Amarica's Constitution

Princeton Palaver Present

Akhil and Andy move from The College of New Jersey - Princeton in the period of America’s Founding - to the Princeton University of today, and discuss matters of agreement and disagreement between Akhil and some of the Orange and Black’s leading faculty lights.  Topics range from the 1619 project to the Electoral College and some of Andrew Jackson’s most controversial and misunderstood statements.  Finally, everything you never knew you wanted to know about property is revealed.

Princeton Palaver Past

Akhil and Andy continue their look around the Ivy League.  Having dispensed with Harvard, Princeton enters their sights, particularly their great early product, James Madison.  Was he truly “the father of the Constitution,” and why does it matter?  Two of the most important early Supreme Court cases are implicated - one you probably have heard of, and one you most likely have not.  And two big issues for the 21st century find their roots in these cases - and the Court will be heard soon enough on one or both.  And why does Bobby Bonds find his way into this episode?

Harvard Hooey

That little-known school in Cambridge, Massachusetts keeps popping up.  Akhil and Andy, objective Yale men as always, look at how Harvard was in the room at the American Revolution’s first stirrings, how generations of Harvard men kept a version of that story alive, and how today’s Cantab Crowd stumble over their own stories in ways that profoundly influence our American dialog about our past and our present.  Akhil scrutinizes Harvard’s best and finds them brilliant but at times wanting - and issues an invitation to hash it all out.

Torture, Trump, and Tech - A Conversation with Alan Dershowitz

For more than 50 years, any discussion of criminal defense attorneys, legal academics, and civil libertarians - as well as staunch advocates for Israel -  included Professor Alan Dershowitz.  Today he joins “Amarica’s Constitution” for a far-ranging conversation.  Torture warrants, Trump’s misdeeds, the life of a principled advocate and his family, censorship in social media, campus speech, the Israeli Supreme Court - all fall under his gaze, and our scrutiny.  We also discuss Prof. Dershowitz’s new book, “The Case Against The New Censorship.”

Constitutionalists United - Special Guest Floyd Abrams

Our series on civil liberties, including especially the First Amendment and free speech, continues with perhaps its greatest advocate before the Supreme Court, Floyd Abrams.  It’s natural to assume that Floyd would be an absolutist on such bedrocks as the case New York Times v. Sullivan - especially since he has represented The NY Times for years.  But no, surprisingly, he expresses, to Akhil and Andy, certain abridgments of this case that he might consider if he were, say, on the bench.  This and so much more, as a momentous career is celebrated and revealed, from one’s duty to one’s client to what it’s like to appear before the Supreme Court.

Tinker to Amar to Strossen - Special Guest Nadine Strossen

In the wake of the publication of The Words That Made Us, Akhil comes full circle, as his first book was The Bill of Rights.  To complete that circle, Professor Nadine Strossen, the youngest person and first woman to lead the ACLU as its president (for 17 years!) joins Akhil and Andy for a discussion that ranges from the current Supreme Court case on cheerleaders’ (and all other students’) rights to the famous Tinker case; from Citizens United to The Godfather.  And just what is wrong with The Sopranos?

Voracious Horatius

As Akhil and Andy celebrate the publication this week of The Words That Made Us, Akhil tells a story from the book - the crazy election of 1800 and its just-barely-peaceful transfer of power.  And what is John Marshall up to?  He’s everywhere:  Secretary of State and Chief Justice at once, a pseudonymous scheming columnist, and in the end, the man with the Bible in his hand to swear in the eventual winner:  his cousin.

18 Arguments for 18 Years

The Biden Commission is in the news, with a mandate to produce ideas on judicial reform, especially at the Supreme Court level.  It just so happens that Akhil has been writing about this for almost 20 years, and has fully formed ideas.  How many ways would these changes make the Court better?  We’ll count.  Of course, the historical and constitutional background will also be explored and explained.

Leaving The Field

In the wake of the imminent release of The Words That Made Us, Akhil takes us to the end of the story - or was it?  The deaths of America’s founders were all memorable in ways that reflected the character of each.  This can’t be a coincidence, he maintains, and if it wasn’t, then what was it?  The founders managed to leave their mark on the stage as they left it, and in so doing, and in some sense, they didn’t leave.

Ending Catch-22

10 years after Professor Amar wrote, with Gary Hart, on how the Senate can put an end to the filibuster, it remains (mostly) in place.  Akhil and Andy take you through the long history of this notorious practice, from the pre-Constitutional theories and practices, through the many misdeeds of the post-Civil War and 20th century periods, to today where the filibuster looms large but also is threatened with extinction.  Professor John Fabian Witt joins the conversation with unique insights into the origins of the “modern” filibuster, how it was employed to thwart anti-lynching as well as major civil rights legislation. What is now rule 22 (“catch-22”) is not so entrenched, not so consistent with the Senate’s mission, as many have thought.  Thanks again to EverScholar (everscholar.org) for sponsoring “Amarica’s Constitution.”