A Constitutional Conversation at Crystal Bridges

We the People

National Constitution Center

News, News Commentary, History

4.6 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 11 August 2022

⏱️ 73 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, opened a new exhibit this summer called We the People: The Radical Notion of Democracy. It features an original print of the U.S. Constitution—one of only 11 in the world—as well as original prints of the Declaration of Independence, the proposed Bill of Rights, and the Articles of Confederation. To celebrate the opening, the museum invited Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, to host a conversation centered around the text and impact of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. His guest was Eric Slauter, deputy dean of the humanities at the University of Chicago and the author of The State as a Work of Art: The Cultural Origins of the Constitution. Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org. Continue today’s conversation on Facebook and Twitter using @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate, at bit.ly/constitutionweekly.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hello, I'm Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center,
0:09.1	and welcome to We The People, a weekly show of constitutional debate.
0:13.2	The National Constitution Center is a nonpartisan nonprofit chartered by Congress to increase
0:18.3	awareness and understanding of the Constitution among the American people.
0:23.0	The Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas
0:26.6	has just opened a new exhibit called We the People
0:28.9	the Radical Notions of Democracy.
0:31.6	It features a rare print of the Constitution and to celebrate the opening,
0:36.7	the museum invited me to be in conversation with Eric Slaughter about the text and impact of the
0:42.4	Declaration and the Constitution.
0:45.0	It was a wonderful conversation and I'm excited to share it with you today.
0:48.0	Eric Slaughter is Deputy Dean of the Humanities at the University of Chicago and the author of the state as a work of art,
0:55.3	the cultural origins of the Constitution.
0:58.6	Enjoy the conversation.
1:01.0	Friends, it is such an honor to be in this spectacularly beautiful place.
1:05.0	It's so exciting to see the exhibit which Eric and I have just toured
1:11.0	and is such a meaningful reminder that the Constitution and the Declaration and the
1:16.5	Bill of Rights are the words that unite us in these polarized times, these inspiring texts define who we are as Americans. They're so beautifully
1:27.0	displayed with the glorious art and I know both of us are honored to be part of this inaugural conversation.
1:34.4	I'm really looking forward to learning from Eric Slaughter as well.
1:37.6	He's a brilliant expert on the cultural and intellectual sources of these documents.
1:44.4	We did a wonderful panel on poetry and the Constitution
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from National Constitution Center, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of National Constitution Center and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.