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 “Presidential,” reporter Lillian Cunningham returns with this series exploring the Constitution and the people who framed and reframed it — revolutionaries, abolitionists, suffragists, teetotalers, protesters, justices, presidents – in the ongoing struggle to form a more perfect union across a vast and diverse land.
21 Available Episodes (21 Total)Average duration: 00:39:22
Apr 27, 2022
Introducing "Broken Doors"
00:04:23
No-knock warrants allow police to force their way into people’s homes without warning. What happens when this aggressive police tactic becomes the rule, rather than the exception?
"Broken Doors" is a new investigative podcast series from the Washington Post about how no-knock warrants are deployed in the American justice system - and the consequences for communities when accountability is flawed at every level. Hosted by Jenn Abelson and Nicole Dungca.
Jul 19, 2019
Introducing Moonrise
00:04:55
Host Lillian Cunningham's next podcast explores the real story of why we went to the moon -- a darker, but truer story than the one you've heard before. Listen to this trailer, and subscribe on your favorite podcast app or at washingtonpost.com/moonrise.
Feb 12, 2018
Ourselves and our posterity
00:54:30
In the "Constitutional" finale, we address listener questions about the history--and future--of the nation's governing document.
Jan 29, 2018
The First Amendment
00:52:05
Why do First Amendment rights trump nearly every other right in America? Thank Jehovah's Witnesses.
Jan 15, 2018
Privacy
00:45:12
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 years ago — Louis Brandeis.
Jan 01, 2018
Prohibition
00:53:02
The passage and then repeal of the 18th Amendment, banning alcohol in America, highlighted the pitfalls of trying to legislate against vice.
Dec 18, 2017
Taxes
00:42:04
Congress today faces the same question it faced a century ago when creating the modern tax system: What kind of society should America be?
Dec 04, 2017
The common defense
00:49:29
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.
Nov 20, 2017
War
00:41:15
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.
Nov 06, 2017
Love
00:38:42
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.
Oct 23, 2017
Fair punishment
00:51:02
"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."
Oct 09, 2017
Fair trials
00:46:31
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 challenges to the justice system today.
Sep 25, 2017
Congress and citizens
00:38:42
Is it a feature or a bug of the amendment process that an idea of James Madison's, more than 200 years ago, could be recently resurrected and etched into the U.S. Constitution?
Sep 11, 2017
Senate and states
00:45:22
When the United States changed its process for electing senators, did that lead to a decline in state power? Or did it instead bring us closer to a "more perfect union"?
Aug 28, 2017
Gender
00:48:39
From the American Revolution through today, women have been leading a long-burning rebellion to gain rights not originally guaranteed under the Constitution.
Aug 21, 2017
Race
00:51:33
As powerful as it was to change the Constitution after the Civil War, and enshrine racial equality into our governing document, that wasn’t enough to change the reality of life in America.
Aug 14, 2017
Nationality
00:47:18
What makes someone American? A landmark Supreme Court case in 1898, involving a child born in San Francisco to Chinese immigrant parents, would help answer that question.
Aug 07, 2017
Ancestry
00:40:39
In 1879, a case involving Chief Standing Bear came before a Nebraska courtroom and demanded an answer to the question: Are Native Americans considered human beings under the U.S. Constitution?
Jul 24, 2017
Framed
01:03:09
In the premier episode of “Constitutional,” we go back in time to that hot Philadelphia summer in 1787 when a group of revolutionary Americans debated, drank and together drafted the U.S. Constitution.
Jul 17, 2017
The preamble
00:03:36
In order to form a more perfect podcast, we created this overview of what you can expect from "Constitutional" when it launches July 24.
Jun 29, 2017
Introducing 'Constitutional'
00:04:50
Preview The Washington Post's newest podcast, a narrative series about the revolutionary figures who shaped America's story. Subscribe now to get the first episode when it launches July 24.
Apr 27 | 00:04:23
Introducing "Broken Doors"
Jul 19 | 00:04:55
Introducing Moonrise
Feb 12 | 00:54:30
Ourselves and our posterity
Jan 29 | 00:52:05
The First Amendment
Jan 15 | 00:45:12
Privacy
Jan 01 | 00:53:02
Prohibition
Dec 18 | 00:42:04
Taxes
Dec 04 | 00:49:29
The common defense
Nov 20 | 00:41:15
War
Nov 06 | 00:38:42
Love
Oct 23 | 00:51:02
Fair punishment
Oct 09 | 00:46:31
Fair trials
Sep 25 | 00:38:42
Congress and citizens
Sep 11 | 00:45:22
Senate and states
Aug 28 | 00:48:39
Gender
Aug 21 | 00:51:33
Race
Aug 14 | 00:47:18
Nationality
Aug 07 | 00:40:39
Ancestry
Jul 24 | 01:03:09
Framed
Jul 17 | 00:03:36
The preamble
Jun 29 | 00:04:50
Introducing 'Constitutional'
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