Live at the National Constitution Center

Part three 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 what happens when press freedom collides with the interests of national security, and how the Supreme Court has ruled on those disputes, including the Pentagon Papers case. You’ll hear from one o...

This episode features a panel discussion on eugenics and its dark social, political, legal, and constitutional history. The National Constitution Center hosted a screening of the documentary “A Dangerous Idea: Eugenics, Genetics and the American Dream.” Following the screening, NCC President Jeffrey Rosen sat down with the film’s co-writer Andrew Kimbrell, journalist and author of ‘The Guarded Gat...

In part two of our series #1AUSA–conversations on the First Amendment’s past, present, and future, live from last year’s National Conference on the First Amendment at Duquesne University–you’ll hear stories of ordinary citizens who have had an extraordinary impact on the First Amendment. The first panel, on First Amendment history and landmark cases, is moderated by Duquesne President Ken Gormley...

Last week, the National Constitution Center opened its new permanent exhibit  ‘Civil War and Reconstruction: The Battle for Freedom and Equality’ –America’s first devoted to exploring how constitutional clashes over slavery set the stage for the Civil War, and how the nation transformed the Constitution after the war with the addition of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments. To celebrate the exhibi...

Today, we kick off our special series: #1AUSA – conversations on the First Amendment’s past, present, and future. This five part series will dive into the landmark cases and events that have shaped the First Amendment, and explore the technological, political, and legal developments that continue to shape it today. These conversations were held live last year at the National Conference on the Firs...

This episode features a lively debate exploring the question: Does President Trump have the constitutional and legal authority to use emergency powers to build a border wall? Our debaters are: Rich Lowry, editor of National Review, who voiced his support for the wall as a policy matter but argues the president acted illegally and unconstitutionally by unilaterally declaring a national emergency to...

Last week, CNN legal analyst and renowned Supreme Court biographer Joan Biskupic stopped by the National Constitution Center to discuss her new book "The Chief: The Life and Turbulent Times of Chief Justice John Roberts." Biskupic details some of the most consequential decisions of Chief Justice Roberts’s tenure, and explores the dual motivations she sees in Roberts’s work: his desire to follow hi...

In a sold out event at the National Constitution Center last week, Preet Bharara discussed his new book “Doing Justice: A Prosecutor's Thoughts on Crime, Punishment, and the Rule of Law” with National Constitution Center President and CEO Jeffrey Rosen. Preet is the former United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York and host of the podcast “Stay Tuned with Preet.” He shared storie...

What happens when religious liberty collides with anti-discrimination laws protecting LGBTQ people or other minorities? Scholars and advocates from all sides of the debate join host Jeffrey Rosen for a civil dialogue to address this question head on. Jeff sits down with advocates who have represented both sides in legal cases about this issue: Matt Sharp of the Alliance Defending Freedom, who repr...

Should social media companies voluntarily adopt First Amendment free speech principles to govern speech and content posted and shared on their platforms? Is the First Amendment the best tool to combat challenges such as hate speech, disinformation, and other harmful content, or should carefully considered laws or internationally-focused policies be used to tackle these challenges? Is the problem t...

The National Constitution Center hosted a symposium on campus free speech and academic freedom on March 18, and this episode shares two panels from that event. On the first panel—Amy Wax of The University of Pennsylvania  Law School, Anita Bernstein of Brooklyn Law School, and Cary Nelson of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne share what academic freedom means to them and discuss their...

Are we in the midst of a global crisis of decline in democracy? And is the United States vulnerable to that trend? Sharing insights from their book “How to Save a Constitutional Democracy,” University of Chicago law professors Aziz Z. Huq and Tom Ginsburg to explain why they think democracy might be headed for “death by 1,000 cuts” in places like Hungary and Poland and is at risk elsewhere in the...

With 2020 election campaigns gearing up, we’re sharing one of our favorite past programs that explores Citizens United, corporate speech rights, and much more. Adam Winkler, author of "We the Corporations: How American Business Won Their Civil Rights"and Kent Greenfield, author of "Corporations Are People Too",explain how corporations won their rights through landmark cases and showdowns—including...

Exploring how the Bible influenced the American Founding and the creation of the Constitution—National Constitution Center President Jeffrey Rosen is joined by leading religion scholars Professor Marci Hamilton of the University of Pennsylvania, Professor Daniel Mark of Villanova University, and author/historian Russell Shorto.  This program was presented in partnership with the Faith and Liberty...

In this special episode, we’re bringing you the chamber ensemble premiere performance of Notorious RBG in Song—a musical portrait of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg that illuminates aspects of her professional and personal life through song renditions of letters, conversations, and Court opinions—performed by Patrice Michaels. Michaels—composer, soprano, creator, and daughter-in-law of Justice Ginsbur...

Michael Tomasky, special correspondent for The Daily Beast, stops by the National Constitution Center to discuss his new book If We Can Keep It: How the Republic Collapsed and How It Might be Saved. Speaking to a sold-out crowd, in conversation with NCC President Jeffrey Rosen, Tomasky tells of the unique history of American political parties, the rise of polarization and its negative effects on g...

Professor Holly Brewer of the University of Maryland, Dean Risa Goluboff of the University of Virginia School of Law, and Professor Lea VanderVelde of the University of Iowa College of Law detail the battle over race and equality across American history, from the Founding to Reconstruction to the Civil Rights Revolution. NCC president Jeffrey Rosen moderates. This program was presented in partners...

The first in a two-part series honoring African American History Month and chronicling the struggle for racial equality throughout American history—this episode features leading Reconstruction historians Thavolia Glymph of Duke and David Blight of Yale. Glymph and Blight explore the meaning of freedom, equality, and emancipation, in conversation with National Constitution Center scholar-in-residen...

Four star General Stanley McChrystal visited the National Constitution Center to discuss his new book - Leaders: Myth and Reality. The book was inspired by McChrystal’s own experiences working with numerous leaders as he served for thirty-four years in the US Army, eventually becoming commander of all American and coalition forces in Afghanistan. Gen. McChrystal shares his insights into the comple...

Last week, National Constitution Center Members had the chance to attend a private film screening of the new biopic on Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, On the Basis of Sex, which depicts Justice Ginsburg's early life and legal career and tells the story of the landmark case Moritz v. Commissioner—the first gender-discrimination lawsuit she argued in court. Following the screening, Jeffrey Rosen, presi...

In celebration of Martin Luther King Day, we’re sharing the program “Remembering Birmingham: Civil Rights and Constitutional Change” held here at the National Constitution Center in 2017 and moderated by Jeffrey Rosen. This conversation features Sarah Collins Rudolph, a survivor of the September 1963 bombing of the 16th street Baptist church in Birmingham, Alabama, carried out by white supremacist...

Justin Driver provides a provocative account of the role the Supreme Court has played in defining the rights of students in America's public schools—from race and drugs to religion and free speech. Driver, a constitutional law professor at the University of Chicago Law School and former high school teacher, discusses his book The Schoolhouse Gate: Public Education, the Supreme Court, and the Battl...

NCC President and CEO Jeffrey Rosen sits down with Stephen B. Burbank of the University of Pennsylvania Law School and Tara Leigh Grove of William & Mary Law School to explore the history of judicial independence and the federal courts in the 20th century and the progressive era. They focus in particular on the crucial role of Chief Justice Taft in shaping the judicial branch, some of the key Supr...

Dawn Langan Teele, author of Forging the Franchise: The Political Origins of the Women’s Vote, and Elaine Weiss, author of The Woman’s Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote (which has been optioned by Stephen Spielberg’s Amblin TV to be turned into a series or movie with executive producer Hillary Clinton) provide a stirring history of the long journey to women’s suffrage. They detail some of the...

In celebration of Bill of Rights Day—the anniversary of the ratification of the first ten amendments to the Constitution, December 15th—we’re bringing you one of our favorite conversations from Bill of Rights Day 2017. Gerard Magliocca discusses his book The Heart of the Constitution: How the Bill of Rights Became the Bill of Rights, which tells the untold story of the most celebrated part of the...