Live at the National Constitution Center

Pultizer Prize-winning historian Eric Foner tells the story of the battle to inscribe equality into the Constitution. Foner traces the arc of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Constitution—the “Reconstruction amendments”—from their dramatic pre-Civil War origins to today, detailing how they changed our founding document and shaped American history. He sits down with National Constitution...

This Town Hall celebrates the launch of host Jeffrey Rosen’s newest book, Conversations with RBG: Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Life, Love, Liberty, and Law—an informal portrait of the justice through an extraordinary series of conversations, starting in the 1990s and continuing to today. Jeff has collected Justice Ginsburg’s wisdom from their many conversations on the future of the Supreme Court and Roe...

Is the Constitution “democratic” enough? What does it mean to be a democracy as opposed to a republic—is there a significant difference, and why does it matter? Should institutions like the Senate and the Electoral College, which are sometimes criticized for being undemocratic, be reformed or abolished? Constitutional scholars and professors Randy Barnett of Georgetown Law and Vikram Amar of the U...

Richard Stengel shares his insider account of the fight against the global rise of disinformation – describing how disinformation has been used by terrorist groups like ISIS; how it influenced the 2016 election; how it factors into the current impeachment inquiry; and more. Stengel led the Obama administration’s counter-disinformation efforts while serving as Under Secretary of State from 2013-201...

A group of legal scholars and reproductive rights experts visited the National Constitution Center earlier this fall to debate the question: should Roe v. Wade be overturned? Kathryn Kolbert, who argued the landmark reproductive rights case Planned Parenthood v. Casey, Professor and legal historian Mary Ziegler, and President of Americans United for Life Catherine Glenn Foster joined our Senior Di...

Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chelsea Clinton visited the National Constitution Center last week to unveil their new book The Book of Gutsy Women: Favorite Stories of Courage and Resilience. They shared stories of the gutsy women profiled in their book – some close to them, including Chelsea’s grandmothers; some historic figures like Claudette Colvin and Frances Perkins; and some modern day...

Last week, our companion podcast We the People was recorded live in front of our National Constitution Center audience for the first time! Host Jeffrey Rosen was joined by SCOTUSblog’s Amy Howe and John Elwood to preview the Supreme Court’s 2019 term, which began this week. They discussed this term’s blockbuster cases, including a trio of cases argued at the Court this morning which raise the ques...

The National Constitution Center partnered with The Atlantic for constitutional conversations at the Atlantic Festival in Washington, D.C., last Wednesday – the day after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that the House would initiate a formal impeachment inquiry against President Trump. Panels featuring scholars, journalists and legislators discussed the breaking news of the impeachment inquir...

Justice Neil Gorsuch visited the National Constitution Center to celebrate Constitution Day and discuss his new book A Republic, If You Can Keep It. Justice Gorsuch, the Honorary Chair of the National Constitution Center’s Board of Trustees, sat down with President Jeffrey Rosen to discuss his passion for civics and civility, the importance of separation of powers, what originalism means to him, a...

Today, September 17, is Constitution Day – the anniversary of the signing of the Constitution back in 1787. To celebrate that anniversary, we’re sharing a conversation about the constitutional clashes that shaped our nation – between Alexander Hamilton and rivals like Burr, Madison, Jefferson, and Adams. Hamilton historians Carol Berkin, Jay Cost, and Tony Williams visited the NCC for a sit-down w...

“Habeas corpus” – a legal concept offering people the chance to challenge being held in jail unlawfully – originated with the Magna Carta in 1215, and was included in the Constitution via the Suspension Clause in Article I. Issues surrounding the scope of habeas rights have arisen throughout American history, from the Founding to the Civil War to Japanese internment during World War II. But the po...

In this Town Hall, historian Ralph Young discusses his book Dissent: The History of an American Idea. Young details key moments of American dissent from the Declaration of Independence and the Revolutionary War, through the Civil Rights and anti-Vietnam War protests of the 1960s, to modern movements like the Colin Kaepernick-led national anthem protests—and what they mean for constitutional change...

In this Town Hall, historian Patrick Charles and legal scholar Brandon Denning take a deep dive into the history of the right to bear arms in America – from colonial militias to concealed carry – and the ways that this history has intersected with how the Second Amendment has been interpreted over time. National Constitution Center Senior Director of Content Lana Ulrich hosts.  For more on the Sec...

This year marks the 400th anniversary of the start of American slavery, as the first ship brought enslaved Africans to the British colony of Virginia in August 1619. And, this time of year in 1787, the Framers were debating early drafts of the Constitution and wrestling with foundational questions about the new American republic – many of which surrounded the status of enslaved peoples. Historian...

John Marshall—the fourth Chief Justice of the United States—led the Supreme Court for over 24 years, starting in 1801, and transformed it into the powerful branch we know today. This week, we’re sharing a conversation from last fall with Richard Brookhiser, senior editor of National Review and author of 'John Marshall: The Man Who Made the Supreme Court', who visited the National Constitution Cent...

The office of the presidency has forged some of our nation’s very best, and very worst, leaders. In this Town Hall, a panel of presidential biographers explores what makes or breaks a presidency, and how presidents are ranked over time. C-SPAN Executive Chair Brian Lamb moderates a conversation with National Constitution Center President Jeff Rosen, NCC Scholar-in-Residence Michael Gerhardt, and a...

Earlier this summer, historians Nancy Isenberg and Andrew Burstein visited the National Constitution Center to discuss their new book 'The Problem of Democracy: The Presidents Adams Confront the Cult of Personality'. Professors Isenberg and Burstein, both of Louisiana State University, discussed the lives and political careers of father and son presidents John and John Quincy Adams, and explored t...

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist George F. Will returned to the National Constitution Center stage last month to discuss his new book, 'The Conservative Sensibility', a reflection on American conservatism. He sat down with National Constitution Center President Jeffrey Rosen for a wide-ranging conversation, sharing his thoughts on everything from natural rights and the Declaration of Independence...

Earlier this summer, the National Constitution Center hosted a conversation about the untold stories of women abolitionists, suffragists, and even soldiers during the Civil War. NCC Senior Director of Content Lana Ulrich sat down with noted historians Thavolia Glymph of Duke University,  Kate Masur of Northwestern University, and Catherine Clinton of the University of Texas in San Antonio. These s...

NCC President Jeffrey Rosen recently traveled to Aspen, Colorado for the Aspen Ideas Festival, where he moderated a panel on the 2018-19 Supreme Court term featuring an all-star line-up of legal commentators: appellate lawyers and former Solicitors General Neal Katyal and Ted Olson, Harvard legal history professor Annette Gordon-Reed, CNN legal analyst Joan Biskupic, and New York Times Magazine st...

In this bonus episode of our series #1AUSA – conversations on the First Amendment’s past, present, and future, from the National Conference on the First Amendment at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh – artist and activist Simon Tam and his band The Slants tell their story and perform some of their music. Simon Tam led The Slants – an Asian-American dance-rock band – all the way to the Supreme Cour...

In part five of our series #1AUSA – conversations on the First Amendment’s past, present, and future, from the National Conference on the First Amendment at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh – NCC President Jeff Rosen sits down with college presidents David A. Thomas of Morehouse College, Robert Zimmer of the University of Chicago, and Teresa Sullivan, president emerita of the University of Virgin...

How do judges manage the personal challenges that their role often requires them to face, including unconscious bias, chronic stress, exposure to emotionally-charged circumstances, and public pressure and scrutiny? Current and former judges join in candid conversations about how they have managed these challenges and how they have approached their work. The first panel features moderator Michael L...

Part four of our series #1AUSA – conversations on the First Amendment’s past, present, and future, from the National Conference on the First Amendment held at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh – explores the crucial role of the free press in American democracy, and the challenges that journalists and editors face today. The first panel – moderated by National Constitution Center President Jeff Ros...

Constitutional scholar Bruce Ackerman discusses his new book, 'Revolutionary Constitutions: Charismatic Leadership and the Rule of Law'―an exploration of the origins, successes, and threats to revolutionary constitutionalism around the world—in conversation with National Constitution Center President Jeffrey Rosen. Professor Ackerman uses historical analysis and comparative constitutionalism to ex...