Consider the Constitution

We know James Madison as the Father of the Constitution. But who was he before that? In this special episode, Dr. Katie Crawford Lackey takes the guest seat to explore the formative years that made Madison who he is. At 25, Madison was the youngest major figure of the founding era — small, sickly, quiet, and easy to overlook. He never commanded armies or delivered rousing speeches. What he had wer...

What does the Constitution actually say — and why haven't most of us read it? Ben Sheehan, bestselling author and award-winning digital creator, joins host Dr. Katie Crawford Lackey to talk about the civic knowledge gap and how he used his background in comedy to make one of the most important documents in American history genuinely readable. Ben traces his own constitutional education — from...

The words are familiar — life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness — but do we really know what they meant to the men who wrote them? As America marks 250 years of independence, Dr. Katie Crawford Lackey sits down with Dr. Lynn Uzzell, Julia Van Geest, and T.C. Le, co-authors of the forthcoming book Locking and Unlocking the Declaration of Independence: An Introduction to Jefferson's Philosophy...

Before the Declaration of Independence, before the Constitutional Convention, colonists were already debating the meaning of a constitution — and it didn't look anything like the document we know today. Dr. Zachary Deibel, assistant professor of history at the Virginia Military Institute, joins Dr. Katie Crawford Lackey at Montpelier to trace the constitutional ideas that shaped the American...

This episode is part of a special five-part miniseries examining James Madison's role in the American Revolution and the founding of the United States. As part of Montpelier's commemoration of the 250th anniversary of American independence, this series is funded by a grant from the Virginia American Revolution 250 Commission, in partnership with Virginia Humanities. In this final install...

When the Constitution was drafted in 1787, women weren't explicitly excluded — they were simply not addressed. Dr. Catherine Allgor, historian and former President of the Massachusetts Historical Society, joins host Dr. Katie Crawford Lackey at Montpelier to unpack what that silence actually meant — and why it wasn't accidental. At the center of the conversation is a word every listener...

This episode is part of a five-part miniseries examining James Madison's role in the American Revolution and the founding of the United States. Part of Montpelier's commemoration of the 250th anniversary of American independence, this series is funded by a grant from the Virginia American Revolution 250 Commission in partnership with Virginia Humanities. What does it actually take to sus...

The Supreme Court has no army, no budget, and no way to enforce its own rulings. Its power rests entirely on the credibility of its words. Attorney and author Peter Cohen joins Dr. Katie Crawford Lackey to explore what happens when you go straight to the source — reading the justices' opinions directly rather than relying on outside interpretation. Drawing on his book In the Supreme Court&apo...

This episode is part of a special five-part miniseries examining James Madison's role in the American Revolution and the founding of the United States. As part of Montpelier's commemoration of the 250th anniversary of American independence, this series is funded by a grant from the Virginia American Revolution 250 Commission, in partnership with Virginia Humanities. James Madison's...

When Congress can't pass laws, is the problem in the Constitution—or in the rules that govern how legislators actually do their work? In this episode, Dr. Katie Crawford-Lackey welcomes back Dr. Lauren Bell to discuss her new book, Transatlantic Majoritarianism: How Murder, Migration and Modernity Transformed 19th Century Legislatures . Dr. Bell reveals how 19th-century lawmakers in both the...

This episode is part of a special five-part miniseries examining James Madison's role in the American Revolution and the founding of the United States. As part of Montpelier's commemoration of the 250th anniversary of American independence, this series is funded by a grant from the Virginia American Revolution 250 Commission, in partnership with Virginia Humanities. Dr. Katie Crawford La...

What can 500 pounds of slag reveal about the American Revolution? In this episode, Dr. Katie Crawford-Lackey talks with Dr. Matt Reeves, Montpelier's Director of Archaeology , about the blacksmith shop that powered James Madison Sr.'s plantation during the Revolutionary War. Through archaeological evidence and surviving ledger books, they uncover a regional network of production, the exp...

This episode launches a special five-part miniseries examining James Madison's role in the American Revolution and the founding of the United States. Part of Montpelier's commemoration of the 250th anniversary of American independence, this series is funded by a grant from the Virginia American Revolution 250 Commission in partnership with Virginia Humanities . Dr. Katie Crawford Lackey...

In this special year-end episode, Dr. Katie Crawford Lackey looks back at 19 conversations from 2025 with historians, lawyers, constitutional experts, and public servants.

In this special episode commemorating the 25th anniversary of the co-stewardship partnership between the National Trust for Historic Preservation and The Montpelier Foundation, host Dr. Katie Crawford Lackey welcomes Tom Mayes, Chief Legal Officer of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Together, they explore how historic places like James Madison's Montpelier connect us to the origi...

In this special episode of Consider The Constitution, Dr. Katie Crawford-Lackey is joined by Dr. Kelley Fanto Deetz, Montpelier's Chief Advancement Officer, to explore how James Madison's Montpelier reveals history's most essential truth: no story stands alone. Deetz reveals why Madison's constitutional genius, Dolley's political mastery, and the enslaved community's...

Host Dr. Katie Crawford-Lackey welcomes back Dr. Lauren Bell to explore how the Constitutional Convention's historic compromises shaped Congress into America's most powerful branch of government. From Madison's Virginia Plan to the Great Compromise that created our bicameral legislature, Bell reveals how enumerated and implied powers actually work in practice. Discover why congressi...

For the first time in over 20 years, James Madison's Montpelier is opening its transformational constitutional seminars to the general public. Join host Dr. Katie Crawford-Lackey and Center Director Patrick Campbell as they extend a personal invitation to an extraordinary three-day immersive experience . Imagine sleeping on the same grounds where Madison wrestled with the ideas that became ou...

In this episode, host Dr. Katie Crawford-Lackey explores James Madison's constitutional philosophy with professors Eric Kasper and Howard Schweber, co-authors of " James Madison's Constitution: A Double Security and a Parchment Barrier. " The conversation unpacks two key Madisonian concepts: "double security" (the idea that both federalism and separation of powers wor...

As college campuses continue to serve as vital sites of activism, protest, and public debate, university police face the complex task of upholding First Amendment freedoms while ensuring the safety and wellbeing of diverse campus communities. In this episode, Dr. Katie Crawford Lackey sits down with Chief Timothy Longo, Associate Vice President for Safety and Security at the University of Virginia...

In this compelling episode of Consider the Constitution, host Dr. Katie Crawford-Lackey explores one of the most contentious intersections of constitutional law and public policy with Professor Hank Chambers from the University of Richmond Law School . Together, they unpack the complex doctrine of qualified immunity and its relationship to police discretion—topics that have become central to natio...

In this illuminating episode of Consider the Constitution, Dr. Katie Crawford Lackey welcomes back Dr. Lindsey Cormack, the pioneering political scientist who created DC Inbox—a first-of-its-kind digital archive preserving congressional newsletters. From James Madison's vision of Congress as the people's branch to today's digital communication tactics, this conversation uncovers the...

In this episode, host Dr. Katie Crawford-Lackey interviews historian Dr. Peter Kastor about how America's founding generation transformed constitutional ideals into functioning government institutions. Learn about the challenges faced by early federal leaders, the overlooked contributions of thousands of ordinary civil servants, and how this formative period established enduring traditions of...

In this enlightening episode of Consider the Constitution, host Dr. Katie Crawford Lackey sits down with Dr. Dennis Rasmussen, professor of political science at Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs . Their conversation explores the philosophical underpinnings that influenced the creation of the U.S. Constitution, particularly focusing on Enlightenment thinker...

In this episode of Consider the Constitution, host Dr. Katie Crawford-Lackey welcomes back Kendra Johnson, assistant Public Defender in Fairfax, Virginia, to explore the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments. Johnson explains how these amendments form the backbone of criminal procedure in America and protect citizens from government overreach. The discussion begins with an overview of each amendment...