Live at the National Constitution Center

Live at the National Constitution Center

Live constitutional conversations and debates featuring leading historians, journalists, scholars, and public officials hosted at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia and across America. To watch National Constitution Center Town Halls live, check out our schedule of upcoming programs at constitutioncenter.org/townhall. Register through Zoom to ask your constitutional questions in the Q&A or watch live on YouTube at YouTube.com/ConstitutionCenter.

Episodes

August 4, 2026 59 mins
In this episode, Constitutional scholar Ilan Wurman joins for a conversation on his new book, The Constitution of 1789: A New Introduction. Written to coincide with the semiquincentennial of American independence, the book offers a fresh examination of the Constitution’s origins, structure, separation of powers, and the relationship between the Constitution and the American founding. Wu...
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In this episode, legal scholars Jonathan Adler, Greg Garre, Katherine Mims Crocker, and Howard Wasserman discuss the state of civil discourse inside the Supreme Court and in public debate about the Court. Julie Silverbrook, chief content and learning officer at the National Constitution Center, moderates. This conversation was recorded live in Philadelphia on July 7, 2026, as part of the...
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July 14, 2026 49 mins
In this episode, legal scholars Gillian Metzger, Julian Mortenson, and Ilya Somin discuss the Supreme Court’s approach to executive power in recent decisions. Thomas Donnelly, lead scholar at the National Constitution Center, moderates. This conversation was recorded live in Philadelphia on July 7, 2026, as part of the National Constitution Center’s 2026 Supreme Court Review, which is prese...
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In this episode, we're sharing a recent America's Town Hall event which explores the Constitution and the Courts at the 250th anniversary of America’s founding. Kevin Arlyck of Georgetown Law Center discusses his book, The Nation at Sea The Federal Courts and American Sovereignty, 1789–1825, which tells a new story about the federal judiciary, and about the early United States itself. Julie Silverbrook,&n...
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In this episode, we're sharing a recent America's Town Hall event which explores the Constitution and the Courts at the 250th anniversary of America’s founding. This discussion, Interpreting the Constitution in the Founding Era, features Akhil Reed Amar, Christopher Bonner, and Gerald F. Leonard moderated by Thomas Donnelly, lead scholar at the National Constitution Cente...
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In this episode, David Blight, Robert P. George, and Annette Gordon-Reed explore the enduring ideas at the core of the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution—including equality, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, and government by consent—and examine how those principles have been debated, interpreted, and contested over time. Moderated by Thomas Donnelly, lead scholar at the ...
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The separation of powers, federalism, and the rule of law are critical elements of American constitutional democracy. Judge Bernice Donald, formerly of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee and U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit; Judge Robert Kugler, formerly of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey and U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court; and Judge Thomas Gr...
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In this episode, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, honorary co-chair of the National Constitution Center, and his co-author and former law clerk Janie Nitze join the Center to discuss their new children’s book, Heroes of 1776: The Story of the Declaration of Independence (HarperCollins; May 5, 2026). Designed for families and learners of all ages, this Civic Story Hour program invites audiences into the hu...
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In this episode, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and National Constitution Center Semiquincentennial Scholar Jon Meacham joins the Center to discuss The Promise of America: Reflections on Our Enduring Ideals. Presented by the National Constitution Center, The Promise of America is an inspirational collection of essays exploring the founding principles that continue to shape American democracy from the nati...
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In this episode, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer (Ret.), honorary co-chair of the National Constitution Center, joins to discuss The Promise of America: Reflections on Our Enduring Ideals, a new keepsake volume from the National Constitution Center. Justice Breyer, who wrote the book’s foreword, reflects on the enduring constitutional ideals explored in the volume and their continued relevance today. He is...
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In this episode, Michael Auslin joins to discuss his new book, National Treasure: How the Declaration of Independence Made America, a sweeping and vivid history of the Declaration of Independence from its drafting to its enduring role in American life today. Tracing the remarkable journey of this iconic document—from a Philadelphia boarding house to wartime hiding places and its place as a national symbol—Ausl...
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Sai Prakash joins to discuss his new book, The Presidential Pardon: The Short Clause with a Long, Troubled History. The Constitution’s Pardon Clause grants the president a power unmatched in scope and consequence. In The Presidential Pardon, Prakash explores how this brief clause has grown into the most expansive and controversial tool of the modern presidency. Thomas Donnelly, lead scholar at the National Cons...
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Sarah Isgur joins for a conversation on her new book, Last Branch Standing: A Potentially Surprising, Occasionally Witty Journey Inside Today's Supreme Court. Drawing on history, law, and current debates, Sarah Isgur offers an engaging look at the Supreme Court, exploring its unique role in American democracy, how the Court became the nation’s “last branch standing,” and what its growing power means...
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April 7, 2026 57 mins
Acclaimed historians Mary Beth Norton, the Mary Donlon Alger Professor Emerita of American History at Cornell University, and Rosemarie Zagarri, distinguished university professor of history at George Mason University, examine how women influenced the political, social, and intellectual currents of the American Revolution. The conversation explores how women’s experiences and contributions deepen and expand our unde...
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In celebration of Women’s History Month, award-winning historian Ellen DuBois, author of Elizabeth Cady Stanton: A Revolutionary Life, discusses the life, ideas, and legacy of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the decades-long struggle for women’s suffrage. Thomas Donnelly, lead scholar of the National Constitution Center, moderates. Resources Ellen Carol DuBois, Elizabeth Cady Stanton: A R...
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Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and National Constitution Center Semiquincentennial Scholar Jon Meacham joins to discuss his book American Struggle: Democracy, Dissent, and the Pursuit of a More Perfect Union. The book brings together pivotal speeches, letters, and essays from across American history to illuminate the enduring tensions that shape our democracy. Meacham reflects on the questions and challenges t...
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In this episode, Gary Berton, the president of The Thomas Paine Historical Association, joins Scott Cleary, co-editor of New Directions in Thomas Paine Studies and author of The Field of Imagination: Thomas Paine and Eighteenth-Century Poetry, to discuss the revolutionary life, ideas, and legacy of Thomas Paine in celebration of the 250th anniversary of his famous pamphlet, Common Sense. Julie Silverbr...
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Share In celebration of Black History Month, scholars Lucas Morel and Melvin Rogers join to discuss how African American leaders and citizens, such as Prince Hall, Frederick Douglass, Ida B. Wells, and Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. have invoked the ideas and principles of the Declaration of Independence throughout American history to push for a more free and equal America. Thomas Donnelly, chief scholar of ...
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In this episode, Legal scholar William Ewald joins Jesse Wegman to discuss Wegman’s new book, The Lost Founder: James Wilson and the Forgotten Fight for a People’s Constitution, which explores the influence and legacy of forgotten founder and Supreme Court Justice James Wilson. Julie Silverbrook, vice president of civic education of the National Constitution Center, moderates. Resources ...
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In this episode, Matthew Continetti, author of The Right: The Hundred-Year War for American Conservatism, joins prize-winning biographer Sam Tanenhaus to discuss Tanenhaus’s new book, Buckley: The Life and the Revolution That Changed America, and to trace American conservatism’s evolution from the Progressive Era, through the rise of William F. Buckley Jr., to today. Jeffrey Rosen, president and...
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