Feb. 11, 2023)
David Walker
David Walker, Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World (1829)
Jamelle Bouie, “Why I Keep Coming Back to Reconstruction”, The New York Times (Oct. 25, 2022)
Martin Delany
Jamelle Bouie, “What Frederick Douglass Knew that Trump and DeSantis Don’t”, The New York Times (June 30, 2023)
Jamelle Bouie, “The Deadly History of ‘They’re Raping Our Women’”, Slate (June 18, 2015)
W.E.B. Dubois, The Souls of Black Folk (1903)

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My Fellow Americans: Presidents and their Inaugural Addresses Jan 23, 2025

Show notes

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 Hallprogram series on Jan. 21, 2025.

Resources:

Yuvraj Singh and Ted Widmer, My Fellow Americans: Presidents and Their Inaugural Addresses (2024)
Martin Van Buren, Inaugural Address (March 4, 1837)
Donald Trump, Second Inaugural Address (Jan. 20, 2025)
Andrew Jackson, First Inaugural Address (March 4, 1829)
Andrew Jackson, Second Inaugural Address (March 4, 1833)
Grover Cleveland, Second Inaugural Address (March 4, 1893)
Abraham Lincoln, First Inaugural Address (March 4, 1861)
Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address (March 4, 1865)
Franklin D. Roosevelt, First Inaugural Address (March 4, 1933)
John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Address (Jan. 20, 1961)
Joe Biden, Inaugural Address (Jan. 20, 2021)

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Can Texas Require Age Verification on Adult Sites? Jan 16, 2025

Show notes

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 Women's Rights (1995, republished 2024)
Nadine Strossen, Brief of Amici Curiae First Amendment Scholars in Support of Petitioners, Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton
Adam Candeub, Amicus Curiae Brief of Scholars in Support of Respondent, Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton
Adam Candeub, “How the Supreme Court Can Protect Digital Childhood,” Law & Liberty (Jan. 9, 2025)
Free Speech Coalition, Brief for Petitioners, Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton
Attorney General Ken Paxton, Brief for Respondent, Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton
Judge Jerry Smith, Opinion of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton
Ginsberg v. New York (1968)
Sable v. FCC (1989)
Reno v. ACLU (1997)
Ashcroft v. ACLU (2004)

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The Future of TikTok Jan 09, 2025

Show notes

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 Institute at Columbia University, Free Press, and PEN American Center as Amici Curiae in Support of Petitioners," TikTok v. Garland
Jameel Jaffer, “The Supreme Court Must Intervene in the TikTok Case,” The New York Times (Dec. 10, 2024)
Zephyr Teachout, “Brief of AMICI CURIAE Zephyr Teachout and Joel Thayer in Support of Respondent,” TikTok v. Garland
United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, Opinion of the Court, TikTok v. Garland
Arcara v. Cloud Books, Inc.(1986)
Reed v. Town of Gilbert (2015)
Moody v. NetChoice (2024)

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For or Against Constitutional Originalism? Jan 03, 2025

Show notes

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 Hallprogram series on October 8, 2024.

Resources:

Jonathan Gienapp, “Against Constitutional Originalism: A Historical Critique” (2024)
Stephen Sachs and Will Baude, “Originalism and the Law of the Past” (Law and History Review, 2019)
Michael Stokes Paulsen and Vasen Kesavan, “Is West Virginia Unconstitutional?” (90 Cal L. Rev. 291, 2002)
William Baude, Jud Campbell, and Stephen Sachs, “General Law and the Fourteenth Amendment” (76 Stanford L. Rev 1185, 2024)
Jud Campbell, “Four Views of the Nature of the Union” (47 Harvard J. Law & Public Policy 2, 2024)
Fletcher v. Peck (1810)
District of Columbia v. Heller (2008)
United States v. Rahimi (2024)

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Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org
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The Life and Constitutional Legacy of Gouverneur Morris Dec 25, 2024

Show notes

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 conversation was originally streamed live as part of the NCC’s America’s Town Hallprogram series on December 12, 2024.

Resources:

Dennis C. Rasmussen, The Constitution’s Penman: Gouverneur Morris and the Creation of America’s Basic Charter, (2023)
William M. Treanor, Gouverneur Morris and the Drafting of the Federalist Constitution, (2023)
William M. Treanor, The Case of the Dishonest Scrivener: Gouverneur Morris and the Creation of the Federalist Constitution, (2021)
Melanie Randolph Miller,  An Incautious Man: The Life of Gouveneur Morris, (2008)
Gouverneur Morris Papers
The U.S. Constitution: Preamble
The Federalist Papers
The Constitutional Convention of 1787: A Revolution in Government
Gouverneur Morris, “Slavery and Representation,” (Aug. 8, 1787)

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Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org
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The Meese Revolution Dec 20, 2024

Show notes

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 Moment(2024)
Edwin Meese III, Speech to the American Bar Association (7/9/1985)

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Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org
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How Religious Were the Founders? Dec 13, 2024

Show notes

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 Hallprogram series on November 25, 2024.

Resources:

The First Amendment, National Constitution Center exhibit
Jane E. Calvert, Penman of the Founding: A Biography of John Dickinson (2024)
Thomas Kidd, Thomas Jefferson: A Biography of Spirit and Flesh (2022)
Vincent Phillip Muñoz, Religious Liberty and the American Founding: Natural Rights and the Original Meanings of the First Amendment Religion Clauses (2022)
Thomas Kidd, God of Liberty: A Religious History of the American Revolution (2010)
Vincent Phillip Muñoz , God and the Founders: Madison, Washington, and Jefferson (2009)
Letter From George Washington to the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, Rhode Island, (Aug. 18, 1790)

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Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org
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