logo
episode-header-image
Apr 2022
29m 42s

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 explore why constitutions (governmental limits, citizens rights and all) became necessary and who put pen to paper before 1787. 

Want our new "Civics is my cup of tea" mug? CLICK HERE TO DONATE AND GET YOURS!

  • CLICK HERE: Visit our website to see all of our episodes, donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more! 
  • To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.
  • Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!

Up next
Jul 4
Cinematic Civics: Independence Day
Is there a civics lesson in the 1996 film Independence Day? We think so. Join the Civics 101 team for a conversation about the film, its politics, and what it says about the United States and its place in the world. There's even a fire-jumping dog! WIN A NEW CAR OR 25K IN CASH DU ... Show More
50m 30s
Jun 30
What does the Senate Parliamentarian do?
The Senate Parliamentarian is many things. A nonpartisan referee, an appointed official, and at some times one of the most powerful people in our government. This week, Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough found several provisions in the currently debated budget appropriat ... Show More
26m 38s
Jun 24
How political “framing” shapes our thoughts
We know why we feel the way we do about certain political issues, don't we? Don't we??It turns out that politicians, political strategists, and the media are working every day to alter what we think about something before we know we're thinking about it. And the way this is done ... Show More
27m 5s
Recommended Episodes
Nov 2017
Citizens United
Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission is one of the most polarizing Supreme Court cases of all time. So what is it actually about, and why did the Justices decide the way they did? Justice Anthony Kennedy, often called the “most powerful man in America,” wrote the major ... Show More
6 m
Dec 2018
The Most Perfect Album: Episode 9
This season, More Perfect is taking its camera lens off the Supreme Court and zooming in on the words of the people: the 27 amendments that We The People have made to our Constitution. We're taking on these 27 amendments both in song and in story. This episode is best listened to ... Show More
23m 48s
Jul 2024
The timebomb the founding fathers left us
The US Constitution is a brilliant political document, but it’s far from perfect. This week’s guest, Erwin Chemerinsky, argues that many of today’s threats to democracy are a direct result of compromises made by the Founding Fathers centuries ago. Those mistakes have come back to ... Show More
55m 40s
Nov 2019
Mary Anne Franks, “The Cult of the Constitution” (Stanford UP, 2019)
We Americans are defined by our Constitution and we cherish especially the First and Second Amendments. But like all texts, the Constitution can be read to empower and protect our individual rights, but it can also be used selectively, self-servingly, and in bad faith. And the Co ... Show More
58m 16s
Jul 2024
The Rise of Presidential Power
Right from independence, a question has hovered over the government of the United States. How much power should the President have? Not too much, lest they become a monarch. But not too little, they are elected to do a job and that job must be done. In this episode of American Hi ... Show More
36m 28s
Aug 2024
Thomas Mundy Peterson: The Story of the 1st Black Voter in the United States
On this episode of Our American Stories, this is the story of what happened shortly after the ratification of the 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibiting a citizen’s right to vote “on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” Here to tell a ... Show More
9m 29s
May 2024
We the People: Search and Seizure
The Fourth Amendment is the part of the Bill of Rights that prohibits "unreasonable searches and seizures." But — what's unreasonable? That question has fueled a century's worth of court rulings that have dramatically expanded the power of individual police officers in the U.S. T ... Show More
48m 50s
Feb 2025
The Evolution of Presidential Power
What can and can't the president do — and how do we know? The framers of the U.S. Constitution left the powers of the executive branch powers deliberately vague, and in doing so opened the door for every president to decide how much power they could claim. Over time, that's becom ... Show More
51m 40s
Feb 2025
Ep102 An All-American constitutional crisis?
As Trump and his cronies attempt to tear down all the checks and balances which have traditionally governed how the Executive relates to other branches of American governance, especially over the issue of impoundment, will the Courts or Congress genuinely stand up? If they don’t, ... Show More
1h 3m