This week the Supreme Court hears oral arguments in Trump v. United States, a case that asks whether the former president is immune from criminal prosecution for conduct that occurred during his tenure in office. In this episode, Professor John Yoo of Berkeley Law School and Smita Ghosh of the Constitutional Accountability Center join Jeffrey Rosen to preview the arguments in the case, review the founders’ views on executive immunity, and discuss how the Court might decide this crucial case. 

Resources: 

• Trump v. United States (oral argument via C-SPAN; transcript)
• Constitutional Accountability Center, Smita Ghosh, et al, Brief of Scholars of Constitutional Law in Support of Respondents, Trump v. United States 
• Smita Ghosh, “The Founding Fathers Didn’t Think Trump Should Get Immunity Either,” Newsweek, Feb 8, 2024  
• John Yoo, “The Trump Immunity Case is Weak—But He Doesn’t Need it to Prevail,” Newsweek, Mar 6, 2024  
• Nixon v. Fitzgerald (1982) 
• Blassingame v. Trump (D.C. Cir. 2023) 

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Michael Gerhardt, author of the new book FDR’s Mentors: Navigating the Path to Greatness, and Andrew Busch, author of Reagan's Victory: The Presidential Election of 1980 and the Rise of the Right, join Jeffrey Rosen to explore the pivotal elections of 1932 and 1980. They compare the transformative presidencies of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan, and trace how founding-era debates between Hamilton and Jefferson over the scope of federal and executive power re-emerged during the New Deal and Reagan Revolution. This program originally streamed live on April 16, 2024. 

Resources: 

• Michael J. Gerhardt, FDR’s Mentors: Navigating the Path to Greatness (2024) 
• Andrew E. Busch, Ronald Reagan and the Politics of Freedom (2001) 
• Andrew E. Busch, Reagan's Victory: The Presidential Election of 1980 and the Rise of the Right (2005) 
• Andrew E. Busch, The Constitution on the Campaign Trail: The Surprising Political Career of America’s Founding Document (2007) 
• Friedrich Hayek, “The Road to Serfdom,” Teaching American History (May 21, 2020) 
• Ronald Reagan, Remarks to Commonwealth Club members on March 4, 1983, Reagan Library (July 19, 2018) 
• Franklin D. Roosevelt, Undelivered Address Prepared for Jefferson Day, The American Presidency Project 

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In this episode of We the People, Jeffrey Rosen has a special one-on-one conversation with the historian Allen Guelzo on his new book Our Ancient Faith: Lincoln, Democracy, and the American Experiment. They discuss Lincoln’s powerful vision of democracy, revisit his approach to tackling slavery and preserving the Union, and explain how Lincoln remains relevant as a political thinker today. 

Resources

• Allen Guelzo, Our Ancient Faith: Lincoln, Democracy, and the American Experiment (2024)  
• “Lincoln’s Speeches and the Refounding of America,” NCC America’s Town Hall program (Nov. 2021) 
• William H. Herndon, Herndon on Lincoln: Letters (2016) 
• Abraham Lincoln, “Speech to the Young Men’s Lyceum of Springfield,” (1838)  

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On November 7, 2023, historians Carol Berkin, author of A Sovereign People: The Crises of the 1790s and the Birth of American Nationalism, and H.W. Brands, author of Founding Partisans: Hamilton, Jefferson, Madison, Adams, and the Brawling Birth of American Politics, joined Jeffrey Rosen for a conversation on political partisanship and nationalism in early America, and how, despite the founders’ fear of factionalism, deep partisan divisions emerged almost immediately after the Revolution. They discuss the election of 1800, the first hotly contested partisan election in American history, and trace the history of American partisanship to the present day.  

Resources: 

• H.W. Brands, Founding Partisans: Hamilton, Madison, Jefferson, Adams and the Brawling Birth of American Politics (2023) 
• Carol Berkin, A Sovereign People: The Crises of the 1790s and the Birth of American Nationalism (2017) 
• “Genet Affair,” Mount Vernon  
• The Alien and Sedition Acts, NCC Founders’ Library 
• Virginia Resolutions, NCC Founders’ Library 

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On Thursday March 28 at the NCC, Jeffrey Rosen sat down with Justice Stephen Breyer to discuss his new book, Reading the Constitution: Why I Chose Pragmatism, Not Textualism. Justice Breyer deconstructs the textualist philosophy of the current Supreme Court’s majority and makes the case for a better way to interpret the Constitution based on pragmatism.

Resources

• Justice Stephen Breyer, Reading the Constitution: Why I Chose Pragmatism, Not Textualism (2024) 

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On March 18, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Murthy v. Missouri and NRA v. Vullo—two cases in which government officials allegedly pressured private companies to target disfavored viewpoints. Alex Abdo of the Knight First Amendment Institute and David Greene of the Electronic Frontier Foundation join Jeffrey Rosen to break down both cases. Together they discuss the state action doctrine, explore the line between coercion and persuasion, and interrogate the tension between government speech and private speech. 

Resources: 

• Murthy v. Missouri (oral argument via C-SPAN; transcript) 
• NRA v. Vullo (oral argument via C-SPAN; transcript) 
• Bantam Books, Inc. v. Sullivan (1963) 
• Alex Abdo, Brief in Support of Neither Party, Murthy v. Missouri 
• David Greene, Brief in Support of Neither Party, Murthy v. Missouri 
• David Greene and Karen Gullo, “Lawmakers: Ban TikTok to Stop Election Misinformation! Same Lawmakers: Restrict How Government Addresses Election Misinformation!,” EFF (March 15, 2024) 

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Three political scientists join Jeffrey Rosen to discuss democratic instability, backsliding, and demagogues from a historical and global perspective. Guests included Harvard’s Steven Levitsky, author of Tyranny of the Minority: Why American Democracy Reached the Breaking Point, the University of Texas-Austin’s Kurt Weyland, author of Democracy’s Resilience to Populism’s Threat, and Princeton University’s Frances Lee. This program originally aired on November 27, 2023.

Resources: 

• Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, Tyranny of the Minority: Why American Democracy Reached the Breaking Point 
• Frances Lee, “Populism and the American Party System: Opportunities and Constraints” 
• Kurt Weyland, Democracy’s Resilience to Populism's Threat: Countering Global Alarmism 
• Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, How Democracies Die 

Questions or comments about the show? Email us at [email protected].   

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On Monday March 4th, the Supreme Court reversed Colorado’s decision to remove President Trump from the ballot. The Court unanimously held that individual states cannot bar insurrectionists from holding federal office under Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment. Five Justices went further, ruling that Congress alone may enforce Section 3. In this episode, constitutional scholars Mark Graber of the University of Maryland Law School and Michael McConnell of Stanford Law School join Jeffrey Rosen to discuss the Court’s 9-0 decision to avoid a chaotic “patchwork” of state-level ballot eligibility decisions and the 5-4 majority’s view that Section 3 requires Congress to act before an insurrectionist may be disqualified from office.

Resources:

• Trump v. Anderson (2024)
• Mark Graber, “Trump’s apologists say it doesn’t matter if he’s guilty of insurrection. That’s not true”, The Guardian, (March 5, 2024)
• Mark Graber, The Forgotten Fourteenth Amendment: Punish Treason, Reward Loyalty (2023) 
• Michael McConnell, “Is Donald Trump Disqualified from the Presidency? A Response to Matthew J. Franck”, Public Discourse, (Jan. 18, 2024)
• Prof. Michael McConnell, Responding About the Fourteenth Amendment, “Insurrection,” and Trump, Volokh Conspiracy, (Aug. 2023) 

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This week, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in NetChoice v. Paxton and Moody v. NetChoice, which involved challenges to attempts by Texas and Florida to prevent social media sites from banning viewpoint discrimination. The challenges were brought by NetChoice, which argues that the laws’ content-moderation restrictions and must-carry provisions violate the First Amendment. The case could determine the future of our most important platforms, from Facebook to X to YouTube. Alex Abdo of the Knight First Amendment Institute and Larry Lessig of Harvard Law School recap the key issues in both cases; discuss the ideas raised in oral arguments; and preview the wide-ranging impacts these cases may bring.    

Resources: 

• Moody v. NetChoice (oral argument via C-SPAN; transcript) 
• NetChoice v. Paxton (oral argument via C-SPAN; transcript) 
• Larry Lessig, Amicus Brief in Support of Respondents 
• Alex Abdo, Amicus Brief in Support of Neither Party 
• Lochner v. New York (1905) 
• PruneYard Shopping Center v. Robins (1980) 
• Zauderer v. Office of Disc. Counsel (1985) 
• Rumsfeld v. FAIR (2006) 

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Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate, at bit.ly/constitutionweekly. 

You can find transcripts for each episode on the podcast pages in our Media Library.

On Presidents Day 2024, NCC President and CEO Jeffrey Rosen launched his new book at the NCC in conversation with Jeffrey Goldberg, editor in chief of The Atlantic. They discuss The Pursuit of Happiness: How Classical Writers on Virtue Inspired the Lives of the Founders and Defined America. This program was recorded live on February 19, 2024, and presented in partnership with The Atlantic. 

Resources: 

• Jeffrey Rosen, The Pursuit of Happiness: How Classical Writers on Virtue Inspired the Lives of the Founders and Defined America (2024) 
• Cicero, The Tusculan Disputations  (ca. 45 BC) 
• The Quill Project  
• The King James Bible (1611) 
• Pythagoras, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy  
• The Webster-Hayne Debates  
• Trump v. Anderson 
• “Should President Trump Be Allowed on the 2024 Ballot?,” We the People podcast (Jan. 11, 2024) 
• “Rhetoric of Freedom,” The Atlantic (Sept. 1999) 

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Jeffrey Rosen talks about his new book, The Pursuit of Happiness: How Classical Writers on Virtue Inspired the Lives of the Founders and Defined America, followed by a panel discussion on the influence of classical writers and thinkers on the founding generation. Panelists include University of Chicago Professor Eric Slauter, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist George Will; and Melody Barnes, executive director of UVA’s Karsh Institute of Democracy. This program was recorded live on February 9, 2024.  

Resources: 

• Jeffrey Rosen, The Pursuit of Happiness: How Classical Writers on Virtue Inspired the Lives of the Founders and Defined America (2024) 
• Cicero, The Tusculan Disputations  
• Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics  
• Melody Barnes, et al, ed., Community Wealth Building and the Reconstruction of American Democracy (2020) 
• Karsh Institute of Democracy, University of Virginia   
• Eric Slauter, The State as a Work of Art: The Cultural Origins of the Constitution (2009) 
• Thomas Jefferson’s Recommended Reading  
• George Will, Statecraft as Soulcraft: What Government Does (1984) 
• George Will, The Conservative Sensibility (2019) 

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You can find transcripts for each episode on the podcast pages in our Media Library.