We the People
A weekly show of constitutional debate hosted by National Constitution Center President and CEO Jeffrey Rosen where listeners can hear the best arguments on all sides of the constitutional issues at the center of American life.
Episodes
September 11, 2025 • 30 mins
In our new podcast, Pursuit: The Founders’ Guide to Happiness, Jeffrey Rosen explores the founders’ lives with the historians who know them best. Plus, filmmaker Ken Burns shares his daily practice of self-reflection.
The “pursuit of happiness” is one of the most famous phrases in American history. When America’s founders wrote it in the Declaration of Independence, they intended it to mean happiness through lifelong learning and...
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September 4, 2025 • 65 mins
In this episode, Christine Chabot of Marquette University Law School and Michael McConnell of Stanford Law School join to discuss Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook’s termination and the broader legal and constitutional issues it raises, such as the constitutionality of the Federal Reserve and the scope of the president’s removal power.
Resources
Trump v. Wilcox (2025)
Collins v. Yellin (2021)
Seila Law LLC v. Con...
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August 28, 2025 • 73 mins
In this episode, Bradley Smith of Capital University Law School and Nicholas Stephanopoulos of Harvard Law School join to discuss the history and future of partisan gerrymandering, including the mid-decade redistricting battles of the Gilded Age and the ongoing mid-decade redistricting efforts in Texas and California.
Resources
Rucho v. Common Cause (2019)
Reynolds v. Sims (1964)
Nicholas Stephanopoulos, Aligning E...
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August 21, 2025 • 58 mins
In this episode, Sabrina Lynn Motley, director of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival at the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, and Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, discuss how their institutions are celebrating America’s 250th birthday. This conversation took place at Chautauqua Institution 2025 Summer Assembly.
Resources
Jeff Rosen, The Pursuit of Liberty: How Hamilton and Jeffers...
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August 14, 2025 • 64 mins
In this episode, Bradley Smith of Capital University Law School and Nicholas Stephanopoulos of Harvard Law School join to discuss the history and future of racial gerrymandering, including how the Court’s upcoming decision in Louisiana v. Callais could affect the Voting Rights Act.
Resources
Louisiana v. Callais (2025)
Allen v. Milligan (2023)
Shelby County v. Holder (2013)
Nicholas Stephanopoulos, Aligning E...
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August 7, 2025 • 61 mins
In this episode, Richard Primus of the University of Michigan Law School and John Harrison of the University of Virginia School of Law join to discuss Primus’s new book The Oldest Constitutional Question: Enumeration and Federal Power, which challenges the prevailing understanding of congressional power and argues that Congress is not limited to its textually enumerated powers. Their conversation traces how this fundamental disagre...
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July 31, 2025 • 55 mins
In this episode, Mary Ziegler of the UC Davis School of Law and Stephen Gilles of the Quinnipiac University School of Law join to discuss Ziegler’s new book Personhood: The New Civil War over Reproduction, which explores the history and goals of the anti-abortion movement in the United States.
Resources
Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022)
Mary Ziegler, Personhood: The New Civil War over Reproduction (202...
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July 24, 2025 • 48 mins
In this episode, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David Levering Lewis joins to unpack Du Bois’ life, legacy, and enduring impact on American history and discuss his new memoir, The Stained Glass Window.
Resources
David Levering Lewis, The Stained Glass Window: A Family History as the American Story, 1790–1958, (2025)
David Levering Lewis, W.E.B. Du Bois: A Biography 1868–1963, (2009)
American Historical Association...
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July 17, 2025 • 57 mins
In this episode, Derek Black of the University of South Carolina School of Law and Neal McCluskey of the Cato Institute join to discuss this recent emergency docket decision and explore the history of federal involvement in education.
Resources
McMahon v. New York (2025)
Scott Harris with Derek Black, “Trump’s Targeting of Education Department Could Eliminate Dozens of Federal Programs for Millions of Students Nation...
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July 10, 2025 • 52 mins
In this episode, Jess Bravin of The Wall Street Journal, Jan Crawford of CBS News, and Fred Smith Jr. of Stanford Law School join to explore polarization on the Court and the role of the media and the political branches in shaping public perceptions.
Resources
Trump v. CASA, Inc. (2025)
Jess Bravin and Mariah Timms, “Supreme Court Limits Rulings Against Trump on Birthright Citizenship,” The Wall Street Journal (June 27,...
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July 3, 2025 • 60 mins
On June 27, 2025, the Supreme Court delivered its final decisions of the 2024–25 term. In this episode, Steve Vladeck of the Georgetown University Law Center and Sarah Isgur of SCOTUSblog join to discuss the significant cases from this Supreme Court term.
Resources
Trump v. CASA, Inc. (2025)
Mahmoud v. Taylor (2025)
DHS v. DVD (2025)
Steve Vladeck, “163: A New Kind of Judicial Supremacy,” One First (June 30, 2...
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June 26, 2025 • 66 mins
On June 18, the Supreme Court upheld a Tennessee law that prohibits medical transitions for transgender minors. In this episode, William Eskridge Jr. of Yale Law School and Christopher Green of The Ohio State University join to debate the decision and to discuss the meaning of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.
Resources
United States v. Skrmetti (2025)
Christopher Green, Brief amicus curiae, United Sta...
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June 19, 2025 • 58 mins
On June 7, President Trump asserted control over California’s National Guard. In this episode, Professor Michael Ramsey of the University of San Diego School of Law and Liza Goitein of the Brennan Center join Jeffrey Rosen to explore the meaning of 10 U.S.C. 12406 and unpack California Governor Gavin Newsom’s lawsuit challenging the legality of President Trump’s actions.
Resources
Michael Ramsey, “John Yoo on Presidential ...
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June 12, 2025 • 57 mins
Gillian Metzger of Columbia Law School and Saikrishna Prakash of the University of Virginia School of Law join Jeffrey Rosen to examine the founders’ vision for the presidency, review how presidential power has changed over time, and debate the constitutional questions—including the unitary executive theory—that have shaped the modern presidency.
Resources
Federalist No. 70, New York Packet (March 18, 1788)
Myers v. Uni...
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June 5, 2025 • 58 mins
Charles Sumner was an abolitionist senator who helped to write the post-Civil War Constitution and give birth to modern civil rights law. Zaakir Tameez, author of the new biography Charles Sumner: Conscience of a Nation, joins Jeffrey Rosen to discuss Sumner as a moral thinker, political activist, and constitutional visionary.
Resources
Zaakir Tameez, Charles Sumner: Conscience of a Nation
Zaakir Tameez, “What we can le...
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May 29, 2025 • 56 mins
In celebration of Jewish American Heritage Month, Richard Kreitner, author of Fear No Pharaoh: American Jews, the Civil War, and the Fight to End Slavery, and Shari Rabin, author of The Jewish South: An American History, join Jeffrey Rosen for a wide-ranging discussion on the Southern Jewish experience from the Revolutionary era to the Civil War. They discuss how American Jews reckoned with religious discrimination and slavery, exp...
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May 22, 2025 • 45 mins
Constitutional scholars Ilya Shapiro, Stephen Vladeck, and Adam White join NCC President and CEO Jeffrey Rosen to debate whether the Trump administration has overreached on executive power, analyze the relationship between the federal courts and the president, and put the present moment in historical context. This conversation was originally recorded on May 21, 2025, at George Washington’s Mount Vernon.
Resources
J. Mic...
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May 15, 2025 • 71 mins
Retired Supreme Court Justice David Souter passed away on May 8, 2025, at his home in New Hampshire. In this episode, his former clerks, Judge Kevin Newsom of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit and Professor Jeannie Suk Gersen of Harvard Law School, join Jeffrey Rosen for a conversation on Justice Souter’s life and constitutional legacy. Retired Justice Stephen Breyer also shares memories of his former colleague.
Re...
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May 8, 2025 • 59 mins
Brian Kalt of Michigan State College of Law and Jeffrey Toobin, author of The Pardon: The Politics of Presidential Mercy, join Jeffrey Rosen to explore the founders’ vision for the pardon power and the use of the presidential pardon throughout American history—from Thomas Jefferson’s pardons to those issued by Presidents Biden and Trump.
This conversation was originally streamed live as part of the NCC’s America’s Town Hall se...
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May 1, 2025 • 56 mins
On April 30, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board v. Drummond, which examines the constitutionality of religious charter schools. In this episode, Michael McConnell of Stanford Law School and Steven Green of Willamette University join Jeffrey Rosen to recap the oral arguments, debate the meaning and history of the Free Exercise and Establishment Clauses, and survey the Court’s other reli...
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