Constitutional
19 EpisodesProduced by The Washington Post
With the writing of the Constitution in 1787, the framers set out a young nation’s highest ideals. And ever since, we’ve been fighting over it — what is in it and what was left out. At the heart of these arguments is the story of America. As a follow-up to the popular Washington Post podcast “Presi… read more
Episodes
Ourselves and our posterity
February 12th, 2018
56:04
In the "Constitutional" finale, we address listener questions about the history--and future--of the nation's governing document.
The First Amendment
January 29th, 2018
53:31
Why do First Amendment rights trump nearly every other right in America? Thank Jehovah's Witnesses.
Privacy
January 15th, 2018
46:40
How should the Constitution's privacy protections be translated for a new era? This is a question before the Supreme Court today, but it was also a question that captivated a justice appointed to the Supreme Court 100 ye…
Prohibition
January 1st, 2018
54:38
The passage and then repeal of the 18th Amendment, banning alcohol in America, highlighted the pitfalls of trying to legislate against vice.
Taxes
December 18th, 2017
43:41
Congress today faces the same question it faced a century ago when creating the modern tax system: What kind of society should America be?
The common defense
December 4th, 2017
50:57
One intention the framers had when creating the U.S. Constitution was to “provide for the common defense.” But who shoulders that duty has not always been so clear.
War
November 20th, 2017
42:44
What was the original point of the Second Amendment? We examine its colonial and revolutionary roots—plus its quiet companion, the Third Amendment—with renowned American history scholar Gordon Wood.
Love
November 6th, 2017
40:08
The words "marriage" and "love" appear nowhere in the U.S. Constitution. Yet 50 years ago, the Supreme Court issued a decision that would embed those concepts in the heart of the document itself.
Fair punishment
October 23rd, 2017
52:28
"There is so much feeling of racial injustice around the issue of punishment. And you have to understand that those feelings have a history -- and that history is Parchman Farm."
Fair trials
October 9th, 2017
47:59
In 1963, the Supreme Court ruled in Gideon v. Wainwright that states must offer a defense attorney to all poor people accused of crimes. The decision transformed the concept of fair trials in America, but left major chal…
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