Pursuit: The Founders' Guide to Happiness

In this bonus episode, we are sharing recordings from the Pursuit: The Founders’ Guide to Happiness podcast launch event featuring a performance of Jeffrey Rosen’s The Golden Mean: Songs for the Pursuit of Happiness and Twelve Titans: Songs of the Greek and Roman Gods and Goddesses in Philadelphia .   Jeffrey Rosen, author of The Pursuit of Happiness and host of the podcast, performs his original...

In this bonus episode, we are sharing recordings from the Pursuit: The Founders’ Guide to Happiness podcast launch event featuring a performance of Jeffrey Rosen’s The Golden Mean: Songs for the Pursuit of Happiness and Twelve Titans: Songs of the Greek and Roman Gods and Goddesses in Philadelphia .   Jeffrey Rosen , author of The Pursuit of Happiness and host of the podcast, performs his original...

In our last episode, listeners share some big and small changes that they have made. Plus, Jeffrey Rosen , filmmaker Ken Burns , and scholar Robert P. George explore Benjamin Franklin’s virtue of silence, which he defines as “speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.”  Watch the full performance of the Pursuit of Happiness: Song Cycles by Jeffrey Rosen.  Stay...

In this episode, Jeffrey Rosen , Professor David Blight and filmmaker Ken Burns explore how a lifelong love of learning and a desire to promote justice shaped the life of abolitionist Frederick Douglass. He met Abraham Lincoln three times, and those three meetings helped shape Lincoln’s evolving views on emancipation. Stay Connected and Learn More Questions or comments about the show? Email us at...

By the end of his life, John Quincy Adams was an ardent opponent of slavery, earning the nickname “Old Man Eloquent” for his fierce advocacy in the House of Representatives. In this episode, Jeffrey Rosen , Professor David Waldstreicher and filmmaker Ken Burns unpack how this son of the Revolution became Congress’s primary enemy of slavery. Stay Connected and Learn More Questions or comments about...

While at Princeton, James Madison was exposed to faculty psychology, the idea that balancing the different parts of the soul achieves harmony. Jeffrey Rosen , Professor Colleen Sheehan and filmmaker Ken Burns explore how Madison infused these lessons about faculty psychology into his political philosophy and embraced the notion that personal self-government is necessary for political self-governme...

Alexander Hamilton was defined by his “ruling passion” for fame and spent his life trying to control his ambition. Jeffrey Rosen , historian Stephen Knott and Ken Burns will explore Hamilton’s life and legacy to see what lessons he can teach us about restraint. Stay Connected and Learn More Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org Continue the conversation b...

George Washington’s defining leadership quality is that he fulfilled his promise to relinquish power after the conclusion of both the Revolutionary War and his second presidential term. Jeffrey Rosen speaks with Ken Burns and Washington biographer Ed Larson about the importance of keeping your word and letting go. Stay Connected and Learn More Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podc...

In 1773, Phillis Wheatley became the first African American to publish a book in English. Her poems show a deep understanding of previous poets, a drive to represent herself and her world in the printed page, and a belief in equality. Jeffrey Rosen , Professor David Waldstreicher and Ken Burns explore how her life highlights the importance of acting with sincerity, no matter how many people may be...

Thomas Jefferson was well-known for offering advice about industry and frugality to his family members and friends, and he was passionate about expanding public education in America. Unfortunately, he did not always live up to his own ideals. Jeffrey Rosen talks with Dr. Alan Shaw Taylor and Ken Burns on what we can learn from Jefferson’s commitment to education and struggles with debt.  Stay Conn...

In 1771, Thomas Jefferson sent his friend Robert Skipwith a curated reading list. In this episode, Jeffrey Rosen , with the help of scholar Eric Slauter and Ken Burns , dives into Jefferson’s recommendations and the importance of deep daily reading. Stay Connected and Learn More Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org Continue the conversation by following...

John and Abigail Adams formed a partnership fueled by intellectual curiosity, a desire to be the best versions of themselves and many, many letters. Jeffrey Rosen speaks with political historian Lindsay Chervinsky and Ken Burns on how John and Abigail supported each other through the birth of the United States. Stay Connected and Learn More Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast...

In his autobiography at the age of 79, Benjamin Franklin attributed the happiness of his long life to his “evenness of temper,” rather than to his public accomplishments. Jeffrey Rosen speaks with Franklin scholar Stacy Schiff about why he put temperance first on his list of virtues. Then, Ken Burns shares what he takes away from Ben Franklin’s incomplete quest for moral perfection. Stay Connected...

The “pursuit of happiness” is one of the most famous phrases in American history, and when America’s founders wrote it in the Declaration of Independence, they intended it to mean happiness through lifelong learning and self-improvement. Stay Connected and Learn More Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org Continue the conversation by following us on social...

Here’s something that you probably didn’t learn in school: America’s founders spent much of their time reading about how to be better people. And that lifelong quest for self-improvement––in order to be more virtuous citizens––was what they meant by “the pursuit of happiness.” They defined happiness as a quest for being good, not feeling good. However, the founders often failed to live up to this...