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Apr 2022
32m 57s

US vs: Constitutions

NHPR
About this episode
The United States Constitution gets a lot of credit for being the first of its kind. The progenitor of democratic constitution making. The spark that started a global fire. Is that the long and short of it, or is there more to the story?  Linda Colley, author of The Gun, The Ship and the Pen, weaves a longer, more complex narrative in this episode. We explor ... Show More
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