September 16, 2024 Library of Congress Launches Inaugural "Our Constitution" Podcast

In celebration of Constitution Day and the five-year anniversary of the Library of Congress website, the Constitution Annotated online, the Library of Congress is launching  “Our Constitution,” a monthly podcast series that introduces listeners to the foundational legal document of the United States and how the nation’s charter has been interpreted over time. The U.S. Constitution establishes the federal government’s framework, its relationship to state governments, and the rights and responsibilities of its citizens.

The inaugural podcast, produced at the Library of Congress,  was launched on the 237^th anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution on Sept. 17, 1787. Constitution Day is celebrated each year with events and activities across the country to commemorate this pivotal moment in American history.

Tailored for non-lawyers and designed to complement the Constitution Annotated website, “Our Constitution” seeks to increase civic literacy by educating and entertaining listeners on the Constitution’s history and meaning and the Supreme Court’s interpretations. Leaning on primary sources, the podcast embraces a unique “documentary style” that uses audio clips, including statements by Supreme Court justices, to support its authoritative, objective and nonpartisan analysis.

Hosted by Jeanne Dennis, an attorney at the Library of Congress,  the podcast explores key questions about the Constitution through interviews with attorneys at the Library of Congress who specialize in constitutional law. Listeners will learn about amendments made to the foundational document over time; the recurring themes and important developments in constitutional law, and how the Constitution’s meaning has evolved outside of the formal amendment process established in Article V, among other topics.

“The response to the Constitution Annotated online, has shown us that people across the nation and around the world are eager to learn more about the Constitution,” said Dennis, the podcast host. “The ‘Our Constitution’ podcast aims to bring the persons, events, and ideas that have informed the Constitution to life by providing information and analyses on the Constitution in an accessible and entertaining format. It is our hope that the ‘Our Constitution’ podcast will facilitate greater civic literacy by engaging people in studying this essential document.”

Each episode, running between 23 and 32 minutes, will benefit students, scholars, researchers, public officials, historians, writers and the general public seeking a reliable source that explains and distills complicated concepts in constitutional law in a simple and accessible audio format.

The first season of “Our Constitution,” featuring guest Brandon Murrill, attorney-adviser for the Constitution Annotated, explores how the meaning of the nation’s charter can change not only through the amendment process but also in response to historical events and social movements that influence the Supreme Court’s decisions; how the Constitution was a product of compromise between its framers; and the methods used by the Supreme Court to interpret the Constitution.

The first season of “Our Constitution” includes:

Episode 1 – An Evolving Constitution – Article V of the Constitution outlines how it can be amended, but its meaning has also evolved through historical events, social movements, and Supreme Court decisions. This episode explores the formal amendment process and how interpretations of the Constitution have changed over time. Key concepts discussed include penumbral reasoning – a process to identify rights implied by the Constitution, extra-textual values, the small “c” constitution, as well as pivotal moments in constitutional law history.

Episode 2 – The Framing of the Constitution – What were the framers’ objectives in structuring the Constitution? This episode places the Constitution in its historical context, examining the challenges faced in establishing the federal government, the decisions made about federal power distribution and the options considered and discarded. Focus is given to how the framers structured the federal government and allocated powers among its three branches.

Episode 3 – Ways to Interpret the Constitution, Part I – How should we interpret the Constitution more than 200 years after its drafting? This two-part podcast describes the most common methods of constitutional interpretation, with part one highlighting textualism and originalism. Examples from Supreme Court decisions help illustrate these methods, along with the debates surrounding their use.

Episode 4 – Ways to Interpret the Constitution, Part II – Continuing from part one, this episode explores six additional methods of constitutional analysis and interpretation, including historical practices, practical considerations, and the Constitution’s structure. These approaches help to further elaborate on the meaning of constitutional provisions.

Episode 5 – The Life and Legacy of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor – Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the first female Supreme Court Justice, died on Dec. 1, 2023, at 93. This episode reviews her influential tenure from 1981 to 2006, focusing on her landmark decisions in areas such as abortion rights, affirmative action, federalism, and the First Amendment, among others.

Episode 6 – The 19^th Amendment and Women’s Citizenship – Ratified in 1920, the 19^th Amendment guarantees women’s right to vote and ended the long-standing prohibition on female voting in state or federal elections. This episode delves into the history of the women’s suffrage movement, the events leading to the amendment’s ratification and its ongoing social impact.

The first four episodes are available here, while Episode 5 will drop at the beginning of October and Episode 6 at the beginning of November.

About the Constitution Annotated

The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation (“Constitution Annotated”) and its website, the Constitution Annotated online (https://constitution.congress.gov) provides a legal analysis and interpretation of the United States Constitution based on a comprehensive review of Supreme Court case law and, where relevant, historical practices that have defined the text of the Constitution. This regularly updated resource is written in plain English and useful for a wide audience: from constitutional scholars to those just beginning to learn about the nation’s most important legal document.

In publication for over 100 years, the Constitution Annotated is a comprehensive, government-sanctioned record of the interpretations of the Constitution. Through 2 U.S.C. § 168, Congress has ordered the Librarian of Congress to compile and periodically update the Constitution Annotated to provide essential information to Congress and the public at large. A bound edition of the Constitution Annotated is published every 10 years, with cumulative updates printed as a supplement insert every two years. Copies of the bound edition and supplement insert are available to every Member of Congress and shipped to every depository library in the United States.

About the Library of Congress

The Library of Congress is the world’s largest library, offering access to the creative record of the United States — and extensive materials from around the world — both on-site and online. It is the main research arm of the U.S. Congress and the home of the U.S. Copyright Office. Explore collections, reference services and other programs and plan a visit at loc.gov; access the official site for U.S. federal legislative information at congress.gov; and register creative works of authorship at copyright.gov.